Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, Shloka 9
Yamarāja Instructs the Yamadūtas: Supreme Authority, Mahājanas, and the Glory of the Holy Name
नीयमानं तवादेशादस्माभिर्यातनागृहान् । व्यामोचयन्पातकिनं छित्त्वा पाशान प्रसह्य ते ॥ ९ ॥
nīyamānaṁ tavādeśād asmābhir yātanā-gṛhān vyāmocayan pātakinaṁ chittvā pāśān prasahya te
あなたの命令に従い、私たちは大罪人アジャーミラを地獄の諸界へ連行しておりましたが、そのときシッダローカから来た麗しき者たちが力ずくで、私たちが縛っていた縄の結び目を断ち切り、彼を解き放ちました。
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks that the Yamadūtas wanted to bring the Viṣṇudūtas before Yamarāja. If Yamarāja could then have punished the Viṣṇudūtas, the Yamadūtas would have been satisfied.
FAQs
This verse shows that the Lord’s attendants can override the Yamadūtas—cutting their nooses and freeing even a sinner—indicating the superior power of devotion and the holy name over karmic punishment.
They were astonished that their authority was checked; they therefore informed Yamarāja that Viṣṇu’s messengers forcibly freed the man they were escorting to punishment, prompting Yamarāja to explain true dharma and the rule of bhakti.
Take shelter of sincere devotional practice—especially remembrance and chanting of the Lord’s names—rather than relying only on moral self-effort, because bhakti transforms one’s destiny at the deepest level.