A Second Chance:
The Story of a Near-Death Experience
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter 13
Ajamila Begins His Degraded Life
The Yamadutas continued: “In the same way that the sun and moon are eclipsed by a low planet, the brahmana Ajamila lost all his good sense. Thus he always thought of the prostitute, and within a short time he took her as a servant in his house and abandoned all the regulative principles of a brahmana.
“Ajamila began spending whatever money he had inherited from his father to satisfy the prostitute with various material presentations so that she would remain pleased with him. He gave up all his brahminical activities to satisfy her. Because his intelligence was pierced by her lustful glance, Ajamila engaged in sinful acts in her association. He even gave up the company of his extremely beautiful young wife, who came from a respectable brahmana family.
“This rascal Ajamila, although born of a brahmana family, lost his intelligence because of the prostitute’s association, and thus he earned money somehow or other, regardless of whether properly or improperly, and used it to maintain her and her children. In this way he spent his long lifetime transgressing all the rules and regulations of the holy scripture, living extravagantly, and eating food prepared by a prostitute. Therefore he is full of sins. He is unclean and is addicted to forbidden activities.
“Ajamila did not undergo atonement. Therefore because of his sinful life, we must take him into the presence of Yamaraja for punishment. There, according to the extent of his sinful acts, he will be punished and thus purified.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.63–68)
We must serve . . . but whom?
As mentioned before, Ajamila was trained as a proper brahmana from birth, and thus he was properly situated in service to his spiritual master, elders like his father, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But due to his association with a prostitute, he gave up his brahminical engagements and became a servant of Lord Krsna’s illusory energy, maya.
There are two kinds of servants: maya’s servants and Krsna’s servants. Every living entity is originally a servant of Krsna. Lord Caitanya Himself affirms this: jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya dasa.’ “The constitutional position of the living entity is to be an eternal servant of Krsna.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya–lila 20.108) In this world, everyone is trying to be a master. Individually and collectively, everyone is trying to assert, “I am the lord of all I survey.” But this attitude is futile, because by nature everyone is a servant. Instead of becoming a servant of Krsna, we have become the servant of our senses. In either case we are servants. Therefore, those who are really intelligent think, “If I have to work as a servant, why not be a servant of Krsna?” Only the Krsna conscious devotee is sane, because he accepts his natural position as a servant of Krsna.
Worship of Lord Krsna, or Visnu, is the actual goal of Vedic civilization, but the so-called Vedantists do not accept this. They divert their attention to the worship of demigods and advise that one may worship any of them. No! Even demons (asuras) sometimes worship demigods. Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Siva, but he was an asura. Similarly, Hiranyakasipu was a great devotee of Lord Brahma, but he was also an asura. Anyone who is not a devotee of Lord Visnu is an asura. That is the verdict of the Vedas. Ajamila was a brahmana, which means that he was a servant of Narayana. In other words, he was a Vaisnava.
A Vaisnava is one who recognizes that Lord Krsna is the supreme proprietor and enjoyer, and that everyone else is His servant. Just as the master is the enjoyer of his entire establishment, so Krsna is the enjoyer of everything and everyone in both the material and spiritual worlds. Actually, no one else is the enjoyer—no one else is in the position to enjoy. Krsna is the only enjoyer.
When we forget our relationship with Krsna as His eternal servitors, we become servants of our senses. Following the dictation of our senses, we enter into the darkest regions of illusion and are subjected to the punishment of Yamaraja. Sometimes our conscience forbids us, “Don’t do this,” but we surrender to our lust and greed, and thus we do it anyway. Krsna is within our heart, also dictating “Don’t do it,” yet still we do it. This kind of service to our senses simply brings suffering. Since we must serve, why not serve Krsna? Why should we serve our senses, which are never satisfied anyway? We should become servants of God; that is the perfection of life. Otherwise we shall be obliged to become servants of our senses and suffer.
One who becomes a servant of Krsna becomes a gosvami, a master of his senses. The title “Gosvami” indicates one who refuses to follow the dictations of his senses. Instead he follows the dictation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami did. “Gosvami” is not a caste title. Before becoming a gosvami, Rupa Gosvami served the Mohammedan government as a minister and was consequently rejected by the Hindu brahmana society. But when he gave up the dictation of Nawab Hussain Shah to follow the dictation of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord made him a gosvami.
All genuine gosvamis are also vairagis, renunciants. But if one is unable to be a real vairagi, then he must become a grhastha (householder). It is not that one may pose himself as a brahmacari or a sannyasi and at the same time indulge in illicit sex secretly. That is abominable. If a genuine householder practices karma-yoga, giving the results of his activities to Krsna, he will eventually attain the platform of perfect renunciation. He should not desire to enjoy the fruits of his activities but should instead work as a matter of duty, thinking “Krsna wants this—Krsna will be satisfied by my doing this—and therefore I must do it.” This is the right attitude for a devotee. Arjuna was unwilling to fight for his personal interest, but when he understood that Krsna wanted him to fight, he took it as his duty: “It must be done. It does not matter whether I like it or not. Krsna wants it, and therefore I must do it.” That is the attitude of a renounced devotee of the Lord.
In the Bhagavad-gita (18.66) Lord Krsna instructs His disciple Arjuna, “Just surrender unto Me, and I shall protect you from all sinful reactions.” And Arjuna accepts Krsna’s instruction with the words karisye vacanam tava: “I will do as You say.” (Bhagavad-gita 18.73) If we follow Arjuna’s example, we will be in direct contact with Krsna, and we will be able to surmount all difficulties in both our spiritual and material life. We hear the instructions of Krsna via the unbroken chain of disciplic succession (guru-parampara). Acceptance of these instructions is called siksa, or voluntarily following the instruction of the spiritual master. The independent nature of the living entity is that he does not want to follow the instructions of another living being, however pure. But when one voluntarily agrees to obey the orders of the spiritual master, one is following the orders of Krsna, and thus one’s life becomes perfect.
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.17.27) Krsna says,
acaryam mam vijaniyan
navamanyeta karhicit
na martya-buddhyasuyeta
sarva-deva-mayo guruh
“One should know the acarya as Myself and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods.” Thinking the spiritual master an ordinary person and envying him are causes of a devotee’s falling down. Devotional service requires training under the guidance of a spiritual master, and this guidance is received when one surrenders to the spiritual master, inquires from him, and renders service to him. But these are impossible for one who envies the spiritual master.
Ruined by a Prostitute . . . Saved by the Holy Name
Ajamila was trained as a brahmana, but he lost his position as a brahmana by associating with a prostitute, so much so that he forgot all his brahminical activities. Nevertheless, at the end of his life, by chanting the four syllables of the holy name Narayana, he was saved from the gravest danger of falling down. As Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (2.40), svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat: “Even a little devotional service can save one from the greatest danger.” Devotional service, which begins with chanting the holy name of the Lord, is so powerful that even if a person falls down from the exalted position of a brahmana through sexual indulgence, he can be saved from all calamities if he somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord. This is the extraordinary power of the Lord’s holy name. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita it is advised that one not forget the chanting of the holy name even for a moment: satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah [Bg. 9.14].
There are so many dangers in this material world that one may fall down from an exalted position at any time. Yet if one keeps himself always pure and steady by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, he will be safe without a doubt. Ajamila did not do this, and therefore he lost all his brahminical qualities by the association of a prostitute. Especially mentioned here is the effect of eating food prepared by a prostitute. Food prepared by an unclean, sinful woman is extremely infectious. Ajamila ate such food, and therefore he became sinful.
Also mentioned here is Ajamila’s misuse of his inheritance. Customarily everyone is eligible to inherit his father’s property, and Ajamila also inherited the money of his father. But what did he do with the money? Instead of engaging the money in the service of Krsna, he engaged it in the service of a prostitute. Therefore he was condemned. How did this happen? He was victimized by the prostitute’s dangerous, lustful glance.
A chaste and faithful wife will give birth to good sons, who will then offer oblations to their forefathers and thus deliver them if by chance they have fallen into a hellish condition. The very word putra (“son”) means “one who can deliver his forefathers from hell.” Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed this by His example when He went to Gaya to offer oblations to His forefathers. Even today there is a Visnu temple in Gaya where such oblations are offered at the lotus feet of Lord Visnu. There have been cases where one’s father or mother took the body of a ghost at death, and after oblations were offered at the lotus feet of Lord Visnu at Gaya, the father or mother was delivered. However, anyone who becomes a Vaisnava offers oblations to Visnu at every moment, and thus his forefathers are automatically delivered. If one son in the family becomes a Vaisnava, he can deliver fourteen generations of ancestors and fourteen generations of yet unborn descendants. This is confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
As sense control is the beginning of pious life, illicit sex is the beginning of sinful life. One should not engage in illicit sex, or sex for any reason except having a child with one’s wife. Marriage is meant for begetting children, and in that sense it is a religious institution. Lord Krsna confirms this in the Bhagavad-gita (7.11): dharmaviruddho bhutesu kamo ’smi. “I am sex that does not contradict religious principles.” Caitanya Mahaprabhu had a devotee named Sivananda Sena, who was a family man. Sivananda used to come with all the devotees every year to see Lord Caitanya in Puri, and he came together with his wife and children. Once he came to see the Lord, and his wife offered her respects. At that time she was pregnant, so Caitanya Mahaprabhu advised Sivananda, “This time when you get your child, you should give him the name Paramananda dasa.” Caitanya Mahaprabhu knew that pregnancy resulted from sex, but He did not condemn sex in this case, as it was conducted according to scriptural injunction.
On the other hand, there is the case of Junior Haridasa. He was a sannyasi, a renunciant, who was an intimate associate of the Lord. Once he merely desired sex and did not actually partake of it, and immediately Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in His Paramatma feature, could understand this. The Lord then asked His other associates not to allow Junior Haridasa to come before Him anymore. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Ramananda Raya, and other intimate associates of Caitanya Mahaprabhu requested, “Junior Haridasa is Your eternal servant. Somehow or other he has committed this offense, but kindly excuse him.” Still, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was firm in this respect and immediately replied, “If you like Junior Haridasa so much, better you remain with him, and I will go away.” From that moment, nobody ventured again to request Caitanya Mahaprabhu to excuse Junior Haridasa. When Junior Haridasa became hopeless in his efforts to be excused by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he went to Prayag and drowned himself in the confluence of the rivers Yamuna and Ganges. Although Lord Caitanya knew about this incident, after some time He inquired of His associates, “Where is Junior Haridasa now?”
They replied, “Sir, You did not accept him, and so he has committed suicide.”
Lord Caitanya said, “Yes, very good. This is very good.”
Caitanya Mahaprabhu was sometimes harder than stone and sometimes softer than a flower. That is the behavior of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sivananda was a bona fide grhastha, obeying the rules and regulations of householder life, whereas Junior Haridasa merely desired sex, but because he was in the renounced order of life he was condemned. A sannyasi gives up his family and takes a vow to abstain from sex, but if he again takes to sex he commits a very great sin.
So, Ajamila was victimized by illicit sex with a prostitute. There are many instances throughout the world in which even a purified person falls victim to attraction by a prostitute and spends all his money on her. Prostitute-hunting is so abominable that sex with a prostitute can ruin one’s character, destroy one’s exalted position, and plunder all one’s money. Therefore illicit sex is strictly prohibited. One should be satisfied with his married wife, for even a slight deviation will create havoc. A Krsna conscious grhastha should always remember this. He should always be satisfied with one wife and be peaceful simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. Otherwise at any moment he may fall down from his good position, as exemplified by the case of Ajamila.
Considering the abominable character of Ajamila, the Yamadutas were perplexed as to why the Visnudutas had forbidden them to take such a man to Yamaraja for punishment. Since Ajamila had not undergone atonement for his sinful acts, the Yamadutas thought he should be taken to Yamaraja to be purified. Punishment by Yamaraja is a process of purification for the most abominable sinful persons. Therefore the Yamadutas requested the Visnudutas not to obstruct their taking Ajamila to Yamaraja.