Utthana Ekadasi

The Day the Gods Awake

Aditi Banerjee
3 min readNov 11, 2024
Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash

There is a lovely, almost 700-page book entitled Ekadasi Svarupa Darshana, issued by ISKCON, that is the most detailed text I’ve found on Ekadasi, the fast observed by many Hindus during the eleventh day of the waxing and waning moon according to the lunar calendar. Each Ekadasi has its own lore and significance, and this book beautifully captures this. I’ll be sharing gems from this book, along with my own reflections, on each Ekadasi.

And so it is only fitting to start with Utthana Ekadasi, the day when the Devas arise from their four-month nap which coincides with Chaturmasya. Chaturmasya is a four-month period of retreat and fasting observed by Hindus during the rainy season, when even sadhus retire to one place for study and sadhana.

As Ekadasi Svarupa Darshana notes,

The importance of following Chaturmasya-vrata is stated in all the shastras. To follow this vrata is not only of paramount importance for the sadhaka. It is to be followed by everyone, by all family members and by all souls in all species of life. All the shastras proclaim that everyone should follow Chaturmasya.

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Aditi Banerjee
Aditi Banerjee

Written by Aditi Banerjee

Published novelist. Practicing attorney. Writer and speaker on Indic civilization and Hinduism. Incurable wanderlust for the Himalayas and other fabled lands.

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