SB 6.2.28 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

वृद्धावनाथौ पितरौ नान्यबन्धू तपस्विनौ । अहो मयाधुना त्यक्तावकृतज्ञेन नीचवत् ॥ २८ ॥

Verse text

vṛddhāv anāthau pitarau nānya-bandhū tapasvinau aho mayādhunā tyaktāv akṛtajṣena nīcavat

Synonyms

vṛddhau — old ; anāthau — who had no other person to look after their comforts ; pitarau — my father and mother ; na anya — bandhū — who had no other friend ; tapasvinau — who underwent great difficulties ; aho — alas ; mayā — by me ; adhunā — at that moment ; tyaktau — were given up ; akṛta — jṣena — ungrateful ; nīca — vat — like the most abominable low-class person .

Translation

My father and mother were old and had no other son or friend to look after them. Because I did not take care of them, they lived with great difficulty. Alas, like an abominable lower-class man, I ungratefully left them in that condition.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Ungrateful and fallen, in this life I gave up my aged mother and father with no shelter and no friends, who thus underwent great difficulties. Adhunā means “in this life.”

Purport

According to Vedic civilization, everyone has the responsibility for taking care of brāhmaṇas, old men, women, children and cows. This is the duty of everyone, especially an upper-class person. Because of his association with a prostitute, Ajāmila abandoned all his duties. Regretting this, Ajāmila now considered himself quite fallen.