The story behind Shravana Putrada Ekadashi and King Mahijit

Table of Contents

• 1. Shravana Putrada Ekadashi
  • 1.1 Overview of Shravana Putrada Ekadashi
  • 1.2 Tale of King Mahijit and Rishi Lomasa
  • 1.3 Modern Observance and Significance
  • 1.4 Origin Story of Ekadashi Devi
  • 1.5 List of Ekadashis
  • 1.6 Glossary of terms used here

Shravana Putrada Ekadashi

I had posted on Kamika Ekadashi a few days back. With another Ekadashi here, I thought of posting on that too.

Overview of Shravana Putrada Ekadashi

The Ekadashi that I am referring to is Shravana Putrada Ekadashi.

There are many Ekadashis in the Hindu calendar, and each has its own name and story. Shravana Putrada Ekadashi is one of them.

Putrada means “giver of a son” or “bestower of a child”.

In 2026, the Shukla Ekadashi of Shravana falls on August 23. The Padma Purana identifies this Ekadashi as the one occurring in the bright fortnight of Shravana and calls it Putrada Ekadashi. There is another story for another Putrada Ekadashi in the Padma Purana. That is for the month of Pausha, so I will not refer to that tale here.

Tale of King Mahijit and Rishi Lomasa

The story of this Ekadashi is told to Yudhistira by Krishna. This tale is from the Padma Purana. There was a king called Mahijit who ruled the city of Mahishmati. He was getting old but was childless. Even the subjects wanted to know the reason. Searching for an answer, they came across a rishi and asked him for guidance. This was Rishi Lomasa who was said to have been born from the hair of Brahma. The rishi said that Mahijit had been a merchant in a previous birth, who travelled from village to village conducting trade. Once during the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha, the merchant became exhausted by heat and thirst. He saw a pond with very little water. A cow was there with her calf. The merchant pushed the cow aside and drank the water himself. The good deeds of the merchant had got him to be born as a king but the sin of not letting the cow drink had made him childless in this birth.

The people asked the rishi what the remedy was. The rishi said the remedy was to observe the Ekadashi that falls in the bright fortnight of Shravana. The people came back and performed the ritual and dedicated the merits to the king. Soon after this, the queen conceived and eventually gave birth to a son.

Modern Observance and Significance

Nowadays, Putrada Ekadashi is generally observed by devotees seeking the blessings of Vishnu, particularly those praying for children and family well-being.

When Narada once asked Shiva about Ekadashi, Shiva told him about the conversation between Krishna and Yudhistira, where Krishna had explained to Yudhistira about various Ekadashis and their significance.

Origin Story of Ekadashi Devi

The word Ekadashi means eleven and the Purana (Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda) has an interesting story about the birth of Ekadashi which Krishna told Yudhistira.
There was once an asura called Mura who had defeated the devas. Seeking help, they went to Shiva. Shiva asked them to approach Vishnu. When they went, Vishnu was asleep. Indra and the devas prayed to Vishnu and asked for his help. Vishnu woke up and wanted to know about the asura. Indra told Vishnu about the asura and Vishnu said he would kill Mura. He went to the asura’s kingdom and there, he killed most of the asuras there with his arrows. Using his discus, he killed all except Mura. Vishnu and Mura fought for many days but Vishnu was not able to defeat him. Seeing this the other devas fled. Exhausted, Vishnu left the battlefield and went inside a cave in Badrikashrama and went to sleep. Mura followed Vishnu and saw him sleeping. He thought he would kill Vishnu. As he was about to, a divine maiden came out of Vishnu. She was armed and was carrying many weapons. She uttered a sound and Mura was burnt to ashes.

When Vishnu woke up, he saw the pile of ashes. Realizing this was Mura, he wanted to know who had killed Mura. The maiden appeared before him and pleased with her, Vishnu offered her a boon. The maiden said she was Ekadashi and asked for three boons:

• She asked that she be worshipped in all ages.
• She should be worshipped along with the worship of Vishnu.
• All who worshipped her and Vishnu devotedly were blessed.

Pleased with her, Vishnu granted her the boons.

List of Ekadashis

There are usually 24 Ekadashis. I said usually as in some years there are 26. Below is the list.

S.No	Hindu Month	Equivalent English Month (Approximate)	Krishna Paksha (Waning Moon)	Shukla Paksha (Waxing Moon)
1	Margashirsha	November – December	Utpanna Ekadashi	Mokshada Ekadashi
2	Pausha	December – January	Saphala Ekadashi	Putrada Ekadashi
3	Magha	January – February	Shattila Ekadashi	Jaya Ekadashi
4	Phalguna	February – March	Vijaya Ekadashi	Amalaki Ekadashi
5	Chaitra	March – April	Papmochani Ekadashi	Kamada Ekadashi
6	Vaishakha	April – May	Varuthini Ekadashi	Mohini Ekadashi
7	Jyeshtha	May – June	Apara Ekadashi	Nirjala Ekadashi
8	Ashadha	June – July	Yogini Ekadashi	Devshayani Ekadashi
9	Shravana	July – August	Kamika Ekadashi	Shravana Putrada Ekadashi
10	Bhadrapada	August – September	Aja Ekadashi	Parivartini (Parsva) Ekadashi
11	Ashwin	September – October	Indira Ekadashi	Papankusha Ekadashi
12	Kartika	October – November	Rama Ekadashi	Devotthana (Prabodhini) Ekadashi

Leap Month (Adhik Maas) Ekadashis

Occurs approximately every three years during the intercalary month:

S.No	Leap Month Period	Equivalent English Month	Krishna Paksha Ekadashi	Shukla Paksha Ekadashi
13	Adhik Maas	Varies. It generally occurs every 32 to 33 months (roughly once every 2.5 to 3 years) to align the lunar calendar with the solar calendar. As a result, it rotates and can land anywhere between Chaitra and Kartika (typically spanning across mid-May to mid-October), but it never occurs during Magha, Phalguna, Pausha, or Margashirsha.	Parama Ekadashi	Padmini Ekadashi

Glossary of terms used here

Term	Meaning / Context
Ekadashi	The eleventh lunar day of each of the two fortnights in a Hindu calendar month.
Shravana Putrada Ekadashi / Shravana Shukla Ekadashi	The Putrada Ekadashi occurring in the bright fortnight of the Hindu month of Shravana.
Jyeshtha	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. May – June)
Badrikashrama	A sacred pilgrimage site in the Himalayas
Margashirsha	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. November – December)
Pausha	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. December – January)
Magha	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. January – February)
Phalguna	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. February – March)
Chaitra	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. March – April)
Vaishakha	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. April – May)
Ashadha	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. June – July)
Shravana	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. July – August)
Bhadrapada	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. August – September)
Ashwin	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. September – October)
Kartika	A month in the Hindu calendar (approx. October – November)
Adhik Maas	The intercalary month in the Hindu calendar
Krishna Paksha	The waning moon fortnight (dark fortnight)
Shukla Paksha	The waxing moon fortnight (bright fortnight)