Gita Jayanti & Mokshada Ekadashi

The day the Bhagavad Gita is taken to have been spoken — kept by reading it through, not by ceremony.

This is the one major observance whose object is an argument rather than an event or a person. It fits the season — the coldest, quietest part of the year, when long reading is possible — and it is the clearest instance in the calendar of understanding being treated as worship.

• Anyone who wishes to honour Krishna may observe it; there is no requirement of initiation or priesthood for the home version.
• Families often keep the fast together, while children, elders, pregnant or unwell people take a lighter form — fruit, milk, or simply the puja without fasting.
• In many families the observance passes down through the women of the house or through a family tradition tied to Krishna; follow your family's custom where it differs from the general description here.

1. 1Bathe, wear clean clothes and clear a small space for the deity.
2. 2Light a lamp and an incense stick, and offer water, flowers and a simple sweet from the samagri list below.
3. 3Say Krishna's name or the mantra on this page eleven times, with your intention for the day.
4. 4Read the short katha on this page aloud, offer the bhog, and share the prasad.
5. 5Keep the day's food rule as far as your health allows, and end it gently the next morning.

Full Ekadashi vrat: no grain, beans or rice; fruit, milk and water for those who cannot keep it strictly.

• ×Fixing the puja by the clock instead of the tithi. Shukla Ekadashi can begin or end part-way through the day in your city, so check your Panchang the evening before.
• ×Gathering samagri on the morning itself. Items such as a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and tulsi leaves and yellow flowers are often unavailable at the last minute.
• ×Breaking the fast heavily or at the wrong moment. Parana is meant to be gentle — water, fruit or prasad first — and is kept within the window your tradition follows.
• ×Taking one region's practice as the only correct one. Kurukshetra keeps a week-long Gita Mahotsav; Vaishnava sampradayas vary on whether the Ekadashi is broken on Dwadashi morning or after; the commentarial readings of Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva differ sharply on what the text concludes, and all are taught.
• ×Rushing the steps without knowing why each one is done, which makes the observance hard to repeat next year.

Kurukshetra keeps a week-long Gita Mahotsav; Vaishnava sampradayas vary on whether the Ekadashi is broken on Dwadashi morning or after; the commentarial readings of Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva differ sharply on what the text concludes, and all are taught.

Regional scope

Pan-Indian practice, with regional notes given above

Last reviewed

September 2026

Reviewed by

DharmaPath editorial team, from traditional texts and household practice

Explanations here are written in our own words from traditional sources; timings, muhurta and local custom should be confirmed with your Panchang or family priest.