अन्यथा म्रियमाणस्य नाशुचेर्वृषलीपतेः ।
वैकुण्ठनामग्रहणं जिह्वा वक्तुमिहार्हति ॥३३॥

anyathÄ mriyamÄṇasya
nÄÅ›ucer vṛṣalÄ«-pateḥ
vaikuṇṭha-nÄma-grahaṇaá¹
jihvÄ vaktum ihÄrhati

 anyathÄ - otherwise; mriyamÄṇasya - of a person who is just ready for death; na - not; aÅ›uceḥ - most unclean; vṛṣalÄ«-pateḥ - the keeper of a prostitute; vaikuṇṭha - of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha; nÄma-grahaṇam - the chanting of the holy name; jihvÄ - the tongue; vaktum - to speak; iha - in this situation; arhati - is able.


Text

Were it not for my past devotional service, how could I, a most unclean keeper of a prostitute, have gotten an opportunity to chant the holy name of Vaikuṇṭhapati when I was just ready to die? Certainly it could not have been possible.

Purport

The name Vaikuṇṭhapati, which means “the master of the spiritual world,†is not different from the name Vaikuṇṭha. AjÄmila, who was now a realized soul, could understand that because of his past spiritual activities in devotional service, he had gotten this opportunity to chant the holy name of Vaikuṇṭhapati in his horrible condition at the time of death.