Papankusha Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Ashvin, the day after Dussehra, and its katha is about Krodhana, a fowler who had lived by cruelty all his life. When he learned that his end was near, he ran to the sage Angiras in fear, and a single sincere Ekadashi turned him around.
Find the next Papankusha Ekadashi, with Smarta and Vaishnava days, on the Ekadashi dates page; the page for each day gives its parana window for your city. Below is the story.
The katha
Yudhishthira said, "Madhusudana, what is the name of the Ekadashi in the bright half of Ashvin? Tell me about it kindly."
Krishna said, "It is called Papankusha. On it one should worship me as Padmanabha. Its fruit equals that of long austerities, and its story is short and plain. Listen."
On the Vindhya mountains lived a fowler named Krodhana, whose name means the angry one. He lived up to it. He trapped birds and killed animals for a living, but he did not stop there. He robbed travellers on the forest paths, drank, quarrelled, and harmed people who had done nothing to him. He never prayed, never gave anything away, and never thought about where his life was going.
Years passed this way. When he grew old, one night he had a terrible vision. The messengers of Yama stood before him and said, "Krodhana, your time is up. Tomorrow we will come back for you."
For the first time in his life Krodhana was afraid. He did not sleep. At first light he ran down from the hills, not knowing where he was going, until he came to the hermitage of the sage Angiras on the bank of a river. The sage had just returned from his bath, his hair still wet, his face calm.
Krodhana fell at his feet. "Great sage, I have done nothing but wrong all my life. I have killed, stolen and hurt people. I have never given a single grain to anyone. Now death is at my door. Is there anything a man like me can do? Is there any way for me?"
Angiras looked at the frightened old man without disgust. He saw that the fear had opened something in him. "Listen," he said. "The bright half of Ashvin has come, and its Ekadashi, Papankusha, is very near. Keep it. Fast through the day. Worship Vishnu as Padmanabha, the one who lies on Shesha with a lotus rising from him. Stay awake at night and say his name. Whatever you have done, a sincere heart on that day is enough to begin again."
Krodhana did exactly what the sage said. He stayed near the hermitage, bathed, fasted, offered wild flowers and water to Vishnu, and sat awake all night repeating the name of Hari as Angiras had taught him. He had never kept still for so long in his life.
The mahatmya says that by the merit of that one fast the weight of his past was lifted. When his time came, it was not Yama's messengers who came for him but Vishnu's attendants, and he went on Garuda to Vishnu's abode.
Krishna ended, "Such is Papankusha. It is said that whoever keeps it also brings blessing to ten generations of the mother's family, ten of the father's and ten of the wife's. And whoever gives on this day, gold, sesame, land, a cow, grain, water, an umbrella or shoes, does not see Yama's city."
Reading the story calmly
The story has death's messengers and a fearful man, but its point is the opposite of fear. A person who had done great harm is not turned away by the sage; he is shown a door. The katha does not say that one fast cancels harm done to others. It says that turning back is always possible, and that the turning is welcomed.
What the day is kept for
People keep Papankusha for a fresh start: to set down habits they are not proud of, and to begin again on a clean day after the victory of Dussehra. The text says the fast clears a lifetime of faults and blesses one's family on both sides; households read that as the generosity of the story rather than a claim to be measured.
How it is kept
Vishnu is worshipped as Padmanabha, often with lotus or other flowers and a lamp. Because the text praises giving on this day, many families donate grain, sesame, a blanket, an umbrella or footwear to someone who needs them. Coming the morning after Dussehra, it is kept in many homes as a quiet day after the festival crowds. The full steps of the fast are on the Ekadashi puja vidhi page.
Neighbouring Ekadashis
The Ekadashi before this is Indira Ekadashi, kept for the ancestors in Pitru Paksha, and the one after is Rama Ekadashi, a few days before Diwali. For the auspicious hours of the day in your city, see the choghadiya.