Sri Yogini Ekadashiयोगिनी एकादशी

When Maharaja Yudhishthira asked Lord Sri Krishna about the Ekadashi that falls in the dark fortnight of Ashadha, the Lord smiled and said: "O best of kings, this day is famous in all three worlds as Yogini Ekadashi. It is the destroyer of the gravest sins and a direct boat to liberation. To impress its glory upon you, let Me narrate a most touching history."

In the splendid city of Alakapuri lived Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods and a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Every day Kuvera would worship Lord Shiva with fresh, fragrant flowers, and for this purpose he had engaged a yaksha named Hemamali. Hemamali was strong, capable and unfailingly punctual — except for one weakness. He was deeply attached to his beautiful and chaste wife, Vishalakshi. Each morning Hemamali would travel to Lake Manasarovara, gather the choicest lotuses for Lord Shiva's puja, and bring them to Kuvera in time for the daily worship.

One fateful day, after gathering the flowers, Hemamali returned home before delivering them, intending only a brief moment with his wife. But struck by her loveliness, he forgot the worship entirely and lingered with her well past the hour of puja. In Alakapuri, Kuvera waited and waited. The flowers did not arrive. Lord Shiva's worship was disrupted. Kuvera grew furious. Sending messengers to find Hemamali, he was informed of the yaksha's negligence and of the reason.

In his wrath Kuvera summoned Hemamali and pronounced a terrible curse: "O wretched yaksha! You have insulted my beloved Lord Shiva by your lust. Become a leper at once, be separated from your wife, and fall from this celestial city to the mortal earth!" Instantly Hemamali's beautiful body was disfigured by white leprosy. He fell from Alakapuri into a dense forest on earth, separated from Vishalakshi, friendless and tormented day and night by hunger, cold and the agony of his disease. For many years he wandered in misery, unable to find peace anywhere.

At last, by some past pious merit, Hemamali stumbled into the ashrama of the great sage Markandeya Rishi, who is said to live for seven kalpas. The yaksha fell at the sage's feet and wept out the whole story of his folly. Markandeya, the ocean of compassion, looked upon him with the eye of mercy and said: "O Hemamali, your previous good deeds have brought you to me. Hear, now, the one infallible remedy. In the dark fortnight of Ashadha there is an Ekadashi called Yogini. Observe this fast with full faith and devotion to Lord Sri Hari. By its glory, all your sins will be burned to ashes and your body and life will be restored."

Hemamali immediately observed Yogini Ekadashi exactly as the sage instructed. As soon as the vow was complete, his leprosy vanished, his beautiful celestial form returned, and a divine vimana descended to carry him back to Alakapuri, where he was reunited with Vishalakshi. From that day, no shadow ever again fell upon his service to Lord Shiva.

Concluding, Lord Krishna told Yudhishthira: "O Pandava, observing Yogini Ekadashi yields the merit of feeding eighty-eight thousand brahmanas. There is no sin — committed knowingly or unknowingly — that this Ekadashi cannot wash away. Even one who simply hears its katha with faith is liberated from the bondage of karma." Hearing these words from the Lord, Yudhishthira and his brothers observed Yogini Ekadashi with the greatest joy.