Apara Ekadashi 2027 Date

About Apara Ekadashi

Apara Ekadashi falls in the dark fortnight of Jyeshtha (May–June), the hot weeks just before the year's waterless Nirjala fast. Its name means 'limitless' — the merit promised here is specifically a clean slate from heavy sins like false testimony, slander of one's guru, or fleeing battle.

The story is told by Krishna to Arjuna, not Yudhishthira as in most Ekadashi kathas. Krishna lists the exact sins this fast wipes out: murder, bearing false witness, pretending to be a learned doctor or priest, a disciple turning on the guru who taught him, a Kshatriya who runs from the battlefield. The merit is set equal to bathing at the three Pushkara lakes, the full Kartik snan, or offering pinda-daan to ancestors on the banks of the Ganga — so households often use Apara as a stand-in ancestor rite. It is also called Achala ('unmoving') Ekadashi, and in the Gaudiya calendar the month itself is renamed Trivikrama Masa, linking the day to Vishnu's three world-spanning strides as Vamana. Grains and pulses are dropped; the fast is broken next morning within Dwadashi.