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Shukla paksha · Margashirsha · amanta reckoning

When is Mokshada Ekadashi 2026?

Mokshada Ekadashi 2026

In 55 days

Sun, 20 Dec

Mokshada Ekadashi 2026 is on Sunday, 20 December. Parana, breaking the fast, is on 21 December, 7:09 AM to 9:13 AM in New Delhi.

2027: Thursday, 9 December 2027

Parana (breaking the fast), 21 Dec 2026

7:09 AM – 9:13 AM

New Delhi

Also called Gita Jayanti, Geeta Jayanti, Mokshda Ekadashi. Those are the same observance and the same date, so they share this page rather than competing with it from a second URL.

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Computed for New Delhi

The date in New Delhi

Sunday, 20 December 2026

Mokshada Ekadashi 2026 timings in New Delhi
TimingNew DelhiWhat it is
Parana (breaking the fast), 21 Dec 20267:09 AM to 9:13 AMThe window is the first fifth of the daylight (pratahkala).

Mokshada Ekadashi is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 11 of Margashirsha in the amanta reckoning, and the Gregorian day it lands on moves by up to a month between years because twelve lunations fall about eleven days short of a solar year.

Tithi
Ekadashi, Shukla paksha
Lunar month
Margashirsha (amanta)
Tithi begins
19 Dec, 10:10 PM
Tithi ends
20 Dec, 8:15 PM
Decided at
Sunrise
Sunrise in New Delhi
20 Dec, 7:08 AM

Sunrise in New Delhi falls at 7:08 AM on that day, and that is the instant the tithi has to be running at for the day to carry the observance. It is computed for this city rather than assumed, because it is what decides the date.

The two instants above are the astronomy and are not in dispute. The day is an interpretation of them: this observance is decided at sunrise, so it belongs to the day whose sunrise the tithi carries — not simply to the day the tithi begins.

Shukla paksha · Margashirsha

Mokshada Ekadashi 2026: Smarta and Vaishnava dates

This year the Sun is in Dhanu (Sagittarius) — the Tamil month of Margazhi — on this Ekadashi, so in South India it is also kept as Vaikuntha Ekadashi, on Sunday, 20 December 2026, when the Vaikuntha Dwaram is opened at Srirangam, Tirupati and other Vishnu temples.

Listed here (Smarta, the sunrise rule)
Sunday, 20 December 2026 — The fast belongs to the day whose sunrise carries Ekadashi — the day AstroSage lists and the one this page leads with.
Vaishnava (ISKCON), the arunodaya rule
Sunday, 20 December 2026 — The same day this year. The Vaishnava rule reads the tithi at arunodaya, the 96 minutes before sunrise, rather than at sunrise; the arunodaya of Sunday, 20 December 2026 (20 Dec, 5:32 AM) is already inside Ekadashi, not Dashami.

Every day above is computed for New Delhi from the same tithi instants. ISKCON temples publish their own calendar for each city and also apply the Mahadvadashi rules, which can move a fast to Dwadashi in some years — where your temple's calendar differs, follow it.

Meaning and vrat katha

Mokshada Ekadashi vrat katha and significance

Mokshada Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Margashirsha, the month Krishna calls his own in the Gita ("of months I am Margashirsha"). Mokshada means "giver of release". The day is kept for Vishnu, and for Krishna as the speaker of the Gita, with the fast's merit traditionally offered for one's ancestors — the subject of its katha.

Gita Jayanti is kept on this same Ekadashi. By tradition it is the day Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the field of Kurukshetra, and it is marked with recitation of the Gita — often all eighteen chapters — and with the Gita path in temples, above all at Kurukshetra itself. Gita Jayanti has no date of its own: it is Mokshada Ekadashi, which is why it shares this page.

The katha

Retold in brief from the Brahmanda Purana, in the Ekadashi-mahatmya told by Krishna to Yudhishthira.

King Vaikhanasa ruled the city of Champaka and cared for his people as a father would. One night he dreamt that his own father was suffering in the lower worlds and calling out to him for help. He woke shaken and asked the learned brahmins of his court what he should do.

They sent him to the hermitage of the sage Parvata, who knew past, present and future. Parvata sat in meditation and then told the king what he had seen: in his lifetime the king's father had wronged one of his wives, and that act was what held him now.

The remedy, the sage said, was close at hand. The king should keep the Ekadashi of the bright half of Margashirsha — Mokshada, the giver of release — with his whole household, and then give the merit of the fast to his father.

Vaikhanasa did so with his queen, his children and his ministers. As he offered the merit, the Purana says, flowers fell from the sky and his father, freed, blessed his son on his way to the heavens. Krishna ends by telling Yudhishthira that this fast is like the wish-granting jewel, and that hearing the story is itself counted as merit.

How the fast is kept

  • The fast runs from sunrise on the Ekadashi day to parana on Dwadashi. Many families eat a single plain meal on Dashami, the evening before.
  • Grains and rice are left out on Ekadashi. Those who cannot keep a complete fast take fruit, milk or a phalahar meal; a waterless fast is kept only by those whose tradition and health allow it.
  • Vishnu is worshipped with tulsi leaves, a lamp and his names; reading or hearing the day's katha is part of the observance, and many stay awake for a part of the night in kirtan or japa.
  • Parana is on Dwadashi, after Hari Vasara — the first quarter of Dwadashi — has passed. The window for your city is computed above.

Fasting customs are described here as tradition, not as medical advice. Consult a doctor before fasting, particularly if you are pregnant, diabetic, elderly or on medication.

All 26 · New Delhi

Every Ekadashi and its next date

Twenty-four in an ordinary year, two more in a year with an adhika month. Each has its own page with its katha, parana and Smarta and Vaishnava dates.

The next Ekadashi and its parana · every Ekadashi of 2026 with tithi and parana times

All Mokshada Ekadashi 2026 muhurat · New Delhi

Mokshada Ekadashi muhurat

Mokshada Ekadashi, the Ekadashi of the bright half of Margashirsha, is kept for Vishnu as the giver of release (moksha), and it is also Gita Jayanti, the day Krishna is said to have spoken the Bhagavad Gita. In New Delhi it falls on Sunday, 20 December 2026: the fast runs from sunrise to parana on Dwadashi, 21 Dec, 7:09 AM to 9:13 AM, and the Gita is read through the day.

All Mokshada Ekadashi 2026 muhurat in New Delhi
MuhuratTime in New DelhiWhat it is for
Parana: the time to break the fast21 Dec, 7:09 AM to 9:13 AMThe morning of Dwadashi (the first fifth of the day), Hari Vasara having ended overnight.

The window on Dwadashi, the morning after the fast, in which Mokshada Ekadashi is completed. It opens once Hari Vasara is over and normally closes with the first part of the morning; when Hari Vasara runs late it moves past midday, and it never runs beyond the end of Dwadashi. The time shown is computed for New Delhi.

Hari Vasara ends21 Dec, 1:35 AMThe end of the first quarter of Dwadashi; the fast is never broken inside it.

Hari Vasara is the first quarter of Dwadashi. The fast is not broken inside it, even when it is already morning, so its end in New Delhi is the earliest moment parana can begin.

Brahma Muhurta5:19 AM to 6:14 AMThe 14th of the night's fifteen muhurtas, ending one muhurta before sunrise.

The hour before dawn on the Ekadashi day, the traditional time to wake, bathe and take the sankalp of the fast.

Sunrise7:08 AMThe upper edge of the Sun on the horizon, with refraction.

The fast is counted from sunrise on Ekadashi to parana on Dwadashi, and the morning puja begins after it.

Auspicious choghadiya (day)
  • Chal 8:26 AM to 9:43 AM
  • Labh 9:43 AM to 11:01 AM
  • Amrit 11:01 AM to 12:18 PM
  • Shubh 1:36 PM to 2:53 PM
The day's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal choghadiyas.

The day's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal periods. Families who cannot worship at dawn choose one of them for the main puja.

Pradosh Kaal: the evening lamps5:28 PM to 8:12 PMFrom sunset for three night muhurtas (a fifth of the night).

The evening after sunset, when lamps are lit before Vishnu and beside the tulsi and the aarti is sung again.

Nishita Kaal: the night vigil11:51 PM to 12:46 AM (21 Dec)The 8th of the night's fifteen muhurtas, around the middle of the night.

The middle of the night, the heart of the jagran. Those who keep the night awake give this part of it to kirtan and japa.

Rahu Kaal (to avoid)Kept clear of4:11 PM to 5:28 PMRahu's eighth of the daylight, fixed by the weekday: a puja, a purchase or a journey is not begun in it.

The weekday's Rahu Kaal on the Ekadashi day in New Delhi. Many families avoid beginning the sankalp or the main puja inside it; it does not change the fast itself or the parana window.

Auspicious windows that day

Auspicious windows that day
WindowTime in New DelhiWhat it is
Abhijit Muhurat11:57 AM to 12:39 PMAuspicious
Amrit Kaal8:02 AM to 9:34 AMMost Auspicious
Brahma Muhurat5:19 AM to 6:14 AMAuspicious

Windows usually worked around

These are the spans classical muhurta sets aside for beginnings. They are descriptions of a convention, not warnings: the observance is kept on its day regardless, and nothing here needs to be bought, corrected or remedied.

Windows usually worked around
WindowTime in New Delhi
Rahu Kaal4:11 PM to 5:28 PM
Yamaganda Kaal12:18 PM to 1:36 PM
Durmuhurta First4:05 PM to 4:47 PM
Varjyam11:06 AM to 12:38 PM
Varjyam (Second)11:49 PM to 1:18 AM

Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Sunday, 20 December 2026, from the sunrise, sunset and the positions of the Sun and Moon for this city. The Vedic day runs sunrise to sunrise, so a window whose clock time falls after midnight still belongs to the evening before; a time on another date carries that date.

Puja vidhi · step by step at home

Mokshada Ekadashi puja vidhi

  1. The day before: Dashami

    Eat a single simple meal on Dashami, before sunset, without onion, garlic or rice, and keep the evening light and quiet. Clean the puja corner and pick the tulsi leaves you will need, since tulsi is not plucked on Ekadashi itself.

  2. Wake early and bathe

    Rise early on Ekadashi, in Brahma Muhurta if you can, bathe (a few drops of Ganga jal in the water if you have it) and put on clean clothes; yellow is the colour traditionally worn for Vishnu.

  3. Take the sankalp

    Sit before the altar, hold a little water and a flower in your right hand and resolve to keep the vrat: say your name, that you are keeping Mokshada Ekadashi for Vishnu, and how you will fast, whether without water, on water alone, on fruit or with one phalahar meal. Then let the water fall. The Ekadashi sankalpa verse in the mantra section can be said here.

  4. Set up the altar

    Spread a yellow cloth on a clean chowki and place an image of Vishnu or Krishna on it (a Shaligram or Laddu Gopal if the house keeps one), with a ghee lamp and a small kalash or lota of water. Remember Ganesh first, with a flower and Om Gam Ganapataye Namah, as every puja begins.

  5. Worship Vishnu

    Bathe a metal idol or the Shaligram with water, then panchamrit, then water again (for a picture, sprinkle water with a flower). Offer sandalwood, yellow flowers, a yellow cloth or mauli, incense, the lamp and tulsi leaves picked the day before, chanting Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Many households keep rice out of the Ekadashi puja altogether and offer a flower or a few sesame seeds where akshat would go.

  6. Offer bhog

    Offer what you will eat yourself: fruit, a sweet made without grain, makhana, dry fruit or panchamrit, with a tulsi leaf on each offering. Nothing cooked from grain or pulses is offered or eaten on Ekadashi.

  7. Katha and aarti

    Read or listen to the Mokshada Ekadashi vrat katha below, and the Vishnu Sahasranama or a chapter of the Gita if you can. Then sing Om Jai Jagdish Hare with a ghee lamp or camphor, and ask pardon for any mistake made in the puja.

  8. Gita path for Gita Jayanti

    Mokshada is also Gita Jayanti. Place a copy of the Bhagavad Gita on the altar, offer it a flower and the lamp, and read it: all eighteen chapters if you can, alone or shared among the family, or else one chapter, such as the twelfth on devotion or the eighteenth.

  9. Through the day

    Keep the fast as you resolved it, keep Vishnu's name in mind and avoid sleeping in the day, anger, gossip and harsh words. Give water, fruit or food to someone who needs it; charity is part of every Ekadashi.

  10. Lamps at dusk

    At sunset light a ghee lamp before Vishnu and another beside the tulsi plant, without plucking its leaves, and sing the aarti again.

  11. The night vigil

    Stay awake for as much of the night as you can, in kirtan, japa or reading; the middle of the night is the heart of the jagran. Those who cannot keep the whole night keep a part of it.

  12. Dedicate the fast to your ancestors

    As King Vaikhanasa did in the katha, many families offer the merit of Mokshada to their ancestors. On Dwadashi morning, before parana, hold water, a flower and a few sesame seeds, name those you remember and pour the water out with a prayer for their peace.

  13. Dwadashi: give, then break the fast

    Next morning bathe, worship Vishnu briefly and give food, grain or a gift to a brahmin or someone in need. Then break the fast inside the parana window: a tulsi leaf with water, or a fruit, first, saying the parana verse, and after it a simple sattvic meal.

Samagri · what to keep ready

Mokshada Ekadashi puja samagri list

  • An image of Vishnu or Krishna A framed picture is enough; a metal idol, a Shaligram or Laddu Gopal is bathed in the puja.
  • A chowki and a yellow cloth Yellow is Vishnu's colour; a clean red cloth also does.
  • Tulsi leaves Picked on Dashami, because tulsi is not plucked on Ekadashi; one goes on every offering.
  • A ghee lamp and cotton wicks One for the altar and one for the tulsi at dusk; sesame oil is the usual alternative.
  • Yellow flowers and a garland Marigold, champa or any fresh yellow flowers; a lotus if you can find one.
  • Chandan (sandalwood paste) For the deity's tilak; haldi paste is the alternative.
  • Roli and haldi For the tilak and for marking the kalash.
  • Panchamrit Milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar, for the bath of the idol and as prasad.
  • Ganga jal A few drops in the bath water and to purify the altar; clean water if you have none.
  • A kalash or lota of water For the bath, achaman and the sankalp.
  • Incense and dhoop Whatever you use every day.
  • Camphor, an aarti plate and a bell For the aarti; a conch if the house has one.
  • Mauli (kalava) Offered as the deity's cloth or tied on the wrist.
  • A yellow cloth for the deity Optional; mauli takes its place.
  • Fruits of the season Banana, apple, guava, pomegranate or whatever is fresh, offered and then eaten as phalahar.
  • Grain-free sweets Makhana kheer, mishri, peda or dry fruit; nothing made with flour or rice.
  • A few sesame seeds Offered where akshat would go by the many households that keep rice out of the Ekadashi puja.
  • A tulsi mala For 108 repetitions of the mantra.
  • The vrat katha, Vishnu Sahasranama or Gita A book or a phone; reading the katha is part of the vrat.
  • Daan for Dwadashi Grain, fruit, clothes or dakshina, given before parana.
  • A copy of the Bhagavad Gita For the Gita path of Gita Jayanti; it is offered a flower before the reading.
  • Black sesame and kusha grass For dedicating the fast's merit to the ancestors on Dwadashi.

Mantras · in Devanagari, with meaning

Mokshada Ekadashi mantras and aarti

Shantakaram: the Vishnu dhyana verse

शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्णं शुभाङ्गम् ।
लक्ष्मीकान्तं कमलनयनं योगिभिर्ध्यानगम्यं वन्दे विष्णुं भवभयहरं सर्वलोकैकनाथम् ॥

Shantakaram bhujagashayanam padmanabham suresham vishvadharam gaganasadrisham meghavarnam shubhangam
Lakshmikantam kamalanayanam yogibhir dhyanagamyam vande Vishnum bhavabhayaharam sarvalokaikanatham

Meaning: I bow to Vishnu: peaceful in form, resting on the serpent, the lotus at his navel, lord of the gods, support of the universe, vast as the sky, dark as a rain cloud, of auspicious form, beloved of Lakshmi, lotus-eyed, reached by yogis in meditation, who removes the fear of worldly existence, the one lord of all the worlds.

When and how: Once, with folded hands, before the worship begins, picturing Vishnu as the verse describes him.

The Ekadashi sankalpa verse

एकादश्यां निराहारः स्थित्वाहमपरेऽहनि ।
भोक्ष्यामि पुण्डरीकाक्ष शरणं मे भवाच्युत ॥

Ekadashyam niraharah sthitvaham apare'hani
Bhokshyami pundarikaksha sharanam me bhavachyuta

Meaning: O lotus-eyed Lord, I shall stay without food on Ekadashi and eat on the day after. O Achyuta, be my refuge.

When and how: Once in the morning, with water in the right hand, while taking the sankalp of the fast.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya (the twelve-syllable mantra)

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Meaning: Om, salutation to the Lord Vasudeva, Vishnu as the one who dwells in all beings. It is the mantra Narada taught the boy Dhruva in the Bhagavata Purana.

When and how: The main japa of Ekadashi: 108 times on a tulsi mala during the puja, and as often as you like through the day and the night vigil.

Bhagavad Gita, chapter 18, verse 66

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥

Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vraja
Aham tva sarva-papebhyo mokshayishyami ma shuchah

Meaning: Setting aside every other duty, take refuge in me alone. I shall release you from all wrongdoing; do not grieve. The culminating teaching Krishna gives Arjuna near the close of the Gita.

When and how: Read after the puja, alone or as the close of a chapter of the Gita; many recite all eighteen chapters.

Bhagavad Gita, chapter 10, verse 35

बृहत्साम तथा साम्नां गायत्री छन्दसामहम् ।
मासानां मार्गशीर्षोऽहमृतूनां कुसुमाकरः ॥

Brihat-sama tatha samnam gayatri chhandasam aham
Masanam margashirsho'ham ritunam kusumakarah

Meaning: Of the Sama hymns I am the Brihat Sama, of metres the Gayatri; of months I am Margashirsha, of seasons the flowering spring. The verse in which Krishna names this month as his own.

When and how: Read once in the morning puja of a Margashirsha Ekadashi.

The parana verse

अज्ञानतिमिरान्धस्य व्रतेनानेन केशव ।
प्रसीद सुमुखो नाथ ज्ञानदृष्टिप्रदो भव ॥

Ajnana-timirandhasya vratenanena Keshava
Prasida sumukho natha jnana-drishti-prado bhava

Meaning: O Keshava, by this vow be pleased with one who is blinded by the darkness of ignorance. Be gracious, Lord, and grant the sight of knowledge.

When and how: Once on Dwadashi, inside the parana window, before the first sip of water or bite of fruit.

Aarti Vishnu Aarti: Om Jai Jagdish Hare the full text

ॐ जय जगदीश हरे, स्वामी जय जगदीश हरे।
भक्त जनों के संकट, दास जनों के संकट, क्षण में दूर करे॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

जो ध्यावे फल पावे, दुःख बिनसे मन का, स्वामी दुःख बिनसे मन का।
सुख सम्पति घर आवे, सुख सम्पति घर आवे, कष्ट मिटे तन का॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

मात पिता तुम मेरे, शरण गहूं किसकी, स्वामी शरण गहूं मैं किसकी।
तुम बिन और न दूजा, तुम बिन और न दूजा, आस करूं मैं जिसकी॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

तुम पूरण परमात्मा, तुम अन्तर्यामी, स्वामी तुम अन्तर्यामी।
पारब्रह्म परमेश्वर, पारब्रह्म परमेश्वर, तुम सब के स्वामी॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

तुम करुणा के सागर, तुम पालनकर्ता, स्वामी तुम पालनकर्ता।
मैं मूरख फलकामी, मैं सेवक तुम स्वामी, कृपा करो भर्ता॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

तुम हो एक अगोचर, सबके प्राणपति, स्वामी सबके प्राणपति।
किस विधि मिलूं दयामय, किस विधि मिलूं दयामय, तुमको मैं कुमति॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

दीन-बन्धु दुःख-हर्ता, ठाकुर तुम मेरे, स्वामी रक्षक तुम मेरे।
अपने हाथ उठाओ, अपने शरण लगाओ, द्वार पड़ा तेरे॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

विषय-विकार मिटाओ, पाप हरो देवा, स्वामी पाप हरो देवा।
श्रद्धा भक्ति बढ़ाओ, श्रद्धा भक्ति बढ़ाओ, सन्तन की सेवा॥

ॐ जय जगदीश हरे, स्वामी जय जगदीश हरे।
भक्त जनों के संकट, दास जनों के संकट, क्षण में दूर करे॥

Om jai Jagdish hare, swami jai Jagdish hare.
Bhakt janon ke sankat, das janon ke sankat, kshan mein door kare.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Jo dhyave phal pave, dukh binse man ka, swami dukh binse man ka.
Sukh sampati ghar aave, sukh sampati ghar aave, kasht mite tan ka.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Maat pita tum mere, sharan gahoon kiski, swami sharan gahoon main kiski.
Tum bin aur na dooja, tum bin aur na dooja, aas karoon main jiski.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Tum pooran Parmatma, tum antaryami, swami tum antaryami.
Parabrahm Parmeshwar, Parabrahm Parmeshwar, tum sab ke swami.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Tum karuna ke sagar, tum palankarta, swami tum palankarta.
Main moorakh phalkami, main sevak tum swami, kripa karo bharta.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Tum ho ek agochar, sabke pranpati, swami sabke pranpati.
Kis vidhi miloon dayamay, kis vidhi miloon dayamay, tumko main kumati.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Deen-bandhu dukh-harta, thakur tum mere, swami rakshak tum mere.
Apne haath uthao, apne sharan lagao, dwar pada tere.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Vishay-vikar mitao, paap haro deva, swami paap haro deva.
Shraddha bhakti badhao, shraddha bhakti badhao, santan ki seva.

Om jai Jagdish hare, swami jai Jagdish hare.
Bhakt janon ke sankat, das janon ke sankat, kshan mein door kare.

Text as it is commonly sung. The Gita Press Aarti Sangrah prints 'prabhu' for 'swami', 'chhin mein' for 'kshan mein' and 'khal kami' for 'phalkami'; it does not repeat the half-lines, has no 'das janon ke sankat', 'main sevak tum swami' or 'apne sharan lagao', and reads 'tum thakur mere' for 'thakur tum mere, swami rakshak tum mere'. Printed text

Significance

Why Mokshada Ekadashi is kept

What this day asks is twofold: to let go of the past, and to remember the dead through an act, not only through grief. King Vaikhanasa, shaken by a dream of his father suffering, fasted together with the whole household and handed over the fruit of it, and the Purana says the father was freed. Many families keep it the same way today, naming a parent or grandparent in the sankalp. The Purana likens this vrat to the wish-granting jewel and counts even listening to the story as worthwhile.

Gita Jayanti falls on this same day, so many read a chapter of the Gita, or all eighteen, alongside the fast. Vivah Panchami, the wedding day of Rama and Sita, comes a few days before it, and Datta Jayanti on the full moon a few days after. In some years the Sun is in Dhanu on this day, and South India keeps it as Vaikuntha Ekadashi too; this page notes those years.

Upay · traditional practice

Mokshada Ekadashi upay: traditional remedies

Read the Gita through the day

Gita Jayanti is kept above all by reading the Gita: the whole of it, shared among the family if need be, or a chapter at each of the day's pujas. Those who cannot read listen with attention.

Offer the fast to the ancestors

Following the katha, dedicate the merit of the vrat to your parents and forebears on Dwadashi morning, with water, a flower and sesame, before you break the fast.

Give a Gita

Giving a copy of the Gita, in a language the receiver reads, is the gift most associated with Gita Jayanti; many temples and families give them away on this day.

A ghee lamp before Krishna

As the speaker of the Gita, Krishna is worshipped with Vishnu today; light a ghee lamp before his image in the evening and sing his names.

Learn one verse by heart

Learn a single verse of the Gita today, such as the one in the mantra section, and say it every morning until the next Gita Jayanti.

Kurukshetra or a Krishna temple

Those who can, visit Kurukshetra's Brahma Sarovar and Jyotisar, where tradition places the teaching, or join the Gita path at a nearby Krishna temple.

Feed someone before parana

Give a meal, or grain and fruit, to someone in need on Dwadashi morning before you break your own fast; it is the customary close of the vrat.

The custom, in short

Mokshada Ekadashi do's and don'ts

Do

  • Eat one light sattvic meal on Dashami, before sunset.
  • Take the sankalp in the morning and keep the fast in the form you chose.
  • Put a tulsi leaf, picked the day before, on every offering.
  • Chant Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya and read or hear the katha.
  • Light a lamp before Vishnu and beside the tulsi at dusk.
  • Keep at least part of the night awake in kirtan or japa.
  • Give food or water to someone in need, and give daan on Dwadashi before parana.
  • Break the fast inside the parana window on Dwadashi.
  • Read the Bhagavad Gita, or at least one chapter of it, for Gita Jayanti.
  • If you dedicate the fast to your ancestors, do it on Dwadashi before parana.

Don't

  • Do not eat rice, wheat, dal or any other grain or pulse on Ekadashi.
  • Do not pluck tulsi leaves on Ekadashi.
  • Do not eat onion, garlic, meat or eggs, or drink alcohol, from Dashami to Dwadashi.
  • Do not sleep during the day.
  • Do not quarrel, lie or speak harshly.
  • Do not break the fast during Hari Vasara, or let Dwadashi pass without parana.
  • Do not press the sick, the elderly, pregnant or nursing women or children into a strict fast; anyone with diabetes or another condition, or on regular medicine, should ask a doctor before fasting.
  • Do not keep the Gita on the floor; close it with a short prayer when you finish.

Across India

Mokshada Ekadashi customs and food

By region

Kurukshetra, Haryana
The International Gita Mahotsav runs for several days around Gita Jayanti, with Gita recitation, aarti at the Brahma Sarovar and pilgrims at Jyotisar.
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
In years when the Sun is in Dhanu on this day it is also Vaikuntha Ekadashi, and the Vaikuntha Dwaram is opened before dawn at Srirangam, Tirupati and other Vishnu temples.
ISKCON temples
Gita Jayanti is marked with recitation of the Gita, kirtan and the giving away of copies of the Gita.

Bhog, prasad and fasting food

  • Fruit and milk The simplest phalahar: seasonal fruit, milk, curd or buttermilk through the day.
  • Sabudana khichdi Sago with potato and rock salt, often with peanuts; a staple fasting meal in many homes.
  • Kuttu or singhara puri Buckwheat or water-chestnut flour with potato sabzi, in families whose custom allows these flours.
  • Samak, the vrat rice Barnyard millet cooked like rice in North India; some traditions count millets as grain and leave it out.
  • Potato, sweet potato and arbi Boiled, or lightly fried in ghee with rock salt, cumin and green chilli.
  • Makhana Roasted, or as kheer, for the bhog and the fast.
  • Sendha namak (rock salt) Used instead of common salt by most who fast; some keep the day without salt altogether.
  • The parana meal On Dwadashi, a tulsi leaf with water or a fruit first, then a simple home-cooked meal; grain returns with the parana.

Mokshada Ekadashi across five years

Two years back, this year, and two ahead. Past years are kept rather than dropped so you can check the engine against a calendar you already have.

Mokshada Ekadashi across five years
YearDateStatus
2024Wednesday, 11 December 2024past
2025Monday, 1 December 2025past
2026This yearSunday, 20 December 2026upcoming
2027Thursday, 9 December 2027upcoming
2028Monday, 27 November 2028upcoming

Every row is computed for New Delhi from the same ephemeris, not looked up. Sunrise decides which day a tithi names, and sunrise differs across India by more than an hour, so a date computed for Delhi can be a day out elsewhere.

Why calendars disagree about this date

There is no single authority that settles a Hindu festival date, and the divergence is genuine rather than sloppy. Three causes account for almost all of it.

  1. A tithi rarely starts at sunrise. One that is running at the deciding moment on two days — or on none — is claimed by both days under different rules.
  2. Month reckoning. North India runs purnimanta, the south and west amanta. The same dark fortnight carries different month names in the two, so an observance defined as "krishna X of month Y" can land a full lunation apart.
  3. Which moment decides. Most vratas belong to the day whose sunrise carries the tithi, but not all: this one is decided at sunrise. Almanacs that apply the sunrise rule to everything move several festivals by a day.

So this page shows its working. If your pandit or your family almanac gives a different day, the instants above will usually show you exactly why — and that is more useful than a date asserted without one.

Common questions

When is Mokshada Ekadashi?

In New Delhi, Mokshada Ekadashi falls on Sunday, 20 December 2026, with Ekadashi tithi running 10:09 PM (19 Dec) to 8:15 PM. It is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Margashirsha, and because it is a bright-half Ekadashi the purnimanta and amanta calendars give it the same month. It comes between late November and late December.

Why does another calendar give a different Mokshada Ekadashi date?

Three honest reasons. The tithi can be running at the deciding moment on two days or on none. North India reckons the month purnimanta and the south and west amanta, which names the same krishna fortnight differently. And almanacs differ on which moment of the day decides an observance. The instants above are the astronomy; the day is an interpretation of them.

Why is Mokshada Ekadashi observed?

Mokshada Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Margashirsha, the month Krishna calls his own in the Gita ("of months I am Margashirsha"). Mokshada means "giver of release". The day is kept for Vishnu, and for Krishna as the speaker of the Gita, with the fast's merit traditionally offered for one's ancestors — the subject of its katha.

Where does the Mokshada Ekadashi vrat katha come from?

It is told in the Brahmanda Purana, in the Ekadashi-mahatmya told by Krishna to Yudhishthira. The katha is retold in full above.

Is Mokshada Ekadashi on a different day for Smarta and Vaishnava (ISKCON)?

Not this year — both keep Sunday, 20 December 2026. The Vaishnava rule reads Ekadashi at arunodaya, and Ekadashi already holds that day's arunodaya.

Is Gita Jayanti on the same day as Mokshada Ekadashi?

Yes. Gita Jayanti has no date of its own: by tradition Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi, which is Mokshada Ekadashi, so in New Delhi Gita Jayanti is also on Sunday, 20 December 2026. Those who are not fasting keep it with a reading of the Gita; those who fast make the reading part of the vrat.

What is the Mokshada Ekadashi parana time?

Parana is on Dwadashi, the morning after. In New Delhi the window is 21 Dec, 7:09 AM to 9:13 AM, opening once Hari Vasara has ended (21 Dec, 1:35 AM). Many families give food or a Gita to someone before breaking the fast, and those who dedicate the vrat to their ancestors do so just before parana.

What is the Mokshada Ekadashi vrat katha?

King Vaikhanasa of Champaka dreamt that his late father was suffering in the lower worlds. The sage Parvata saw in meditation that the father was held by a wrong he had done to one of his wives, and told the king to keep the bright-half Ekadashi of Margashirsha with his household and give its merit to his father. When he did, the Purana says, flowers fell from the sky and the father was released. The full katha is above.

What does Mokshada mean?

Mokshada means the giver of moksha, release. The name comes from its katha, in which a son's fast frees his father, and from the belief that the vrat loosens the hold of one's own past deeds as well. It is the bright-half Ekadashi of Margashirsha, kept for Vishnu and for Krishna as the speaker of the Gita.

Why is Gita Jayanti celebrated?

It marks the day, by tradition, on which Krishna taught the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, when Arjuna had put down his bow before the war. Homes and temples read its eighteen chapters on duty, devotion and the self, copies are given away, and many people take up the habit of reading a little of it every day.

How is Gita Jayanti kept at Kurukshetra?

Kurukshetra, where tradition places the Gita's teaching, holds a festival of several days around Gita Jayanti, the International Gita Mahotsav, with recitation, aarti at the Brahma Sarovar and visits to Jyotisar, the spot associated with the teaching itself. The organisers announce its start and end dates each year; the Ekadashi at its centre is the date on this page.

Which mantra should be read on Mokshada Ekadashi?

The main japa is Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, 108 times on a tulsi mala. For Gita Jayanti many read the Gita verse beginning Sarva-dharman parityajya, in which Krishna promises to release Arjuna from all wrongdoing, and the verse in which he names Margashirsha as his own month. Both, with their meaning, are in the mantra section.

Can the merit of Mokshada Ekadashi be offered to the ancestors?

Yes, and that is the katha itself: King Vaikhanasa kept the vrat with his family and gave its merit to his father. On Dwadashi morning, before parana, hold water, a flower and a few sesame seeds, name the ancestors you remember and pour the water out with a prayer for their peace. It is a dedication made with faith, and it can be done at home without a priest.

What should be done on Mokshada Ekadashi?

Fast without grain, worship Vishnu and Krishna with tulsi, yellow flowers and a ghee lamp, read the Mokshada katha and the Gita, give food or a copy of the Gita to someone, keep part of the night awake and break the fast in the parana window. Avoid rice, onion and garlic, daytime sleep and harsh words.

What can I eat in the Mokshada Ekadashi fast?

Phalahar only, if you are not keeping a water fast: fruit, milk, curd, makhana, sabudana, potato, sweet potato and singhara or kuttu flour where the family's custom allows. In the winter cold, sweet potato roasted in its skin, singhara halwa and hot milk with dry fruit are the usual choices. Grain and pulses come back only with the parana.

Is Mokshada Ekadashi also Vaikuntha Ekadashi?

In some years. Vaikuntha Ekadashi, when the Vaikuntha Dwaram is opened at Srirangam and Tirupati, is the bright-half Ekadashi that falls while the Sun is in Dhanu, the Tamil month of Margazhi. That makes it Mokshada in some years and Pausha Putrada in others, and this page notes it in the years Mokshada is the one.