The Yamadūtas had considered only the external situation of Ajāmila. Since he was extremely sinful throughout his life, they thought he should be taken to Yamarāja and did not know that he had become free from the reactions of all his sins. The Viṣṇudūtas therefore instructed that because he had chanted the four syllables of the name Nārāyaṇa at the time of his death, he was freed from all sinful reactions. In this regard Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura quotes the following verses from the smṛti-śāstra:

nāmno hi yāvatī śaktiḥ
 pāpa-nirharaṇe hareḥ
tāvat kartuṁ na śaknoti
 pātakaṁ pātakī naraḥ

“Simply by chanting one holy name of Hari, a sinful man can counteract the reactions to more sins than he is able to commit.” (Bṛhad-viṣṇu Purāṇa)

avaśenāpi yan-nāmni
 kīrtite sarva-pātakaiḥ
pumān vimucyate sadyaḥ
 siṁha-trastair mṛgair iva

“If one chants the holy name of the Lord, even in a helpless condition or without desiring to do so, all the reactions of his sinful life depart, just as when a lion roars, all the small animals flee in fear.” (Garuḍa Purāṇa)

sakṛd uccāritaṁ yena
 harir ity akṣara-dvayam
baddha-parikaras tena
 mokṣāya gamanaṁ prati

“By once chanting the holy name of the Lord, which consists of the two syllables ha-ri, one guarantees his path to liberation.” (Skanda Purāṇa)

These are some of the reasons why the Viṣṇudūtas objected to the Yamadūtas’ taking Ajāmila to the court of Yamarāja.