Papmochani Ekadashi

Arjuna said, "O Kamalanayan! As I am listening to the stories of the fasts of Ekadashi, my curiosity to listen to the stories of the fasts of other Ekadashis is increasing. O Madhusudan! Now please tell me about the Ekadashi of Krishna Paksha during the Chaitra month. What is the name of this Ekadashi? Which deity is worshiped in it and what is the rule of this fast?"

Shri Krishna said that King Mandhata had once put the same question to the sage Lomash, and that he would repeat what Lomash had said. Mandhata had asked, "O great sage! How is it possible to destroy a person's sins? Please tell me about some simple solution by which one can easily get rid of the sins."

Maharishi Lomash said, "O Nripati! The name of Ekadashi of Krishna Paksha of Chaitra month is known as Papamochani Ekadashi. Because of its fast, many sins of humans are destroyed."

Then he told the story. In ancient times there was a forest named Chaitraratha where apsaras roamed with kinnaras, where it was always spring and flowers of every kind were always in bloom, and where sometimes the Gandharva maidens wandered and sometimes Devendra came to play with the other gods.

In that same forest a sage named Medhavi remained absorbed in penance. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. One day an apsara named Manjughosha, wishing to draw him to her, sat at a little distance and began to sing sweetly to the veena. Kamadeva too set himself against the Shiva-devotee: he made a bow of the beautiful apsara's eyebrows, made her glance his weapon, and made her eyes the commander of his forces. Medhavi at that time was young and strong, wearing the yajnopavita and carrying the danda, and looked like another Kamadeva himself. Manjughosha, under Kamadeva's power, sang on softly, and Medhavi was captivated by her singing and her beauty. Knowing the sage to be overcome by desire, the apsara embraced him, and he, forgetting Lord Shiva, gave himself to pleasure with her.

He lost all sense of day and night, and a long time passed. At length Manjughosha said, "O Rishivara! Now it has been a long time for me, so please allow me to go to heaven."

The sage said, "O Mohini! You have just come in the evening, please stay till the morning."

So she stayed, and more time passed. Again she said, "O Vipra! Now please allow me to go to heaven," and again he answered, "O Roopasi! Not much time has passed yet, wait some more time."

Then she said, "O Rishivar! Your night is very long. Think for yourself how much time has passed since I came to you. Is it advisable to stay any longer?"

At this the sage came to himself and reckoned the time, and found that fifty-seven years had gone by in pleasure. He saw that the apsara had been Kaal itself to him, and burned with anger at all he had wasted. His lips trembled and his senses went out of his control, and he cursed her to become a pishachini.

Manjughosha fell at his feet and begged for release. Relenting, the sage told her to observe the fast of Papamochani Ekadashi in the Krishna Paksha of Chaitra, and she was freed from the curse and regained her celestial form.

Medhavi himself returned to his father Chyavana, who told him that he too had lost his penance and must keep the same fast to be cleansed. He observed Papamochani Ekadashi, and all the sin of those wasted years was destroyed, and his tapas was restored to him.

Whoever hears or observes this katha is freed from the gravest sins.