Apara Ekadashi

Apara Ekadashi is described in traditional Ekadashi-mahatmya as a vrata of repentance, restraint and spiritual renewal. Krishna explains its importance to Arjuna and compares its merit with major pilgrimages, sacrifices and acts of charity, emphasizing that the vrata is meant to turn a person away from harmful conduct and falsehood. Unlike some Ekadashis, its best-known scriptural account is primarily a mahatmya rather than a single dramatic household legend. The teaching lists serious wrongs—violence, deceit, false witness, misuse of learning and betrayal of trust—and presents worship of Vishnu, fasting and self-discipline as a path of correction. Devotees therefore treat the day as an opportunity to examine conduct, seek forgiveness, reduce attachment to food and comfort, and spend more time in Vishnu worship, japa, scripture reading and charity.

Apara means boundless, and what is promised is boundless merit. Kept in Jyeshtha vad, a fortnight before the waterless Nirjala.

Vaishakh's dark fortnight, in the heat before the rains. Water is given away - a parab set up at a roadside is the commonest form of it in Gujarat.