Why Krishna Said Ekadashi Is More Powerful Than a Thousand Pujas
Riya Kumari | Aug 05, 2025, 12:40 IST
Vishnu
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
Highlight of the story: The tradition says we must avoid grains and heavy food on this day. But the real hunger being addressed isn’t in the stomach. It’s in the mind, the endless wanting, reaching, clinging. Grains are symbolic of heaviness, both physical and emotional. On Ekadashi, we are told to let go, not because food is impure, but because desire is louder when food is removed. And that’s the point.
In the Padma Purana, Lord Krishna says to Yudhishthira, "Ekadashi vrata is the purest of all fasts. One who observes it with devotion destroys all sins and attains liberation. O King, even performing a thousand ashvamedha yajnas or donating a mountain of gold cannot equal the merit of a single Ekadashi fast."
(Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 129)
t's a declaration of deep metaphysical truth: that Ekadashi is not just a day, it's a doorway. One that opens direct access to the divine, bypassing all externalities.
1. Why Food Is Denied on Ekadashi, Not the Body, but the Ego
The word Ekadashi comes from "eka" (one) and "dashi" (ten), referring to the eleventh lunar day, when the ten senses and the mind are to be unified, restrained, and turned inward. The Skanda Purana says:
"On Ekadashi, all grains become impure as sin personified (Papapurusha) resides in them. Those who consume them invite both physical and karmic impurity."
This isn’t about punishment. It's precision. Grains are tamasic (dulling), grounding energies that feed the lower mind, attachment, sleep, lethargy, indulgence. On Ekadashi, when the planetary energies naturally support detachment and self-inquiry, eating heavy food means we work against the current. That’s why Krishna says:
"The day of Ekadashi is the destroyer of all evils. It is the most dear vrata to Me. The person who observes it pleases Me more than one who performs elaborate yajnas." (Padma Purana)
Because yajnas still involve rituals, offerings, priests, mantras, external forms of worship. Ekadashi is raw surrender. It's just you, your hunger, and your resolve.
2. The Physiology of Purity: How the Body Aligns with the Cosmos
Ancient Ayurveda and Yogic sciences recognize that on the 11th day of the lunar cycle, the prana (life force) shifts. The moon’s gravitational pull alters water levels in the body, just like tides in the ocean. When food is denied, the energy that normally goes into digestion rises, toward concentration, clarity, and higher consciousness.
So Krishna isn't rejecting puja. He’s revealing that real puja is not just in lighting lamps, it’s in lighting the inner flame. The Vishnu Dharma Shastra further says:
"Fasting on Ekadashi with sincerity is equal to bathing in all holy rivers, performing all sacrifices, and studying all scriptures."
Because it turns the body into the temple, breath into the offering, and self into the sacred.
3. Puja Seeks What Ekadashi Awakens
Pujas, even the most elaborate, are offerings from the outside-in. But the ultimate goal of puja is to awaken devotion, dispassion, and remembrance of the Supreme. But what if that state of remembrance is itself the puja? In the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna tells Narada:
"I am not in Vaikuntha, nor in the hearts of yogis, nor in the heavens. O Narada, I dwell where My devotees sing My name with devotion."
Ekadashi is devotion in action. When the stomach grumbles but you don’t give in — that’s remembrance. When desires rise but you stay inward, that’s worship.
4. Why Even Yama Fears Ekadashi
In the Narada Purana, it is said:
"One who observes Ekadashi need not fear Yama. For them, the noose of karma has been burned."
Why? Because karma is not just action, it's attachment to action. By fasting, we momentarily stop the endless loop of "I want, I take, I consume." That pause becomes a purification. A reset. A return. Even Yama, the Lord of Death, respects the one who has touched timelessness through restraint.
5. Ekadashi Is Not a Ritual. It’s a Rebellion.
In a world obsessed with having more, Ekadashi asks you to be less, to empty out. While thousands worship with offerings in hand, the one who observes Ekadashi worships with nothing but willpower, silence, and love. That is why Krishna said it is greater than a thousand pujas.
Because in those 24 hours, you don't decorate the deity, you become the deity. You don’t offer food, you offer yourself. And nothing is more sacred than that.
Final Thought:
Not everyone will understand Ekadashi. And that's okay. It’s not meant for the crowds. It’s meant for those ready to return to the source, not through ritualistic perfection, but through sincere restraint. So the next time Ekadashi comes, remember: You’re not skipping a meal. You’re meeting God, in the space between hunger and surrender.
(Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 129)
t's a declaration of deep metaphysical truth: that Ekadashi is not just a day, it's a doorway. One that opens direct access to the divine, bypassing all externalities.
1. Why Food Is Denied on Ekadashi, Not the Body, but the Ego
Vishnu
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
The word Ekadashi comes from "eka" (one) and "dashi" (ten), referring to the eleventh lunar day, when the ten senses and the mind are to be unified, restrained, and turned inward. The Skanda Purana says:
"On Ekadashi, all grains become impure as sin personified (Papapurusha) resides in them. Those who consume them invite both physical and karmic impurity."
This isn’t about punishment. It's precision. Grains are tamasic (dulling), grounding energies that feed the lower mind, attachment, sleep, lethargy, indulgence. On Ekadashi, when the planetary energies naturally support detachment and self-inquiry, eating heavy food means we work against the current. That’s why Krishna says:
"The day of Ekadashi is the destroyer of all evils. It is the most dear vrata to Me. The person who observes it pleases Me more than one who performs elaborate yajnas." (Padma Purana)
Because yajnas still involve rituals, offerings, priests, mantras, external forms of worship. Ekadashi is raw surrender. It's just you, your hunger, and your resolve.
2. The Physiology of Purity: How the Body Aligns with the Cosmos
Lord Vishnu
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
Ancient Ayurveda and Yogic sciences recognize that on the 11th day of the lunar cycle, the prana (life force) shifts. The moon’s gravitational pull alters water levels in the body, just like tides in the ocean. When food is denied, the energy that normally goes into digestion rises, toward concentration, clarity, and higher consciousness.
So Krishna isn't rejecting puja. He’s revealing that real puja is not just in lighting lamps, it’s in lighting the inner flame. The Vishnu Dharma Shastra further says:
"Fasting on Ekadashi with sincerity is equal to bathing in all holy rivers, performing all sacrifices, and studying all scriptures."
Because it turns the body into the temple, breath into the offering, and self into the sacred.
3. Puja Seeks What Ekadashi Awakens
Vishnu ji
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
Pujas, even the most elaborate, are offerings from the outside-in. But the ultimate goal of puja is to awaken devotion, dispassion, and remembrance of the Supreme. But what if that state of remembrance is itself the puja? In the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna tells Narada:
"I am not in Vaikuntha, nor in the hearts of yogis, nor in the heavens. O Narada, I dwell where My devotees sing My name with devotion."
Ekadashi is devotion in action. When the stomach grumbles but you don’t give in — that’s remembrance. When desires rise but you stay inward, that’s worship.
4. Why Even Yama Fears Ekadashi
"One who observes Ekadashi need not fear Yama. For them, the noose of karma has been burned."
Why? Because karma is not just action, it's attachment to action. By fasting, we momentarily stop the endless loop of "I want, I take, I consume." That pause becomes a purification. A reset. A return. Even Yama, the Lord of Death, respects the one who has touched timelessness through restraint.
5. Ekadashi Is Not a Ritual. It’s a Rebellion.
Because in those 24 hours, you don't decorate the deity, you become the deity. You don’t offer food, you offer yourself. And nothing is more sacred than that.