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According to legends, a king named Kuber ruled the city called Alkapuri. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He used to offer flowers in the Puja brought by Hema Mali. Hemamali had a beautiful wife named Vishalakshi. Once, after bringing flowers from Mansarovar, he did not go for Puja and started spending time with his wife. King Kuber kept waiting for him till noon time. After waiting for long, he got very furious and ordered his servants to find Hema Mali.
When servants returned back, they said, “Hey king, he is busy rejoicing with his wife.” Hearing to this, king immediately ordered his servants to call Hema Mali. He cursed the gardener with separation from his wife and will suffer from leprosy in the Mrityu lok. Being cursed by the king he immediately fell on the earth and became a leper. He also faced separation from his wife and suffered from many problems in the Mrityu lok.
Due to the effect of Lord Shiva’s devotion, his mind did not forget the deeds of his last birth and he started moving towards the Himalayas. He visited an ashram on the way and met a saint. Hemamali reached to him and fell in his feet. The saint heard the full story of the gardener and decided to help him to attain salvation.
He advised Hema to observe Yogini Ekadashi fast on Krishna Paksha of Ashada month to get rid of all the sins. Hema started observing the fast with proper rituals and devotion. As a result, he got back to his original form and started living happily with his wife.

How To Observe Yogini Ekadashi Vrat 

Legends narrate the story of a gardener named Hema Mali, a Yaksha and
his extremely beautiful wife, Swarupavati. Hema Mali worked under
Kuvera, King of Alakapuri, who was a pious devotee of Lord Shiva. Hema
Mali’s job was to collect flowers from Manasarovar Lake and provide them
to the king for the daily Shiva puja. Nonetheless, he was highly
attracted towards his wife and hence, one day, he stayed back with wife
neglecting his duties. Thus, he could not deliver flowers for the puja
to the king. The king sent one of his messengers to find out the reason
for Hema Mali’s absence and negligence. The messenger found that Hema
Mali was spending time with his wife instead of fulfilling his duty of
collecting flowers.

He returned back and informed the king that the reason for his
carelessness is his gorgeous wife. Hema Mali was summoned to the court.
Though he begged for forgiveness, the king cursed him with suffering
from white leprosy and be separated from his wife. He was thrown out of
the palace and Hem Mali immediately got afflicted with white leprosy. He
wandered through the forests for years and finally reached the ashram
of Sage Markandeya. The whole tale was retold to the sage. The sage
asked Hema Mali to observe Yogini Ekadashi vrat in order to get
liberated from the dangerous infection and relieved from the curse.

As directed, Hema Mali observed the fast and returned back to his divine
form as a Yaksha. Therefore, he was able to reunite with his wife and
live the rest of his life happily. All devotees observing this fast are
freed from their sins and are provided with great liberation. The
rituals and customs for following Yogini Ekadashi are same as that of
other Ekadashi fasts. The fast begins from sunrise and lasts until the
next day’s sunrise. People observing a partial fast on this day resist
from consuming food made from rice or grains. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu,
devotees are advised to chant and recite Vishnu Stotras during the day
of the fast.

 Yogini Ekadashi Vrat Images