There are a total of twenty-four Ekadashis which take place in a year and Papmochani is one among them which is celebrated in the honor of Lord Vishnu. In the literal sense, Papmochani comprises of two words i.e. ‘Pap’ means ‘Sin’ and ‘Mochani’ signifying ‘Removal’ and together it signifies that the one who would observe Papmochani Ekadashi is absolved from all the past and present sins. On this auspicious and fortunate day of Papmochani Ekadashi, devotees worship and offer prayers to Lord Vishnu.
As per the Hindu calendar, Papmochani Ekadashi takes place on the Ekadashi (eleventh day) of the Chaitra month during the Krishna Paksha. It is regarded as the last Ekadashi out of all the 24 Ekadashi which fall in between two major festivities i.e. Holika Dahan and Chaitra Navratri.
It is believed that Papmochani Ekadashi is highly favorable and the one who observes a fast on this particular day is free from his sins and live a peaceful and happy life ahead. With the observance of the Ekadashi, devotees get clarity of vision and thought as well as they get rid of all the griefs and mental afflictions. The devotees also attain immense wealth by observing a Papmochani Ekadashi fast.
The various rituals and celebrations of Papmochani Ekadashi start from the day of Dashami only which is a day prior to Ekadashi.
Once there was a sage named Medhavi who was a keen devotee of God Shiva. He used to live a life full of penance and perform strict meditation in the Chitraratha forest. The forest was usually visited by Lord Indra along with many apsaras as it was full of beautiful flowers. By seeing Sage Medhavi, Lord Indra thought that if he continued with his penance then he would get a high place in the heaven and so he took it as a challenge to distract Medhavi from his meditation. But because of his great devotion and penance, Lord Indra could not succeed in his purpose.
Among all the Apsaras, there was an Apsara named Manjughosha who tried a lot many ways to divert the attention of the sage but because of the extreme power of his penance, all her attempts failed. Manjughosha then set up a hermitage and started living a few miles away from the ashram of Medhavi and began singing in a melodious voice. Seeing her singing so beautifully, Lord Kamdev got impressed and thus with his magical and powerful bows, he drew the attention of Medhavi towards Manjughosha by shooting an arrow of love. Because of this, Medhavi lost all his attention and fell in love with Manjughosha’s charm and beauty.
He completely forgot himself and also lost the purity of his soul. After spending a long time with Medhavi, Manjughosha lost her interest and wanted to free himself from the sage. When she asked him to permit her to leave, Medhavi realized that he was misguided and cheated and because of the same he got distracted from his life of strict meditation and penance. Out of anger, he cursed Manjughosha to transform into an ugly and dreadful witch.
Later Medhavi went to the ashram of his father, Sage Chyavana. Then the sage guided Medhavi to observe a fast of Papamochani Ekadashi to eradicate his sins. Medhavi as well as Manjughosha both regretted their doings and thus observed the fast dedicated to Lord Vishnu. As a result, they got relieved from their sins.
Click to know about other significant Ekadashi Dates
Apart from Papmochani Ekadashi, there are 23 Ekadashi Vrat in a year that fall on Krishna and Shukla Paksha of Hindu Calendar. All these Ekadashi tithi are very significant in Hindu traditions and are popular with various Ekadashi names. Here is the list of Ekadashi Vrat observed throughout the year.
S. N. |
Hindu Month |
Paksha |
Ekadashi Vrat |
1 |
Chaitra |
Krishna Paksha |
Papmochani Ekadashi |
2 |
Chaitra |
Shukla Paksha |
|
3 |
Vaishakha |
Krishna Paksha |
|
4 |
Vaishakha |
Shukla Paksha |
|
5 |
Jyeshtha |
Krishna Paksha |
|
6 |
Jyeshtha |
Shukla Paksha |
|
7 |
Ashadha |
Krishna Paksha |
|
8 |
Ashadha |
Shukla Paksha |
|
9 |
Shravana |
Krishna Paksha |
|
10 |
Shravana |
Shukla Paksha |
|
11 |
Bhadrapada |
Krishna Paksha |
|
12 |
Bhadrapada |
Shukla Paksha |
|
13 |
Ashwin |
Krishna Paksha |
|
14 |
Ashwin |
Shukla Paksha |
|
15 |
Kartika |
Krishna Paksha |
|
16 |
Kartika |
Shukla Paksha |
|
17 |
Margashirsha |
Krishna Paksha |
|
18 |
Margashirsha |
Shukla Paksha |
|
19 |
Paush |
Krishna Paksha |
|
20 |
Paush |
Shukla Paksha |
|
21 |
Magha |
Krishna Paksha |
|
22 |
Magha |
Shukla Paksha |
|
23 |
Phalguna |
Krishna Paksha |
|
24 |
Phalguna |
Shukla Paksha |
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