Mokshada Ekadashi, which is regarded as the best of all Ekadashis, falls on the eleventh day of the brighter half of the moon in the Hindu month of Margashirsha.
The very name of the occasion indicates its purpose, ‘Moksha’ that is liberation, to which the day is fully devoted not only to the release of the deceased but also to the enlightening of the living. It happens to be a Monday, December 1, 2025, this holy festival is not only auspicious but also more so because it is Gita Jayanti, the day when Lord Krishna taught the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna.
It is believed that the fasting and worship done on this day wipe out all the sins committed during several lives, thus providing a direct route to Vaikuntha Dham, where Lord Vishnu resides. For both the householders and the devotees, the observance of the vrat is not just a matter of merit but a very powerful spiritual exercise for self-cleansing and getting the elders’ blessings.
Key Mokshada Dates and Fasting Rules
In the year 2025, Mokshada Ekadashi will fall on the 1st of December, which will be a fasting day for the worshippers. The Parana or the main time for the fast to be over will be on the following day.
Ekadashi Tithi Begins: 9:29 PM on 30 November 2025
Ekadashi Date: Monday, December 1, 2025
Ekadashi Tithi Ends: 7:01 PM on December 1, 2025
Parana Time (Fast Breaking): 6:57 AM to 9:03 AM on Tuesday, December 2, 2025
The worship (puja) regulations also say that the devotee has to wake up very early, take a holy bath (snan), and wear new, preferably yellow clothes.
Besides, devotees offer Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna (in Damodara form) special worship wherein they present yellow flowers, fruits, and tulsi leaves together with their prayers. The fast itself means total abstention from eating any grains and beans.
It is a must to recite the Mokshada Ekadashi Vrat Katha and, above all, to chant or listen to chanting from the Bhagavad Gita, especially as it is Gita Jayanti. Keeping an all-night vigil (Ratri Jagaran) is very beneficial. The fast is broken the following morning during the prescribed Parana time by consuming grains, which is usually done after offering food to Brahmins.
The King’s Vision and Ancestral Liberation
The great significance of this Ekadashi can be understood through the narrative of King Vaikhanasa of Gokula. One night the king had a nightmare in which he saw his late father being punished in hell. The king, who was very upset, went to the great Sage Parvata Muni to get his opinion.
The sage, who possessed divine sight, revealed that the father’s suffering was the result of a great karma sin in a past life, that was a discrimination and a neglect towards one of the wives. The sage then prescribed the infallible remedy: King Vaikhanasa was to observe a fast on the day of Mokshada Ekadashi and, out of pure love, dedicate the entire merit (Punya) of the fast to his father. The king, who was deeply pious, complied with all the instructions of the sage.
When he transferred the spiritual merit, his father was immediately released from the hellish place, he blessed his son while he was going up the heavenly planets, attaining Moksha. This story supports the claim that the Ekadashi is the power of salvation not only for the practitioners but also for their deceased ancestors.
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