Papankusha Ekadashi 2026: Date, Shubh Muhurat, Paran Time, Vrat Katha & Mantra

Papankusha Ekadashi 2026 falls on Thursday, 22 October 2026. It is the Ekadashi of the Shukla paksha of Ashwin - the goad that turns a life away from wrongdoing - and the fast is broken (paran) on Friday, 23 October 2026 between 06:27 AM and 02:37 PM.

Below is the complete guide to Papankusha Ekadashi 2026: the tithi timings, the shubh muhurat, the paran window and how it was worked out, the vrat vidhi, the vrat katha and the mantras of Lord Padmanabha, a form of Vishnu. Every date and time on this page is computed from our own Vedic panchang for Delhi, not copied from a calendar - you can check any of them yourself on our free daily Panchang.

संक्षेप में: पापांकुशा एकादशी 2026 बृहस्पतिवार, 22 अक्टूबर को है। यह आश्विन शुक्ल पक्ष की एकादशी है - वह अंकुश जो जीवन को पाप से मोड़ देता है - और इसमें विष्णु के पद्मनाभ रूप की पूजा होती है। एकादशी तिथि 21 अक्टूबर दोपहर 02:13 से 22 अक्टूबर दोपहर 02:49 तक है, और पारण शुक्रवार, 23 अक्टूबर को प्रातः 06:27 से दोपहर 02:37 के बीच किया जाता है। सभी समय दिल्ली के लिए हैं। पूरा लेख हिंदी में पढ़ें →

Papankusha Ekadashi 2026: date, tithi and paran

Papankusha Ekadashi 2026 shubh muhurat (Delhi)

• Brahma Muhurat: 04:50 AM to 05:38 AM
• Abhijit Muhurat: 11:41 AM to 12:29 PM
• Sunrise / Sunset: 06:26 / 17:45
• Rahu Kaal (avoid): 01:30 PM to 02:55 PM

The Moon sits in Shatabhisha - "the hundred healers" - with the auspicious Vriddhi yoga running, a growth yoga. For a fast named after a goad that turns a life away from wrongdoing, a healing star and a growing yoga are a fitting pair.

These timings are for Delhi. Sunrise moves by up to about forty minutes across India, and the muhurats move with it - enter your own city on the Panchang for your local figures.

Papankusha Ekadashi paran (fast-breaking) time

The paran is on Friday, 23 October 2026, from 06:27 AM to 02:37 PM. Hari Vasara ends on 22 October at 08:46 PM, the night before, so the entire morning of the 23rd is available for paran.

The window is worked out this way: the fast is broken on Dwadashi, after sunrise, once Hari Vasara - the first quarter of the Dwadashi tithi, in which paran is forbidden - has passed, and before the Dwadashi tithi itself ends. Breaking the fast early in the window is considered better than late, and leaving it until after Dwadashi has ended is held to undo the merit of the fast.

Significance of Papankusha Ekadashi

The name is a compound and it is the whole teaching: papa is wrongdoing, ankusha is the iron goad a mahout uses to turn an elephant. An elephant cannot be argued with, and neither can a habit - both are turned by something small applied at the right point. Papankusha Ekadashi comes in the bright fortnight of Ashwin, days after Dussehra, when the festival season has just made its own point about what wins in the end. It is kept by people who want to break a pattern rather than merely regret it, and it is traditionally said to be one of the easiest Ekadashis to keep and one of the most generous in what it gives back.

Papankusha Ekadashi vrat vidhi - how to keep the fast

• Rise in the Brahma Muhurat (04:50 AM to 05:38 AM), bathe, and take the sankalpa - say plainly what the fast is for.
• Clean the puja space, place an image or idol of Lord Padmanabha, a form of Vishnu, and light a ghee lamp.
• Offer tulsi leaves, yellow flowers, sandalwood, incense, fruit and panchamrit. Tulsi is essential to any Vishnu vrat - but never pluck tulsi on the Ekadashi day itself; pick the leaves the evening before.
• Chant the Vishnu mantras below and read or listen to the Papankusha Ekadashi vrat katha.
• Keep the fast as your health allows - nirjala (waterless) is the strictest form and is optional; phalahar with fruit, milk and water is the common practice. Rice and grains are avoided by everyone keeping any Ekadashi.
• Spend the evening in bhajan and the aarti of Lord Vishnu. Many households stay awake (jagran) through the night.
• Break the fast (paran) the next day inside the window given above, after offering food and dakshina to a brahmin or to someone in need.

Papankusha Ekadashi vrat katha

On the Vindhya mountain lived a hunter named Krodhana - the name means "the angry one", and he had earned it. His whole life had been killing, theft and cruelty, and he had never once thought about it.

When his end drew near, Yama sent his messengers with the day and the hour. Krodhana, who had never been frightened of anything, was frightened of that. He ran into the forest and came to the ashram of the sage Angira, fell at his feet, and asked the only honest question he had ever asked: is there anything left that a man like me can do?

The sage did not tell him he was beyond help, and did not tell him it would be easy. He told him to keep the fast of the Ashwin Shukla Ekadashi - Papankusha - with full faith, and to worship Lord Padmanabha.

Krodhana kept it exactly as he was told. The vrat is said to have burnt away the accumulated weight of that life, and when the messengers came, they could not touch him. A hunter who had done nothing right went to Vishnu’s abode on the strength of one day kept properly. The point of the katha is not that wrongdoing is cheap; it is that the goad works even on an elephant that has been running the wrong way for years.

Mantras to chant on Papankusha Ekadashi

Chant these during the puja and through the day’s japa:

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय॥

ॐ नमो नारायणाय॥

शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं
विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्णं शुभाङ्गम्‌॥

ॐ श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं महालक्ष्म्यै नमः॥

The complete aarti, chalisa and mantra texts are in our devotional library, and the Ekadashi Mata aarti is the one most families sing at the evening lamp.

Book a puja for Papankusha Ekadashi 2026

Papankusha is a Vishnu vrat kept to break a pattern, and the Satyanarayan Katha is the Vishnu puja families keep to mark exactly that kind of fresh start. If you would rather have it performed properly by pandits on your behalf, with sankalp in your name, a recorded video, photographs and prasad couriered to you, these are the two that fit this vrat:

• Satyanarayan Katha Puja - from ₹3,100
• Kasht Nivaran Puja - from ₹2,000

Every puja is available in Individual, Family and Maha tiers; the full list is in the online puja store.

Papankusha Ekadashi 2026: FAQs

When is Papankusha Ekadashi in 2026?
Papankusha Ekadashi 2026 is on Thursday, 22 October. The Ekadashi tithi runs from 02:13 PM on 21 October to 02:49 PM on 22 October, and it is the tithi at sunrise on the 22nd.

What is the Papankusha Ekadashi 2026 paran time?
The paran is on Friday, 23 October 2026, between 06:27 AM and 02:37 PM (Delhi). Hari Vasara ended the previous night, so the full morning is available.

What does Papankusha mean?
Papa means wrongdoing and ankusha is the goad a mahout uses to steer an elephant. The fast is named for the idea that a settled bad pattern is turned, not argued with.

Which form of Vishnu is worshipped?
Lord Padmanabha - Vishnu with the lotus rising from his navel - is the form named in the Papankusha Ekadashi katha.

Whether this vrat helps you the way the katha promises depends on far more than the date: it depends on which dasha you are running and what your own chart is doing. Start with your free birth chart on Free Kundli, get the detailed 46-page Kundli report for ₹49, or talk to an astrologer about the right vrat and remedy for your chart. Planning a ceremony? The free Muhurat finder will rank the days for you.

More from this series: Devshayani Ekadashi · Aja Ekadashi · Parivartini Ekadashi · Indira Ekadashi.

Note: dates and timings on this page are computed from our own Vedic panchang for Delhi (28.61°N, 77.21°E) and follow the Purnimanta lunar month used in North India. They can differ by city and by calendar tradition. The paran window follows the standard rule - after sunrise, after Hari Vasara, before Dwadashi ends. Please confirm with your family’s panchang or a learned pandit before observing the vrat.