Yama's messengers walk back into the hall of Yama, the lord of death.
Their hands are empty.
"Lord," they say, "we went to bring the sinner Ajamila, as you ordered. But Vishnu's messengers came. They drove us away. And they took him."
Yama's face darkens with anger. Then he closes his eyes. He looks deep into the past… beyond this life, into the one before.
And there he sees it. A single day. Long, long ago. In the month of Karthika.
What did Ajamila do that day? And who else was waiting in that past life… for him?
Vasishtha Tells Janaka What Yama Saw
Over the last two days we read how Ajamila, a man who threw away everything good, called out to his son at death, "Narayana!"… and that name alone drove away Yama's messengers and took him to Vaikuntha. But Vasishtha said he also carried merit from a past life. And King Janaka asked to hear it.
So Vasishtha told him what Yama saw.
In a past life, in the land of Maharashtra, Ajamila was a priest in a temple of Lord Shiva. He was handsome. He was rich. And he was proud.
He was supposed to serve the Lord. Instead, he stole the temple's wealth. He skipped his bath and his prayers. He offered no incense, no lamp, no food to the Lord. He even lay down to sleep with his feet pointing toward Shiva.
There was also a poor brahmin, who lived by begging. He had a young wife.
This young wife fell for the handsome priest. She told him so. And he agreed. They began a secret affair.
Her husband knew. But he was poor and helpless. He pretended not to see.
One day, at noon, the husband came home from begging in a nearby village. He was tired. On his head he carried the bundle of rice he had collected.
"I'm so hungry," he said. "Give me a little water. And please, cook something quickly."
She didn't even look at him.
He lost his temper and struck her with his stick. And she struck him back, pushed him out of the house, and shut the door in his face.
The poor brahmin walked away. He went to another village and lived there on alms. And all the time… he kept thinking of his wife.
Now that he was gone, she no longer hid anything.
The Washerman Who Kept His Dharma
One evening she dressed herself up and sat outside her house. A washerman was passing by. Strong. Handsome. And she called out to him and invited him in.
The washerman stopped. And he said no.
"You are a brahmin lady," he said. "I am a washerman. You may throw away the dharma of your family. I will not throw away mine."
And he walked on.
Think about that. A simple washerman kept to his dharma… when the priest of a Shiva temple had thrown his away.
She thought him a fool. And that same night, she went back to the priest.
But when morning came… something broke inside her. She saw what she had become. She was filled with shame.
She went to the other village, found her husband, and fell at his feet. "Forgive me," she wept. "Protect me."
And he forgave her. He came home. And from that day, the two of them lived together happily.
But what about the priest?
In time he fell ill and died. He suffered for his sins in hell. And then he was born again… in Kanyakubja, as the son of a learned brahmin.
He was born as Ajamila.
One Karthika Bath, Seven Births Cleansed
And what was the merit that had been waiting all those years?
Once, in that past life, on a day in the month of Karthika, the priest had bathed in a river and gone to see the Lord. Just once. That one Karthika bath and darshan destroyed the sins of seven births.
But not all his sin was gone. What remained pulled him into a wicked life as Ajamila. And at the very end, the name of God finished what that Karthika day had begun. He was freed, and he reached Vaikuntha.
And the poor brahmin's wife? She too died in time and paid for her sins. Then she was born again, as a baby girl in an outcaste family.
Someone told her father that the child was born under a star that would bring danger to him. He was afraid. So he took the baby to the forest… and left her there.
A good brahmin was passing by. He heard the baby crying. He picked her up, took her home, and gave her to the maidservant of his house to raise.
The girl grew up in that house. As a dasi.
Yes. She was the dasi Ajamila fell for.
The same two souls, meeting again. Life after life, karma ties people together.
What This Chapter Asks of Us
Vasishtha said to the king, "Janaka, gifts and atonements done without a pure heart cannot wash away sin. It was the name of the Lord that made Ajamila a dweller of Vaikuntha. Those who have the means should give, with care for the right place, the right time and the right person. And those who read or listen to this Karthika Purana reach final liberation."
So, today's practice. Keep reading the Karthika Purana, a chapter every day. And if you can, read it aloud at home, so that others hear it too.
Read next
- Karthika Puranam – all 30 days
- Previous chapter: Karthika Puranam Day 9: Death Loses an Argument
- Start from Day 1: Karthika Puranam Day 1: The River in Every Well
- Why Karthika Masam Is So Sacred: Meaning and Key Days
- Why We Light a Lamp (Deepam): Meaning, Oil, Wicks and Rules
- How to Do Tulasi Puja at Home: Method and Rules