FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.1.26

भुञ्जान: प्रपिबन् खादन् बालकं स्‍नेहयन्त्रित: । भोजयन् पाययन् मूढो न वेदागतमन्तकम् ॥ २६ ॥
bhuñjānaḥ prapiban khādan
[bhunjaanah prapiban khaadan]
bālakaṁ sneha-yantritaḥ
[baalakam sneha-yantritah]
bhojayan pāyayan mūḍho
[bhojayan paayayan moodho]
na vedāgatam antakam
[na vedaagatam antakam]
Word-for-word
bhuñjānaḥ — while eating prapiban — while drinking khādan — while chewing bālakam — unto the child sneha-yantritaḥ — being attached by affection bhojayan — feeding pāyayan — giving something to drink mūḍhaḥ — the foolish man na — not veda — understood āgatam — had arrived antakam — death.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
bhuñjānaḥ prapiban khādan
bhuñjānaḥ
while eating
prapiban
while drinking
khādan
while chewing
bālakaṁ sneha-yantritaḥ
bālakam
unto the child
sneha-yantritaḥ
being attached by affection
bhojayan pāyayan mūḍho
bhojayan
feeding
pāyayan
giving something to drink
mūḍhaḥ
the foolish man
na vedāgatam antakam
na
not
veda
understood
āgatam
had arrived
antakam
death.
When Ajāmila chewed food and ate it, he called the child to chew and eat, and when he drank he called the child to drink also. Always engaged in taking care of the child and calling his name, Nārāyaṇa, Ajāmila could not understand that his own time was now exhausted and that death was upon him.
Purport

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.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
While eating, drinking and chewing, out of affection he would feed the child and make him drink. The foolish man did not know that death had arrived. Khādan means chewing.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Lost in caring for the child Nārāyaṇa, Ajāmila did not realize death was upon him — yet every utterance of that name was being recorded. The Lord lovingly counts even our absentminded chants, while we miss the warnings of mortality.
Reflection Questions
  • Am I so engrossed in caring for what I love that I have stopped noticing how close death may be?
  • What 'unknowing chanting' is already going on in my life that I can make conscious and intentional?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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