Text 8] The History of the Life of Ajamila 13

dosasya drstvd guru-laghavam yatha
bhisak cikitseta rujam nidanavit

tasmat—therefore; purd—before; eva—indeed; dsu—very quickly;
iha—in this life; pa@pa-niskrtau—to become free from the reaction of
sinful activities; yateta—one should endeavor; mrtyoh—death;
avipadyata—not troubled by disease and old age; dtmand—with a body;
dosasya—of the sinful activities; drstva—estimating; guru-laghavam—
the heaviness or lightness; yatha—just like; bhisak—a physician; cikit-
seta—would treat; rujam—of disease; nidana-vit—one who is expert in
diagnosis.

TRANSLATION

Therefore, before one’s next death comes, as long as one’s body
is strong enough, one should quickly adopt the process of atone-
ment according to Sastra; otherwise one’s time will be lost, and the
reactions of his sins will increase. As as expert physician diagnoses
and treats a disease according to its gravity, one should undergo
atonement according to the severity of one’s sins.

PURPORT

The dharma-sastras like the Manu-samhita prescribe that a man who
has committed murder should be hanged and his own life sacrificed in
atonement. Previously this system was followed all over the world, but
since people are becoming atheists, they are stopping capital punishment.
This is not wise. Herein it is said that a physician who knows how to diag-
nose a disease prescribes medicine accordingly. If the disease is very
serious, the medicine must be strong. The weight of a murderer’s sin is
very great, and therefore according to Manu-samhitd a murderer must
be killed. By killing a murderer the government shows mercy to him be-
cause if a murderer is not killed in this life, he will be killed and forced
to suffer many times in future lives. Since people do not know about the
next life and the intricate workings of nature, they manufacture their
own laws, but they should properly consult the established injunctions of
the Sdstras and act accordingly. In India even today the Hindu com-
munity often takes advice from expert scholars regarding how to
