English
The Story of Ajamila
Source: Srimad Bhagavata Purana, Book 6, Chapters 1–3
In the city of Kanyakubja there lived a Brahmin named Ajamila. As a young man he studied the scriptures, was gentle and truthful, and served his parents, his teachers and his guests.
One day, at his father's bidding, he went to the forest to gather fruit, flowers, firewood for the sacred fire and kusha grass. On his way back he saw a drunken man behaving shamelessly with a maidservant.
That sight took such hold of his mind that he forgot all his upbringing. Little by little he abandoned his wife and began to live with that same maidservant.
To support this household he turned to gambling, deceit and theft. The man who had once lived by dharma now had his whole life running down the wrong road.
With her he had ten sons. The youngest was dearer to him than life itself, and his name was Narayana. All day long Ajamila called out to him, fed him and lost himself in the little boy's lisping chatter.
In this way eighty-eight years went by, and one day his final hour arrived. He saw three fearsome messengers of Yama, nooses in their hands, come to take him away.
In terror Ajamila called out to his little son playing nearby, “Narayana! Narayana!” At that very instant the radiant attendants of Lord Vishnu appeared and stopped Yama's messengers with a stern command: “Stop!”
Yama's messengers were astonished. “Who are you, to obstruct the command of Dharmaraja? This man has sinned all his life; he must receive the fruit of his deeds.”
Vishnu's attendants replied, “Every wrong he has done in his life was atoned for at the very moment he helplessly spoke the Lord's name, Narayana. Whoever takes the Lord's name, the Lord himself takes on the care of his protection.”
“Whether the Lord's name is spoken while calling a son, in jest, in song or in pain, it burns away sins as fire burns dry fuel. Just as a potent medicine works even when taken unknowingly, so does the power of the Name.”
With that they freed Ajamila from the nooses of Yama's messengers. The messengers went back to Dharmaraja, who explained to them that they must never approach devotees who take the Lord's name, for such people are under the Lord's own shelter.
Ajamila had heard the whole conversation. As soon as he came to himself, he was filled with deep remorse for his life: “How much of my life I have wasted! And yet the Lord has given someone like me one more chance.”
He let go of every attachment, went to Gangadvara, which is Haridwar, and immersed himself in devotion to the Lord with a single mind.
Some time later the same attendants appeared before him again. Ajamila peacefully left his body on the bank of the Ganga and, seated with them in a golden celestial chariot, went to the abode of the Lord.
What this story teaches
No matter how far someone strays, the way back is never closed. The Lord's name and sincere repentance can change the direction of a life.
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