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Papankusha Ekadasi

Āśvina · Śukla Pakṣa · Papankusha Ekadasi

Next ObservanceMonday, 19 October 2105
Presiding Darśana Vigraha
Lord Padmanābha wielding the golden goad of spiritual discernment on Mount Vindhya
Mount Vindhya: Lord Padmanābha holds the divine golden aṅkuśa (goad) that severs the entangling chains of past karma, granting freedom to the repentant soul.
Āśvina · Śukla Pakṣa

Papankusha Ekadasi

Fasting Active · Sunrise to Sunrise
Fasting Injunction · Upavāsa Active Fast
Sacred 24-Hour Fast Window
6:10 AM – 6:10 AM (Next Dawn)

Monday, October 19, 2105

Pāraṇa Window (Breaking the Fast)Dvādaśī Morning
6:10 AM – 9:07 AM

Break after sunrise (6:10 AM) with Caraṇāmṛta & Tulasī leaf before Dvādaśī ends.

Phalahāra

Fresh fruits, milk, nuts, sabudana, water.

Varjya

Grains, rice, wheat, dal, beans, onion, garlic.

View Astronomical Tithi Timings Table ▾
Ekadasi tithi
Mon
19 Oct
2:07 AM
Dvādaśī begins
Tue
20 Oct
1:25 AM
Hari Vāsara ends
Tue
20 Oct
1:25 AM
Pāraṇa window
Tue
20 Oct
6:10 AM – 9:07 AM
View in CalendarFasting Rules
Detailed Fasting Injunctions

1. Pre-dawn sanctity: Breaking the fast while still dark invalidates the vrata. Always await local sunrise.

2. Dvādaśī adherence: The fast must be broken before Dvādaśī tithi elapses to retain spiritual fruit.

3. Sacred Order: Offer prayers to Lord Viṣṇu, sip sacred Caraṇāmṛta with Tulasī, then partake of light food.

Need guidance on observances? Read the canonical Ekādaśī Fasting Rules : what to eat, what to avoid, the three vrata intensities, and breaking rules (pāraṇa).

Frequently asked

What is Papankusha Ekadasi?
Papankusha Ekadasi is the ekādaśī tithi, the eleventh lunar day, of the waxing fortnight (śukla pakṣa) of Āśvina. Its name means "the goad upon sin". Like every Ekadasi, it is observed by fasting and remembrance of Lord Viṣṇu. The story and fruits (phalaśruti) of Papankusha are recorded in Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 59.
When is Papankusha Ekadasi observed?
Papankusha Ekadasi falls on the ekādaśī tithi of the waxing fortnight of Āśvina (the Hindu lunar month). The exact Gregorian date varies each year because the lunar calendar drifts relative to the solar one. Smārta and Vaiṣṇava observers occasionally fast on different civil days when the tithi spans two sunrises, see the date above for the next occurrence.
Who is worshipped on Papankusha Ekadasi?
Papankusha Ekadasi, like all Ekadasis, is dedicated to Viṣṇu (as Padmanābha). Specific forms of worship vary by tradition: chanting Viṣṇu-sahasranāma, reading the corresponding chapter from Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 59, hearing the story, and remembering the divine names are all considered part of the observance.
What is the spiritual fruit (phalaśruti) of observing Papankusha Ekadasi?
The Purāṇic source declares that observing Papankusha Ekadasi yields: Frees thirty ancestors, ten on the mother's side, ten on the father's, ten on the wife's; greater than a thousand horse-sacrifices. Across all Ekadasis, the underlying claim is the same, the fast aligns the body, breath, and mind with the eleventh lunar day's particular quietness, and bestows merit equivalent to extensive austerities, charity, or pilgrimage.
How is Papankusha Ekadasi observed?
A complete observance begins the previous evening with a light, sattvic meal and continues into a fast on Ekadasi day. The fast can be nirjala (without water), phalāhāra (fruits and water), or a single sattvic meal, pick the level your health and discipline allow. Grains, pulses, onions, and garlic are universally avoided on Ekadasi. The fast is broken on Dvādaśī during the prescribed pāraṇa window listed on this page. The day is spent in remembrance, chanting, reading, hearing the Ekadasi story, and avoiding sleep during daylight where possible.
What is the difference between Smārta and Vaiṣṇava observance of Papankusha Ekadasi?
On most Ekadasis the two traditions fast on the same day. They diverge only in the rare atirikta case, when the Ekadasi tithi spans two consecutive sunrises. Smārtas fast on the first such day; Vaiṣṇavas wait until the next, preferring that Dvādaśī also touches sunrise. If Papankusha Ekadasi falls in such a fortnight in a given year, the two dates will appear on this page side by side.

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Panchang for this Ekadasi

सङ्कल्पः·SAṄKALPAḤ

Monday, 19 October, in the old reckoning

  1. Cosmic Time

    अद्य · श्वेतवराह कल्पे · वैवस्वत मन्वन्तरे · कलियुगे प्रथम पादे

    adya · śveta-varāha kalpe · vaivasvata manvantare · kali-yuge prathama pāde

  2. Calendrical Time

    शालिवाहन शके २०२७ · क्रोधन संवत्सरे · दक्षिणायने · शरद् ऋतौ

    śālivāhana śake 2027 · Krodhana saṁvatsare · Dakṣiṇāyane · Śarad ṛtau

  3. Astronomical Limb (Pañcāṅga) · पञ्चाङ्ग कालः

    कार्तिक मासे · शुक्ल पक्षे · एकादशी तिथौ · सोम वासरे · धनिष्ठा नक्षत्रे · गण्ड योगे · वणिज करणे

    Kārtika māse · Śukla pakṣe · Ekādaśī tithau · Soma vāsare · Dhaniṣṭhā nakṣatre · Gaṇḍa yoge · Vaṇija karaṇe

  4. Sacred Locality

    जम्बूद्वीपे · भारतवर्षे*

    jambū-dvīpe · bhārata-varṣe (India)

*The locality lines, jambū-dvīpe bhārata-varṣe, your deśa and your kṣetra: name your continent, country, region, and town. India is shown by default; spoken aloud you'd substitute your own.

What you just read

The sankalpa is the opening declaration of any traditional Hindu observance. It places the moment in three nested frames, cosmic, calendrical, and astronomical, before any act, so the doer knows when and where they are standing in time.

Cosmic time doesn't change with where you read this. Śveta-varāha is the present kalpa (a day of Brahmā, ~4.32 billion years). Vaivasvata is the current manvantara within it. Kali-yuga prathama pāda places us in the first quarter of the dark age. These are the deepest layers of the Hindu reckoning of time, the same for someone in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Sydney, or San Francisco.

Calendrical time tracks the present year. The Śaka era counts from 78 CE; the named saṁvatsara is one of a sixty-year cycle of year-names (Prabhava, Vibhava... Akṣaya, then repeating). The ayana tells us which half of the solar year we're in: Uttarāyaṇa (sun moving north, January to July) or Dakṣiṇāyana (south, July to January). The ṛtu is the season.

Astronomical time is the most particular. The māsa, pakṣa, and tithi follow the moon; the vāra is the weekday; the nakṣatra is which of the 27 lunar mansions the moon currently sits in; the yoga is a sun-plus-moon arithmetic; the karaṇa is the half-tithi. These four: nakṣatra, yoga, tithi, karaṇa, together with the vāra are the literal "five limbs" of the word pañchāṅga.

The values shown above are computed for your local sunrise. The day "belongs to" whichever tithi (and nakṣatra and karaṇa) was prevailing at sunrise, even if those quantities change mid-morning, the day keeps its sunrise name until the next sunrise. This is the convention every printed panchang and every traditional sankalpa uses. A reader in Sydney sees their sunrise's reckoning; a reader in London sees theirs; both differ from each other by a few hours of the sky.

Why it is spoken every day. The sankalpa is the traditional opening of daily (nitya) observance, not reserved for festivals. Recited each morning, it re-anchors you in the exact moment you occupy in sacred time and dedicates the day’s actions with conscious intention (saṅkalpa means “resolve”). On an Ekadasi it is the same declaration that opens the fast, the day, the place, and the purpose, named before the vrata begins.

Sky on 19 October 2105

Celestial Coordinates & Muhūrtas

Sūrya · SunDay Arc
Sunrise6:10 AM100° E
Sunset5:58 PM260° W
Candra · Moon
Moonrise2:44 PM96° E
Moonset2:06 AM262° W
Rāhu Kāla

7:38 AM – 9:07 AM

Yamagaṇḍa

10:35 AM – 12:04 PM

Abhijit Muhūrta

11:40 AM – 12:28 PM

Bearings indicate horizon degrees. Rāhu and Yamagaṇḍa are avoided for new auspicious beginnings; Abhijit is the midday victory window.