KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM HH HARIVILAS MAHARAJ’S MORNING BHAGAVATAM CLASS ON SB 2.7.8:
- Prince Dhruva inquired from his mother how he could sit on the royal throne of his father, and the poor queen replied that only the Lord could help him.
- The boy inquired where the Lord could be seen, and the queen replied that it is said that the Lord is sometimes seen by great sages in the dense forest.
- The child prince decided to go into the forest to perform severe penances in order to achieve his objective.
- Prince Dhruva was initiated by Nārada into chanting the hymn composed of eighteen letters, namely oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, and Lord Vāsudeva incarnated Himself as Pṛśnigarbha, the Personality of Godhead with four hands, and awarded the prince a specific planet above the seven stars.
- Prince Dhruva, after achieving success in his undertakings, saw the Lord face to face, and he was satisfied that all his needs were fulfilled.
- The planet awarded to Prince Dhruva Mahārāja is a fixed Vaikuṇṭha planet, installed in the material atmosphere by the will of the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva.
- This planet, although within the material world, will not be annihilated at the time of devastation, but will remain fixed in its place.
- And because it is a Vaikuṇṭha planet never to be annihilated, it is worshiped even by the denizens of the seven stars situated below the Dhruva planet, as well as by the planets which are even above the Dhruva planet. Maharṣi Bhṛgu’s planet is situated above the Dhruva planet.
- So the Lord incarnated Himself as Pṛśnigarbha just to satisfy a pure devotee of the Lord. And Prince Dhruva achieved this perfection simply by chanting the hymn mentioned above, after being initiated by another pure devotee, Nārada.
- A serious personality can thus achieve the highest perfection of meeting the Lord and attain his objective simply by being guided by a pure devotee, who automatically approaches by dint of one’s serious determination to meet the Lord by all means.
- Based on this we need to learn that we have to double down in chanting the holy names when we are in the difficult times. If someone insulted us or abused us… One take should complete shelter of the lord and not get disturbed. One should not try to get revenge. Revenge business is very dangerous. Nothing can happen without the will of the lord. If we wait patiently and take the shelter of the lord and not act independently, the lord will take care of us. We sit down tightly and chant calmly and meditate on Krsna in our heart by chanting His names even though we are upset and disturbed.
SB 2.7.8 TRANSLATION
Being insulted by sharp words spoken by the co-wife of the king, even in his presence, Prince Dhruva, though only a boy, took to severe penances in the forest. And the Lord, being satisfied by his prayer, awarded him the Dhruva planet, which is worshiped by great sages, both upward and downward.
When he was only five years old, Prince Dhruva, a great devotee and the son of Mahārāja Uttānapāda, was sitting on the lap of his father. His stepmother did not like the King’s patting her stepson, so she dragged him out, saying that he could not claim to sit on the lap of the King because he was not born out of her womb. The little boy felt insulted by this act of his stepmother. Nor did his father make any protest, for he was too attached to his second wife. After this incident, Prince Dhruva went to his own mother and complained. His real mother also could not take any step against this insulting behavior, and so she wept. The boy inquired from his mother how he could sit on the royal throne of his father, and the poor queen replied that only the Lord could help him. The boy inquired where the Lord could be seen, and the queen replied that it is said that the Lord is sometimes seen by great sages in the dense forest. The child prince decided to go into the forest to perform severe penances in order to achieve his objective.
Prince Dhruva performed a stringent type of penance under the instruction of his spiritual master, Śrī Nārada Muni, who was specifically deputed for this purpose by the Personality of Godhead. Prince Dhruva was initiated by Nārada into chanting the hymn composed of eighteen letters, namely oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, and Lord Vāsudeva incarnated Himself as Pṛśnigarbha, the Personality of Godhead with four hands, and awarded the prince a specific planet above the seven stars. Prince Dhruva, after achieving success in his undertakings, saw the Lord face to face, and he was satisfied that all his needs were fulfilled.
The planet awarded to Prince Dhruva Mahārāja is a fixed Vaikuṇṭha planet, installed in the material atmosphere by the will of the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva. This planet, although within the material world, will not be annihilated at the time of devastation, but will remain fixed in its place. And because it is a Vaikuṇṭha planet never to be annihilated, it is worshiped even by the denizens of the seven stars situated below the Dhruva planet, as well as by the planets which are even above the Dhruva planet. Maharṣi Bhṛgu’s planet is situated above the Dhruva planet.
So the Lord incarnated Himself as Pṛśnigarbha just to satisfy a pure devotee of the Lord. And Prince Dhruva achieved this perfection simply by chanting the hymn mentioned above, after being initiated by another pure devotee, Nārada. A serious personality can thus achieve the highest perfection of meeting the Lord and attain his objective simply by being guided by a pure devotee, who automatically approaches by dint of one’s serious determination to meet the Lord by all means.
The description of Prince Dhruva’s activities can be read in detail in the Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Based on this we need to learn that we have to double down in chanting the holy names when we are in the difficult times. If someone insulted us or abused us… One should complete shelter of the lord and not get disturbed. One should not try to get revenge. Revenge business is very dangerous. Nothing can happen without the will of the lord. If we wait patiently and take the shelter of the lord. We do not act independently.. We sit down tightly and chant calmly and meditate on Krsna in our heart by chanting His names even though we are upset and disturbed.
Depiction of God as an old man in the old testament is wrong.
Surichi derisively tells Dhruva to go to forest..
If you really want to see God, Krishna will send you a bonafide guru.
I was wanting to actually know about God. I knew I had to understand about God if I have to know what is the purpose of life. Krishna has sent me Srila Prabhupada.
Krishna sends Narada Muni. He instructed Dhruva to gradually give up eating, drinking, stand on one leg and gradually give up breathing and meditate on the Lord.
Dhruva maharaj sees the prsni garbh a form of the lord and the lord touches him.
He immediately says the dhruva stotra,
We do not have to make up any prayers – Dhruva stotra, Prhalad maharaj prayers, Bhishma prayers, Kunti prayers… they are millions.. They are all bonafide and we do not have to make up any prayers.
If you are willing to risk everything to serve the lord – Example Srila Prabhupada..
We should not be afraid. We should not do something crazy… We should take advantage of the example of SP. We can do a lot now, but we should aim for doing what SP did eventually. Dhruva 5 years old was fearless. 70 year old SP was fearless. We should come to the stage of fearlessness. We should not buckle in the determination to serve Krsna no matter what.