Ajamila was a Brahmana, who lived in the city of Kanya Kubja
One day, however, he was lead off in a most unruly fashion
by the senses and the mind, leaving behind the scriptures, the study and the
observances. He took up a lifestyle the very opposite of austere. He fell in
love with a prostitute and without any real way to support her and the ten sons
they eventually had, he took to gambling, highway robbery, stealing and
corruption. So he spent the remainder of his years until he was eighty-eight
years old, when our story begins.
Narayana, the youngest son, was most dear to his parents.
His father, Ajamila, was completely besotted by him. Absorbed in his life,
Ajamila was completely unaware of greater forces at work. He did not feel his
lifetime ebbing away and he did not even consider that his own death was
approaching. One day there appeared three of the fiercest creatures imaginable,
carrying huge ropes, grinning and beckoning horribly. Ajamila did not even
recognize the attendants of Yama (the Lord of Death).
Struck with fright, he screamed aloud to his child playing
nearby, "Narayana, Narayana." At this cry from the dying man (who
hadn't even realized he was dying), the attendants of Lord Vishnu came rushing
to Ajamila's side, blocking the attendants of Yama, who roared angrily,
"Who are you to obstruct the order of Dharmaraja, the Lord of
Justice?" The attendants of Lord Vishnu, however, were equally adamant,
and replied challengingly, "If you are indeed the attendants of Lord
Dharmaraja, then you would be able to tell us the essence of dharma and its
signs."
A heated debate began on dharma and adharma, and the effects
of acts of merit and demerit. The attendants of Yama recounted Ajamila's
previous history, which even by the simplest calculations of accumulated merit
and demerit didn't look very promising. They argued that his unrighteous
conduct far outweighed and negated his observances of the Vedas and other
scriptures.
Also, they argued, the lords of Vishnu had no right to
interfere in the first place, as Ajamila had just been calling his son. Yet
Vishnu's attendants stood firm, and proclaimed, "Whosoever utters the
Lord's name, even by accident, calls for protection." Furthermore, they
countered, "As a fire consumes fuel, so the Lord's name, whether chanted
with or without knowledge of the greatness of the name, destroys the
unrighteous elements in a person. A powerful medicine, though taken by someone
unaware of its properties, is still effective."
Defeated, the attendants of Yama returned empty-handed.
Ajamila immediately left for Haridwar, where he sat on the banks of the river
practising the yoga of devotion.
For those who aspire for liberation, there is nothing more
powerful than the chanting of the Lord's name. If this can rescue Ajamila, the
Srimad Bhagavata tells us, what to say of the results that can be obtained by
chanting the name of Hari with faith and devotion.
Aum Namoh Narayanaya
Aum Namoh Sri Satya Narayanaya
Aum Namoh Narayanaya
