Devshayani Ekadashi: the start of Chaturmasa

What Devshayani Ekadashi is

The Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Ashadha is called Devshayani, Harishayani, Padma or Ashadhi Ekadashi. Tradition holds that on this day Vishnu goes into yoga-sleep on the serpent Shesha in the ocean of milk, and wakes four months later on Kartika Shukla Ekadashi (Dev Uthani or Prabodhini). These four months are Chaturmasa.

Of the year's 24 Ekadashis it is one of the best known. The general Ekadashi rules, the parana and the Smarta–Vaishnava difference are explained on our Ekadashi page; this page is about this one Ekadashi.

How the date is decided

Shastra (Dharmasindhu): for this vrat of the Lord's rest, the text says Smartas and Vaishnavas begin it on their own Ekadashi days. So the day is whatever the general Ekadashi rule gives each tradition:

• Smarta: checks whether Dashami touches sunrise.
• Vaishnava: checks whether Dashami touches arunodaya (about 96 minutes before sunrise).

In most years both fall on the same day; sometimes the Vaishnava Ekadashi is a day later. Then our calendar shows both days separately. Which to follow is your family's tradition; neither is wrong.

The fast is broken the next day within the Dvadashi. For this Ashadha Dvadashi, Dharmasindhu also speaks of avoiding the conjunction with Anuradha nakshatra for the parana; see the panchang for the exact window.

The Lord's rest in the text

Shastra (Dharmasindhu): on this Ekadashi is the festival of Vishnu's rest: an image of Vishnu lying on a decorated bed, with the conch, discus and his four weapons, Lakshmi pressing his feet, is worshipped. The prayer's sense is: ‘O Lord of the world, when you sleep this world sleeps, and when you wake the whole moving and unmoving world wakes.’ Then a fast and night vigil, worship again on Dvadashi, and song and music on Trayodashi: so it is a three-day vrat.

Dharmasindhu also notes that some hold both the rest and the waking festivals on the Dvadashi parana day, and says the arrangement here follows deshachara (regional custom). So different customs in different places are accepted in the text itself.

Chaturmasa: four months of vows

Shastra (Dharmasindhu): the Chaturmasa vow has a well-known form: giving up greens in Shravana, curd in Bhadrapada, milk in Ashvina and split pulses (dvidal) in Kartika. These vows are taken by choice and capacity; many people pick one small rule, such as giving up one item, a daily reading, or one meal a day.

Muhurta Chintamani gives the period of ‘Harishayana’ as Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi to Kartika Shukla Ekadashi, and speaks of putting off some samskaras such as ear-piercing in it. Tradition usually holds no weddings in these months either; this is not about fear, but a custom of treating the rainy season as a time for practice and staying close to home. Ascetics too stay in one place in these months, and the Jain and Buddhist traditions have a similar rainy-season retreat.

How families celebrate

Maharashtra: Ashadhi Ekadashi is the greatest day of Vitthal and Rukmini at Pandharpur. Lakhs of Varkaris walk for weeks, singing abhangas, with the palanquins of Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Tukaram, to reach Pandharpur; this is the Wari. North India: temples dress the Lord for rest; homes keep a fast or fruit meal and read the Vishnu Sahasranama. Odisha: it comes around the days of Lord Jagannath's return after the Rath Yatra. Gujarat and Rajasthan: in many places the Chaturmasa readings begin on this day.

A simple puja

1. A morning bath; a picture of Vishnu or Vitthal, and tulsi leaves.
2. A lamp, flowers, sandal; chant ‘Om Namo Narayanaya’ or ‘Vitthal Vitthal’, as your family does.
3. In the evening, the custom of placing the picture or a small image comfortably on a little seat: a sign of the Lord's rest.
4. A fast or fruit meal, as your health allows.
5. Break the fast the next day within the Dvadashi; take a small Chaturmasa vow if you like.

No paid puja is needed.

Health and safety

Fasting and health: keep the fast as your health allows. With diabetes, blood pressure, pregnancy, breastfeeding, older age, if you are unwell, or on regular medicine, choose a lighter form (fruit, milk, or one simple meal), or ask your doctor first. Don't change medicine timings. For health, the doctor comes first; no vrat replaces that. A waterless fast is not needed; Dharmasindhu itself gives forms with water, milk or fruit for those who can't fast fully (see the Ekadashi page).

Take Chaturmasa food vows with your health in mind too; if your doctor has advised milk, curd or dal, follow that. On long walks like the Wari, water, an umbrella, comfortable footwear and rest are essential; take care with slippery ground and crowds in the rain.

In ePandit

In ePandit: our calendar shows the festival day with your city's sunrise and sunset. The day is decided once, for Ujjain; your city's times are shown separately. We don't compute muhurta yet, and we never call a festival good or bad for anyone.

Frequently asked questions