Amalaki Ekadashi Vrat Katha in English
Addressing the eighty-eight thousand sages, Sutaji said - "O Sages! It is a story of ancient times. The great king Mandhata asked Vashishthaji - O Vashishthaji! If you are pleased with me, then please tell me the procedure of such a fast, which can prove beneficial for me."
Maharishi Vashishthaji said - "O King! The fast of Amalaki Ekadashi is the best of all the fasts and ultimately gives salvation."
King Mandhata said - "O great sage! How did this Amalaki Ekadashi fast come into existence? What is the procedure for observing this fast? O expert of the Vedas! Please tell me all this story in detail."
Maharishi Vashishtha said - "O King! I tell you the story of this fast in detail - This fast is observed in the Shukla Paksha of Phalguna month. As a result of this fast, all the sins are completely destroyed. The virtue of this fast is one It is equal to the fruit of donating a thousand cows. Apart from its qualities, the importance of Gooseberry (Amalaki) also lies in the fact that it originated from the mouth of Lord Vishnu. Now I will tell you a legend about Amalaki Ekadashi. Listen carefully -
"In ancient times, there was a city called Vedic. In that city, people of Brahmin, Vaishya, Kshatriya, Shudra, all four Varnas lived happily. The chanting of Vedas always echoed in the city.
There was no sinner, evildoer, atheist etc. in that divine city.
A Chandravanshi king named Chaitra Ratha ruled in that city. He was a highly learned and religious person; no one in his kingdom was poor or miser. All the people of that kingdom were devotees of Lord Vishnu. All the residents there, young and old, used to fast on every Ekadashi.
Once Ekadashi called Amalaki of Shukla Paksha of Phalguna month came. That day, the king and every one in thr kingdom, from old men to children, happily fasted on that Ekadashi. The king along with his people came to the temple, installed the Kalasha and started worshiping Dhatri with incense, lamp, Naivedya, Pancharatna, Chatar (Golden Umbrella) etc. They all started worshipping Dhatri like this - "O Dhatri! You are the form of Brahma. You are born from Brahmaji and are the destroyer of all sins, salutations to you. Please accept my Arghya. You are honored by Shri Ramchandraji, I pray you, take away all my sins."
Everyone kept vigil (Jagrana) in that temple at night. A Bird Hunter came to that place at night. He was a great sinner and a misdemeanor.
He used to support his family through violence. He was extremely distressed with hunger and thirst, and wishing to get some food, he sat in a corner of the temple.
Sitting at that place, he started listening to the story of Lord Vishnu along with the Ekadashi Mahatmya. In this way the fowler spent the whole night keeping vigil along with other people. In the morning everyone went to their respective residences. Similarly, the bird hunter also went to his home and had food there.
After some time, the bird hunter died.
Although he had committed violence due to his violence towards living beings, he was destined to go to hell, but due to the fast and vigil of Amalaki Ekadashi on that day, he was born as the son of King Viduratha. He was named Vasuratha. When he grew up, he started ruling ten thousand villages along with Chaturangini army and equipped with wealth and grains.
He was like the Sun in radiance, like the Moon in brightness, like Lord Vishnu in bravery and like the Goddess Prithvi in forgiveness. He was extremely religious, truthful, courageous and a devotee of Shri Hari Vishnu. He followed the people with equal respect. Giving charity was his daily routine.
Once King Vasuratha went for hunting. Due to bad luck, he lost his way in the forest and due to lack of knowledge of direction, he slept under a tree in the same forest. After some time, the Hill Bandits came there and seeing the king alone, ran towards King Vasuratha shouting 'kill-kill'. Those robbers started saying that this evil king has killed all our relatives like parents, sons and grandchildren and has thrown them out of the country. Now we must avenge our insult by killing it.
Saying this, the robbers started beating the king and attacking him with weapons. The weapons of those bandits would be destroyed as soon as they hit the king's body and would appear like flowers to the king. After some time, at the will of the Lord, the weapons of those bandits started attacking them, due to which all of them became unconscious.
At the same time a divine Goddess appeared from the king's body. That goddess was very beautiful and adorned with beautiful clothes and jewellery. Her eyebrows were furrowed. Fierce flames of anger were coming out of her eyes.
At that time, she seemed like time. Within no time she completely destroyed all those bandits.
When the king woke up from sleep, he saw many Bandits dead there. He started wondering who killed them? Who is my well-wisher in this forest?
King Vasuratha was thinking this when suddenly a voice came from the sky - "O king! Who can protect you in this world except Lord Vishnu!"
Hearing this voice from the sky, the king remembered Lord Vishnu and bowed to him, then returned to his city and started ruling happily.
Maharishi Vashishtha said - "O King! All this was the effect of fasting on Amalaki Ekadashi, the person who fasts on even one Amalaki Ekadashi, becomes successful in everything and ultimately attains Vaikuntha Dhama."
Conclusion - The power of Lord Shri Hari Vishnu defeats all our troubles. It is completely capable of protecting not only Humans but also the Gods. With the power of this Amalaki Ekadashi Vrat, Lord Vishnu had killed the demons named Madhu-Kaitabha. Lord Vishnu killed the demon named Mura in the form of Utpanna Ekadashi with this power and relieved the troubles of the deities and made them happy.
