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Canto 6 · Prescribed Duties for Mankind · 19 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.
Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›
Canto 6 · Chapter 1: The History of the Life of Ajāmila
6.1.256.1.27

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 6.1.26

Ūti· What drives us to act
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vedavyāsasince 6.1.11inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

भुञ्जान: प्रपिबन् खादन् बालकं स्‍नेहयन्त्रित: ।

भोजयन् पाययन् मूढो न वेदागतमन्तकम् ॥ २६ ॥

bhuñjānaḥ prapiban khādan

bālakaṁ sneha-yantritaḥ

bhojayan pāyayan mūḍho

na vedāgatam antakam

Translation

When Ajāmila chewed food and ate it, he called the child to chew and eat, and when he drank he called the child to drink also. Always engaged in taking care of the child and calling his name, Nārāyaṇa, Ajāmila could not understand that his own time was now exhausted and that death was upon him.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
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Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Unknowing Chanting Still Receives the Lord’s Mercy

  1. 1

    Ajāmila called Nārāyaṇa to eat and drink with him. Absorbed in caring for his child, he did not understand that death had arrived.

  2. 2

    The Supreme Personality of Godhead is kind to the conditioned soul. Although Ajāmila had forgotten the Lord, he remained attached to the name Nārāyaṇa through calling his son.

  3. 3

    This unknowing spiritual benefit is called ajñāta-sukṛti. The holy name is so powerful that Ajāmila’s chanting was being counted and recorded.

Key points from the purport
  • Although this man completely forgot Nārāyaṇa, he was calling his child, saying, “Nārāyaṇa, please come eat this food.
  • Somehow or other, therefore, he was attached to the name Nārāyaṇa.
  • Although calling for his son, he was unknowingly chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa, and the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so transcendentally powerful that his chanting was being counted and recorded.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

How it feels

Guilt and mortal terror → Mercy and renewed devotion. The holy name opens a path beyond an apparently hopeless death.

Chapters 1–3 of Canto 6: Ajāmila and the Viṣṇudūtas. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 1: The History of the Life of Ajāmila

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

At the time of Ajāmila’s death, when the order carriers of Yamarāja came to take him, he loudly called the name Nārāyaṇa in fear because he was attached to his youngest son. Thus he remembered the original Nārāyaṇa, Lord Viṣṇu.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 6.1
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Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. bhuñjānaḥwhile eating
  2. prapibanwhile drinking
  3. khādanwhile chewing
  4. bālakamunto the child
  5. sneha-yantritaḥbeing attached by affection
  6. bhojayanfeeding
  7. pāyayangiving something to drink
  8. mūḍhaḥthe foolish man
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Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Ūti · The creative impetus

    Why do we act, and what keeps us bound? · Subject 5 of 10

  • Kīrtana · Hearing and chanting

    Remembering the Lord through sacred sound. · Theme in SB 6.1

    In this verse: “chanting”, “holy name”

  • Abhaya · Fearlessness

    Steadiness through faith amid danger and death. · Theme in SB 6.1

    In this verse: “death”

  • Vātsalya · Parental affection

    Affection and protective concern for the Lord as a child. · Theme in SB 6.1

    In this verse: “child”

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Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

How does the Lord’s kindness toward Ajāmila encourage me to value the holy name?

Practice

Before one meal today, pause and say the holy name Nārāyaṇa with attention.

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The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

6

Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks

His recorded lectures on this verse, and the talks where he quotes it.

3 lectures given on it · quoted in 3 more lectures. Recordings and transcripts on prabhupada.io.

Show 1 more lecture on it
Quoted in 3 other lectures

In each of these he quotes this verse while speaking on another verse or subject. "Find the quote" opens the transcript at that spot.

Live this todayUnknowing Chanting Still Receives the Lord’s MercyThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

Ask the BhāgavatamHave a question about SB 6.1.26? Get an answer from the verses themselves.
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