All Vishnu devotees observe Dev Uthani Ekadashi vrat all across India and abroad. Read the article to know about Dev Uthani Ekadashi Vrat katha, Puja vidhi and mantra along with Tulsi Vivah story.
The eleventh day of Kartik month in waxing moon of Hindu calendar is known as many names such as Dev Uthani Ekadashi, Kartik Ekadashi, Prabodhini Ekadashi, Devuthav Ekadashi, Devothhani Gyaras, and Devutthana Ekadashi. This year it is falling on 25th November 2020 on Wednesday.
Lord Vishnu wakes up after a yoga slumber of four months in kshira Sagar from ashad Shukla and wakes up on Kartik Shukla Ekadashi.
Basically, all auspicious works start from Devauthani Ekadashi, which were stopped on Devshayani Ekadashi. Lord Vishnu sleeps in these four months in kshira Sagar. This is the reason, Lord Vishnu is not worshiped on Diwali, but after awakening Lord Vishnu on Devauthani Ekadashi, all celebrate Dev Diwali by worshiping the deities, Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi.
Worshiping Lord Vishnu on the day of Devuthani Ekadashi keeps the special blessings of God on the whole family. With this, Goddess Lakshmi rains wealth, happiness, and prosperity at home.
Dev Uthani Ekadashi Puja Vidhi and Mantra
On the day of Prabodhini Ekadashi or Devauthani or Devotthani Ekadashi, people worship Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi.
To wake him up, devotees listen and read Bhagwat Katha, puranas, and sing bhajan in praise of the lord. People play ghanta, sankh, mridang, nagare and veena to wake Lord Vishnu from yog nidra.
People chant this mantra for Him to awake.
उत्तिष्ठो तिष्ठ गोविन्द त्यज निद्रां जगत्पते| त्वयि सुप्ते जगन्नाथ् जगत् सुप्तं भवेदिदम् ||
उत्थिते चेष्टते सर्वमुत्तिष्ठो तिष्ठ माधव | गता मेघा वियच्चैव निर्मलं निर्मलादिशः ||
Utitshthothist Govind tyaz nidram jagatapate| tvayi supte jagannath jagat suptam bhavedidam|
uthithe cheshte sarva muttishthotitsht madav| gata megha viycchave nirmalam nirmaladisha ||
शारदानि च पुष्पाणि गृहान् मम केशव
‘Shardani ch pushpani grihan mam Keshav’
After that worship him by offering different types of flowers, leaves, and fruits. Decorate his temple and home temple with Vandana var of mango leaves. Worship him as according to panchdev puja Vidhan. In the end sing aarti by lighting ghee diya or karpura diya.
After that offer flowers by chanting this mantra ;
यज्ञेन यज्ञमयजन्त देवास्तानि धर्माणि प्रथमान्यासन |
तेह् नाकं महिमानः सचन्त यत्र पूर्वे संध्याः सन्ति देवाः ||
Yagnen yagyamayjant devastani dharmani prathamanasyan |
theh naakam mahimaanah schant yatra purve sandhyah santi devah||
Pray with this mantra
इयं तु द्वादशी देव प्रबोधाय विनिर्मिता | त्वयैव सर्वलोकानां हितार्थं शेषसायिना ||
इदं व्रतं मया देव कृतं प्रीत्यै तव प्रभो | न्यूनं संपूर्णतां यातु तवत्प्रसादज्जनार्दन ||
Iyam tu Dwadashi dev prabhodhay vinirmita | tvayev sarvalokanam hitratham sheshsayina||
Idam vratam maya dev kritam preetaye tab prabho | nyunam sampurnataam yaatu tvatprasadajnardana||
After that, distribute the prasad of Panchamrit or charnamrit to all the devotees.
On this day, lamps should be lit outside the houses and at the place of worship.
Importance of Dev Uthani Ekadashi
Dharmaraja Yudhishthira asked krishna, “O God! I heard a detailed description of Kartik Krishna Ekadashi i.e. Rama Ekadashi. Now please kindly tell me about Ekadashi of Shukla Paksha of Kartik month. What is the name of this Ekadashi? What is the method and the result of observing this fast? Please explain all this in detail.
Lord Shri Krishna said: This Ekadashi, which falls on the day of Tulsi wedding in the bright fortnight of Kartik month, is also called Vishnu Prabodhini Ekadashi, Dev-Prabodhini Ekadashi, Devotthan, Dev Uthav Ekadashi, Devauthani Ekadashi, Devotthan, Kartik Shukla Ekadashi, and Prabodhini Ekadashi. This is going to destroy the biggest sins. Listen carefully to what I am telling you.
Dev Uthani Ekadashi Vrat Katha
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom where everybody was fasting on Ekadashi. Nobody would eat food on that day including subjects, servants, and animals.
One day, A person from another kingdom, came to this state looking for a job. King got ready to give him a job but on one condition that he will not get to eat anything on the day of Ekadashi. He agreed and started working. When Ekadashi came, He was given fruits as a meal. But he felt hungry and pleaded to the king that fruits won’t be sufficient to fill his stomach. Therefore, he pleaded to the king to give him some grains otherwise he will die out of hunger.
The king reminded him about his agreement of not having grains on Ekadashi, but he pleaded and King arranged Flour, dal, and vegetables for him. After taking the supplies, He went to the river as usual and after a bath, prepared the meal. After preparing the meals, he called Bhagwan to come and have food with him.
On his calling, Chaturbhuj Shri Vishnu wearing yellow attire came and had food made by him. Shri Vishnu vanished after finishing the meals, and he went back to his work.
Fifteen days later, on the next Ekadashi, He went to the king and asked to double the supplies of grains because he remained hungry on the last Ekadashi. Maharaja asked the reason. On asking, he replied that Bhagwan came and ate along with him. That’s why the supplies are not enough for me.
After listening to his reply, the king got stunned. The king said I cannot trust you. I keep fast and worship Lord Vishnu, but He never came In front of me.
Hearing this, He said to the king – Maharaj! If you could not believe my words, why don’t you come and see by yourself?
On the day of Ekadashi, both went to the riverside. King hid behind the tree and that servant prepared the meals and started calling for the Lord to come and have the meal. But after calling many times, Sri Hari did not come. The evening was also getting over but Lord did not show off.
After waiting for so long, The person lost his hope and said I will give up my life by jumping into the river. After seeing no sign of the lord, he made up his mind to end his life. As he was about to jump into the river, Lord Vishnu on seeing his strong will came to him and had meals with him. After eating the foods, Lord Vishnu took him with him to his abode on his plane
Seeing this amazing Leela, King realized that just by observing fast, one cannot see Lord, for that to happen, one should observe fast wholeheartedly with full devotion. Subsequently, The king started to fast with a pure mind and finally got to heaven.
Tulsi Vivah
On Prabodhini Ekadashi, many people perform Tulsi Vivah, but five days starting from Ekadashi till Kartik Purnima is also a very auspicious time to perform Tulsi vivah Pujan.
As per Padmpuran. Kartik Shukla Navami is the day for performing Tulsi Vivah, But as per many scriptures, these five days from Ekadashi to Kartik Poornima are more auspicious and popular for Tulsi vivah.
Tulsi Vivah Story
There is a popular story behind the marriage of Lord Shaligram and Mata Tulsi. Actually, Vrinda, the wife of a demon named Jalandhar, was extremely pious. To defeat Jalandhar, it was necessary to deviate from the austerity of Vrinda. In order to do that, Lord Vishnu changed his form and tricked Vrinda, thus dissolving the piousness of Vrinda and, as a result, Lord Shiva killed Jalandhar.
For this deceit, Vrinda cursed Lord Vishnu to turn black rock. Consequently, Lord Vishnu transformed into sila and came to be called Shaligram. After the request of Goddess Lakshmi, She took back the curse from Lord Vishnu and self-immolated herself in the fire. Her ashes turned into Tulsi Plant.
In order to please Tulsi, Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Vishnu gave her a boon, that whoever worships Tulsi, will get the blessings of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi. To commemorate Tulsi’s austerity, people organize Tulsi Vivah and get blessings from Lord Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi, and Goddess Tulsi.
In a nutshell, Listening and reading Dev Uthani Ekadashi Vrat Katha and performing Tulsi Vivah on Dev Uthani Ekadashi is very auspicious and removes the big sins of many births.
You may also like to read Importance of Ekadashi Vrat.
