MokshadaEkadashi
‖ 20 December 2026 (Sunday) ‖
Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi — "the giver of liberation", and also Gita Jayanti. On this day Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna at Kurukshetra.
Mokshada Ekadashi is one of the few days in the year where the fast and the scripture meet. On one side it is the Ekadashi held to release the soul from the round of birth and death; on the other it is Gita Jayanti, the day the Gita was spoken on the field of Kurukshetra.
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The Ekadashi that grants liberation
"Mokshada" means precisely that — the giver of moksha. It is held that this fast, kept with faith, carries both the one who keeps it and their forebears toward release from the cycle of birth and death. Many devotees therefore dedicate the day’s fast to their ancestors as well.
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Gita Jayanti
On this tithi, on a chariot drawn up between the two armies at Kurukshetra, Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. The day is therefore kept as Gita Jayanti, and reading the Gita — especially the second and eighteenth chapters — is the day’s central act.
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The same Kurukshetra, the same war
For Shyam devotees this tithi carries a further meaning. The field of Kurukshetra on which the Gita was spoken is the same war that Barbarika’s head watched from a hilltop, from beginning to end — the Mahabharata from which Baba Shyam’s own story begins. The Krishna who spoke the Gita to Arjuna is the same Krishna who gave Barbarika the name "Shyam" and the boon of being worshipped in the age of Kali.
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Sattvic food and restraint from the night of Dashami.
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Bathe at dawn on Ekadashi, worship Krishna / Shyam Baba, and take the sankalp.
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Read the Bhagavad Gita — if the whole is not possible, read the second or the eighteenth chapter.
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Keep the fast through the day, without food or on fruit; the day’s vow may also be dedicated to the ancestors.
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Break the fast on Dwadashi morning after bathing and puja; giving a copy of the Gita, or grain, is auspicious.
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Mokshada Ekadashi — FAQ
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Are Mokshada Ekadashi and Gita Jayanti the same day?
Yes. Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi is called Mokshada Ekadashi, and it is on this same day that Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna at Kurukshetra — so the tithi is also Gita Jayanti.
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Why is the Mokshada Ekadashi fast kept?
"Mokshada" means the giver of liberation. The fast is kept for release from the bonds of birth and death, and it is held that offering its merit to the ancestors carries them to a better state as well.
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Which chapter of the Gita should be read on this day?
Read the whole Gita if you can. If time is short, the second chapter (Sankhya Yoga) or the eighteenth (Moksha Sannyasa Yoga) is held to be especially fruitful on this day.