Mokshada Ekadashi — holiday of the eleventh day of the bright half of the month of Margashirsha. The Sanskrit word «moksha» means «liberation». The ancient Vedas describe four paths in the development of society: the development of religion (dharma), the development of the economy (artha), the development of the satisfaction of feelings (kama) and the development of the desire for liberation (moksha). Moksha, understood as liberation from material dependence, is to some extent synonymous with enlightenment and spiritual perfection.
Mokshada Ekadashi — is a tribute to the still living tradition, according to which public policy aims to create conditions for every citizen to achieve liberation from everything worldly and material.
The festival of Mokshada Ekadashi is mentioned in the Brahmanda Purana, where it is described in a dialogue between King Yudhishthira and Lord Sri Krishna. Fasting on this day cleanses the sincere devotee from all the consequences of sins and grants him liberation. On this day, the Divine of Lord Damodara is worshiped. Damodara (from Sanskrit lady — rope, tied, controlled and gift — belly) — is the name of little Krishna, who was punished by tying Him to a wooden stupa.
In full concentration, you must worship Him, offering incense, a lamp for ghees, flowers and Tulasi manjari (flower buds). Sri Krishna, explaining the intricacies of this holiday to the righteous king, who, moreover, was a completely devoted person to God and the greatest expert on the scriptures, told his amazing story.
One of the holy kings of antiquity named Vaikhanasa one night in a dream saw his father experiencing the torment of torture on the hellish planets. The king was filled with compassion and shed tears, and in the morning he told his dream to a meeting of Brahmin sages. The king lamented that the thought of his father’s torment haunts him, and he is no longer pleased with wealth, his wife, or his sons. He was looking for a way in which he could help his father. «O the best of the Brahmins, what is the point of having a powerful son if his father is forced to suffer on hellish planets? Truly, the life of such a son is completely useless!», — said the king. The sages told the king about the great saint Parvat Muni, who saw the past, present and future of everyone.
After hearing this advice, the burning king immediately rose and headed to the ashram. First of all, King Vaikhanasa expressed his humble respect to the saint, kneeling and then prostrating himself before him. After a philosophical conversation with the king, the sage plunged into meditation and revealed the cause of the problem: in his previous life, the king's father quarreled with his wife, sexually enjoying her during the forbidden days of women; Despite the fact that she tried to stop him, he did not leave her, and therefore now suffers in hell.
Saint Parvata Muni said: «In the bright half of the month of Margashirsha there is an Ekadashi called Mokshada. If you strictly, in full fasting, observe this sacred day, and pass on the benefit received to your suffering father, he will get rid of suffering and immediately free himself».
After listening to this, King Vaikhanasa cordially thanked the saint and returned to his palace. When the appointed day came, Maharaja Vaikhanasa, filled with faith, perfectly observed fasting in Ekadashi along with his wife, children and other relatives. He obediently conveyed the benefit he received from fasting to his father. When he did this, wonderful flowers fell from heaven. The king's father, praised and accompanied by the messengers of the demigods, blessed his son and ascended to heaven.
The celebrating Mokshada Ekadashi with the desire to please God achieves complete and complete liberation himself, and also frees his ancestors from hell.