Rama Ekadashi vrat katha: Chandrabhaga and Shobhana रमा एकादशी व्रत कथा: चंद्रभागा और शोभन

The article

Rama Ekadashi falls on Thursday 5 November this year, three days before Diwali. It is the Ekadashi of the waning moon in Kartik (by the North Indian calendar), and it carries the name of Rama, one of the names of Lakshmi. In many homes the vrat katha is read in the evening, once the lamp is lit and the family has gathered. Here is the story as the Padma Purana tells it, in the chapters where Krishna explains each Ekadashi to Yudhishthira. We have kept it close to the text and plain in the telling.

## The story

There was once a king named Muchukunda, known for his honesty. Indra, Yama, Varuna and Kubera were counted among his friends, and so was Vibhishana. In his kingdom the Ekadashi fast was kept by everyone, and the king himself was firm about it.

Muchukunda had a daughter, Chandrabhaga. She was married to Shobhana, the son of King Chandrasena. Shobhana was a gentle man, but his body was not strong, and he could not go long without food.

One year, in the month of Kartik, Shobhana came to stay at his father-in-law's house just before Ekadashi. On the day before, a drum went round the city announcing that no one should eat on Ekadashi. Shobhana heard it and was worried. He asked Chandrabhaga what he should do.

Chandrabhaga told him the truth. In her father's kingdom no one ate on that day, not even the animals. If he could not fast, she said, it would be better for him to go home before the day came. Shobhana thought about it and decided to stay and keep the fast.

The day was long for him. By the next morning Shobhana had passed away. The king had the last rites done with care. Chandrabhaga did not go back to her husband's home. She stayed on in her father's house and went on keeping every Ekadashi.

Because of the fast he had kept, Shobhana was given a beautiful city on the slopes of Mount Mandarachala, full of light, and he lived there as its king. But the city was not lasting. It could fade at any time, because his fast had been kept out of duty, without real faith.

One day a Brahmin from Muchukunda's city, Somasharma, came there on pilgrimage and recognised Shobhana. Shobhana asked him to tell Chandrabhaga everything, and to say that the city needed something more to stand firm.

When Chandrabhaga heard this she was glad. With the help of the sage Vamadeva she went to the mountain. She told Shobhana that she had kept Ekadashi from the age of eight, and she gave him the merit of all those fasts. The city became steady, and the two lived there together.

The Purana ends the chapter by praising the Rama Ekadashi fast and the reading of its story.

## What families take from it

Elders who tell this story often stop at two places. The first is Chandrabhaga's honesty: she does not pretend the fast is easy. The second is the end, where years of quiet practice by one person are shared with someone she loves. Many people hear it as a story about faith that is kept steadily, not once in a while.

## Reading it at home

- Read it in the evening, after the lamp and a short prayer to Vishnu and Lakshmi. - One person reads, the others sit and listen. Children can hold the lamp. - End with Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, said slowly, or your family's own aarti.

## A word of care

Shobhana's story is not a reason for anyone to fast beyond their strength. The tradition itself allows fruit, milk and other phalahar for those who need it. Anyone who is unwell, pregnant, diabetic or on regular medicine should speak to their doctor first and keep taking prescribed medicine. Parana, the breaking of the fast, is on the morning of 6 November; please check the time for your own city in your panchang.

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