Nirjala Ekadashi is widely regarded as the most sacred, powerful, and spiritually significant of all the 24 Ekadashis in the Hindu calendar. Falling during the waxing phase (Shukla Paksha) of the Hindu month of Jyeshtha, it occurs during the peak of summer.
Nirjala fast requires complete abstinence from both food and water from sunrise on Ekadashi until sunrise the following day.
This day is also famously known as Bhima Ekadashi or Pandava Ekadashi. According to legend, Bhima (the second Pandava brother) was a massive food lover and found it impossible to control his appetite for the regular bimonthly Ekadashi fasts. Troubled by this he approached Sage Vyasa for a solution.
Sage Vyasa advised him that if he could dedicate just one day a year to a complete, waterless fast on the Ekadashi of the Jyeshtha month, he would attain the virtues and spiritual benefits of every single Ekadashi combined.
It is Dedicated to Lord Vishnu (and his fierce protector avatar, Lord Narasimha), observing this day is believed to bring the spiritual merit of all other Ekadashis combined also a massive day for community service and charity most notably setting up Chabeels (stalls distributing cold, sweet water) to give relief to everyone in the blistering summer heat.
unfurling the flag at the pinnacle of a Narsingh temple acts as a dynamic declaration that the space under it is fiercely guarded by the ultimate protector. It symbolizes the banishment of evil forces negative energies and fear from the lives of the devotees
Hare Krishna 🦚
