BREAKING THE FAST ON THE NEXT DAY. THE SWING FESTIVAL OF LORD SRI SRI RAHDA GOVINDAJI STARTS ON THIS DAY AND ENDS ON FULL MOON DAY. FASTING FROM LEAFY VEGETABLES ENDS HERE. YOGURT AND BUTTERMILK FAST BEGINS HERE AND LASTS FOR NEXT 30 DAYS.

Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja said, “O Madhusūdana, O killer of the Madhu demon, please be merciful to me and describe to me the Ekādaśī that occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Śravaṇa [July-August] .”

The Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, replied, “Yes, O king, I shall happily narrate its glories to you, for j ust by hearing about this sacred Ekādaśī one attains the merit of performing a horse sacrifice.”

“At the dawn of Dvāpara-yuga there lived a king by the name of Mahijita, who ruled the kingdom of Māhiṣmatī-purī. Because he had no son, his entire kingdom seemed utterly cheerless to him. A married man who has no son gains no happiness in this life or the next. For a long time this king tried very hard to obtain an heir, but to no avail. Seeing his years advancing ever onwards, King Mahijita became increasingly anxious. One day he told an assembly of his advisers : ‘I have committed no sin in this life, and there is no ill-gotten wealth in my treasury. I have never usurped the offerings to the demigods or brāhmaṇas. When I waged war and conquered kingdoms, I followed the rules and regulations of the military art , and I have protected my subjects as if they were my own children. I punished even my own relatives if they broke the law, and if my enemy was gentle and religious I welcomed him. O twice-born souls, although I am a religious and faithful follower of the Vedic standards, still my home is without a son. Kindly tell me the reason for this.”

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