Shloka 17
Ajāmila Delivered: Viṣṇudūtas Establish the Supremacy of the Holy Name
तैस्तान्यघानि पूयन्ते तपोदानव्रतादिभि: । नाधर्मजं तद्धृदयं तदपीशाङ्घ्रिसेवया ॥ १७ ॥
tais tāny aghāni pūyante tapo-dāna-vratādibhiḥ nādharmajaṁ tad-dhṛdayaṁ tad apīśāṅghri-sevayā
苦行や布施や誓戒などによって罪の反動は鎮められても、心に巣くう物質的欲望は根こそぎにはならない。だが至上主の蓮華の御足に奉仕するなら、人はただちにその一切の汚れから解放される。
As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.2.42) , bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra ca: devotional service is so powerful that one who performs devotional service is immediately freed from all sinful desires. All desires within this material world are sinful because material desire means sense gratification, which always involves action that is more or less sinful. Pure bhakti, however, is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya; in other words, it is free from material desires, which result from karma and jñāna. One who is situated in devotional service no longer has material desires, and therefore he is beyond sinful life. Material desires should be completely stopped. Otherwise, although one’s austerities, penances and charity may free one from sin for the time being, one’s desires will reappear because his heart is impure. Thus he will act sinfully and suffer.
FAQs
This verse says sins can be cleansed by austerity, charity, vows, and similar acts, but the deeper impurity of a heart shaped by irreligion is not fully purified by them.
In the Ajāmila narrative, Śukadeva explains that external atonements may remove reactions, but only bhakti—service to the Lord’s lotus feet—purifies the root tendency toward sin and transforms the heart.
Along with ethical living and discipline, prioritize regular devotional service—hearing and chanting about the Lord, prayer, and serving devotees—because bhakti targets inner transformation, not just external correction.