Paksa Vardhini Mahadvadasi

What is Paksa Vardhini Mahadvadasi?

Paksa Vardhini Mahadvadasi is one of the Mahadvadasi days of the Vaishnava calendar. Dvadasi is the day after Ekadashi, and a Mahadvadasi is a Dvadasi that takes on the importance of Ekadashi. In 2027 it is marked on Tuesday, 15 June, the same day as Pandava Nirjala Ekadashi.

Significance

The name follows a rule of the calendar. When the next new moon or full moon touches sunrise on two days in a row, the Dvadasi before it becomes Paksa Vardhini Mahadvadasi. Srila Prabhupada taught that the lunar day present at sunrise decides the date, which is why Vaishnava dates sometimes differ from the Western calendar. For exact dates, he said, we must take the help of expert almanac astronomers. In a 1970 letter he explained the term itself:

When there is an important Dvadasi, the Ekadasi fasting is transferred on the Dvadasi, and this is called Mahadvadasi.

Letter to Pradyumna, Los Angeles, 29 April 1970

How to observe it

In 2027 the calendar lists this Mahadvadasi with Pandava Nirjala Ekadashi on 15 June. Devotees therefore keep the Ekadashi fast given for that day and break it on Wednesday, 16 June, between 5:21 AM and 10:02 AM at Kurukshetra. Because Mahadvadasi dates rest on sunrise calculations, confirm the day with the Vaishnava calendar or an experienced devotee instead of guessing.