Originally posted by: kalapana_kmk
From the age of eight onwards a person can start ekadashi fast. It occurs twice in a month. Whether married or unmarried anybody can follow. It is not compulsory to observe this fast with husband😊.
It is so interesting to know how a single vrath is interpreted or done in different ways..thanks for the information
I dont know about all parts of India but in Bengal traditionally Ekadashi Vrath is performed mainly by widows or sons performing it after their parents death (normally for a year but they can continue with it) or by a new Brahmin after the sacred thread ceremony...if any married woman(suhagan) wants to do it they will have to do it along with their husband (only cze of its association with widows..rather it is said that husband and wife doing it together makes the vrath more fruitful...however unmarried girls can do it as well...
There was a point when this vrath used to be so strictly maintained that widows dying on Ekadashi were not even allowed to have Ganges water on their death bed as they were meant to be fasting..social reformers like Ram Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar strongly protested against such torture and tried to bring about changes. With time definitely the severity has relaxed but unfortunately even today some Bengali families follow it very strictly and enforce the widows to do it...
Edited by apara_loves_IPK - 12 years ago