Apara Ekadasi 2218

Asked by Yudhishthira about the Ekadashi of the dark fortnight before Jyeshtha, Sri Krishna called it Apara, the boundless, because its merit has no limit.

Krishna declared that this fast removes even the gravest sins: slaying a brahmana, harming a cow or an unborn child, false witness, cheating, and fleeing from the field of battle. He compared its merit to the holiest observances of the land: bathing at Prayaga in Magha, worship at Kashi on Shivaratri, offerings at Gaya, bathing at Kurukshetra during an eclipse, and darshan at Badarikashrama.

He likened Apara to an axe that fells the forest of sin, and to a fire that burns it like dry fuel. One who keeps the fast and worships Vishnu is honoured in His abode, and hearing this account brings the merit of gifting a thousand cows.