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Kaamda Ekadashi

Kaamda Ekadashi takes place on Chaitra Sud 11. The Ekadashi contributes to fulfilling the wishes of devotees and removes one’s sins. In the Varaha Puran, Vyas Muni narrates the story of Lalit and Lalita. Once in the city of Bhogavati, there lived a Naagraj King called Pundarik. In this city there was a great tradition whereby masses of people gathered in the royal palace to celebrate the victories and achievements of the King. Whenever the congregation of ministers and the local citizens happened, there were various celestial dances and songs performed by great dancers and poets. One of these poets, Lalit, was attracted to the dancer Lalita. The two were fond of each other and spent lots of time in each other's company. 

Once in the village assembly to celebrate a victory, King Pundarik asked Lalit to display his skills of poetry and singing. To fulfill the request and please the king, Lalit started singing in his beautiful voice. While he was singing he started making mistakes in his poetry. He was distracted by his memories of Lalita and this eventually made the King very unhappy. Learning the reasons of Lalit’s mistakes, the Naagraj King Pundrik cursed Lalit such that he would become a demon due to his dim-witted remembrance of a female. 

Due to the curse, Lalit transformed into a menacing demon. This saddened Lalita and they both went into the jungle forests and spent many years roaming around; looking for a solution to free themselves from the curse. Once in the early morning hours in the jungle, they arrived at a mountain and climbed up to the summit where they came to the ashrama of Rushiyshrung Muni. After greeting the Rushi with honour, Lalita narrated the chronicle of them both arriving at the ashrama. The Muni replied, “O devi, today is Chaitra Sud Ekadashi. Performing an ekadashi vratt today will free you from all misfortunes and you will become happy in your life. Act upon the vratt of this ekadashi and pass on the fruits of the vratt tomorrow to your husband Lalit. This will free you from the curse. Lalita started the vratt with full pride, honour and devotion to please the Gods. On the following day, she offered the fruits of the vratt through a yagna to her husband and instantly the demon turned into his normal form as a great looking poet. 

After many years the couple found happiness again. The vratt of ekadashi helps one to achieve one’s personal desires and also inclines oneself to the path of spirituality. Observance of Kaamda Ekadashi destroys evil and removes poorness in the family. It instils great happiness for the future of those who observe the vratt strictly.