FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.24

तस्य प्रवयस: पुत्रा दश तेषां तु योऽवम: । बालो नारायणो नाम्ना पित्रोश्च दयितो भृशम् ॥ २४ ॥
tasya pravayasaḥ putrā
[tasya pravayasah putraa]
daśa teṣāṁ tu yo ’vamaḥ
[dasha teshaam tu yo ’vamah]
bālo nārāyaṇo nāmnā
[baalo naaraayano naamnaa]
pitroś ca dayito bhṛśam
[pitrosh cha dayito bhrisham]
tasya — of him (Ajāmila) pravayasaḥ — who was very old putrāḥ — sons daśa — ten teṣām — of all of them tu — but yaḥ — the one who avamaḥ — the youngest bālaḥ — child nārāyaṇaḥ — Nārāyaṇa nāmnā — by name pitroḥ — of the father and mother ca — and dayitaḥ — dear bhṛśam — very.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tasya pravayasaḥ putrā
tasya
of him (Ajāmila)
pravayasaḥ
who was very old
putrāḥ
sons
daśa teṣāṁ tu yo ’vamaḥ
daśa
ten
teṣām
of all of them
tu
but
bālo nārāyaṇo nāmnā
yaḥ
the one who
avamaḥ
the youngest
bālaḥ
child
nārāyaṇaḥ
Nārāyaṇa
nāmnā
by name
pitroś ca dayito bhṛśam
pitroḥ
of the father and mother
ca
and
dayitaḥ
dear
bhṛśam
very.
That old man Ajāmila had ten sons, of whom the youngest was a baby named Nārāyaṇa. Since Nārāyaṇa was the youngest of all the sons, he was naturally very dear to both his father and his mother.

The word pravayasaḥ indicates 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. Sex life is allowed for twenty-five years, between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five or, at the most, fifty. After that one should give up the habit of sex life and leave home as a vānaprastha and then properly take sannyāsa. Ajāmila, however, because of his association with a prostitute, lost all brahminical culture and became most sinful, even in his so-called household life.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
That old man Ajāmila had ten sons, of whom the youngest was named Nārāyaṇa> He was the object of affection of both his father and his mother. Pravayasaḥ means old.
At eighty-eight, Ajāmila still had a baby, Nārāyaṇa — clear evidence of his fall from brahminical culture, which prescribes vānaprastha well before such an age. Yet through this child the holy name would find him again.
Reflection Questions
  • Am I still building new attachments at a stage of life meant for detachment?
  • Where might Kṛṣṇa be hiding a hook of grace inside something I consider merely material?
📝 My note

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