Bhishma (Jaya) Ekadasi 2005

Sri Krishna told Yudhishthira of a time in Indra's court in the Nandana garden, when the gandharva singer Malyavan and a celestial dancer were performing together. Lost in love for each other, they sang and danced out of tune.

Seeing their distraction, Indra cursed them to fall to the earth as pishachas. They found themselves on a cold Himalayan peak, suffering from hunger, cold and remorse. On the Ekadashi of Magha Shukla they were so miserable that they ate nothing, sat awake through the bitter night, and repented their fault.

Without knowing it, they had kept the Jaya Ekadashi fast and vigil. By dawn on Dvadashi, by Vishnu's grace, they were freed from the curse, regained their divine forms and returned to heaven, where even Indra honoured them. In many regions this day is also remembered with Bhishma, whose Ashtami falls just before it.