One of the most important requirements for spiritual progress is single minded devotion to God, i.e. Ananyata. 'Ananya' means 'no other', exclusive, or undivided devotion.
'Ananya Prem' means to love just one - God and nobody else. We have learnt earlier that there are three eternal truths: God, Soul and Maya (an eternal, cosmic and lifeless power of God). If a soul does not love God, then which 'other' entity does he love? It has to be people or objects under the influence of maya, since there is no fourth entity or realm for the soul to love. Souls who have not attained God as well as all other inanimate (material) objects are classified as mayic.
If an individual's mind is attached to anyone or anything other than God, then he will not be called as an 'Ananya' follower. Loving God alone is what ananyata means. Consider the honest and truthful Harishchandra. He never lied throughout his life. Hence, he was honored with the name, 'Satya' Harishchandra. If he had lied just once, then his honesty could be questioned. In the same way, even if we have 0.1% attachment (of the mind) for any person or material object, our devotion to God will not be exclusive or single minded.
This popular and simple shlok from the Puranas say:
tvameva mātā cha pitā tvameva,
tvameva bañdhuśhcha sakhā tvameva
tvameva vidyā draviṇam tvameva,
tvameva sarvam mam deva deva
This shlok reminds us to use the word 'only'. That means "You (God) are my real mother. You are my real father." The one who gave birth to me is not my real mother. She is the mother of this material body. You are a soul and your real mother, father everything is God, i.e. all your relationships are with God alone. The soul is spiritual by nature and its subject of interest is God, who is Divine. If anything other than the Divine enters the mind, it becomes an obstacle in reaching the state of 'exclusivity'.
ek bharoso ek bal, ek ās viśhvās
bhrātā bhartā cha bañdhuśhcha pitā cha me rāghavaḥ
more sabaī ek tum svāmī, dīnbandhu ur antaryāmī
Lakshman said "O Ram! You are my father, You are my mother, You are my brother, You are my everything. The rest (Lord Dashratha), are not mine. Those relations are material and confined to this material body." This is such a strong statement that Lakshman said to Shree Ram who was an embodiment and personification of dignity and respect. Devotion and respect to mother, father and elders were
his principle ideals. But Lakshman said, "I am not ready to accept this principle and my ideal is only one, Shree Ram. My material father and mother are growing old and will soon die. They are not my eternal parents. The soul is related only to God. You are my shelter and You are my everything, hence I shall come with you." Shree Krishna says in the Gita:
māmev ye prapadyante māyāmetām taranti te
"The one who comes under my shelter alone and surrenders completely to me, I will free him from the clutches of Maya. If you do not apply the word only, then I am not responsible." 'Ananya' implies that the mind should be exclusively attached to God and nowhere else. 'Else' refers to the realm of Maya. Maya has three modes - sattva gun (mode of goodness), rajo gun (mode of passion) and tamo gun (mode of ignorance). A person of sattva gun is considered to be a good person. A person of rajo gun is considered to be a normal person and the one with tamogun is considered to be a bad person.
Ajamil was a sinner of no bound. In his death bed, he started yelling out his son's name which happened to be "Narayan". This act of Ajamil caused a confusion between Yamdoots and Vishnudoots. Yamadoots said that since Ajamil was a sinner, they have come to take him and Vishnudoots said that since he took name of Lord Narayan, they have come there to take him to Lord's Divine abode.