Utpanna Ekadashi is the day the tradition regards as the first Ekadashi, the birthday of Ekadashi herself. Utpanna means arisen or born, and the story it tells is of the goddess Ekadashi arising from the body of Vishnu. Many people who have never kept an Ekadashi before begin with this one, and it is also the usual start of a yearly practice that runs for twenty-four fasts.
Utpanna Ekadashi falls in the Krishna paksha, the waning fortnight, of Kartika in the amanta calendar (months that end at the new Moon). In the purnimanta calendar of north India, where the month ends at the full Moon, the same fortnight belongs to Margashirsha.
The katha
The tradition attributes the stories of the Ekadashis, Utpanna Ekadashi among them, to the Padma Purana and the Bhavishyottara Purana, where they are told as conversations, often with Krishna answering Yudhishthira. This is the story that explains why Ekadashi exists at all.
In the Satya yuga, a demon named Mura, the son of Taljangha, grew powerful and drove the gods from heaven. They went to Shiva, who sent them to Vishnu, and Vishnu went out with the gods to fight. The battle lasted for a very long time, and at last Vishnu, tired, withdrew to rest in a cave called Haimavati near Badrikashrama.
Mura followed him to the cave, and raised his weapon over the sleeping god. At that moment a radiant young woman emerged from Vishnu’s body, armed, and she faced Mura. In a single encounter, she turned him to ashes.
When Vishnu woke and saw what had happened, she bowed and said that she had been born from him and was ready to serve. Pleased, he gave her the name Ekadashi, since she had arisen on the eleventh day, and promised that whoever kept the vrat on that day with faith would gain his grace. The tradition regards her as the power behind every Ekadashi that follows.
How the fast is kept
People who are starting the practice usually begin here. Fasting from grain, worship of Vishnu with a lamp and tulsi, and listening to the katha of Mura are the main parts. Some people also offer a prayer of thanks to Ekadashi devi herself.
The detailed steps of a first Ekadashi, with a list of what to prepare, are given in the Ekadashi vrat vidhi, which also tells this katha in short.
Most printed calendars place Utpanna Ekadashi by the sunrise test, and so does this page. Households that follow a Vaishnava teacher may be given the next day for Utpanna Ekadashi, because their rule excludes a tithi touched by Dashami at dawn. On the morning after, the parana is taken within the window shown for your city, after sunrise, before Dwadashi ends and outside Hari Vasara. Choose a fast for Utpanna Ekadashi that you can keep comfortably. A person with a health condition, or anyone taking regular medicine, should speak to a doctor first, and a gentler fast of fruit and milk is accepted by every tradition.
Where it sits in the year
In the round of the year, Prabodhini Ekadashi comes before Utpanna Ekadashi and Mokshada Ekadashi after it. Every Ekadashi of the year is listed on the Ekadashi page; the steps of worship for Utpanna Ekadashi are in the Ekadashi vrat vidhi, and the tithi itself is explained on the Ekadashi tithi page.