34
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 1]
tightly and serve Him under the direction of the spiritual master. Thus in all conditions one will be  akuto-bhaya , free from fear.
TEXT 20
अत्र चोदाहरन्तीममितिहासं पुरातनम् । दूतानां विष्णुयमयोः संवादस्तं निबोध मे ॥२०॥
atra codāharantīmam itihāsam purātanam dūtānām viṣṇu-yamayoḥ saṁvādas taṁ nibodha me
atra —in this connection;  ca —also;  udāharanti —they give as an example;  imam —this;  itihāsam —the history (of Ajāmila);  purātanam —which is very old;  dūtānām —of the order carriers;  viṣṇu —of Lord Viṣṇu;  yamayoḥ —and of Yamarāja;  saṁvādaḥ —the discussion;  tam —that;  nibodha —try to understand;  me —from me.
TRANSLATION
In this regard, learned scholars and saintly persons describe a very old historical incident involving a discussion between the order carriers of Lord Viṣṇu and those of Yamarāja. Please hear of this from me.
PURPORT
The  Purāṇas , or old histories, are sometimes neglected by unintelligent men who consider their descriptions mythological. Actually, the descriptions of the  Purāṇas , or the old histories of the universe, are factual, although not chronological. The  Purāṇas  record the chief incidents that have occurred over many millions of years, not only on this planet but also on other planets within the universe. Therefore all learned and realized Vedic scholars speak with references to the incidents in the  Purāṇas . Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī accepts the  Purāṇas  to be as important as the  Vedas  themselves. Therefore in  Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu  he quotes the following verse from the  Brahma-yāmala :