A Second Chance:
The Story of a Near-Death Experience
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 4
Neither Birth Nor Death
Sukadeva Gosvami continued: Ajamila then saw three awkward persons with deformed bodily features, fierce, twisted faces, and hair standing erect on their bodies. With ropes in their hands, they had come to take him away to the abode of Yamaraja. When he saw them he was extremely bewildered, and because of attachment to his child, who was playing nearby, Ajamila began to call him loudly by his name. Thus with tears in his eyes he somehow or other chanted the holy name of Narayana. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.28–29)
Anxious to Save Themselves from Death
At the time of death people become very anxious to save themselves, especially those who have been sinful. Of course, the soul itself is not subject to death (na hanyate hanyamane sarire [Bg. 2.20]), but leaving the present body and entering into another body is very painful. At death the living entity can no longer bear to remain in his present body—the pain is so acute. Sometimes when a person’s life becomes too painful he commits suicide. But suicide is a sin punishable by the laws of karma.
When Ajamila was dying, he saw three ferocious and very frightening persons with ropes in their hands, unruly hair on their heads, and bodily hair like bristles. These assistants of Yamaraja, the Yamadutas, had come to drag Ajamila out of his body and take him to the court of Yamaraja. Sometimes a dying man cries out in fear when he sees the Yamadutas. Ajamila, too, became very fearful.
Fortunately, even though Ajamila was referring to his son, he chanted the holy name of Narayana, and therefore the order-carriers of Narayana, the Visnudutas, also immediately arrived there. Because Ajamila was extremely afraid of the ropes of Yamaraja, he chanted the Lord’s name with tearful eyes. Actually, however, he never meant to chant the holy name of Narayana; he meant to call his son.
The Appearance and Disappearance Of Krsna and His Devotees
One may ask, “The devotees die, and the nondevotees also die. What is the difference?” It is like this: The mother cat may catch a rat and carry it in her mouth, and she also carries her kittens in her mouth. It is the same mouth, but the kittens are comfortable and safe, whereas the rat is feeling the jaws of death. Similarly, at the time of death the devotees are transferred to the spiritual realm, Vaikuntha, whereas the ordinary sinful man is dragged down to the hellish regions by the Yamadutas, the constables of Yama-raja. This was apparently to be Ajamila’s fate.
In the Bhagavad-gita (4.9) Krsna says, janma karma ca me divyam: “My appearance and disappearance are spiritual, transcendental; they are not ordinary.” Why does Krsna appear in this world? That He explains in the previous verse (Bg. 4.8):
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
“To deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I appear millennium after millennium.” God’s only business is to protect the faithful devotees and to kill the demoniac. Therefore we find Lord Visnu pictured with His weapons, the club and cakra (disc), for protecting the devotees, and the lotus flower and conch for their benediction.
Similarly transcendental are the appearance and disappearance of Krsna’s devotees who are sent to this material world to preach the glories of the Lord. According to the principles of Vaisnavism, both the appearance and the disappearance of such Vaisnavas, or devotees of Visnu (Krsna), are all-auspicious. Therefore we hold festivals in their honor on the anniversaries of both days.
Actually, even ordinary living entities never take birth or die, what to speak of Krsna and His devotees. Sometimes atheistic men say God is dead. They do not know that even the smallest living entity does not die. So how can God be dead? Atheists are described in the Bhagavad-gita as mudhas, or foolish rascals. They have no knowledge but pose themselves as learned men and mutter something that is good neither for them nor the public.
Liberation via Thinking of Krsna
Because somehow or other Ajamila became absorbed in thinking of Narayana, or Krsna, at the time of death, he immediately became eligible for liberation, even though he had acted sinfully throughout his entire life. One can think of Krsna in any capacity. The gopis, Krsna’s cowherd girlfriends, were absorbed in thinking of Krsna out of what appeared to be lusty desire, Sisupala became absorbed in thinking of Krsna out of anger, and Kamsa incessantly thought of Krsna out of fear. Kamsa and Sisupala were demons, but because they thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead throughout their lives and at the time of death, they were granted liberation by Krsna Himself.
Of course, it is best if one thinks of Krsna favorably. Bhakti, or devotional service, means thinking favorably of Krsna. Sisupala and Kamsa were not devotees, because the word devotee implies someone who is favorably disposed toward Krsna. Thinking of Krsna in the opposite way, however, is also accepted by Krsna. Krsna is so kind that anyone who thinks of Him always, even as an enemy, becomes the greatest yogi and attains liberation. Thus the results of yogic performances and austerities were achieved even by such inimical personalities as Kamsa and Sisupala. In the impersonal Brahman effulgence (brahmajyoti) we find not only the highest learned scholars (jnanis), who have struggled to attain Brahman, but also those persons who constantly think of Krsna in enmity. They also enter into that spiritual effulgence. Thus the destination achieved by the jnanis is also achieved by the enemies of Krsna. This, however, is not very desirable.
A living entity can remain for some time in the Brahman effulgence (brahmajyoti) as a tiny shining spiritual particle. As there are many molecular particles of sunshine, similarly the living entities can live as small particles of spiritual effulgence in the brahmajyoti. But they are subject to fall down into this material creation again. By nature the living entities want varieties of sense enjoyment, but in that impersonal existence there are no varieties of enjoyment. So when they desire to enjoy, they have to come again to this material world. Therefore, if one merges into the Brahman effulgence, there is every chance of falling down.
Krsna’s devotees do not desire liberation, because their only interest is to be engaged in devotional service to Krsna, whether in the material world or in the spiritual world. Still, by the mercy of Krsna, they attain liberation by being elevated to the planet of Goloka Vrndavana, the residence of Krsna, where the material miseries of birth, death, old age, and disease are conspicuous by their absence. Thus a devotee’s position is different from that of the impersonalists and jnanis. The devotee’s position is very exalted. He also passes through the Brahman effulgence, but he is not attracted to it. He is attracted to the Vaikuntha planets, especially Goloka Vrndavana, where the Supreme Personality of Godhead lives eternally with His associates.