Kamika Ekadashi falls in the dark half of Shravana (Ashadha in the reckoning that ends months at the new moon), and it is the first Ekadashi of Chaturmas. Its katha tells of a landholder who killed a man in anger and, through remorse, the counsel of the sages and a night of tulsi worship on this day, found his way back.
The next Kamika Ekadashi, with the parana window for your city, is on the Ekadashi vrat dates page. The katha follows, retold in our own words.
The katha of Kamika Ekadashi
Yudhishthira asked Krishna about the Ekadashi in the dark fortnight of Shravana. Krishna said, "Narada once put the same question to Brahma, and Brahma answered him with a story. It is called Kamika, and hearing of it alone is said to bring the merit of a great sacrifice."
A quarrel in the village
In a certain village lived a landholder, a strong man who owned fields and was used to being obeyed. He had a quick temper. One day a dispute arose between him and a brahmin of the village; the vrat books do not say what it was about, only that words grew hot on both sides.
The landholder lost control of himself. In a moment of rage he struck the brahmin, and the blow killed him.
The anger drained out of him at once, and in its place came horror. He had taken a life, and the life of a man of learning. He wanted to make whatever amends he could, and he tried to perform the last rites for the brahmin himself. But the other brahmins of the village refused to join him or to eat in his house. People turned away when he passed. He was alone with what he had done.
The counsel of the sages
The landholder did not try to excuse himself. He went to the sages and said, "I have done a terrible thing, and I cannot undo it. Tell me if there is any way for me to atone."
The sages saw that his remorse was real. They told him, "In the dark half of Shravana there is an Ekadashi named Kamika. Keep it with a pure heart. Worship Vishnu with tulsi leaves, offer him a lamp, and keep awake through the night in prayer. Ask for forgiveness with your whole heart."
He did as they said. He fasted the whole day, offered tulsi to Vishnu leaf by leaf, lit a lamp of ghee, and sat awake through the night before the image, praying.
The dream
Late in the night, as he lay down near the image for a little rest, he had a dream. Vishnu appeared to him and said, "Your repentance is true and your vow is complete. You are freed from the weight of this act. Go, and live rightly from now on."
When he woke, a great heaviness had lifted from him. The other brahmins, learning of his fast and his dream, came to his house for the Dwadashi meal, and he was received back among his people. He spent the rest of his life in honest work and devotion.
Brahma told Narada that Kamika Ekadashi frees a person even from faults as grave as this one, and that whoever worships Vishnu with tulsi on this day is as dear to him as one who offers jewels.
Reading the story calmly
This is a story about a killing, and it does not pretend that what was done was small. It also does not say that a fast cancels harm done to another person, or that a ritual replaces making amends to the people who were hurt. What the katha holds up is the landholder's change: he stops making excuses, admits what he did, accepts being shunned, and asks humbly for a way to live differently. Families tell it as a story about remorse, and about not giving up on someone who truly turns around.
What the day is kept for
The mahatmya of Kamika says its merit equals bathing in the Ganga, at Kashi, at Naimisharanya and at Pushkar, and it praises tulsi at great length: seeing the plant clears faults, touching it purifies the body, watering it, bowing to it and planting it are each a form of worship. It also praises lamps, saying that those who light lamps of ghee or sesame oil before Vishnu on this night are honoured in his abode. These are the text's words, and families take them as the day's invitation to tend the tulsi and keep a light burning.
As the first Ekadashi of Chaturmas, Kamika also sets the tone for the four months of quieter devotion that follow.
How it is kept
Kamika is kept with special care for tulsi. In many homes the plant is watered and cleaned in the morning, Vishnu is offered tulsi leaves one by one with his names, and a ghee or sesame-oil lamp is lit before the plant at dusk and kept burning as long as it is safe. Many families keep the night awake with bhajans, as the landholder did. Since this is the rainy season, a simple fruit fast is common, and anyone unwell should eat and drink as needed. For the rest of the observance, see the Ekadashi puja vidhi.
Before and after Kamika
The Ekadashi before Kamika is Devshayani Ekadashi, when Vishnu lies down to rest and King Mandhata's kingdom gets its rain. The next one, in the bright half of Shravana, is Shravana Putrada Ekadashi, kept especially for children. For the tithi on any day, see the panchang for your city.