SB 6.1.28 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स पाशहस्तांस्त्रीन्दृष्ट्वा पुरुषानतिदारुणान् । वक्रतुण्डानूर्ध्वरोम्ण आत्मानं नेतुमागतान् ॥ २८ ॥ दूरे क्रीडनकासक्तं पुत्रं नारायणाह्वयम् । प्लावितेन स्वरेणोच्चैराजुहावाकुलेन्द्रिय: ॥ २९ ॥

Verse text

sa pāśa-hastāṁs trīn dṛṣṭvā puruṣān ati-dāruṇān vakra-tuṇḍān ūrdhva-romṇa ātmānaṁ netum āgatān dūre krīḍanakāsaktaṁ putraṁ nārāyaṇāhvayam plāvitena svareṇoccair ājuhāvākulendriyaḥ

Synonyms

saḥ — that person (Ajāmila) ; pāśa — hastān — having ropes in their hands ; trīn — three ; dṛṣṭvā — seeing ; puruṣān — persons ; ati — dāruṇān — very fearful in their features ; vakra — tuṇḍān — with twisted faces ; ūrdhva — romṇaḥ — with hair standing on the body ; ātmānam — the self ; netum — to take away ; āgatān — arrived ; dūre — a short distance away ; krīḍanaka — āsaktam — engaged in his play ; putram — his child ; nārāyaṇa — āhvayam — named Nārāyaṇa ; plāvitena — with tearful eyes ; svareṇa — with his voice ; uccaiḥ — very loudly ; ājuhāva — called ; ākula — indriyaḥ — being full of anxiety .

Translation

Ajāmila then saw three awkward persons with deformed bodily features, fierce, twisted faces, and hair standing erect on their bodies. With ropes in their hands, they had come to take him away to the abode of Yamarāja. When he saw them he was extremely bewildered, and because of attachment to his child, who was playing a short distance away, Ajāmila began to call him loudly by his name. Thus with tears in his eyes he somehow or other chanted the holy name of Nārāyaṇa.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Ajāmila then saw three terrifying persons with twisted faces and hairs standing erect on their bodies. With ropes in their hands, they had come to take him away. In great anxiety, with prolonged cries, he loudly called for his son named Nārāyaṇa who was playing in the distance. Though he had committed unlimited sins, his sins could be classified in three types: bodily, verbal and mental. Thus three servants of Yama approached him. Because the name Nārāyaṇa has four syllables, four servants of Viṣṇu came. Plāvitena means prolonged.

Purport

A person who performs sinful activities performs them with his body, mind and words. Therefore three order carriers from Yamarāja came to take Ajāmila to Yamarāja’s abode. Fortunately, even though he was referring to his son, Ajāmila chanted the four syllables of the hari-nāma Nārāyaṇa, and therefore the order carriers of Nārāyaṇa, the Viṣṇudūtas, also immediately arrived there. Because Ajāmila was extremely afraid of the ropes of Yamarāja, he chanted the Lord’s name with tearful eyes. Actually, however, he never meant to chant the holy name of Nārāyaṇa; he meant to call his son.