Rama Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Kartika (Ashvin in the amanta reckoning), a few days before Diwali, and its katha is about Princess Chandrabhaga and her husband Shobhana. It is a story of one fast kept unwillingly and a lifetime of fasts kept with joy, and of how the second made the first complete.
The next Rama Ekadashi, with Smarta and Vaishnava days, is on the Ekadashi dates page, where each day's page also gives the parana window for your city. The story follows.
The katha
Yudhishthira said, "Keshava, what is the Ekadashi in the dark half of Kartika called? Tell me its story."
Krishna said, "It is called Rama, and it lifts away even heavy faults. Listen to the story of King Muchukunda."
Long ago there lived a king named Muchukunda, a friend of Indra, Yama, Varuna and Kubera. He was truthful and devoted to Vishnu, and his love for Ekadashi was so great that no one in his kingdom ate on that day. Not his family, not his servants, not even the horses and elephants in his stables.
He had a daughter named Chandrabhaga, as lovely as her name, which is also the name of a river. She grew up in that devout house and kept every Ekadashi from the time she was a little girl. When she was grown, she was married to Shobhana, son of King Chandrasena. Shobhana was gentle and kind, but his body was weak; he could not bear hunger for long.
Some time after the wedding, Shobhana came to stay at his father-in-law's palace in the month of Kartika. Rama Ekadashi was near. On Dashami, drums were beaten through the city with the king's announcement: "Tomorrow is Ekadashi. No one is to eat."
Shobhana heard it and went to his wife, worried. "Chandrabhaga, you know I cannot go without food. What shall I do?"
Chandrabhaga said, "In my father's kingdom, no one eats on Ekadashi, not even the animals. If you cannot fast, perhaps you could go somewhere else for the day. But if you stay, you will have to keep it."
Shobhana thought about it and said, "Then I will stay and fast. Whatever happens will be as God wills."
He kept the fast with everyone else. By evening he was faint; through the night, as the palace sang bhajans, he grew weaker. Before dawn on Dwadashi, he passed away.
King Muchukunda had the last rites performed. He would not allow Chandrabhaga to go with her husband onto the pyre, and she stayed on in her father's house, still keeping her Ekadashis.
Meanwhile, by the merit of that one Rama Ekadashi, Shobhana found himself king of a splendid city on Mount Mandarachala, with jewelled palaces, gardens and attendants. But it had a flaw: because he had fasted out of necessity and not from faith, his city was not stable. It shimmered as if it might fade at any moment.
One day a brahmin named Somasharma from Muchukunda's city, on pilgrimage, came to that mountain and recognised Shobhana on his throne. Shobhana greeted him warmly, asked after everyone at home, and explained his strange kingdom. "It will not last," he said, "because my fast lacked faith. Please tell Chandrabhaga. Perhaps she can make it firm."
Somasharma went home and told Chandrabhaga all of it. Her face lit up. "Take me to him," she said. They travelled to the ashram of the sage Vamadeva near Mandarachala, where, by the sage's blessing, she was given a divine body. She went to her husband and said, "Since I was eight years old I have kept every Ekadashi. I give you the merit of all of them." At once the city became steady and shining, and the two lived there happily together.
Krishna said, "This is Rama Ekadashi. Whoever keeps it, or listens to its story, receives its blessing."
Reading the story calmly
The katha includes the death of a young husband after a fast, and it can be hard to read. It is a Purana story, not a model for anyone's health: the vrat books themselves allow water and fruit for those who cannot fast, and Shobhana, given the choice today, would be told to eat. The heart of the story is the loyal wife who gives her husband everything she has saved.
What the day is kept for
Families keep Rama Ekadashi to welcome Lakshmi into the home before Diwali, and for steadiness in a marriage. The text says the fast removes faults and gives a place in Vishnu's world; the story's own lesson is that devotion kept gladly over the years is what gives a vow its strength.
How it is kept
Vishnu and Lakshmi are worshipped together, often with a lamp of ghee and lotus or yellow flowers. Many households have already begun cleaning and painting for Diwali, and the fast is fitted into those busy days. Wives sometimes keep it for their husbands, remembering Chandrabhaga. Anyone frail or unwell should keep a fruit fast or eat simply. The order of the day is on the Ekadashi puja vidhi page.
Neighbouring Ekadashis
Before this comes Papankusha Ekadashi, the day after Dussehra. After Rama come Dev Uthani Ekadashi, when Vishnu wakes, and Utpanna, whose story is the Ekadashi katha; then Mokshada Ekadashi, the day of the Gita. For the tithi on any day in your city, see the panchang.