नाम्ना नष्टसदाचारो दास्याः संसर्गदूषितः ॥२१॥
kÄnyakubje dvijaḥ kaÅ›cid
dÄsÄ«-patir ajÄmilaḥ
nÄmnÄ naá¹£á¹a-sadÄcÄro
dÄsyÄḥ saá¹sarga-dÅ«á¹£itaḥ
3 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: LSB(3)
kÄnya-kubje - in the city of KÄnyakubja (Kanauj, a town near Kanpur); dvijaḥ - brÄhmaṇa; kaÅ›cit - some; dÄsÄ«-patiḥ - the husband of a low-class woman or prostitute; ajÄmilaḥ - AjÄmila; nÄmnÄ - by name; naá¹£á¹a-sat-ÄcÄraḥ - who lost all brahminical qualities; dÄsyÄḥ - of the prostitute or maidservant; saá¹sarga-dÅ«á¹£itaḥ - contaminated by the association.
In the city known as KÄnyakubja there was a brÄhmaṇa named AjÄmila who married a prostitute maidservant and lost all his brahminical qualities because of the association of that low-class woman.
The fault of illicit connection with women is that it makes one lose all brahminical qualities. In India there is still a class of servants, called śūdras, whose maidservant wives are called śūdrÄṇīs. Sometimes people who are very lusty establish relationships with such maidservants and sweeping women, since in the higher statuses of society they cannot indulge in the habit of woman hunting, which is strictly prohibited by social convention. AjÄmila, a qualified brÄhmaṇa youth, lost all his brahminical qualities because of his association with a prostitute, but he was ultimately saved because he had begun the process of bhakti-yoga. Therefore in the previous verse, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« spoke of the person who has only once surrendered himself at the lotus feet of the Lord (manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padÄravindayoḥ) or has just begun the bhakti-yoga process. Bhakti-yoga begins with Å›ravaṇaá¹ kÄ«rtanaá¹ viṣṇoḥ, hearing and chanting of Lord Viṣṇu’s names, as in the mahÄ-mantra — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare RÄma, Hare RÄma, RÄma RÄma, Hare Hare. Chanting is the beginning of bhakti-yoga. Therefore ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu declares:
harer nÄma harer nÄma
harer nÄmaiva kevalam
kalau nÄsty eva nÄsty eva
nÄsty eva gatir anyathÄ
“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.†The process of chanting the holy name of the Lord is always superbly effective, but it is especially effective in this Age of Kali. Its practical effectiveness will now be explained by Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« through the history of AjÄmila, who was freed from the hands of the YamadÅ«tas simply because of chanting the holy name of NÄrÄyaṇa. ParÄ«ká¹£it MahÄrÄja’s original question was how to be freed from falling down into hell or into the hands of the YamadÅ«tas. In reply, Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« is citing this old historical example to convince ParÄ«ká¹£it MahÄrÄja of the potency of bhakti-yoga, which begins simply with the chanting of the Lord’s name. All the great authorities of bhakti-yoga recommend the devotional process beginning with the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa (tan-nÄma-grahaṇÄdibhiḥ).
