SB 5.25.11 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यन्नाम श्रुतमनुकीर्तयेदकस्मा- दार्तो वा यदि पतित: प्रलम्भनाद्वा । हन्त्यंह: सपदि नृणामशेषमन्यं कं शेषाद्भ‍गवत आश्रयेन्मुमुक्षु: ॥ ११ ॥

Verse text

yan-nāma śrutam anukīrtayed akasmād ārto vā yadi patitaḥ pralambhanād vā hanty aṁhaḥ sapadi nṛṇām aśeṣam anyaṁ kaṁ śeṣād bhagavata āśrayen mumukṣuḥ

Synonyms

yat — of whom ; nāma — the holy name ; śrutam — heard ; anukīrtayet — may chant or repeat ; akasmāt — by accident ; ārtaḥ — a distressed person ; vā — or ; yadi — if ; patitaḥ — a fallen person ; pralambhanāt — out of joking ; vā — or ; hanti — destroys ; aṁhaḥ — sinful ; sapadi — that instant ; nṛṇām — of human society ; aśeṣam — unlimited ; anyam — of other ; kam — what ; śeṣāt — than Lord Śeṣa ; bhagavataḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; āśrayet — should take shelter of ; mumukṣuḥ — anyone desiring liberation .

Translation

Even if he be distressed or degraded, any person who chants the holy name of the Lord, having heard it from a bona fide spiritual master, is immediately purified. Even if he chants the Lord’s name jokingly or by chance, he and anyone who hears him are freed from all sins. Therefore how can anyone seeking disentanglement from the material clutches avoid chanting the name of Lord Śeṣa? Of whom else should one take shelter?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

If a sinful person chants Ananta’s name after hearing it, or chants suddenly, out of suffering, or in a joking mood, that person becomes purified and destroys unlimited sins of other men. Who else other than Śeṣa is the object of shelter for persons desiring liberation? Even Ananta’s name can deliver the most fallen, but even more, that person can purify others. Nārada thus praises the form of Śeṣa in two verses. If a fallen person, even the most sinful, chants the name of Saṅkarṣaṇa, he becomes purified completely. And further, he immediately destroys unlimited sins of other men who see his form. How should one chant? One should hear it from others, or even suddenly one can chant, or in distress one can chant. Or even in joking one can chant his name. Then what to speak of faithful persons who chant with devotion?