Devanagari
तं विवक्षुमभिप्रेत्य महापुरुषकिङ्करा: ।
सहसा पश्यतस्तस्य तत्रान्तर्दधिरेऽनघ ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
taṁ vivakṣum abhipretya
mahāpuruṣa-kiṅkarāḥ
sahasā paśyatas tasya
tatrāntardadhire ’nagha
Synonyms
tam
—
him (Ajāmila)
;
vivakṣum
—
desiring to speak
;
abhipretya
—
understanding
;
mahāpuruṣa
—
kiṅkarāḥ — the order carriers of Lord Viṣṇu
;
sahasā
—
suddenly
;
paśyataḥ tasya
—
while he looked on
;
tatra
—
there
;
antardadhire
—
disappeared
;
anagha
—
O sinless Mahārāja Parīkṣit .
Translation
O sinless Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the order carriers of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Viṣṇudūtas, saw that Ajāmila was attempting to say something, and thus they suddenly disappeared from his presence.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O sinless Parīkṣit! Knowing that Ajāmila wanted to speak to them, the servants of the Lord suddenly disappeared while he watched.
Though Ajāmila had some remaining time left, because of sins, his life span was reduced according to scriptural laws. Knowing this, the servants of Yama began pulling him from his body. This time was designated as his time of death, but actually because of the destruction of his sins, his life did not end at that time. Thus the Viṣṇu-dūtas disappeared, since he had remaining time left.
Purport
The
śāstras
say:
pāpiṣṭhā ye durācārā
deva-brāhmaṇa-nindakāḥ
apathya-bhojanās teṣām
akāle maraṇaṁ dhruvam
“For persons who are
pāpiṣṭha,
very sinful, and
durācāra,
misbehaved or very unclean in their habits, who are against the existence of God, who disrespect Vaiṣṇavas and
brāhmaṇas,
and who eat anything and everything, untimely death is sure.” It is said that in Kali-yuga one has a maximum lifetime of one hundred years, but as people become degraded, the duration of their lives decreases (
prāyeṇālpāyuṣaḥ
). Because Ajāmila was now free from all sinful reactions, his lifetime was extended, even though he was to have died immediately. When the Viṣṇudūtas saw Ajāmila trying to say something to them, they disappeared to give him a chance to glorify the Supreme Lord. Since all his sinful reactions had been vanquished, he was now prepared to glorify the Lord. Indeed, one cannot glorify the Lord unless one is completely free from all sinful activities. This is confirmed by Kṛṣṇa Himself 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.” The Viṣṇudūtas made Ajāmila aware of devotional service so that He might immediately become fit to return home, back to Godhead. To increase his eagerness to glorify the Lord, they disappeared so that he would feel separation in their absence. In the mode of separation, glorification of the Lord is very intense.