Vishnu (Vitthala)
Devshayani Ekadashi
Vishnu turns to his yoga-nidra, and the four sacred months begin.
Tithi: Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi
In the simplest words
Vishnu goes to sleep on his serpent bed for four months. The monsoon months of chaturmas begin, a season for quiet, study and simple living.
The story & purpose
On this Ekadashi Vishnu reclines on Shesha in the ocean of milk and enters yoga-nidra until Prabodhini in Kartik. The four months between, Chaturmas, are the monsoon's inward season: marriages pause, travel slows in the old way, and sadhana, study, and vrata deepen.
The rest of the story
In Maharashtra this same day is Ashadhi Ekadashi, the climax of the Pandharpur Wari: lakhs of warkaris, singing abhangs of Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram, arrive on foot at Vitthala's door, a moving river of namasankirtan weeks long.
What is done
Ekadashi vrat
Fast per capacity; Vishnu puja with tulsi and pita (yellow) offerings.
Chaturmas sankalpa
One practice vowed for the four months: a daily jaap, a food discipline, a seva.
Vitthal smaran
'Vitthala Vitthala' or the maha-mantra, joining the wari from wherever you stand.
Best timings
Puja in the morning; sankalpa spoken before the household deity.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition; for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
The Wari pilgrimage has walked unbroken for over seven centuries.
Jains keep Chaturmas too: monks stop wandering for the four monsoon months so that no small life is trodden on the wet roads.
One modern reading of the Chaturmas food rules points to the monsoon's spoilage and infection risk; the tradition itself gives the vow, not hygiene, as the reason.
Mantras of this festival
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Dvadashakshara — the twelve-syllable mantra
Begin jaap →हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे । हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे ॥
Hare Krishna maha-mantra
Begin jaap →शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्णं शुभाङ्गम् । लक्ष्मीकान्तं कमलनयनं योगिभिर्ध्यानगम्यं वन्दे विष्णुं भवभयहरं सर्वलोकैकनाथम् ॥
Shantakaram — Vishnu dhyana
Begin jaap →