A Story of Awakening Love

A prince who wanted the greatest kingdom gets it, but finds satisfaction elsewhere.

ONE OF THE most touching histories in the Shrimad-Bhagavatam comes in the Fourth Canto. It concerns the little prince Dhruva and his great adventure, and it contains many lessons about love.

Reprinted from Back to Godhead Magazine Volume 33 Number 04,1999 © BBT International; all rights reserved.

Dhruva was five years
old when he left home for the forest in search of God. Some people he met on the way tried to persuade him to go back.

"It's certainly glorious to search for God," they said, "but aren't you too young for such a serious undertaking? And isn't God everywhere anyway? Why do you have to go to the wild jungle full of ferocious animals?"

Dhruva was not sure why. But he had heard that great sages who wished to find the Supreme Lord would leave home and go to the forest. Apparently, that was the thing to do. If God was really there, Dhruva would surely find Him.

What does God look like? The little prince didn't know that exactly either. One thing he knew: God was the only person who could fulfill his secret desire. For this Dhruva had the word of his mother. She prayed to God every day, so she certainly knew what she was talking about.

Dhruva's story has
a happy ending. He meets Narada Muni, a spiritual teacher, who tells him
how to reach God through devotion. All alone in the jungle, the boy undergoes
spiritual disciplines with determination that truly gives justice to the
meaning of his name: "persevering." Tigers and jackals spare
Dhruva. And not only does he survive, but he meets Krishna's expansion
Lord Vishnu face to face and ultimately becomes famous as one of the greatest
devotees of his time. He gets his secret desire fulfilled, too. That's
the story's glorious ending. But the beginning is sad.

A Stepmother's Cruel Words

Dhruva's father, King
Uttanapada, had two wives, Suniti and Suruchi. Suniti was Dhruva's mother,
and Suruci was Uttama's. The boys played together, and they equally had
their father's heart, unlike their mothers. The king neglected Suniti,
not even allowing her near him, while Suruci was his favorite—maybe
because of her beauty. She was beautiful. But she was jealous too.

Once, the king was
sitting on the throne with Uttama on his lap, patting him affectionately.
Dhruva too wanted to get on his father's lap, but Suruchi didn't like
the idea.

"No, you can't
sit on the king's seat," she said. "You may be the king's son,
but that's not enough. You would have to be my son as well. And this,
my dear boy, you can achieve only by worshiping the Supreme Lord. If He
is pleased with you, He may grant you the precious boon of taking your
next birth from my womb."

She had said, "My
dear boy," but her words hit Dhruva like a stick. She wished him
to die! His body stiffened. Breathless, he turned to his father. But the
king looked away, at Suruchi, his beautiful queen. Dhruva turned around
and ran to his mother.

What could Suniti
do, other than cry with her little son?

"Your stepmother
is right," Suniti said. "Your father does not consider me his
wife anymore. She is right, too, in telling you to worship the Supreme
Lord. If you wish to sit on the same throne as your stepbrother Uttama,
don't be envious of him. Just turn to the Supreme Lord. By worshiping
Him you can achieve things never dreamed of by those who put their faith
in demigods. My son, just worship the Lord. I do not find anyone else
who can ease your distress."

Dhruva made up his
mind. He would go to the forest, find God, and tell Him, "My dear
God, I am the king's son, but I will not be the heir to the throne. Please
make me a king greater than my father. I want to have a kingdom like no
one ever had. If You are satisfied with my worship, please grant me this
desire."

Vision in
the Forest

Dhruva knew finding
God would be difficult, but he was determined. Alone in the forest, he
practiced yoga for concentration, chanted a mantra he received from Narada,
and meditated on the Lord dwelling in the heart.

Six months passed.
One day, as Dhruva entered meditation and fixed his inner vision on Lord
Vishnu, the image he had already grown accustomed to contemplating disappeared
suddenly. Dhruva's concentration broke. He opened his eyes and saw Lord
Vishnu standing before him. The Lord looked exactly like the form Narada
had described to him. Dhruva had so often contemplated that form in his
heart—majestic, four-armed, adorned with all the insignia of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, His whole form brilliant like lightning.

This time, however,
Dhruva's eyes were wide open, and before him was not an image in the mind
but a living person, smiling at Dhruva. Overwhelmed, the boy fell to Lord
Vishnu's feet. Even while lying flat on the ground, he could not take
his eyes off the Lord.

Pleased with Dhruva,
the Lord asked whether he had any wish to fulfill. Everything was going
as Dhruva had hoped. His impossible goal was now within reach.

Classical
Conflict

Before we hear Dhruva's
reply, let's go back to the scene with Dhruva's being forbidden to join
Uttama on the king's lap. Both the story and the conflict are classical.
On one side: the father, the stepmother, and the "good son";
on the other: the unwanted son, excluded from the love and happiness these
three are sharing.

But are King Uttanapada,
Suruchi, and Uttama really sharing love and happiness? No. None of them
is really happy, and all three have reasons to feel insecure.

Suruchi will feel
safe in the king's devotion only as long as she has the youthful charm
of her body. She fears she'll suffer Suniti's fate and lose the king's
affections.

The king, although
fond of both his sons, can't risk losing Suruchi's favor. He may rule
everyone in the kingdom, but in Suruchi's hands he's a pet. She denied
her favor to Dhruva and didn't care about crushing the boy's heart. The
king might be thinking, "Suruci, my tender one, would you be able
to do this to me?"

Finally, Uttama is
too small to understand what's going on. All he knows is that he was playing
on his father's lap and his brother Dhruva was punished for trying to
do the same. Glad that he has been spared, and feeling special, he nevertheless
fails to see Dhruva's fault. "If neither of us did anything bad and
he got punished this time, will I be the one next time? Daddy?"

None of these three
persons is receiving real love, which is selfless, unconditional, and
free-flowing. Fortunate are those who know love early in life and learn
the joy of sharing it. Most people offer and receive things like sex,
wealth, and power in the name of love. And along with that kind of "love"
come lust, anger, greed, envy, illusion, and madness. The six enemies
of the self, the Vedic teachers call them. And, in the background, there's
fear. For example, Suruci is fearful because of material attachments.
As Dhruva climbs onto his father's lap, she sees him not as an innocent
child but as her son's rival trying to seize the throne.

People who really
love do not fear losing anything material. Nor do they feel wanting; they're
self-satisfied. They may be married or alone, beggars or kings, but they're
free. Sex, wealth, power, or anything material holds no sway over them.

What about Dhruva's
quest for love? In anger, he risks his life to gain a kingdom greater
than his father's. A whole planet to rule will surely be a fair compensation
for a place on his father's lap.

Like Dhruva's family,
in seeking love we hurt and push away one another. Sad are the ways of
love in the world of matter.

Saddest of all is
losing even the hope that real love exists. Our unfulfilled dreams for
the perfect father, mother, lover, and friend make us think that God—the
supreme perfect lover—can't exist either.

Dhruva was lucky.
The force of his frustration, channeled into spiritual practice by the
advice of his mother and his spiritual teacher, Narada Muni, carried him
beyond the world of fear. On meeting Lord Vishnu face to face, Dhruva
found not only the love he had lost but his own capacity to give love
in the same way. Loving is his nature, as it is for all of us. He had
forgotten that, just as every living being does when turning away from
God and His love. But Dhruva's original nature had never changed. And
that loving nature is the same in every living being. It seeks expression.
It motivates one to search. It doesn't allow one to feel satisfied with
the ordinary, the temporary, the limited. Dhruva was satisfied only when
he found the unlimited.

Dhruva's Reply

Throughout all the
risks he took and austerities he performed, Dhruva believed his heart's
desire was to gain the kingdom. What could he be more sure of than his
own heart? Yet Dhruva discovered he'd been wrong. When he finally got
up from the ground, he addressed Lord Vishnu with a prayer. His words,
coming from the heart, were different than those he had prepared. To this
day, devotees of Lord Vishnu repeat Dhruva's spontaneous prayer, which
captures both his surprise with himself and his overwhelming joy.

"O my Lord,"
said Dhruva, "I wanted to be a great king and was performing severe
austerities so that You would grant me this desire. Now I have gotten
You, who are very difficult even for the demigods, saints, and kings to
attain. I was searching for a piece of broken glass, but instead I have
found a most valuable jewel. I am completely satisfied, and I do not wish
to ask You for anything."

Love
Expands

Love for God is not
for God alone. It does not diminish the affection we feel for others.
It deepens affection because we are able to love others not for external
things like their body, not for anything they give us, and not only as
long as they fulfill their part of the contract. A pure devotee, who has
developed his loving relationship with God, can see beyond others' material
conditioning, beyond their pleasant and unpleasant features, even beyond
their cruelty, and relate to everyone as a unique spiritual person, part
of God. Pure devotees develop the kind of intuition we admire in stories
of great saints and spiritual teachers. Since a pure devotee feels safe
in his own personal exchange of love with God, he doesn't crave others'
appreciation or feel hurt by their aggression. These qualities place him
in a unique position to help others.

Suniti, Dhruva's mother,
could accept her fate without hating it and could convince her son to
accept the valuable instruction in Suruci's hateful words, without himself
becoming a slave to hatred. Does that mean a devotee of the Lord should
allow himself or herself to be trampled upon? No. Neither aggression nor
meek submission in itself indicates spiritual advancement. What counts
is one's motive.

A devotee doesn't
seek selfish satisfaction either by oppressing others or by being oppressed
and "enjoying" victim status. Whether a devotee chooses to be
aggressive or meek, his motive is to serve God and help others find their
path back to Godhead. He can assist others by instruction, example, or
even mere presence. Those who have had the privilege to come in contact
with someone endowed with genuine love of God, of any religious faith,
know that the presence of such a person lifts others onto the same plane.

That's what happened
to Dhruva's family members. Upon hearing the news of Dhruva's return,
King Uttanapada rushed out of the palace to meet him. Along with the king
came Uttama, Suniti, and Suruchi. Without reservation, Dhruva honored
both mothers by prostrating himself on the ground.

Suruci picked him
up.

"My dear boy,
long may you live!"

With tears of joy
in her eyes she blessed him.

Suniti then affectionately
embraced Dhruva, as did his brother Uttama.

An
Honorable King

This history has a
classical ending: Dhruva grew in a happy, caring family and ultimately
became a great monarch, loved by everyone in his kingdom—a kingdom
greater than any that had ever existed.

The narrator of Shrimad-Bhagavatam
concludes: "Dhruva was not the same as before; he was completely
sanctified due to having been touched by the lotus feet of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Unto one who has transcendental qualities due
to friendship with the Supreme Lord, all living entities offer honor as
naturally as a stream flows down from a mountain."

One person with love
and devotion for God can make a difference for many. Those of us who have
little hope for finding God, who cannot seem to muster enough courage
to approach Him, meditate on Him, or serve Him, may derive strength from
knowing that others will gain from our love of God: our families, friends,
and enemies; passersby in the street; every living being in the world.

Dhyana-kunda
Devi Dasi, originally from Poland, joined the Hare Krishna
movement in 1987 and was married in 1994. She holds a masters degree in
psychology. She lives at the ISKCON farm in Almviks Gard, Sweden, where
she serves as an English editor and Polish translator for the north European
branch of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. She is also one of a group of
international deputies to ISKCON's Governing Body Commission.