Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 6 - Chapter 1 - Verse 7

Sanskrit:

अयं हि कृतनिर्वेशो जन्मकोट्यंहसामपि ।यद्‌व्याजहार विवशो नाम स्वस्त्ययनं हरे: ॥ ७ ॥

ITRANS:

ayaṁ hi kṛta-nirveśojanma-koṭy-aṁhasām apiyad vyājahāra vivaśonāma svasty-ayanaṁ hareḥ

Translation:

Ajāmila has already atoned for all his sinful actions. Indeed, he has atoned not only for sins performed in one life but for those performed in millions of lives, for in a helpless condition he chanted the holy name of Nārāyaṇa. Even though he did not chant purely, he chanted without offense, and therefore he is now pure and eligible for liberation.

Purport:

The Yamadūtas had considered only the external situation of Ajāmila. Since he was extremely sinful throughout his life, they thought he should be taken to Yamarāja and did not know that he had become free from the reactions of all his sins. The Viṣṇudūtas therefore instructed that because he had chanted the four syllables of the name Nārāyaṇa at the time of his death, he was freed from all sinful reactions. In this regard Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura quotes the following verses from the smṛti-śāstra: “Simply by chanting one holy name of Hari, a sinful man can counteract the reactions to more sins than he is able to commit.” (Bṛhad-viṣṇu Purāṇa) “If one chants the holy name of the Lord, even in a helpless condition or without desiring to do so, all the reactions of his sinful life depart, just as when a lion roars, all the small animals flee in fear.” (Garuḍa Purāṇa) “By once chanting the holy name of the Lord, which consists of the two syllables ha-ri, one guarantees his path to liberation.” (Skanda Purāṇa) These are some of the reasons why the Viṣṇudūtas objected to the Yamadūtas’ taking Ajāmila to the court of Yamarāja.