Shravana Putrada Ekadashi Parana Time : 05:51:32 to 08:28:50 on 18th, August
Duration : 2 Hour 37 Minute
● Take a bath before sunrise and wear clean clothes.
● Light a ghee lamp (Diya) in front of the statue of Lord Vishnu.
● Use Basil, seasonal fruits and sesame seeds (Til) for worshipping God.
● Fast on the day of Ekadashi. After worshipping God in the evening, you can eat fruits.
● One gets special blessings from Lord Vishnu by reading Vishnu Sahasranama.
● Performing Jagrans and bhajan kirtans on Ekadashi night is of great importance.
● Next day on Dwadashi, offer food and donation to brahmin.
● Lastly have your own meal.
In Hindu religion, Ekadashi is considered a very important day and Shravana Putrada Ekadashi is one of them. It is believed that if a childless couple fast devotedly on this day; following the whole process correctly, then they definitely get blessed with a child. Apart from this, all sins of a human ends by fasting for this Ekadashi and she/he attains salvation in afterlife.
According to Shri Padma Purana in Dwapara Yuga, the king of Mahishmati Puri named Mahijeet was a peaceful and religious person, but deprived of a son. His well-wishers told this to Mahamuni Lomesh, who then told that the King was a cruel and penniless merchant (Vaishya) in his past life. On the same Ekadashi day at noon, he became very thirsty and reached a pond where a cow, thirsty due to scorching heat, was drinking water. He stopped her and himself drank the water. This act by the king was not right according to the religion.
Because of his good deeds in the past life he became a king in this life, but because of that one sin he is still childless. Then, Mahamuni told that if all his well-wishers fasted for Shravana Putrada Ekadashi, following whole process correctly, and offer its beneficence to the king, then he will surely get blessed with a child. Thus, as per his instructions, the King also performed this fast along with his people, and as a result, his queen gave birth to a glorious son. Since then, this Ekadashi has been called Shravana Putrada Ekadashi.