!! Nirjala Ekadashi !!
!!Om Narayanaya Vidhmahe
Vasudevaya Dheemahe
Tanno Vishnu Prachodayaath!!
Nirjala ekadashi is observed to seek the blessings of Lord Vishnu. It is one of the strictest forms of ekadashis because the person observing fast (vrat) on the Nirjala ekadashi is not allowed to take even water. Nirjala means no water. Devotees have to fast for 24 hours without food and water. They start fasting from the sunrise on ekadashi day and close it on the next day sunrise. It is known by many other names, like Pandav Bhim ekadasi, Pandava ekadashi, Bhimsen ekadashi, and Jyeshtha shukla ekadashi in different regions of India.
According to Mahabharata and Padma Purana, the benefits of Nirjala ekadashi equal the benefits of all the 24 ekadashis that pure devotees are supposed to observe in a year. Since, Nirjala ekadashi falls in the month Jyeshtha (May-June) when the temperature is high; the devotees have to take a lot of pains to go without food and water. That’s the reason it is considered strictest and capable of rendering more benefits.
You should observe Nirjala ekadashi to get good health, long life, babies, and riches. It is mentioned in Vedas that the more severe penance you do the more benefits you get. When you observe Nirjala ekadashi you get the benefits of going on a pilgrimage also, and finally, when you die, you are taken to the heaven by the messengers of the abode of God (Vaikuntha), and not by the death-god, Yamraja.
Fasting is special on this day for many reasons. The scientific reason is when the body is light and stomach free, your body needs less energy to sustain, and your energy is saved to more important yogic practices. Your body’s energy is distributed equally throughout the whole bodily system. However, one should not overdo it. Fasting is supposed to create a feeling of buoyancy, not a feeling of fatigue or sorrow. Old and sick people are advised not to fast.
Fasting controls your passion, disciplines your senses, and purifies you mind and body. It overhauls whole bodily system, destroys all sorts of poisons and encourages the rapid expulsion of uric acid deposits. It helps you to destroy great amount harmful elements in your body along with your sins.
Fasting helps in becoming close to Brahman. So, don’t bother much about rules and regulations, just spend the day in purifying your mind and body by chanting Vishnu-mantra.
It is observed on the eleventh day of the waxing phase of moon in the month of May-June, i.e. shukla paksha of Jyestha mas.
