Study a Verse

• Only a small fraction of the living entities, perhaps one fourth, are in the material world.
• And the major portion of the living entities in the material world — 8,000,000 of the 8,400,000 forms of life — are lower than human beings.
• Only those who engage in sinful activities are punishable.

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

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

Chapter 1: The History of the Life of Ajāmila

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Fruitive activities and speculative knowledge cannot independently liberate anyone, but devotional service, independent of karma and jñāna, is so potent that one who has fixed his mind at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa is guaranteed not to meet the Yamadūtas, the order carriers of Yamarāja, even in dreams. To prove the strength of devotional service, Śukadeva Gosvāmī described the history of Ajāmila.