Devanagari
अथैनं मापनयत कृताशेषाघनिष्कृतम् ।
यदसौ भगवन्नाम म्रियमाण: समग्रहीत् ॥ १३ ॥
Verse text
athainaṁ māpanayata
kṛtāśeṣāgha-niṣkṛtam
yad asau bhagavan-nāma
mriyamāṇaḥ samagrahīt
Synonyms
atha
—
therefore
;
enam
—
him (Ajāmila)
;
mā
—
do not
;
apanayata
—
try to take
;
kṛta
—
already done
;
aśeṣa
—
unlimited
;
agha
—
niṣkṛtam — atonement for his sinful actions
;
yat
—
because
;
asau
—
he
;
bhagavat
—
nāma — the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
mriyamāṇaḥ
—
while dying
;
samagrahīt
—
perfectly chanted .
Translation
At the time of death, this Ajāmila helplessly and very loudly chanted the holy name of the Lord, Nārāyaṇa. That chanting alone has already freed him from the reactions of all sinful life. Therefore, O servants of Yamarāja, do not try to take him to your master for punishment in hellish conditions.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Therefore, do not take Ajāmila who has performed unlimited atonement. Because of being sinless, he has perfectly chanted the name of the Lord while dying.
Because of this, do not take Ajāmila. He has done unlimited atonements. This means at the time of naming his son Nārāyaṇa, from his first chanting, he accomplished all atonements. This was also done without any offenses to the name either previously or in this life. Because he was sinless (yat), while dying he chanted the name. If he had sin, how could he chant the name while dying? It is said in the Gītā:
yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām |
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ ||
But those whose sins have been destroyed by pious acts, being free of the ignorance arising from duality by worshipping me, then worship me with determination. BG 7.28
anta-kāle ca mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram |
yaḥ prayāti sa madbhāvaṁ yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ ||
At the point of death, he who leaves the body while knowing me in truth, attains a nature similar to mine. Of this there is no doubt. BG 8.5
Thus by the appearance of the name or its non-appearance when dying, one can infer the absence of offenses to the name or the presence of offenses to the name.
Purport
The Viṣṇudūtas, who are superior authorities, gave orders to the Yamadūtas, who did not know that Ajāmila was no longer subject to tribulation in hellish life for his past sins. Although he had chanted the holy name Nārāyaṇa to indicate his son, the holy name is so transcendentally powerful that he was automatically freed because he had chanted the holy name while dying (
ante nārāyaṇa-smṛtiḥ
). As Kṛṣṇa confirms in
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.28)
:
yeṣāṁ tv anta-gataṁ pāpaṁ
janānāṁ puṇya-karmaṇām
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktā
bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ
“Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.” Unless one is freed from all sinful reactions, one cannot be promoted to the platform of devotional service. Elsewhere in
Bhagavad-gītā
(8.5)
it is stated:
anta-kāle ca mām eva
smaran muktvā kalevaram
yaḥ prayāti sa mad-bhāvaṁ
yāti nāsty atra saṁśayaḥ
If one remembers Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa, at the time of death, one is certainly eligible to return immediately home, back to Godhead.