तं विवक्षुमभिप्रेत्य महापुरुषकिङ्कराः ।
सहसा पश्यतस्तस्य तत्रान्तर्दधिरेऽनघ ॥२३॥

taá¹ vivaká¹£um abhipretya
mahÄpuruá¹£a-kiá¹…karÄḥ
sahasÄ paÅ›yatas tasya
tatrÄntardadhire 'nagha

 tam - him (AjÄmila); vivaká¹£um - desiring to speak; abhipretya - understanding; mahÄpuruá¹£a-kiá¹…karÄḥ - the order carriers of Lord Viṣṇu; sahasÄ - suddenly; paÅ›yataḥ tasya - while he looked on; tatra - there; antardadhire - disappeared; anagha - O sinless MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it.


Text

O sinless MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it, the order carriers of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ViṣṇudÅ«tas, saw that AjÄmila was attempting to say something, and thus they suddenly disappeared from his presence.

Purport

The Å›Ästras say:

pÄpiṣṭhÄ ye durÄcÄrÄ
 deva-brÄhmaṇa-nindakÄḥ
apathya-bhojanÄs teá¹£Äm
 akÄle maraṇaá¹ dhruvam

“For persons who are pÄpiṣṭha, very sinful, and durÄcÄra, misbehaved or very unclean in their habits, who are against the existence of God, who disrespect Vaiṣṇavas and brÄhmaṇas, and who eat anything and everything, untimely death is sure.†It is said that in Kali-yuga one has a maximum lifetime of one hundred years, but as people become degraded, the duration of their lives decreases (prÄyeṇÄlpÄyuá¹£aḥ). Because AjÄmila was now free from all sinful reactions, his lifetime was extended, even though he was to have died immediately. When the ViṣṇudÅ«tas saw AjÄmila trying to say something to them, they disappeared to give him a chance to glorify the Supreme Lord. Since all his sinful reactions had been vanquished, he was now prepared to glorify the Lord. Indeed, one cannot glorify the Lord unless one is completely free from all sinful activities. This is confirmed by Kṛṣṇa Himself in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (7.28):

yeá¹£Äá¹ tv anta-gataá¹ pÄpaá¹
 janÄnÄá¹ puṇya-karmaṇÄm
te dvandva-moha-nirmuktÄ
 bhajante mÄá¹ dá¹›á¸ha-vratÄḥ

“Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination.†The ViṣṇudÅ«tas made AjÄmila aware of devotional service so that He might immediately become fit to return home, back to Godhead. To increase his eagerness to glorify the Lord, they disappeared so that he would feel separation in their absence. In the mode of separation, glorification of the Lord is very intense.