Adhyaya 15

PP.7.15 opens with Vaiṣṇava teaching: the universe and all deities are portions of Viṣṇu, and constant remembrance of Hari’s names destroys sin without any limit of time. The chapter extols the supreme power of the holy Nāma, whose recollection and utterance purify. A didactic tale follows: a courtesan obtains a parrot trained to recite “Rāma,” and by that repeated utterance both are sanctified. At their death, Yama’s messengers (Yamadūtas) try to seize them, but Viṣṇu’s attendants (Viṣṇudūtas) intervene; conflict ensues and the Yamadūtas are defeated. Yama then issues his authoritative edict: those who remember or speak names such as Rāma, Govinda, Keśava, Hari, Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa—especially devotees who observe Ekādaśī and bear Viṣṇu-pāda-jala—are not to be punished by his agents. The chapter closes with expansive praise of Rāma-nāma as superior to mantras and effective in rites, travel, fear, and at the moment of death.