In the Mohinī episode, King Rukmāṅgada proclaims an uncompromising resolve to honor Hari’s sacred day (Harivāsara/Ekādaśī) by abstaining from food. He declares that he would accept loss of fame, accusations of falsehood, political ruin, social reproach, separation from loved ones, and even death or hell rather than break his vrata. The chapter upholds Ekādaśī fasting as a sin-destroying discipline that brings renown and spiritual merit, and condemns transgressive living—eating, consorting, and drinking what is forbidden. It also points to delusion and possessiveness (“this is mine”) as the root of bondage, contrasted with self-mastery through vrata. The vow is portrayed as publicly authoritative, “resounding like a kettledrum,” and concludes by affirming that Rukmāṅgada’s fame in the three worlds rests precisely on fidelity to Ekādaśī.
Verse 1
राजोवाच । कीर्तिर्नश्यतु मे पुत्र ह्यनृती वा भवाम्यहम् । गतो वा नरकं घोरं कथं भोक्ष्ये हरेर्दिने ॥ १ ॥
The king said: “Let my fame perish, my son, even if I be deemed a liar; or let me go to dreadful hell—yet how could I ever eat on the day sacred to Hari (Viṣṇu)?”
Verse 2
ब्रह्मणो निलयं यातु देवीयं मोहिनी सुत । भूयो भूयो वदति मां दुर्मेधाश्च सुबालिशा ॥ २ ॥
“Let this goddess go to Brahmā’s abode, O son of Mohinī. Again and again those dull-witted, utterly childish people keep speaking to me in this way.”
Verse 3
नापरं कामये राज्यं वसुधां वसु किंचन । मुक्त्वैवं वासरे विष्णोर्भोजनं पापनाशने ॥ ३ ॥
“I desire nothing else—neither sovereignty, nor the earth, nor any wealth at all. Therefore, on the day sacred to Viṣṇu, I abstain from eating—this vow destroys sin.”
Verse 4
यद्यहं कुत्सितां योनिं व्रजेयं क्रिमिसंज्ञिताम् । तथापि नैव कर्ताहं भोजनं हरिवासरे ॥ ४ ॥
Even if I were to fall into a despicable birth, known as that of a worm, still I would never partake of food on Hari’s sacred day (Ekādaśī).
Verse 5
एषा गुरुतरा भूत्वा लोकानां शिक्षयान्विता । दुंदुभी कुर्वती नादं सा कथं वितथा भवेत् ॥ ५ ॥
This teaching, most weighty and endowed with instruction for the worlds, resounds like a kettledrum; how, then, could it ever be false?
Verse 6
अभक्ष्यभक्षणं कृत्वा अगम्यागमनं तथा । अपेयं चैव पीत्वा तु किं जीवेच्छरदः शतम् ॥ ६ ॥
Having eaten what must not be eaten, gone to one with whom one must not consort, and drunk what must not be drunk—what is the use of living even for a hundred years?
Verse 7
असत्यं वापि कृत्वाहं त्यक्तराज्यनयः क्षितौ । धिक्कृतोऽपि जनैः सर्वैर्न भोक्ष्ये हरिवासरे ॥ ७ ॥
Even if I were to speak falsehood, even if I were cast down upon the earth and stripped of royal policy and power—though reviled by all people—I still will not eat on Hari’s sacred day (Harivāsara).
Verse 8
वियोगे चपलापांग्या यदि चेन्मरणं मम । तच्चापि वरमेवात्र न भोक्ष्ये हरिवासरे ॥ ८ ॥
If, in separation from the fickle, sidelong-glancing woman, death should come to me—then even that would be preferable here; I will not eat on Hari’s sacred day (Harivāsara/Ekādaśī).
Verse 9
कथं हर्षमहं कर्ता मार्तंडतनयस्य वै । व्रजद्भिर्मनुजैर्मार्गे निरयस्यातिदुःखितैः ॥ ९ ॥
How could I possibly feel joy on account of Mārtaṇḍa’s son, when, along the road, human beings are being driven toward hell—overwhelmed by extreme suffering?
Verse 10
यास्तु शून्याः कृतास्तात मया नरकपंक्तयः । जनैः पूर्णा भविष्यंति मयि भुक्ते तु ताः सुत ॥ १० ॥
Dear child, those rows of hells that I had left empty will, after I have suffered the fruits (of karma), be filled up by other people.
Verse 11
मास्म सीमन्तिनी पुत्र कुक्षौ संधारयेत्सुतम् । समर्थो यस्तु शत्रूणां हर्षं संजनयेद्भुवि ॥ ११ ॥
O pregnant woman, do not carry a son in your womb who, though capable, becomes a source of joy to his enemies on earth.
Verse 12
भोजनं वासरे विष्णोरेतदेव हियाचते । तन्न दास्यामि मोहिन्या याचितोऽपि सुरासुरैः ॥ १२ ॥
On the sacred day of Viṣṇu, she asks for only this—food. Yet I will not give it, even if begged by Mohinī, or by gods and demons alike.
Verse 13
पिबेद्विषं विशेद्वह्निं निपतेत्पर्वताग्रतः । आकाशभासा स्वशिरश्छिंद्यादेव वरासिना ॥ १३ ॥
One might drink poison, enter fire, or leap from a mountain peak; one might even sever one's own head with a sword flashing like the sky.
Verse 14
न भोक्ष्यते हरिदिने राजा रुक्मांगदः क्षितौ । रुक्मांगदेति मन्नाम प्रसिद्धं भुवनत्रये ॥ १४ ॥
On the day sacred to Hari, King Rukmāṅgada will not eat upon this earth. Thus, my name 'Rukmāṅgada' has become renowned throughout the three worlds.
Verse 15
एकादश्युपवासेन तन्मया संचितं यशः । स कथं भोजनं कृत्वा नाशये स्वकृतं यशः ॥ १५ ॥
By fasting on Ekādaśī, I have accumulated spiritual renown. How then, by taking food, could I destroy the merit I have earned by my own discipline?
Verse 16
म्रियते यदि वा गच्छति निपतति नश्येच्च खंडशो वापि । विरमति तदपि न चेतो मामकमिति मोहिनीहेतोः ॥ १६ ॥
Even if it dies, or departs, or falls, or is destroyed—yes, even if it is shattered into pieces—the mind still does not cease from the notion, “This is mine,” because of the very cause that bewitches through delusion.
Verse 17
परित्यजाम्येष निजं हि जीवितं लोकैः समेतः सहदारभृत्यैः । न त्वेव कुर्यां मधुसूदनस्य दिने सुपुण्येऽन्ननिषेवणं हि ॥ १७ ॥
I would rather relinquish this very life—together with my people, my wife, and my attendants—than ever partake of food on the supremely holy day of Madhusūdana (Viṣṇu).
Verse 18
इति श्रीबृहन्नारदीयपुराणोत्तरभागे मोहिनीचरिते षड्वविंशोऽध्यायः ॥ २६ ॥
Thus ends the twenty-sixth chapter, “The Account of Mohinī,” in the Uttara-bhāga (latter section) of the Śrī Bṛhannāradīya Purāṇa.
The chapter presents Ekādaśī as a directly Hari-centered observance whose fruit is both moral (restraint and purity) and metaphysical (sin-destruction and merit). Because it is tied to Viṣṇu’s sacred time, violating it is portrayed as more spiritually ruinous than worldly losses; hence the king ranks the vow above reputation, sovereignty, and even survival.
It warns against a life normalized around prohibited consumption and association—“eating what must not be eaten… consorting with whom one must not… drinking what must not”—and implies that longevity without dharma is meaningless. Ekādaśī becomes the emblem of disciplined living that reverses such decline.