Vijaya Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Phalguna (Magha in the amanta calendar), a few days before Maha Shivratri. Its katha takes us to the southern shore of the ocean, where Rama, with his army gathered and Lanka somewhere beyond the waves, did not know how to cross, and a sage taught him this fast.
The Ekadashi list on Ekadashi vrat dates shows the day it next falls on; open it there for the parana time in your city, which marks when the fast can be broken. What follows is the katha, retold in our words.
The katha
Yudhishthira said, "Krishna, tell me about the Ekadashi of the dark half of Phalguna. What is its name, and what does it give?"
Krishna said, "It is called Vijaya, and it gives victory. Narada once asked Brahma about it, and Brahma told him a story from the age of Treta. Listen."
On the shore
Rama had been sent away to the forest for fourteen years, with Sita and Lakshmana beside him. In the forest Ravana had carried Sita away to Lanka. Rama and Lakshmana had searched for her, made friends with Sugriva, and Hanuman had leapt across the sea, found Sita and brought back word of her. Now the whole army of the vanaras had marched south and stood on the shore of the ocean.
Rama looked out at the water. It stretched to the horizon, deep and restless, full of great fish, sea serpents and creatures no one could name. There was no boat that could carry an army, no shallows to wade, and no other road. He turned to Lakshmana. "How are we to cross this? I can see no way."
Lakshmana said, "Brother, you know all things, yet you ask me. Not far from here, a short walk along the shore, lives a sage called Bakadalbhya. He has seen many ages of Brahma come and go. Let us go to him and ask."
The sage's advice
The two brothers went to the hermitage, bowed and sat before the old sage. Bakadalbhya recognised Rama at once and was full of joy. "Why have you come, Rama?"
Rama said, "I have come to this shore with my army to win back Sita from Lanka. But the ocean stands in our way. Tell me how we may cross it and how we may win."
The sage said, "There is an Ekadashi in the dark half of Phalguna called Vijaya. Keep it with your companions and your commanders, and you will cross, and you will win. This is how to keep it."
He told Rama that on Dashami a kalash should be made, of gold or silver or copper, or even of clay if nothing else is at hand. It should be filled with water, adorned with mango leaves and set on a small heap of seven kinds of grain. On top of it should be placed an image of Narayana. On Ekadashi morning, after bathing, the kalash should be worshipped with flowers, garlands, sandalwood, incense, a lamp and offerings of food, and the whole day spent in fasting and the remembrance of God. The night should be kept awake before it. On Dwadashi, at sunrise, the kalash should be taken to the bank of a river or lake, worshipped once more, and given away with respect to a learned brahmin.
The fast and the crossing
Rama did exactly as the sage had said. He set up the kalash, kept the fast with Lakshmana, Sugriva, Hanuman and the leaders of the army, worshipped through the day, kept awake through the night, and on Dwadashi gave the kalash away by the water.
After that the way opened. In the familiar telling the sea itself came before Rama, the bridge was built stone by stone by the vanaras, and the army crossed to Lanka. The war was fought and won, Ravana fell, and Sita was brought home.
Brahma ended by telling Narada that whoever keeps Vijaya Ekadashi in this way wins in this world and the next, and that even reading or hearing its story brings merit.
Reading the story calmly
The story ends in a war and the fall of Ravana, but the mahatmya does not dwell on battle. Its scene is quieter: a great prince who does not know what to do, a younger brother who suggests asking, and an old sage who answers with patience. Families hear it as permission to stop, admit one does not know the way, and seek advice before a hard task.
What the day is kept for
Vijaya means "victory", and the mahatmya praises this Ekadashi as one that gives success and removes faults. The text speaks of victory in the largest sense; households hear its claims as a blessing on honest effort, not as a promise that a fast replaces work.
That is the shape of Rama's own story. He kept the fast, and then the bridge still had to be built and the war still had to be fought. People keep Vijaya Ekadashi before an examination, an interview, a court case, a long journey or a difficult conversation, asking for clarity and steadiness on the way, and then they get on with the work.
How it is kept
On Vijaya Ekadashi many families set up a small kalash on Dashami evening, often of copper or clay, filled with water, with mango leaves at the mouth and a few grains of seven kinds beneath it, and place a picture or small image of Vishnu or Rama beside it. The kalash is worshipped through the day with the usual Ekadashi puja and a fruit fast, and on Dwadashi the water is poured at the roots of a tree or the tulsi and the grain given away. Some read the Sundar Kand or the Lanka episode of the Ramayana in the evening. The rest of the order is on the Ekadashi puja vidhi page; older people, pregnant women and anyone unwell can keep it with water and fruit.
The Ekadashis around it
Before it, in the bright half of Magha, is Jaya Ekadashi, the story of two singers freed from a curse. After it, in the bright half of Phalguna, comes Amalaki Ekadashi, the day of the amla tree. For the tithi in your city see the panchang, and for a good period to begin the kalash puja, the choghadiya.