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Skandha 4, adhyayas 10-12 · Saptah day 2
Even a boy who has seen Vishnu must unlearn anger in a war with the Yakshas before stepping onto the chariot to the pole star.
Continuing his narration to Vidura at Haridwar, the sage Maitreya traces the second half of Dhruva's life (4.10–12). Having won the darshan of Lord Vishnu at age five in the forest of Madhuvana, Prince Dhruva returned to his father King Uttanapada's capital reconciled with his stepmother Suruchi, his younger half-brother Uttama, and his own mother Suniti. Yet as Maitreya shows across these three chapters, even a boy who has seen the Lord face-to-face must still unlearn the lingering fires of Kshatriya anger and bodily identification.
The characters who shape Dhruva's royal adulthood and final ascent are his younger brother Uttama and stepmother Suruchi, whose sudden deaths trigger a terrible war in the Himalayas; his revered grandfather Svayambhuva Manu, the first progenitor of humankind, who descends with a circle of sages to stop the slaughter and awaken Dhruva to his true spiritual identity; Kubera (`Dhanada`), the treasurer of the gods and lord of the Yakshas and Guhyakas; and finally Nanda and Sunanda, the two four-armed personal attendants of Vaikuntha who bring down the luminous celestial chariot to carry Dhruva and his mother Suniti to the fixed pole star (`Dhruva-loka`).
Seeing how the citizens, ministers, and elders marveled at young Dhruva's maturity and spiritual radiance, King Uttanapada crowned Dhruva emperor of the earth when the prince came of age, and retired to the forest to meditate cleanly on the truth of the Self (`4.9.63–67`). King Dhruva married two queens: Bhrami, the daughter of Prajapati Shishumara, who bore him two sons named Kalpa and Vatsara; and Ila, the daughter of the wind-god Vayu, who bore him a great yogi son named Utkala and a jewel of a daughter (`4.10.1–2`).
Meanwhile, Dhruva's younger half-brother Uttama—who had remained unmarried—went hunting one day on the rugged slopes of the Himalaya mountains (`4.10.3`). There a powerful Yaksha soldier, fierce and proud of his strength, slew Prince Uttama in battle. Heartbroken by the loss of her only son, Queen Suruchi went searching for him in the mountain forests and was consumed in a raging forest fire (`davagnim`), exactly as Lord Vishnu had foretold to Dhruva at Madhuvana (`4.9.24`; `4.10.3`).
When King Dhruva heard that his brother had been killed by a Yaksha, his heart—though usually gentle—boiled with grief, rage, and royal indignation (`shoka-amarsa-rusha`, `4.10.4`). Mounting his victorious chariot and marching north toward a deep Himalayan valley darkened by Rudra's attendant ghosts and Guhyakas, Dhruva arrived outside the Yaksha capital of Alakapuri (`Puri Punyajanesvarah`) and blew his great conch shell (`4.10.5–7`). That blast echoed across the sky and directions, terrifying the Yaksha wives inside their palaces.
Out from the city gates poured the mighty Yaksha commanders (`maharathah`), burning with intolerance, weapons raised (`4.10.8`). King Dhruva instantly pierced each of their foreheads with three feathered arrows (`tribhis tribhih`), winning the applause of the Siddhas, Charanas, and Vidyadharas watching from the sky (`4.10.9`). Incensed to see their leaders wounded, a vast host of 130,000 Yaksha warriors (`ayutani trayodasha`)—each wanting to strike back twice as hard—buried Dhruva, his charioteer, and his horses under a blinding storm of feathered shafts, clubs (`parigha`), swords (`nistrimsha`), iron pikes (`prasa`), tridents (`shula`), axes (`parashvadha`), spears (`shakti`), and nooses (`4.10.10–14`), just as monsoon clouds bury a mountain under torrential rain (`4.10.12`).
As the Siddhas in heaven cried out in alarm ("Alas, today this sun of the Manu dynasty has drowned in the ocean of Punyajanas!"), Dhruva's chariot suddenly burst through the wall of arrows like the sun breaking out of morning mist (`4.10.15–16`). Stretching his bow with a roar that shattered his enemies' hearts, Dhruva scattered their weapons like wind scattering clouds and pierced their armor (`4.10.17–18`). Littering the battlefield with severed heads still wearing earrings, golden-braceleted thighs like elephant trunks, and jeweled arms, Dhruva drove the surviving Yakshas into retreat (`4.10.19–20`).
Desperate, the Guhyakas resorted to demonic sorcery (`asurim mayam`, `4.10.22–28`): conjuring black clouds that rained blood, pus, feces, urine, and skeletons; dropping boulders from a mountain materialized in midair; unleashing venomous cobras spitting fire, packs of lions, tigers, and mad elephants, a roaring ocean swallowing the land, and war-chariots shouting "Wait, cruel sinner, your time has come!" Guided by the sages who arrived at the battlefront praising Lord Janardana, Dhruva calmly fitted the `Narayanastra`—the arrow presided over by Narayana—onto his bowstring (`4.10.29–30`). The moment he drew the string, golden-feathered shafts flashed out like swans entering a grove, dispelling the Yaksha illusions just as awakening spiritual knowledge (`jnanodayah`) dispels the pain of sense objects, and mowing down the fleeing Yakshas in droves (`4.10.30–32`).
Seeing that Dhruva was on the verge of annihilating the entire race of innocent Guhyakas (`anagasah`), his grandfather Svayambhuva Manu descended to the battlefield surrounded by great sages and spoke to his grandson in boundless compassion (`4.11.1–5`).
"Enough, my child, stop this rage (`alam vatsa atiroṣeṇa`)! Anger is the gateway to darkness (`tamo-dvaram`), under whose spell you are slaughtering sinless Punyajanas (`4.11.6`). What you are doing does not befit our royal family, nor is it approved by the saintly: for the offense of a single killer, you are cutting down countless innocent relatives who committed no crime (`4.11.7`). To grieve for a brother in delusion and butcher living beings by identifying the Self with the perishable corpse (`bhutani upaghnatah`) is never the path of the wise (`satam margah`)—it leads only to hellish worlds (`4.11.8`)!
"Think, my dear Dhruva (`4.11.9–26`): it was by worshipping the lotus feet of Lord Hrisikesha, the sanctuary of His devotees, that you attained the highest station in the universe! How can one whom the Lord recalls in His own heart, and whom great souls look to as a model of virtue, commit such an unworthy act (`4.11.10`)? The Supreme Lord accepts those who foster forbearance (`titiksha`), compassion (`karuna`), friendship (`maitri`), and equal vision toward all creatures (`4.11.13`). When a man cleanses his heart of the five kleśas through devotion to Purushottama, he crosses beyond the three gunas; just as fire is born when wood rubs against wood, life and death arise only when the subtle elements combine under the gunas (`4.11.14–16`). Look deeply at who actually killed your brother (`4.11.17–25`): Time, Karma, Destiny, or the Lord Himself? Because Lord Hari creates, preserves, and dissolves the worlds through His inscrutable maya—moving all beings like iron filings drawn by a magnet (`ayaskanta`) while remaining untouched by effort—He alone is your brother's source and end (`4.11.19–25`). Turn back your wrath, my child, for good advice is the sole medicine that cures the madness of anger (`4.11.26–32`). Why further displease Kubera, the brother of Lord Girisha (Shiva), through disrespect (`4.11.34`)?"
Chastened and deeply moved by his grandfather's instruction, King Dhruva lowered his bow, folded his hands, and bowed at Svayambhuva Manu's feet as Manu and the sages returned to their heavenly abodes (`4.11.35`).
Hearing that Dhruva had laid down his weapons and banished his anger, Kubera (`Dhanadah`), lord of the Guhyakas, appeared on the spot while Yakshas, Kinnaras, and Charanas praised him (`4.12.1`). Standing before Kubera with folded hands, Dhruva listened as the treasurer of the gods blessed him (`4.12.2–7`): "O faultless son of a Kshatriya, I am thoroughly pleased that at your grandfather's word you cast off deep-seated enmity! In reality, neither you killed the Yakshas nor did a Yaksha kill your brother; Time (`Kalah`) alone creates and destroys all bodies (`4.12.4`). It is only ignorant sleep-talk (`svapna-vada`) surrounding the physical body that makes a person think 'I am' and 'you are' (`aham tvam iti`) and fall into bondage and misery (`4.12.5`). Therefore go forward, O Dhruva; worship Lord Adhokshaja through action (`karmabhih`), see Him in every creature, and ask of me freely whatever boon you desire, for you are worthy to sit at the feet of Mukunda (`4.12.6–7`)!"
This time, when tested with a boon, the boy who had once asked for a throne made no mistake (`4.12.8–9`). Asked by a master to choose a blessing, the wise monarch Mahabhagavata Dhruva asked only for this: "Grant me unbroken, unfailing remembrance (`smritir avyahata`) of Lord Hari, by which a human being effortlessly crosses over durable ignorance (`dustaram tamaḥ`)!" Joyfully granting that prayer, Kubera vanished, and Dhruva returned to his capital (`4.12.10–11`).
For thirty-six thousand years (`shaṭ-triṁśad-varṣa-sāhasram`), Emperor Dhruva ruled the earth with unwavering devotion (`4.12.12–15`). He performed sumptuous Vedic sacrifices stocked with rich offerings (`pushkala-dakshina`) to please the Supreme Self (`Yajna-purusha`), diminished the weight of past sins through enjoyment and future karma through selfless action, beheld the infinite Lord inside himself and every creature, and earned the love of his citizens, who looked upon him as a father and brother (`4.12.13–15`).
When his allotted reign was complete, Dhruva placed his eldest son Utkala upon the royal throne (`4.12.16`). Realizing that this vast universe with its realms, protectors, and sense pleasures is no more permanent than a castle in a dream (`svapna-nirvrittam`) or a magician's trick (`gandharva-pura-sanibham`), carved upon the soul by ignorance, he left home alone and journeyed north to the Himalayan hermitage of Badarikashrama (`Vishala`, `4.12.16–17`). Bathing in the pure waters of the Alakananda, sitting steadily in yoga, and withdrawing his senses from their objects through controlled breath (`prana-nirodha`), he fixed his mind entirely on the gross and subtle form of Bhagavan until incessant tears of ecstatic love (`prema-ashru`) streamed from his eyes, his hair stood on end in rapture, his heart melted, and he lost all awareness of his separate bodily frame (`deha-smriti`) and the concepts of "I" and "mine" (`4.12.18`).
At that very moment, Dhruva saw a brilliant aerial chariot (`vimanam`) descending from the sky like the full moon emerging on all sides, lighting up the ten directions (`4.12.19`). Inside it stood two youthful, four-armed gods (`devau`), dark-complexioned and radiant with lotus eyes, wearing crowns, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and clubs—Nanda and Sunanda, the confidential attendants of Lord Madhusudana (`4.12.20–21`). Recognizing them at once, Dhruva rose hastily from his meditation, though in his deep love for Madhusudana he forgot the customary sequence of greeting and simply bowed his head with folded hands chanting the Lord's names (`4.12.21`).
Nanda and Sunanda smiled and spoke tenderly to him (`4.12.22–25`): "Peace be unto you, O King (`bhadram te`)! Listen well to our words: it was by pleasing the Lord of the universe when you were only five years old that you mastered the Lord so hard to reach (`sudurjayam`), winning the supreme position in the three worlds that even the seven sages (`Saptarshi`), the stars, moon, and sun look up to (`4.12.23–24`). Come now, mount this chariot sent by the Supreme Person Himself to carry you to that permanent abode never reached by your forefathers (`4.12.25`)!"
Hearing their sweet words so dear to Lord Vaikuntha, King Dhruva bathed, completed his daily rites, put on auspicious ornaments, bowed to the sages at Badarikashrama, and received their blessings (`4.12.26`). As he circumambulated and bowed to the splendid vimana and its two commanders, his body instantly turned golden and luminous (`hiranmayam`, `4.12.27`). When Death himself (`Mrityu`) came and bowed before him at the foot of the chariot, Dhruva calmly placed his foot right upon Death's head (`mrityor murdhni padam dattva`) and stepped aboard (`4.12.30`), while kettle-drums, tabors, and mridangas sounded in the heavens, Gandharvas sang, and flowers rained like showers (`4.12.28–29`).
Yet just as the chariot lifted off, Dhruva paused in sudden filial grief (`4.12.31`). Remembering his poor mother Suniti (`anvag-anushocayan`), he thought to himself: "How can I go alone to that eternal realm tough to reach, leaving behind my poor, compassionate mother (`dinam karunam`)?" Reading his heart immediately, Nanda and Sunanda pointed ahead into the sky and showed him Queen Suniti already ascending before him in a radiant airplane of her own (`vimanena-agragam`, `4.12.32`)!
Rising past the planetary spheres one by one, praised by celestial beings showering blossoms, Dhruva crossed beyond the three worlds and even above the seven sages (`muni-mandalat`) until he reached the supreme, self-luminous pole star of Vishnu (`4.12.33–35`), around which the entire wheel of luminaries turns like cattle around a central post (`4.12.36–37`). Later, at the sacrificial session of the Prachetas, Devarshi Narada played his vina and sang three verses praising Dhruva (`4.12.38–41`): "Surely this son of ascetic Suniti, shining with reverence for her husband's memory, accomplished at age five—within mere days at the feet of Vasudeva—a feat that neither ascetics knowing the Vedas nor mighty royal warriors spinning on chariots could ever imagine!" Maitreya closes (`4.12.42–52`) by assuring Vidura that whoever hears and chants this purifying history of Dhruva morning and evening with faith among twice-born devotees gains longevity, fortune, health, fame, heaven, Dhruva's own fixed realm, and finally spotless devotion to Lord Acyuta.
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