Devanagari
तन्निमित्तस्मरव्याजग्रहग्रस्तो विचेतन: ।
तामेव मनसा ध्यायन् स्वधर्माद्विरराम ह ॥ ६३ ॥
Verse text
tan-nimitta-smara-vyāja-
graha-grasto vicetanaḥ
tām eva manasā dhyāyan
sva-dharmād virarāma ha
Synonyms
tat
—
nimitta — caused by the sight of her
;
smara
—
vyāja — taking advantage of his thinking of her always
;
graha
—
grastaḥ — being caught by an eclipse
;
vicetanaḥ
—
having completely forgotten his real position
;
tām
—
her
;
eva
—
certainly
;
manasā
—
by the mind
;
dhyāyan
—
meditating upon
;
sva
—
dharmāt — from the regulative principles executed by a brāhmaṇa
;
virarāma ha
—
he completely ceased .
Translation
In the same way that the sun and moon are eclipsed by a low planet, the brāhmaṇa lost all his good sense. Taking advantage of this situation, he always thought of the prostitute, and within a short time he took her as a servant in his house and abandoned all the regulative principles of a brāhmaṇa.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Becoming possessed because of lust arising from seeing her and losing his memory, he began to meditate on her with his mind, and gave up his practice of dharma.
He could not protect himself from falling by jṣāna and by his steadiness in dharma, but he attained Vaikuṇṭha after restoring himself by nāmābhāsa alone. This shows the inherent strengths of dharma, jṣāna and bhakti.
Purport
By speaking this verse, Śukadeva Gosvāmī wants to impress upon the mind of the reader that Ajāmila’s exalted position as a
brāhmaṇa
was vanquished by his association with the prostitute, so much so that he forgot all his brahminical activities. Nevertheless, at the end of his life, by chanting the four syllables of the name Nārāyaṇa, he was saved from the gravest danger of falling down.
Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt:
even a little devotional service can save one from the greatest danger. Devotional service, which begins with chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is so powerful that even if one falls down from the exalted position of a
brāhmaṇa
through sexual indulgence, he can be saved from all calamities if he somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord. This is the extraordinary power of the Lord’s holy name. Therefore in
Bhagavad-gītā
it is advised that one not forget the chanting of the holy name even for a moment (
satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
). There are so many dangers in this material world that one may fall down from an exalted position at any time. Yet if one keeps himself always pure and steady by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa
mahā-mantra,
he will be safe without a doubt.