Shri Saphala Ekadashi Vrat Katha

'There was a famous city named Champavati belonging to the royal sage Mahishmata, and he had five sons. The eldest of them was always given to grave sin: he went to other men's wives, was addicted to courtesans and drank liquor. He wasted his father's wealth in sinful deeds. He lived always in misconduct and reviled the gods, the brahmins and the Vaishnavas. Seeing his son so, King Mahishmata gave him the name Lumpaka among the princes, and his father and brothers drove him out of the kingdom.'

'His family cast him off like a highway robber. Then the abandoned Lumpaka thought: my kinsmen and my father have cast me off and driven me from the kingdom. Thinking so, the sinner resolved: I must go to the dreadful deep forest, and from there I will plunder my father's whole city. Having so resolved, as fate would have it, Lumpaka left the city and went into the deep forest. There he killed creatures every day, and, skilled in theft and gambling, the sinner robbed the whole city.'

'One night, while he was stealing, the city's guards caught him. He told them: I am the son of King Mahishmata. They let him go, and the sinner went back to the forest, where he lived each day on meat and the fruit of trees. The wicked one's shelter was near Lord Vasudeva: there stood a very old pipal tree, many years in age, which was held to be a great deity in that forest. There the sinful-minded Lumpaka lived.'

'After a long time, by some store of former merit, on the Dashami of Paush's dark fortnight he ate the fruit of trees by day. At night, having no clothes, the sinner Lumpaka was racked by the cold. Tormented by bitter cold beside Hari's tree, the pipal, he had neither sleep nor ease and became like one dead. All night his teeth were clenched, and even at sunrise the sinner did not come to his senses. On the day of Saphala, Lumpaka lay senseless, and only when the sun reached the middle of the sky did he regain consciousness.'

'He looked this way and that, and rising from where he lay, he went stumbling, falling again and again like a lame man. Going into the forest, he grew weak and racked by hunger and thirst. The wicked Lumpaka no longer had the strength even to kill creatures. Then he brought back fruit, but by the time he returned, the sun had set. Crying, 'O father, what will become of me now,' he lamented, and laid the many fruits at the root of that tree. He said: may Lord Hari, husband of Lakshmi, be pleased with these fruits. Even after saying this, Lumpaka got no sleep that night.'

'Sinless Yudhishthira, Vishnu accepted that wicked one's night vigil and his worship with fruit as the vow of Saphala. In this way, without intending it, Lumpaka kept this vow, and by the power of that merit he gained a kingdom free of foes. The moment the sun rose, a bodiless voice spoke in the sky: prince, by the grace of Saphala you will gain a kingdom. As soon as it spoke, he took on a divine form. Then, O king, his mind became supremely devoted to Vishnu, and adorned with divine ornaments he gained a kingdom free of foes.'

'He ruled for fifteen years, and by Shri Krishna's grace his sons and wives were lovely. Then, soon giving up the kingdom and handing it to his son, he went into Shri Krishna's presence, from which no one who goes there grieves. O king, one who keeps the excellent vow of Saphala in this way gains happiness in this world and liberation after death. Blessed in the world are those devoted to Saphala; their birth is fruitful, of this there is no question. Protector of the people, by reading, hearing and keeping it a person gains the fruit of the Rajasuya sacrifice.'