Devanagari
अयं हि कृतनिर्वेशो जन्मकोट्यंहसामपि ।
यद्व्याजहार विवशो नाम स्वस्त्ययनं हरे: ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
ayaṁ hi kṛta-nirveśo
janma-koṭy-aṁhasām api
yad vyājahāra vivaśo
nāma svasty-ayanaṁ hareḥ
Synonyms
ayam
—
this person (Ajāmila)
;
hi
—
indeed
;
kṛta
—
nirveśaḥ — has undergone all kinds of atonement
;
janma
—
of births
;
koṭi
—
of millions
;
aṁhasām
—
for the sinful activities
;
api
—
even
;
yat
—
because
;
vyājahāra
—
he has chanted
;
vivaśaḥ
—
in a helpless condition
;
nāma
—
the holy name
;
svasti
—
ayanam — the means of liberation
;
hareḥ
—
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead .
Translation
Ajāmila has already atoned for all his sinful actions. Indeed, he has atoned not only for sins performed in one life but for those performed in millions of lives, for in a helpless condition he chanted the holy name of Nārāyaṇa. Even though he did not chant purely, he chanted without offense, and therefore he is now pure and eligible for liberation.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This person has performed atonement for the sins of ten million births since he has spontaneously chanted the auspicious name of the Lord.
“You castigate us, but what offenses have we and our master committed in taking away Ajāmila to purify him, since he has performed no atonements for over a thousand great sins?” He has certainly performed atonement, not only for the sins of one life, but for ten thousand lives, since (yat) he has chanted the name of the Lord even though it was done unconsciously. The smṛtis say:
nāmno hi yāvatī śaktiḥ pāpa-nirharaṇe hareḥ
tāvat kartuṁ na śaknoti pātakaṁ pātakī naraḥ
A sinful man cannot commit as many sins as can be destroyed by the power of the Lord’s name. Viṣṇu Purāṇa
avaśenāpi yan nāmni kīrtite sarva-pātakaiḥ
pumān vimucyate sadyaḥ siṁha-trastair mṛgair iva
A human is freed from all sins when he chants the Lord’s name even unconsciously. The sins flee like animals frightened of a lion. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.8.19
Not only does chanting the Lord’ name cause atonement but is the cause of liberation (svastyayanam).
sakṛd uccāritaṁ yena harir ity akṣara-dvayam
baddha-parikaras tena mokṣāya gamanaṁ prati
Whoever chants the two syllables “Hari” only once is fir for attaining liberation. Skanda Purāṇa
Purport
The Yamadūtas had considered only the external situation of Ajāmila. Since he was extremely sinful throughout his life, they thought he should be taken to Yamarāja and did not know that he had become free from the reactions of all his sins. The Viṣṇudūtas therefore instructed that because he had chanted the four syllables of the name Nārāyaṇa at the time of his death, he was freed from all sinful reactions. In this regard Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura quotes the following verses from the
smṛti-śāstra:
nāmno hi yāvatī śaktiḥ
pāpa-nirharaṇe hareḥ
tāvat kartuṁ na śaknoti
pātakaṁ pātakī naraḥ
“Simply by chanting one holy name of Hari, a sinful man can counteract the reactions to more sins than he is able to commit.” (
Bṛhad-viṣṇu Purāṇa
)
avaśenāpi yan-nāmni
kīrtite sarva-pātakaiḥ
pumān vimucyate sadyaḥ
siṁha-trastair mṛgair iva
“If one chants the holy name of the Lord, even in a helpless condition or without desiring to do so, all the reactions of his sinful life depart, just as when a lion roars, all the small animals flee in fear.” (
Garuḍa Purāṇa
)
sakṛd uccāritaṁ yena
harir ity akṣara-dvayam
baddha-parikaras tena
mokṣāya gamanaṁ prati
“By once chanting the holy name of the Lord, which consists of the two syllables
ha-ri,
one guarantees his path to liberation.” (
Skanda Purāṇa
)
These are some of the reasons why the Viṣṇudūtas objected to the Yamadūtas’ taking Ajāmila to the court of Yamarāja.