Pitru Paksha Ekadashi 2025: Why Ancestors’ Blessings Multiply on Gyaras Tithi

On 17 Sept 2025, Pitru Paksha Ekadashi — a sacred union of Shraddh and Vishnu Bhakti. Read the Indira Ekadashi story, detailed rituals, timings, and how to lovingly remember and serve ancestors.

Pitru Paksha is a sacred fortnight of remembrance — a time when the veil between the living and the departed feels thin, when gratitude turns into action, and when simple offerings become channels of peace for our forebears.

When Ekadashi (11th lunar day, also called Gyaras) falls in this period, it is called Indira Ekadashi. This Ekadashi is believed to hold the power to free ancestors from lower realms and grant them peace, while also cleansing the devotee’s own karmas through fasting and devotion to Lord Vishnu.

Indira Ekadashi during Pitru Paksha 2025 is on Wednesday, 17 September 2025 (today). The Shraddh rituals for Ekadashi begin at 12:21 AM after midnight and conclude at 11:39 PM tonight.

The Story of Indira Ekadashi (Padma Purana)

The Padma Purana narrates the glory of Indira Ekadashi. Once in the kingdom of Mahishmati, there lived a noble king Indrasena, a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. One day, Sage Narada visited him and revealed that the king’s father was trapped in the realm of Yama due to incomplete merits. Narada advised him to observe the Indira Ekadashi vrat during Pitru Paksha to help his father’s soul attain liberation.

King Indrasena, with full devotion, performed the fast, Shraddh, and Tarpan rituals. Due to this Ekadashi vrat, his father was freed from suffering and elevated to the heavenly abode. From then, Indira Ekadashi became famous as the Ekadashi that delivers salvation to ancestors and blessings to the family.

• Observing Indira Ekadashi not only purifies the devotee but also uplifts generations of ancestors.

• Lord Vishnu’s grace, when combined with Shraddh, becomes a bridge between the living and the departed.

Significance of Indira Ekadashi

• Dual Power: Fasting for Vishnu purifies the soul, while Tarpan for ancestors purifies family lineage.

• Liberation (Moksha): Helps free souls stuck in suffering, guiding them to higher realms.

• Family Harmony: Ancestors’ blessings remove obstacles, bring unity, peace, and prosperity.

• Karmic Healing: Balances past karmas and reduces unseen burdens on future generations.

Why Ekadashi and Pitru Paksha together are so potent

Ekadashi is a day traditionally devoted to Lord Vishnu — a day of fasting, inner cleansing, scriptural recitation, and heightened devotion. Pitru Paksha is devoted to the pitras (ancestors) — feeding them through Pinda-daan, offering water (Tarpan), and performing Shraddh.

When Ekadashi’s spiritual austerity meets Pitru Paksha’s devotional service, two streams meet: inner purification (through vrat/fasting and devotion to Vishnu) and outer service (ritual offerings to ancestors). Together they create a potent field for removing bondage, resolving ancestral karmas, and inviting ancestral blessings into family life. (See Ekadashi’s special importance during Pitru Paksha.)

Rituals of Indira Ekadashi

1. Fasting (Upavasa) for Lord Vishnu

• Devotees fast from sunrise on Ekadashi until sunrise on Dwadashi.

• Some keep nirjala vrat (without food & water), while others take fruits and milk.

• The essence is devotion and self-control, not mere physical endurance.

2. Tarpan & Shraddh for Ancestors

• Perform water offerings with sesame (til) while chanting mantras like:

• ॐ सर्व पितृभ्यः स्वधा नमः

• Offer pindas (rice balls with sesame) with love and prayer.

• Distribute food, grains, or clothes to Brahmins and the poor in ancestors’ name.

3. Vishnu Puja

• Offer tulsi leaves, flowers, and satvik bhog to Lord Vishnu.

• Recite Vishnu Sahasranama or Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 15 — Purushottam Yoga).

• Light a lamp of ghee and chant:

  ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय

4. Charity & Compassion

• Feed the poor, offer food to cows, dogs, and birds.

• This is seen as the highest Shraddh, because it serves all beings as divine.

The Power of Gratitude & Love in Pitru Paksha

Shraddh is not only ritualistic; it is an expression of love. Just as we keep our ancestors alive in memory, Pitru Paksha and especially Indira Ekadashi allow us to transform memory into blessings.

Simple actions like lighting a diya, offering food, or even silently praying, when done with bhakti, are deeply powerful. The soul of the ritual is not fear but respect, gratitude, and continuity of love across generations.

“यथा जलं तथा तिलं पितृभ्यः प्रतिपद्यते।

एवं मे सर्वकामानां सिद्धिं कुरुतु मे पिताः॥”

Meaning: Just as water and sesame reach the ancestors, in the same way, O revered forefathers, bless me so that all my righteous wishes are fulfilled.

Final Thought

Pitru Paksha is the sacred time to bow our heads in humility and remember where we come from. Our ancestors are not just names from the past — they are the roots that nourished the tree of our existence.

Indira Ekadashi 2025 on 17th September is not just a date on the calendar, it is a golden opportunity to cleanse the soul, to honor those who walked before us, to give selflessly, and to receive their eternal blessings. By fasting with faith, performing Shraddh with devotion, and chanting the holy name of Lord Vishnu, we create a channel through which peace flows to our pitras and blessings flow back into our lives.

This day reminds us that love does not end with death — it transforms into guidance, strength, and unseen support. To sit with folded hands, to pour water with sesame, or to simply whisper a prayer of gratitude is to say to our ancestors: “We remember you, we honor you, and we walk in your light.” Such remembrance is not a ritual alone but a living act of love, gratitude, and continuity. May this Indira Ekadashi awaken bhakti within us, may it bring peace to our ancestors, and may it fill our families with harmony and prosperity.

श्राद्धः, स्मरणं, समर्पणं च — एषा एव पितृभक्तिः।