The Supreme Personality of Godhead is kind to the conditioned soul. Although this man completely forgot Nārāyaṇa, he was calling his child, saying, “Nārāyaṇa, please come eat this food. Nārāyaṇa, please come drink this milk.” Somehow or other, therefore, he was attached to the name Nārāyaṇa. This is called ajñāta-sukṛti. Although calling for his son, he was unknowingly chanting the name of Nārāyaṇa, and the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so transcendentally powerful that his chanting was being counted and recorded.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has therefore declared that if one’s mind is somehow or other attracted by the holy name of Kṛṣṇa (tasmāt kenāpy upāyena manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet), one is on the path of liberation. It is customary in Hindu society for parents to give their children names like Kṛṣṇadāsa, Govinda dāsa, Nārāyaṇa dāsa and Vṛndāvana dāsa. Thus they chant the names Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, Nārāyaṇa and Vṛndāvana and get the chance to be purified.

Ajāmila’s sinfulness because although he was eighty-eight years old, he had a very young child. According to Vedic culture, one should leave home as soon as he has reached fifty years of age; one should not live at home and go on producing children.

Restraint is very difficult, but it is quite possible if one fully surrenders to Kṛṣṇa, since all these abominable habits gradually become distasteful for a Kṛṣṇa conscious person.

The process of chanting the holy name of the Lord is always superbly effective, but it is especially effective in this Age of Kali. Its practical effectiveness will now be explained by Śukadeva Gosvāmī through the history of Ajāmila, who was freed from the hands of the Yamadūtas simply because of chanting the holy name of Nārāyaṇa. Parīkṣit Mahārāja’s original question was how to be freed from falling down into hell or into the hands of the Yamadūtas. In reply, Śukadeva Gosvāmī is citing this old historical example to convince Parīkṣit Mahārāja of the potency of bhakti-yoga, which begins simply with the chanting of the Lord’s name. All the great authorities of bhakti-yoga recommend the devotional process beginning with the chanting of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa (tan-nāma-grahaṇādibhiḥ).

The sinful actions of one who has surrendered unto Kṛṣṇa are compared to a snake with its poison fangs removed (protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate). Such a snake is no longer to be feared. Of course, one should not commit sinful activities on the strength of having surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. However, even if one who has surrendered to Kṛṣṇa happens to do something sinful because of his former habits, such sinful actions no longer have a destructive effect. Therefore one should adhere to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa very tightly and serve Him under the direction of the spiritual master. Thus in all conditions one will be akuto-bhaya, free from fear.

To take advantage of the methods of atonement, one must be at least somewhat devoted; otherwise there is no chance of one’s being purified. It is clear from this verse that even those who take advantage of karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa, but are not at least slightly devoted cannot be purified simply by following these other paths. The word prāyaścittāni is plural in number to indicate both karma-kāṇḍa and jñāna-kāṇḍa.

One should not think that the person who takes to bhakti is one who cannot perform the ritualistic ceremonies recommended in the karma-kāṇḍa section of the Vedas or is not sufficiently educated to speculate on spiritual subjects. Māyāvādīs generally allege that the bhakti path is for women and illiterates. This is a groundless accusation. The bhakti path is followed by the most learned scholars, such as the Gosvāmīs, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānujācārya. These are the actual followers of the bhakti path. Regardless of whether or not one is educated or aristocratic, one must follow in their footsteps

One must render service to a Vaiṣṇava in order to get freed from sinful reactions, revive one’s original Kṛṣṇa consciousness and be trained in how to love Kṛṣṇa. This is the result of mahātma-sevā. Of course, if one engages in the service of a pure devotee, the reactions of one’s sinful life are vanquished automatically. Devotional service is necessary not to drive away an insignificant stock of sins, but to awaken our dormant love for Kṛṣṇa. As fog is vanquished at the first glimpse of sunlight, one’s sinful reactions are automatically vanquished as soon as one begins serving a pure devotee; no separate endeavor is required.

In the Padma Purāṇa there is a statement that persons whose hearts are always attached to the devotional service of Lord Viṣṇu are immediately released from all the reactions of sinful life. These reactions generally exist in four phases. Some of them are ready to produce results immediately, some are in the form of seeds, some are unmanifested, and some are current. All such reactions are immediately nullified by devotional service. When devotional service is present in one’s heart, desires to perform sinful activities have no place there. Sinful life is due to ignorance, which means forgetfulness of one’s constitutional position as an eternal servant of God, but when one is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious he realizes that he is God’s eternal servant.