Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, 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
虽可借苦行、布施、誓戒等法消减罪业果报，但这些善行并不能连根拔除心中的物欲。唯有侍奉至上人格神的莲花足，方能立刻从一切污染中解脱。
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.