Yogini Ekadashi

Yogini (Yoginī) is the ekadashi of krishna paksha in the fourth lunar month, Ashadha (June-July). The name echoes the word "yogini." Tradition connects this day with cleansing sins, especially harm done to others, and with healing.

Place in the system

Ekadashi is the eleventh tithi of the lunar month. Yogini falls eleventh in the dark half of Ashadha, immediately before Shayani, which opens Chaturmasya.

On this ekadashi tradition stresses not strictness but care: healing, and harm done to others through carelessness, are lifted not by harsh austerity but by gentle, sustained attention.

Practical meaning

The Yogini fast is favorable for cleansing sins, especially harm done to others, for health and release from ailments. Tradition holds it in high regard, on a par with generously feeding those in need.

The Yogini background works through gentleness. Not every fault is mended by harshness — some are lifted by gentleness, care, constancy. The Yogini ekadashi teaches exactly this.

The fast itself on this day is the ordinary ekadashi fast: without grain or legumes, with fruit, milk, and water. The strictness here lies not in deprivation but in the constancy of care — for yourself and for those you have harmed.

In Indian folk practice Yogini is a day on which devout Hindus often feed those in need and pray for healing — their own and that of those close to them.

In daily practice

Yogini is a day for gentle healing. If you or someone close to you is unwell, if there is an inner wound that has not closed, this day suits prayer for healing and feeding those in need.

Yogini also suits a practice of forgiveness: forgiving those who caused you pain, and asking forgiveness of those you caused pain.

Yogini also suits fasting: fruit, milk, water, light food. The fast here is a gentle offering, without harshness.

How much this day is yours is refined by Tara Bala. Yogini sets a background of gentle healing, and the personal layer shows how far it matches your circumstances today.