Ajamila's chanting

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Srila Prabhupada compiled supplementary notes for a few chapters of his

Srimad-bhagavatam commentary. Here are his interesting notes at the end

of Chapter Two of Canto Six, which narrates the beautiful story of Ajamila's

deliverance:

 

"Srila Vivanatha Cakravarti Thakura's commentary to texts nine and ten of

this chapter form a dialogue concerning how one can become free from all sinful

reactions simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord.

 

"Someone may say, 'It may be accepted that by chanting the holy name of

the Lord one becomes freed from all the reactions of sinful life. However, if

one commits sinful acts in full consciousness, not only once but many,

many times, he is unable to free himself from the reactions of such sins

even after atoning for them for twelve years or more. How is it possible,

then, that simply by once chanting the holy name of the Lord one

immediately becomes freed from the reactions of such sins?'

 

"Srila Vivanatha Cakravarti Thakura replies by quoting verses nine and ten

of this chapter: "The chanting of the holy name of Lord Visnu is the best

process of atonement for a thief of gold or other valuables, for a

drunkard, for one who betrays a friend or relative, for one who kills a

brhmaa, or for one who indulges in sex with the wife of his guru or

another superior. It is also the best method of atonement for one who

murders women, the king or his father, for one who slaughters cows, and

for all other sinful men. Simply by chanting the holy name of Lord Viu,

such sinful persons may attract the attention of the Supreme Lord, who

therefore considers 'Because this man has chanted My holy name, My duty is

to give him protection.'

 

"One may atone for sinful life and vanquish all sinful reactions by

chanting the holy name, although this is not called atonement. Ordinary

atonement may temporarily protect a sinful person, but it does not

completely cleanse his heart of the deep-rooted desire to commit sinful

acts. Therefore atonement is not as powerful as the chanting of the holy

name of the Lord. In the stras it is said that if a person only once

chants the holy name and completely surrenders unto the lotus feet of the

Lord, the Lord immediately considers him His ward and is always inclined

to give him protection. This is confirmed by Sridhara Svami. Thus when

Ajamila was in great danger of being carried off by the order carriers of

Yamaraja, the Lord immediately sent His personal order carriers to

protect him, and because Ajamila was freed from all sinful reactions, the

Visnudutas spoke on his behalf.

 

"Ajamila had named his son Narayana, and because he loved the boy very

much, he would call him again and again. Although he was calling for his

son, the name itself was powerful because the name Narayana is not different

from the Supreme Lord Narayana. When Ajamila named his son Narayana, all

the reactions of his sinful life were neutralized, and as he continued calling

his son and thus chanting the holy name of Narayana thousands of times, he

was actually unconsciously advancing in Krsna consciousness.

 

"One may argue, 'Since he was constantly chanting the name of Narayana,

how was it possible for him to be associating with a prostitute and thinking

of wine?' By his sinful actions he was bringing suffering upon himself

again and again, and therefore one may say that his ultimate chanting of

Narayana was the cause of his being freed. However, his chanting would

then have been a nama-aparadha. Namno balad yasya hi papa-buddhi: one who

continues to act sinfully and tries to neutralize his sins by chanting the

holy name of the Lord is a nama-aparadhi, an offender to the holy name. In

response it may be said that Ajamila's chanting was inoffensive because he

did not chant the name of Narayana with the purpose of counteracting his

sins. He did not know that he was addicted to sinful actions, nor did he know

that his chanting of the name of Narayana was neutralizing them. Thus he

did not commit a nama-aparadha, and his repeated chanting of the holy name

of Narayana while calling his son may be called pure chanting. Because of

this pure chanting, Ajamila unconsciously accumulated the results of

bhakti. Indeed, even his first utterance of the holy name was sufficient to

nullify all the sinful reactions of his life. To cite a logical example, a

fig tree does not immediately yield fruits, but in time the fruits are

available. Similarly, Ajamila's devotional service grew little by little,

and therefore although he committed very sinful acts, the reactions did not

affect him. In the sastras it is said that if one chants the holy name of

the Lord even once, the reactions of past, present or future sinful life

do not affect him. To give another example, if one extracts the poison

fangs of a serpent, this saves the serpent's future victims from poisonous

effects, even if the serpent bites repeatedly. Similarly, if a devotee

chants the holy name even once inoffensively, this protects him eternally.

He need only wait for the results of the chanting to mature in due course

of time."

 

MDd