ଶୟନ ଏକାଦଶୀ 2016

On this Ekadashi of Ashadha Shukla, Lord Vishnu lies down to His yoga nidra on the serpent Adi Shesha in the ocean of milk, and the four sacred months of Chaturmasya begin. He awakens on Prabodhini Ekadashi in Kartika.

In the Bhavishyottara account, Sri Krishna tells Yudhishthira what Brahma once told Narada. The righteous king Mandhata of the solar line saw his kingdom suffer three years without rain. Seeking the cause, he went to the sage Angiras, who told him to observe this Ekadashi with his people. When the king and his subjects fasted and worshipped Vishnu, heavy rains returned and the land grew rich again.

Devotees keep the fast, worship Vishnu in His reclining form, and take up the vows of Chaturmasya. In Maharashtra it is the great Ashadhi Ekadashi of the Pandharpur wari, and in Telugu lands it is Tholi Ekadashi, the first Ekadashi.