Vijaya Ekadashi 2028: Date, Parana Time & Vrat Vidhi

Parana (breaking the fast) is on Monday, 21 February 2028, from 1:43 PM to 3:59 PM (New Delhi).

Break with water and tulsi, then fruit, then a light non-grain meal; a full meal after.

It is the grain-free Ekadashi fast (the fasting and parana rules are on the Ekadashi page), taken with a sankalpa naming the undertaking one seeks to carry through.

By its mahatmya the fast turns a stalled effort to success, as it did the ocean crossing for Rama.

The Skanda Purana tells that Rama, with the vanara army at the ocean's edge and no way across, sent Lakshmana to a sage — Bakadalbhya, living on an island in the sea — who told him to keep the Phalguna Krishna Ekadashi with the whole army, worshipping a kalash of water crowned with a coconut and offerings. They did so, and the setu was built and the crossing made.

Source: Skanda Purana — the Vijaya Ekadashi mahatmya

The Vijaya Ekadashi mahatmya is given in the Skanda and Padma Puranas; the day-rule, parana and vrat vidhi are those of every Ekadashi (see the Ekadashi page). It falls in Phalguna near Maha Shivratri.

• Skanda Purana — the Vijaya Ekadashi mahatmya
• Padma Purana — the Ekadashi mahatmyas

1. The grain-free fast is kept from sunrise; a kalash of water with a coconut, tulsi and offerings is set before a Vishnu image, worshipped through the day with the Ekadashi katha, and a night vigil kept.
2. The sankalpa names the undertaking; the parana is within the Dwadashi after the Hari Vasara.

• Pan-Indian (Vaishnava). Kept with the kalash puja and the Rama katha, for success in a difficult venture or against an obstacle.

• Phalahar — Fruit, milk and sabudana; no grains or pulses.
• Kalash offering — Barley or grain is set in the kalash worshipped today and given away after the parana.

Vijaya Ekadashi is kept on the day when Ekadashi of Phalguna Krishna paksha prevails at sunrise. That day is Sunday, 20 February 2028. Ekadashi holds at sunrise only on this day.

at sunrise

Vijaya Ekadashi is the Krishna Ekadashi of Phalguna — the Moon 120°–132° behind the Sun (sidereal, Lahiri), with the Sun in sidereal Kumbha. See the Ekadashi page for the day-rule and the Smarta / Vaishnava difference; the Gregorian date drifts about 11 days earlier each year.

A lunar date: Ekadashi of the dark half of Phalguna drifts about 11 days earlier each solar year, then jumps back ~19 days when a leap (Adhika) month is inserted.