The pastime of Bali Maharaja donating the three planetary systems to Vāmanadeva is described in the eighth canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Lord appeared in the form of a dwarf brāhmana and begged a donation of three steps of land, on the measurement of his steps, which was immediately granted by Bali. However, the Lord expanded his size, and thus when He took His first step, He covered the entire surface of the earth. Expanding even more, He not only covered the three planetary systems with His second step but in fact kicked the coverings of the universe, creating a crack from which the waters of the Causal Ocean started dripping inside the universe, creating the river Ganges that flows through the numerous planetary systems of the universe.

In the Fifth Canto, chapter 24, there is another, more detailed description of the pastime of Bali Maharaja that focuses on his devotional attitude. This is the passage that reveals the depth of his devotional sentiments.

First of all, what happened with Bali after the Lord, as Vamanadeva, took away all his possessions? Sukadeva Gosvami answers:

“Below the planet Vitala is another planet, known as Sutala, where the great son of Mahārāja Virocana, Bali Mahārāja, who is celebrated as the most pious king, resides even now. For the welfare of Indra, the King of heaven, Lord Viṣṇu appeared in the form of a dwarf Brahmācārī as the son of Aditi and tricked Bali Mahārāja by begging for only three paces of land but taking all the three worlds. Being very pleased with Bali Mahārāja for giving all his possessions, the Lord returned his kingdom and made him richer than the opulent King Indra. Even now, Bali Mahārāja engages in devotional service by worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the planet of Sutala.” (SB 5.24.18)

Prahlāda Maharaja became the king of Sutala after Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva killed Hiraṇyakaśipu. Later, the throne was passed to Virocana and then to Bali, who eventually became the king of the three worlds after defeating the demigods. After donating the three planetary systems to Vāmanadeva, Bali Maharaja was reinstalled as the king of Sutala, where he continues to worship the Lord while living in great material opulence. Since he desired to control the celestial planetary system, he was blessed by the Lord to become the next Indra (in the 8th Manvantara), reigning over the celestial sphere without opposition for an entire Manvantara before going back to Godhead. Meanwhile, the Lord stays continuously with him, serving him as his doorman.

Prabhupāda describes it beautifully in his purport:

“Bali Mahārāja offered everything to the Lord — his wealth, his kingdom and even his own body (sarvātma-nivedane baliḥ). The Lord appeared before Bali Mahārāja as a brāhmaṇa beggar, and Bali Mahārāja gave Him everything he had. However, Bali Mahārāja did not become poor; by donating all his possessions to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he became a successful devotee and got everything back again with the blessings of the Lord. Similarly, those who give contributions to expand the activities of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement and to accomplish its objectives will never be losers; they will get their wealth back with the blessings of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”

Bali Maharaja was a disciple of Śukrācārya, the seminal guru of the demons. Śukrācārya certainly instructed him in politics, fruitive activities, and so on. However, Bali Maharaja understood that everything should be offered to Lord Viṣnu. When the Lord appeared before him as Vāmanadeva, Śukrācārya revealed his true face, telling Bali to withdraw his promise of giving Him three steps of land and justify it politically. Bali, however, was determined to surrender everything to the Lord and rejected the so-called guru. Bali Maharaja became thus a perfect devotee, accepted as one of the twelve Mahājanas.

Being reinstalled as the ruler of Sutala and being scheduled to become the next Indra are not results of Bali having surrendered his possessions. These are just token blessings from the Lord because of his previous material desires, just as in the case of Dhruva Maharaja becoming king after his father. The real result is his pure love of Godhead. This pure love, in turn, makes the Lord never desire to leave his company.

Material opulence that comes as a result of ordinary karma is often an obstacle to the practice of devotional service, because it tends to make us forget Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, when a devotee is especially sincere, the Lord often takes such material opulence away, so the devotee can advance swiftly. As Prabhupāda mentions, when a neophyte devotee is materially opulent, he forgets the service of the Lord.

There is, however, another type of opulence that is directly given by the Lord for pure devotees who are ready to engage it in His service. By engaging these material facilities, these pure devotees can then expand their devotional service to the Lord. Prabhupāda thus concludes that the material opulences offered to Bali Maharaja, who became even more opulent than the demigods as the ruler of the Sutala planetary system, are not material.

These opulences were not given as a result of his charity, as in ordinary karma. They were given because of his love and devotion to facilitate his devotional service and are free from material inebriety. In other words, this opulence given to Bali Maharaja does not manifest from the illusory potency; it manifests from yoga-maya, the spiritual potency that connects us with Kṛṣṇa.

However, even this spiritual opulence is not the real gift. The real result is pure devotional service. The opulence is just to facilitate that.

One point that could be contested in this pastime is why did the Lord appear as a brāhmana and beg from Bali? Why didn’t He appear in a powerful form and just take everything by force? This is also described by Sukadeva Gosvami:

“When the Supreme Personality of Godhead could see no other means of taking everything away from Bali Mahārāja, He adopted the trick of begging from him and took away all the three worlds. Thus only his body was left, but the Lord was still not satisfied. He arrested Bali Mahārāja, bound him with the ropes of Varuṇa and threw him in a cave in a mountain. Nevertheless, although all his property was taken and he was thrown into a cave, Bali Mahārāja was such a great devotee that he spoke as follows.

Alas, how pitiable it is for Indra, the King of heaven, that although he is very learned and powerful and although he chose Bṛhaspati as his prime minister to instruct him, he is completely ignorant concerning spiritual advancement. Bṛhaspati is also unintelligent because he did not properly instruct his disciple Indra. Lord Vāmanadeva was standing at Indra’s door, but King Indra, instead of begging Him for an opportunity to render transcendental loving service, engaged Him in asking me for alms to gain the three worlds for his sense gratification. Sovereignty over the three worlds is very insignificant because whatever material opulence one may possess lasts only for an age of Manu, which is but a tiny fraction of endless time.” (SB 5.24.23-24)

The traditional process for testing the purity of gold is to rub it against a testing stone. When gold is pure, it is quite soft, and when rubbed, it would leave a golden mark on the stone. Kṛṣṇa is sometimes compared to a testing stone because He sometimes tests His devotees to show their devotion. Why does He do that? For two purposes: to show the extent of the devotion of His pure devotees, giving the example to others, and to glorify His devotees, making their fame well known all over the universe. We can see that we still draw inspiration from the stories of the Pandavas, Prahlāda Maharaja, and so on, devotees who went through this rubbing treatment and demonstrated the depth of their devotion.

Because Vāmanadeva wanted Bali to show the real extent of his devotion, He didn’t become satisfied when Bali surrendered his possessions and even his own body. To show the extent of Bali’s devotional sentiments, he bound him with ropes and threw him inside a mountain cave, just as an ordinary prisoner. Bali, however, didn’t protest. He felt fortunate for receiving the reciprocation of the Lord and instead felt pity for Indra, who, instead of asking the Lord for pure devotional service, engaged Him in getting the three planetary systems back.

The first verse mentions that Kṛṣṇa could see no other means of taking everything away from Bali Mahārāja. What does it mean? When Hiraṇyakaśipu took heaven away from the demigods and threatened Prahlāda, Kṛṣṇa appeared as Nṛsiṁhadeva to kill him. However, Bali is a pure devotee; therefore, Kṛṣṇa can’t fight him, due to affection. The only way left to give back the three planetary systems to the demigods was to appear in the form of a brāhmana and beg it from him.

As Vāmanadeva, the Lord appeared as the son of Aditi, the brother of Indra. Instead of asking for pure devotional service, however, the demigods engaged him in getting the three words back from Bali Maharaja. Even Bṛhaspati, their spiritual master, did not protest. Bali Mahārāja thus pities both, considering them unintelligent and unaware of the true goal of life. Even bound in ropes inside the cave, he is satisfied, being situated in his pure devotional sentiments.

In His Śikṣāṣṭakam, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu prays, “I know no one but Kṛṣṇa as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.”

These prayers reveal the platform of ātma-nivedana, of surrendering everything to the Lord, unconditionally. Bali Maharaja is situated on this platform, and the Lord appeared to act roughly with him by binding him with ropes, etc., to demonstrate it. Rubbed against the testing stone, Bali Maharaja showed his true value, and purchased the Lord by his devotion. Indra got back his temporary material possessions, as he desired, but Bali Maharaja gained the eternal company of the Lord.

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In his teachings to Pṛthu Maharaja, Sanat-kumāra, the great boy-sage, makes an interesting point:

“When a person becomes devoid of all material desires and liberated from all material qualities, he transcends distinctions between actions executed externally and internally. At that time the difference between the soul and the Supersoul, which was existing before self-realization, is annihilated. When a dream is over, there is no longer a distinction between the dream and the dreamer.”

He explains that the soul and the Supersoul are of the same nature and defines the material experience of the soul as svapne yathā, like in a dream. As explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the soul is different from Kṛṣṇa in the sense of being infinitesimal, but at the same time is the same, in the sense of being transcendental. Both the Lord and the soul are equally pure and transcendental. The problem is that the soul has a tendency to fall under the control of the material energy. When this happens, the spiritual nature of the soul is covered, and they become different. However, this difference is temporary, and when the soul attains self-realization, this distinction ceases to exist.

If the soul is originally transcendental to matter, how can we become so entangled in it? Sanat-kumāra answers:

“When one’s mind and senses are attracted to sense objects for enjoyment, the mind becomes agitated. As a result of continually thinking of sense objects, one’s real consciousness almost becomes lost, like the water in a lake that is gradually sucked up by the big grass straws on its bank.” (SB 4.22.30)

In his purport, Prabhupāda explains how this verse reveals the basic dynamic of the conditioning of the soul. How the soul comes in contact with matter and how an inexperienced transcendentalist can become again attracted to sense gratification if the root cause is not destroyed:

“In this verse it is very nicely explained how our original Kṛṣṇa consciousness becomes polluted and we gradually become almost completely forgetful of our relationship with the Supreme Lord. In a previous verse it is recommended that we should always keep in touch with the devotional service of the Lord so that the blazing fire of devotional service can gradually burn into ashes material desires and we can become liberated from the repetition of birth and death. This is also how we can indirectly keep our staunch faith in the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the mind is allowed to think of sense gratification continuously, it becomes the cause of our material bondage. If our mind is simply filled with sense gratification, even though we want Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by continuous practice we cannot forget the subject matter of sense gratification. If one takes up the sannyāsa order of life but is not able to control the mind, he will think of objects of sense gratification — namely family, society, expensive house, etc. Even though he goes to the Himālayas or the forest, his mind will continue thinking of the objects of sense gratification. In this way, gradually one’s intelligence will be affected. When intelligence is affected, one loses his original taste for Kṛṣṇa consciousness.”

He goes further by stating that, “The material desire for sense enjoyment is the cause of our fall down in this material world, and thus we suffer the threefold miseries and continuous birth, death, old age and disease. However, if we turn our desires toward the transcendental loving service of the Lord, our desires become purified. We cannot kill desires. We have to purify them of different designations. If we constantly think of being a member of a particular nation, society or family and continuously think about them, we become very strongly entangled in the conditioned life of birth and death. But if our desires are applied to the service of the Lord, they become purified, and thus we become immediately freed from material contamination.”

To exemplify this point, Sanat-kumāra makes the analogy of a lake drying up because of kuśa grass growing on its banks. If the grass is allowed to grow freely, it sucks the water until the lake completely dries up. In the same way, if material desires are allowed to grow, they progressively cover the original Kṛṣṇa consciousness of the soul, up to the point where one can become a dog or a pig. Therefore, these columns of kuśa grass that are drying up our consciousness should be cut down from the beginning. We should understand the danger of unrestricted sense gratification and where it can lead us.

In the next verse, Sanat-kumāra continues to explain the process of forgetfulness of the soul:

“When one deviates from his original consciousness, he loses the capacity to remember his previous position or recognize his present one. When remembrance is lost, all knowledge acquired is based on a false foundation. When this occurs, learned scholars consider that the soul is lost.” (SB 4.22.31)

Our practical actions are based on identification. If I think I’m a man, I will act in a certain way, and if I think I’m a dog, I will act in another. If I see myself as an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, my actions will manifest in the form of service to Him, but if I see myself as the enjoyer of this material world, all my actions and knowledge will be based on this false foundation. When this happens, it is said the soul is lost, because I start acting as a body, and not as a soul. When an object is “lost”, it doesn’t mean it stops existing, but it can’t be seen. Similarly, the soul is still there, even in the biggest materialist, and one’s original Kṛṣṇa consciousness is never lost, but it can be covered to such an extent that it becomes factually lost. One becomes thus separated from one’s eternal Kṛṣṇa consciousness by the effect of material illusion, and if someone helps one to recover it, he becomes the greatest benefactor.

Prabhupāda further explains these points in his purport: “Our original consciousness is Kṛṣṇa consciousness because we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. When this consciousness is misguided and one is put into the material atmosphere, which pollutes the original consciousness, one thinks that he is a product of the material elements. Thus one loses his real remembrance of his position as part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, just as a man who sleeps forgets himself. In this way, when the activities of proper consciousness are checked, all the activities of the lost soul are performed on a false basis.”

He concludes by mentioning that:

“There is no stronger obstruction to one’s self-interest than thinking other subject matters to be more pleasing than one’s self-realization. For human society, constantly thinking of how to earn money and apply it for sense gratification brings about the destruction of everyone’s interests.” (SB 4.22.32-33)

The path of self-realization and the path of materialistic life are contradictory. We can try to reconcile them up to a certain point, but eventually we have to make our choice. If we become more interested in the body and bodily sense gratification, then we obstruct our path of self-realization. As Prabhupāda mentions, anything performed contrary to this principle is certainly against one’s self-interest.

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The four Kumāras are among the most exalted personalities of the universe. The reason they look like small boys is that they choose so. As children, they have no lust and can thus roam freely without having to spend energy restricting their senses as adults have to do.

They were initially instructed by Brahma on the path of jñana, but they were promoted to the perfection of the path of bhakti when they came in contact with the Lord in Vaikuṇṭha. Even while still Brahmavādīs, they were so pure that they could visit Vaikuṇṭhaloka and curse the Lord’s eternal associates, so we can only imagine their perfection after becoming perfect devotees. Because they have experience of both paths, they can speak knowledge relevant to both jñanis and devotees, which can elevate both to the platform of pure devotional service.

In the conclusion of his teachings in the Fourth Canto, Sanat-kumāra makes a stark warning for all transcendentalists:

“There is no stronger obstruction to one’s self-interest than thinking other subject matters to be more pleasing than one’s self-realization. For human society, constantly thinking of how to earn money and apply it for sense gratification brings about the destruction of everyone’s interests. When one becomes devoid of knowledge and devotional service, he enters into species of life like those of trees and stones.” (SB 4.22.32-33)

Sense gratification is the enemy of self-realization, just like a drug for the conditioned soul, to which we have been hooked since time immemorial. To cure an addiction, we need to avoid it or at least restrict its use. Because of this, the scriptures prescribe many rules to restrict sense gratification even inside family life. In text 32, Sanat-kumāra emphasizes the danger, and then, in text 33, he describes the consequences. Unrestricted sense gratification makes one devoid of knowledge and devotional service, making one glide down into the lowest forms, down to trees and stones.

Most forms of life lack high intelligence, such as animals and trees. That’s what living in the material world really is: an irrational struggle for sense gratification, where the soul remains practically eternally, going from one animal or plant species to the other, forgetful of one’s real self.

In this great ocean, human life is offered as an opportunity where the soul finally becomes a little awakened and can cultivate knowledge, coming to the position of knowledge about the self (jñāna) and realized spiritual knowledge (vijñāna). If we properly use this opportunity by accepting a spiritual master, controlling our senses, and developing our Krsna consciousness, we can progress further in the direction of the spiritual platform. However, if we transform our human life into a royal version of animal life, repeating the same script of mindless sense gratification, we fall back into the animal or plant species for another long term of imprisonment, devoid of higher intelligence.

What exactly does it mean to avoid sense gratification to live a progressive life? In the paths of jñāna and dhyāna (meditation), sense gratification is completely avoided. Traditionally, householders are not even accepted until they become renunciants. On the path of bhakti, however, there is no objection for one to practice as a householder, as long as one follows the basic regulative principles. Even if one is sinful, one can still advance by practicing devotional service. It’s not that the path of bhakti is lower and thus has lower standards, as some insinuate, but precisely the opposite. Because the paths of jñāna and dhyāna are indirect, their potency is limited, while the path of bhakti is supremely powerful and thus capable of gradually purifying even the most sinful person. However, as one practices, one has to give up one’s previous bad habits, or one’s progress will be stalled.

The real meaning of mokṣa

By following the principles of pious material enjoyment prescribed in the Vedas, one avoids falling into the lower species, but ultimately, it doesn’t solve anything, because one will continue in this material world. Apart from avoiding the negative, a positive is needed. This is indicated in text 35:

“Out of the four principles — namely religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation — liberation has to be taken very seriously. The other three are subject to destruction by the stringent law of nature — death.” (SB 4.22.35)

The word mokṣa is often associated with impersonal liberation, but ultimately, mokṣa means to attain devotional service to the Lord.

The first of the four puruṣārthas is dharma. There is dharma in the sense of the original nature of the soul (nitya-dharma), the essential characteristic that can’t be changed. However, in the context of the four puruṣārthas, dharma refers to temporary duties connected with one’s position in the varṇāśrama system. While these are important, they are temporary, since they apply to the body and not the soul. This is the type of dharma Krsna recommends Arjuna to give up in the Gītā and instead directly surrender unto Him, which is the true dharma, the eternal dharma.

If even dharma is fit to be abandoned as one advances, what can we say about artha and kāma? These are offered just to attract materialists to the path of the Vedas. As long as we are conditioned, the need for sense gratification will always be present, but we should minimize it as far as possible and instead focus on mokṣa, in the sense of pure devotional service to the Lord and elevation to the spiritual planets.

The real blessing

Because life in this material world is always so difficult, we are anxious to improve our material condition, hankering for a position that will be safer and more comfortable. If we obtain these things, we accept them as a great blessing, and if we don’t, we feel morose. This struggle in the material duality keeps us bound in the material world, struggling to maintain one temporary situation after another. By calling our attention to this, Sanat-kumāra brings us to the inevitable conclusion that we should seek something eternal.

Krsna tends to give material opulences easily to neophyte devotees in order to strengthen their faith. However, in the case of advanced devotees who are getting closer to the ultimate goal, he often does the opposite, frustrating their material attempts so they can easily surrender unto Him.

Both the Lord and the soul are living inside the heart, just as two birds residing in the same tree. The difference is that we become attracted to the fruits of the tree and thus become involved in material actions and reactions. The Lord, on the other hand, always remains in His transcendental position, and He can thus help us to become free. He is called the caitya-guru, the spiritual master within the heart. Sometimes He helps us from within, and sometimes He manifests externally as the spiritual master to give us instructions so we may finish our material activities and go back home, back to Godhead. In this way, this verse also reinforces the instruction of approaching a bona fide spiritual master and learning the transcendental science from him. Understanding the Lord means joining the paramparā, following the footsteps of the previous ācāryas, not trying to understand Him by speculation.

The last snare of Māyā

However, when one finally becomes sincere in inquiring about the Lord, he is faced with the last snare of Maya: impersonalism. One can come in contact with the idea that the form of the Lord is material, existing under the influence of the mode of goodness, and that the impersonal Brahman behind this material form is supreme. Under this false conception, one fails to understand the different potencies of the Lord and falls under the false conception that everything is one and that there is no individuality once freed from the illusion of this material world. One then claims to be God and sees devotional service as just a stair that can be used to achieve the stage of liberation and then be rejected, together with the spiritual master and everything else.

Sanat-kumāra warns against this calamity, encouraging us to reject the misconceptions of impersonalism, understanding that the form of the Lord is eternal and transcendental, that we are separated individuals (although sharing the same spiritual nature), and that we should thus surrender unto the Lord.

This is a publication for thoughtful readers who want to go deeper into Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I publish daily, and all posts are available to free subscribers. If you wish, you can also choose a paid subscription to support this work.

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After practicing his legendary meditation, where he stopped the breath of the whole universe, Dhruva was blessed by the Lord to rule as the king for 36,000 years. How did Dhruva rule his kingdom?

This is described on SB 4.12.10:

“As long as he remained at home, Dhruva Mahārāja performed many great ceremonial sacrifices in order to please the enjoyer of all sacrifices, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Prescribed ceremonial sacrifices are especially meant to please Lord Viṣṇu, who is the objective of all such sacrifices and who awards the resultant benedictions.”

As a pure devotee, the main purpose of Dhruva was to glorify the Lord and increase his service to Him. Dhruva Maharaja ruled over the whole of Bhū-mandala, succeeding his grandfather Svāyambhuva Manu and his father Uttānapāda. As the king, he had a duty to perform sacrifices to teach the path of Dharma to his subjects and distribute charity, and so he did.

Married life always demands a certain compromise between the performance of material duties and the performance of devotional service to the Lord, while sense gratification should be reduced as far as possible. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Krsna explains how material duties can be connected with devotional service through the practice of karma-yoga, and He also explains the importance of restraining ourselves from unlawful sense gratification. Dhruva Maharaja performed this process perfectly, not spending even a farting for his sense gratification, and performed all kinds of sacrifices as an offering to the supreme Lord, without expecting material results. Above all that, he rendered devotional service with unrelenting force, giving the perfect example to all of us.

Apart from maintaining his devotional service to the Lord even while performing his duties as a king, Dhruva Maharaja showed all the good qualities of a pure Vaishnava:

“Dhruva Mahārāja was endowed with all godly qualities; he was very respectful to the devotees of the Supreme Lord and very kind to the poor and innocent, and he protected religious principles. With all these qualifications, he was considered to be the direct father of all the citizens.” (SB 4.12.12)

In this way, Dhruva reigned for 36,000 years as an exemplary king. At the end of this period, an airplane came from Vaikuṇṭha to bring him back to Godhead, in his own Vaikuṇṭha planet, Dhruvaloka.

“Dhruva was seated in the transcendental airplane, which was just about to start, when he remembered his poor mother, Sunīti. He thought to himself, “How shall I go alone to the Vaikuṇṭha planet and leave behind my poor mother?” (SB 4.12.32)

Prabhupāda’s purport to this verse is significant for several reasons. The first is the incredible humility he shows:

“This incident proves that the śikṣā- or dīkṣā-guru who has a disciple who strongly executes devotional service like Dhruva Mahārāja can be carried by the disciple even though the instructor is not as advanced. Although Sunīti was an instructor to Dhruva Mahārāja, she could not go to the forest because she was a woman, nor could she execute austerities and penances as Dhruva Mahārāja did. Still, Dhruva Mahārāja was able to take his mother with him. Similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja also delivered his atheistic father, Hiraṇyakaśipu. The conclusion is that a disciple or an offspring who is a very strong devotee can carry with him to Vaikuṇṭhaloka either his father, mother or śikṣā- or dīkṣā-guru. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say, “If I could perfectly deliver even one soul back home, back to Godhead, I would think my mission — propagating Kṛṣṇa consciousness — to be successful.” The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is spreading now all over the world, and sometimes I think that even though I am crippled in many ways, if one of my disciples becomes as strong as Dhruva Mahārāja, then he will be able to carry me with him to Vaikuṇṭhaloka.”

Another reason is that of all the controversy caused by a short sentence included later in the same purport:

“Sunīti, however, being a woman, and specifically his mother, could not become Dhruva Mahārāja’s dīkṣā-guru. Still, he was not less obliged to Sunīti.”

Some use this passage to sustain that no woman can become a spiritual master, regardless of qualification, but this is a misinterpretation.

Suniti was in a family relationship with Dhruva, his mother. She was also a woman, and therefore could not become the diksa guru of Dhruva Maharaja. Not only is it uncommon for a father or mother to become the diksa guru for their children, but at the time, people were following the Vaidika system of initiation, instead of the Pañcarātrika system that is current. The Vaidika system is much more strict (appropriate for the time), barring ladies from even being initiated, what to say about giving initiation. The Pañcarātrika system is much more liberal (more appropriate for our time), allowing people of lower birth or who had done sinful things in the past to accept initiation, or even become spiritual masters later on, provided they become first qualified by following the appropriate process. If we consider all these factors, it becomes clear what Śrīla Prabhupāda is explaining: Suniti, being Dhruva Maharaja’s mother, being a woman, subject to the rules of the Vaidika system in use at the time, having not been initiated or received spiritual education, could not become the diksa guru of Dhruva Maharaja.

What about the journey of Dhruva? While Dhruva Mahārāja was passing through space, he gradually saw all the planets of the solar system, and on the path, he saw all the demigods in their airplanes showering flowers upon him like rain. He surpassed the saptarṣi constellation and achieved permanent life in the polestar, the planet where Lord Viṣṇu lives, and which is the central pivot for all luminaries.

As part of the intermediate planetary system, the Earth rests on the plane of Bhū-mandala. In our gross dimension, there is apparently nothing else visible of the structure of Bhū-mandala, but in the refined dimension, where other inhabitants live, there are many different tracts of land and oceans. Higher than the plane of Bhū-mandala are the other planets of our solar system, which are described as celestial abodes that exert astrological influence over us.

The numerous other planets and stars that form the higher planetary system form the Śiśumāra, which can be seen in the sky as the Milky Way. The format of Śiśumāra is sometimes compared with a snake and sometimes with a dolphin. In both analogies, the Polestar resides on the tail (the very top), surrounded by the Saptarṣi, the seven stars, abode of the great sages. All the planets and stars rotate around the Polestar in a circular motion once per day, including the sun.

Simultaneously, the sun and the other planets and stars have their independent motions in the opposite direction. The sun, for example, moves once per day around the Polestar, and once per year in its own orbit, which is responsible for the movement of the sun going to the north and south of the equator, which in turn leads to the passage of the seasons.

Dhruva was thus carried by the airplane to the Polestar, passing through the planetary systems of Bhū-loka, Bhuvarloka, and Svargaloka, and he could see everything, but being his mind fixed in the Lord, He was not interested in anything available there. Just as in the case of Dhruva, when a devotee goes to Vaikuṇṭha, he passes through all the planetary systems and the coverings of the universe and can see all the wonderful material manifestations available there. One is free to stop at any point, but devotees who are fixed in their service to the Lord are not interested in anything temporary, remaining fixed in the ultimate destination.

Devotees who are elevated to Goloka Vṛndāvana, however, go back to Godhead through a different process, which is described by Srila Prabhupada in his purport to 10.1.23:

“In Bhagavad-gītā (BG 4.9) the Lord says, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti: after giving up the material body, the devotee of the Lord returns home, back to Godhead. This means that the devotee is first transferred to the particular universe where the Lord is at that time staying to exhibit His pastimes. There are innumerable universes, and the Lord is appearing in one of these universes at every moment. Therefore His pastimes are called nitya-līlā, eternal pastimes. The Lord’s appearance as a child in the house of Devakī takes place continuously in one universe after another. Therefore, the devotee is first transferred to that particular universe where the pastimes of the Lord are current.”

To be able to join the pastimes of the Lord in the Supreme abode and attain a service there, one has to first learn through the association of the eternal associates of the Lord. This birth to join the pastimes of the Lord is not considered a material birth.

Devotees who practice devotional service in this life, but are not able to attain perfection, take birth in pious families (śucīnāṁ śrīmatāṁ gehe yoga-bhraṣṭo ‘bhijāyate), be on Earth or in the celestial planets, and from there have the opportunity of continuing their devotional service. Although a birth on Earth is considered more favorable, there is no barrier to performing devotional service on the celestial planets. Many devotees join the Lord’s eternal pastimes from there, such as the daughters of the demigods, who were promoted to the position of Gopis.

In any of the three cases, devotees are transported to their next destination by the Viṣṇudutas, who are always ready to assist devotees and protect them from any type of danger, according to the desire of the Lord. The Yamadūtas appear only for materialistic persons, both pious and impious, who are either punished or rewarded for their actions.

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At a certain point, during the time Dhruva Maharaja ruled the earth as a king, Yakṣas killed his brother Uttama, which was a serious challenge to his authority. In response, he attacked Alakāpurī, the capital of the Yakṣas in the high-dimensional Himalayas. The Yakṣas had a powerful army and fought viciously, and Dhruva proceeded in cutting down their pride using his superior military power.

The attack of Dhruva against the Yakṣas of Alakāpurī happened due to valid reasons. It was his duty as the king to maintain order. It was his duty to punish the assassin of his brother, and since the Yakṣas offered resistance, it became his duty to pacify them. However, the battle went a little too far, with Dhruva almost exterminating the whole race due to the stubborn resistance of the Yakṣa warriors.

Seeing the scene, Svāyambhuva Manu became compassionate and came forward to pacify Dhruva, accompanied by great sages:

“Lord Manu said: My dear son, please stop. It is not good to become unnecessarily angry — it is the path to hellish life. Now you are going beyond the limit by killing Yakṣas who are actually not offenders.
My dear son, the killing of the sinless Yakṣas which you have undertaken is not at all approved by authorities, and it does not befit our family, which is supposed to know the laws of religion and irreligion.
My dear son, it has been proved that you are very much affectionate towards your brother and are greatly aggrieved at his being killed by the Yakṣas, but just consider: for one Yakṣa’s offense, you have killed many others, who are innocent.” (SB 4.11.7-9)

The Yakṣas were also subjects of Dhruva, living in a part of his kingdom. They were also protected by Kuvera. Dhruva had the duty of somehow punishing the culprit for the death of his brother and asserting his authority, but Svāyambhuva Manu argues that this wholesale killing of the Yakṣas was excessive. If Dhruva continued, he would exterminate the whole race, and this would not bring any positive outcome.

After urging Dhruva to stop his attack, Svāyambhuva Manu gives him instructions from verse 4.11.10 to 4.11.34. After receiving these instructions, Dhruva Maharaja immediately stopped fighting. The whole battle happened on the outskirts of Alakāpurī, the city of Kuvera, and thus, as soon as Dhruva stopped fighting, Kuvera heard the news and went to the spot to meet him.

Although a demigod living in great opulence, Kuvera is a greatly enlightened person and a devotee of the Lord. He regularly hears about self-realization from Lord Śiva, and thus, he is highly advanced in knowledge. Although he is the ruler and father of the Yakṣas, he was well aware of the great achievements of Dhruva and his position as a pure devotee of the Lord; therefore, he didn’t take his killing of the Yakṣas very seriously, understanding that they were also at fault.

Verse 4.12.1 describes that when Kuvera appeared, he was immediately worshiped not only by the remaining Yakṣas but also by Kinnaras and Cāraṇas, other inhabitants of Bhū-Mandala. Dhruva also showed all respect, standing before him with folded hands.

Kuvera immediately revealed his intentions, stating he was not at all displeased with Dhruva. On the contrary, he was happy to meet such an exalted devotee of the Lord, and pleased he was able to so easily control his senses and stop fighting following the instructions of Manu.

Dhruva, at this point, was considering himself responsible for killing so many Yakṣas, but Kuvera was quick to reassure him by addressing him as anagha (O sinless one). Mentioning that “Actually, you have not killed the Yakṣas, nor have they killed your brother, for the ultimate cause of generation and annihilation is the eternal time feature of the Supreme Lord.”

Dhruva’s brother was killed due to reactions to his own past activities, and therefore, the Yakṣas were just instruments in the realization of the results of his own karma. The Yakṣas, in turn, were killed as a reaction to their own activities, and Dhruva just acted as an instrument, following his duty as a king. Dhruva thus was not sinful, and simultaneously,y he had no reason to blame the Yakṣas for the death of his brother. Ultimately, no one died, because the soul is immortal and the body is never alive.

Apart from that, everyone just acts under the influence of material nature, which in turn acts under the influence of eternal time. Time is thus ultimately the cause of generation and annihilation. Time is not responsible, because it acts under the direction of the Lord, and the Lord, in turn, is also not responsible, since He is completely transcendental, creating the conditions for the existence of the material creation out of His desire to give conditions for the fallen souls to awaken their original transcendental consciousness.

The central mistake of material existence is that we identify the body as the self, and thus classify other people as “friends” or “enemies” based on their relationship with the body. Kuvera explains that this material concept is a product of ignorance. This type of identification leads to just more birth and death since it keeps us bound to this material world.

Dhruva, of course, understands this concept, but because he was acting like a king, he had to adjust his vision according to his duties, and thus was forced to make distinctions. Now, Kuvera is bringing him back to his original understanding, urging him to abandon all artificial distinctions and simply engage in the service of the Lord, seeing all living entities as one in quality, seeing all in their original position as servants of the Lord, and not according to the temporary material identification. By engaging in the service to the Lord, one offers the best service to everyone, just as watering the root, one offers the best service to the whole plant.

Kuvera is genuinely pleased with Dhruva Maharaja due to his devotional service to the Lord, and addresses him as vara-arhaḥ, “worthy to take benediction.” He thus urges Dhruva to ask for any benediction he desires. Kuvera is the treasurer of the demigods, and therefore, he is qualified to offer any amount of richness one may desire.

Kuvera, however, understands that Dhruva would not be interested in any kind of material opulence, and therefore, he mentions that he is always thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord. He already understands that Dhruva will not ask for anything apart from always remembering the lotus feet of the Lord.

Dhruva is described in this verse as mahā-matiḥ (most intelligent or thoughtful) because even when asked to take a benediction from the richest person, he didn’t desire anything material.

Being thoughtful, Dhruva asked to have unflinching faith in and remembrance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because this allows one to easily cross the ocean of material ignorance and attain the ultimate goal.

Although a devotee is not interested in material benedictions from anyone, accepting a blessing from a demigod that will help us in our devotional service is not contradictory to the principles of bhakti. Apart from that, when a senior person offers us a benediction, it is proper to accept it. A Vaishnava is respectful to anyone, what to say about well-wishers, and even if a person is not fully qualified to grant it, still, his well-wishes will help us.

Another side, explained by Śrila Jīva Gosvāmī, is that Dhruva was concerned that the offenses he committed to Kuvera by attacking his sons could hamper his meditation on the Lord, and therefore, by asking Kuvera for unflinching faith in and remembrance of the Lord, Dhruva wanted to clear it. Certainly, when Kuvera granted this benediction, any lingering resentment on his part was fully cleared. After granting this boon, Kuvera left, and Dhruva returned to his capital.

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Maharaja Uttānapāda left for the forest before organizing the marriage of Dhruva. He thought that achieving self-realization was more urgent than taking care of such family matters. Dhruva was still five years old when he was installed on the throne. In other words, Dhruva became the king shortly after returning from the forest, since now, despite being a child, he was perfectly qualified for the post. Since he had already received all transcendental knowledge from the Lord and achieved perfection, there was no need for him to go to the gurukula. Despite having been attached to Suruci, Uttānapāda was a saintly king, and his ultimate goal was self-realization. Different from ordinary materialists, who want to cling to power until their last breath, Rājarṣis like Uttānapāda rule out of duty and are anxious to leave the throne to dedicate themselves to self-realization as soon as a qualified son is present.

Even though Dhruva was a pure devotee at this point, ruling a kingdom demands having a wife since the duties of a king include not only begetting children to continue his lineage but performing many different types of sacrifices where the wife should be present, apart from other duties. As an exemplary king, Dhruva fulfilled all these duties perfectly, by later marrying two qualified ladies from respectable lineages and begetting four children. Nowadays, if a man thinks about having more than one wife, he will do so with the idea of enjoyment, but in previous eras, qualified men would often marry more than one wife to beget more qualified children. Even Śrila Bhaktivinoda Thākura married a second time after his first wife passed away because he desired to beget more children, out of his desire to bring a ray of Viṣnu to this planet. Ultimately, begetting qualified children is the duty of every man who enters family life. As Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-gītā, He is the sexual life that follows the principles of the scriptures, performed to bring enlightened children to this world and properly educate them in Krsna Consciousness.

Dhruva first married Bhrami, the wife of Prajāpati Śiśumāra, and begot two sons: Kalpa and Vatsara. Later, he married Ilā, the daughter of the demigod Vāyu, and begot a son named Utkala and a beautiful daughter.

Uttama, the half-brother of Dhruva, didn’t inherit the throne as his mother desired, but he was living comfortably in the palace, performing his duties as a Kṣatriya. Once, he went on a hunting excursion to the north and was killed by a powerful Yakṣa in the Himālaya Mountains. Suruci went in search of her son when he didn’t return, and perished in a forest fire, just as predicted by the Lord. This didn’t happen due to divine interference, but simply due to the results of her own actions.

Dhruva and his brother lived in Bhārata-varṣa, in the southern part of Jambūdvīpa, the central island of Bhū-mandala. Nowadays, often the Indian subcontinent is referred to as “Bhārata-varṣa”, but in the higher-dimensional Bhū-mandala, Bhārata-varṣa is a much larger structure, which is connected to the other portions of Jambūdvīpa. This structure is somehow represented in the gross dimension as our spherical planet, but it is not exactly the same, just as a two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional object is not exactly the same as the original object being represented.

There is a large chain of mountains in the center of Jambūdvīpa, just like the Himalayas are the center of the South Asian region, but the Himālaya Mountains in the central part of Jambūdvīpa are much larger and include other features not present on our planet, such as Mount Sumeru. It’s difficult to conclude how these features of Bhū-mandala are represented in our gross dimension, but this is ultimately a futile exercise since even if they are present as part of other planets of our galaxy, we would not be able to go there by mechanical means.

Alakāpurī, in turn, is the capital of Kuvera, which is surrounded by beautiful gardens and lakes. The Mahabharata describes that the Pandavas visited the place during their exile, while Arjuna visited the celestial planets to collect weapons. Alakāpurī is situated in the northern part of Jambūdvīpa, north of Mount Sumeru, close to Mount Kailāsa, the abode of Lord Śiva.

The Yakṣas and Rākṣasas are the supernatural followers of Kuvera, who inhabit Alakāpurī and are present in the whole region of the higher-dimensional Himalaya mountains of Jambūdvīpa. Śrīla Prabhupāda also connects them to Himālayan tribes like the Tibetans. Uttama was killed by the Yakṣas, and this was a challenge to the authority of the king. Dhruva had authority over the whole Bhū-mandala, and killing his brother was a serious challenge to his rule; therefore, it was his duty to avenge his brother and restore order. Dhruva took his chariot and weapons and went north to the Himalayas to meet the challenge. A great battle ensued, where both Dhruva and the Yakṣas employed different types of mystical weapons. Kuvera is the treasurer of the demigods, and his abode is extremely opulent. The soldiers were also richly ornamented with earrings, turbans, golden bracelets, and armlets, etc.

The army of the Yakṣas was 130,000 strong, and jointly they shot so many arrows and other weapons at Dhruva that they covered Dhruva with an incessant shower of weapons, just like a mountain covered by rain. For a moment, the Yakṣas thought they had won, but quickly, Dhruva’s chariot emerged, just as the sun appearing from the fog. Their attempt just served to make him even sharper and determined to fight.

From this point, Dhruva regained the initiative and used his bow to cut through their army: “Dhruva Mahārāja’s bow and arrows twanged and hissed, causing lamentation in the hearts of his enemies. He began to shoot incessant arrows, shattering all their different weapons, just as the blasting wind scatters the assembled clouds in the sky. The sharp arrows released from the bow of Dhruva Mahārāja pierced the shields and bodies of the enemy, like the thunderbolts released by the King of heaven, which dismantle the bodies of the mountains.” (SB 4.10.16-17)

Dhruva conquered them using his bow, killing many soldiers and making the rest flee. However, using their power of illusion, the Yakṣas created terrible illusions, with dead bodies falling from the sky, dangerous animals coming to devour him, etc. These illusions presented a great challenge, and even Dhruva became perplexed for a short time, just as we may become perplexed when facing difficulties.

Great sages, however, quickly approached Dhruva and instructed him to surpass all illusions by the power of chanting the holy name, which is non-different from the Lord Himself.

By chanting the holy names, we directly associate with the Lord, who is the only true shelter. We surely face many difficult and dangerous situations during life, but our connection with the Lord is established through the chanting of the holy names, which can make us surpass all difficulties. The sages who came to Dhruva were inspired by the Lord inside the heart to do so, and this also emphasizes the power of sādhu-saṅga, which can save us in the most dangerous moments.

Hearing the advice of the sages, Dhruva again became resolute. He prepared to use the nārāyaṇāstra, a specific arrow made by Lord Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi Himself. As is the norm for using a mystic weapon, he touched the water used for purification before invoking the astra.

There is no direct description in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about him obtaining this weapon, but in verse 4.11.3, Prabhupāda translates the words ārṣa-astram (the weapon of the great sages) as “the weapon given by Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi” and on his purport to verse 4.11.1, he mentions that “Dhruva Mahārāja was given a specific arrow made by Lord Nārāyaṇa Himself”.

Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi is the direct incarnation of the Lord, and by the context of the verses and the description by Śrila Prabhupāda, it appears that Lord Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi was amongst the sages who instructed Dhruva Maharaja, and that He personally delivered the nārāyaṇāstra to him in the battlefield. This weapon could be invoked by Dhruva Maharaja by chanting the holy name of the Lord. In this way, the chanting of the holy name by Dhruva became not just the source of purification and spiritual strength but also a weapon that could defeat his enemies.

In his purports, Śrila Prabhupāda makes the connection with the congregational chanting of the holy names. That’s our weapon, given to us by Srī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Just as the nārāyaṇāstra allowed Dhruva to defeat all dangers, the congregational chanting can save us from all the perplexities of modern life and put us on the path back to Godhead.

“Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has also given us a nice weapon for this age, as stated in the Bhāgavatam: sāṅgopāṅgāstra — in this age, the nārāyaṇāstra, or weapon to drive away māyā, is the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra in pursuance of the associates of Lord Caitanya, such as Advaita Prabhu, Nityānanda, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa.”
“Kṛṣṇa is like the sun, and māyā, or the illusory energy of Kṛṣṇa, is like darkness. Darkness means absence of light; similarly, māyā means absence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness and māyā are always there, side by side. As soon as there is awakening of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, all the illusory pains and pleasures of material existence are vanquished. Māyām etāṁ taranti te: constant chanting of the mahā-mantra will keep us always aloof from the illusory energy of māyā.” (SB 4.11.1-2 purport)

Just as we can instantly dispel all illusions by chanting the holy names in full faith, Dhruva was able to easily dispel the illusions created by the Yakṣas by using the weapon of Lord Viṣnu:

“Even as Dhruva Mahārāja fixed the weapon made by Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi onto his bow, arrows with golden shafts and feathers like the wings of a swan flew out from it. They entered the enemy soldiers with a great hissing sound, just as peacocks enter a forest with tumultuous crowing.
Those sharp arrows dismayed the enemy soldiers, who became almost unconscious, but various Yakṣas on the battlefield, in a rage against Dhruva Mahārāja, somehow or other collected their weapons and attacked. Just as serpents agitated by Garuḍa rush towards Garuḍa with upraised hoods, all the Yakṣa soldiers prepared to overcome Dhruva Mahārāja with their upraised weapons.” (SB 4.11.3-4)

Some of the soldiers somehow survived the attack of the nārāyaṇāstra and came forward in a last-ditch attempt to overcome Dhruva Maharaja, who quickly dispatched them using his arrows. Because Dhruva was such a great devotee, however, all the Yakṣas killed by him were immediately purified and elevated to Brahmaloka, achieving the same result as perfect Brahmacārīs.

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In the 4th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sanat-kumāra instructs King Pṛthu in devotional service. Pṛthu surely enjoyed hearing these beautiful instructions, but being a pure devotee and an empowered incarnation, he didn’t really need them. These instructions are for us. It is just that because we can’t see the Kumāras, nor do we have the qualification to ask the right questions, Kṛṣṇa uses His devotees to create such dialogues for our benefit. What did Sanat-kumāra explain?

The first point is that Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is the ultimate good, and the best way to learn about it is in the association of devotees. The main point is not even the scriptures themselves, but the devotees discussing them. As Prabhupāda points out, the Bhagavad-gītā was well-known for many centuries in the West before he came, with many discussions held and many commentaries written, but not even a single person became Kṛṣṇa conscious as a result of such discussions. When he published the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, however, the effect was immediately noticed.

Such discussions among devotees benefit all involved, because when we speak about Kṛṣṇa, we directly associate with Kṛṣṇa. The speaker thus benefits as much as the audience. Even if one is not a devotee, just by hearing, he becomes purified and, with time, may also come to the platform of devotional service.

The propensity to enjoy matter, manifested in the form of material lust, is the root cause of the conditioning of the soul. This lust can be cleansed only by the association of devotees, because only by this association can we ascend to the platform of devotional service. Other processes, such as karma and jñana, are ineffective without the presence of bhakti.

Since lust is the cause of conditioning, what is the process to become free from it? This is answered by Sanat-kumāra: “It has been conclusively decided in the scriptures, after due consideration, that the ultimate goal for the welfare of human society is detachment from the bodily concept of life and increased and steadfast attachment for the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental, beyond the modes of material nature.” (SB 4.22.21)

Progress in spiritual life has two components: detachment from the bodily conception of life and attachment to the Lord, and the best welfare is that which achieves these two things. This is the conclusion from the scriptures, and the main focus of the instructions of Sanat-kumāra.

Why is it not possible to become attached to the Lord while at the same time remaining attached to the material world? The Lord is transcendental and beyond the modes of material nature, and therefore, he can’t be attained as long as one is tied to this material world, just as one can’t remain on the ground and touch the clouds at the same time. A person in the bodily concept of life can’t even understand the ultimate goal, let alone attain it. The process of giving up the attachment to this material world starts with transcendental inquiry (athāto brahma-jijñāsā). After one’s attachment slackens as a result of such inquiry, one gradually comes to the platform of devotional service. Without devotional service, however, mere philosophical inquiry stops in impersonalism, from where one may fall back to the material platform.

In this way, one can obtain the first component, detachment from the material, through the process of philosophical inquiry. But how to obtain the second component, attachment to the Lord?

“Attachment for the Supreme can be increased by practicing devotional service, inquiring about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, applying bhakti-yoga in life, worshiping the Yogeśvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by hearing and chanting about the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. These actions are pious in themselves.” (SB 4.22.22)

Kṛṣṇa mentions in the Gītā (7.28) that without being situated on a platform of piety, a person cannot engage in devotional service. This explains why it is so rare for common people to come to this platform. However, by simply hearing from pure devotees, we become situated in this platform of piety, giving us the opportunity. To further advance, becoming fully cleansed, one should accept a bona fide spiritual master and learn from him how to serve Kṛṣṇa.

The process of developing attachment to Kṛṣṇa includes many positives, such as hearing from saintly persons, accepting a spiritual master and learning from him, following in the footsteps of great ācāryas, and so on. It also includes many negatives, or things to avoid, to quickly progress.

To be able to advance quickly, we should do both simultaneously. Just abandoning the association of materialistic persons is not sufficient: one has to also find positive engagement in the company of devotees. Therefore, although both are necessary, association of devotees should be the priority, because by associating with devotees, we gradually lose the taste for material association, but by just abandoning material association and going to meditate in the forest, one doesn’t automatically develop taste for devotional service, and without this taste one cannot remain fixed in the transcendental platform.

Going to the forest and chanting alone is not a process recommended for most. We need association, but where to find it? To offer this devotee association, our ācāryas have been engaged in creating and expanding spiritual institutions. Śrila Bhaktivinoda Thākura created the World Vaishnava Association, Śrila Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura created the Gauḍīya Maṭha, and Śrila Prabhupada created ISKCON. In one sense, these institutions are perfect because they are dedicated to the cause of the Lord, and are thus connected to the spiritual platform, but on the material side, there may be many deficiencies introduced by imperfect individuals joining, such as ourselves. The idea, however, is that by associating with devotees, hearing about Kṛṣṇa, and being engaged in practical devotional service, we can gradually grow. We should thus try to focus on the spiritual side, valuing the possibility of associating with devotees instead of paying too much attention to the material imperfections.

After describing the foundations of the process of bhakti in verses 18 to 23, Sanat-kumāra goes deeper into the details of the devotional practice in verses 24 to 31. It’s already accepted that hearing about Kṛṣṇa from devotees is the foundation of the process of bhakti and that accepting a spiritual master and learning from him is the next step. What other directives should we follow to make the mind more fixed on the Lord?

In text 24, six additional principles are offered for one desiring to advance on the spiritual path:

a) Nonviolence (ahiṁsā) means not just not committing violence against others, but also stopping violence being committed against animals and other innocent creatures by spreading spiritual principles. If a devotee suffers personal injury, he should tolerate it, but if he sees someone else being harmed, he should be compassionate and do what he can to prevent it. Materialistic philanthropists usually promote the protection of a certain group or species, but a devotee understands the principle of universal brotherhood and is thus a friend to all and does his best to teach others this transcendental science. This is true ahiṁsā.

b) Following in the footsteps of great ācāryas means to join the disciplic succession by accepting a spiritual master and learning the transcendental science from him. All previous ācāryas showed the perfect example by following this same path.

c) What about smṛtyā, remembering the nectar of the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Prabhupada explains that “Life should be molded in such a way that one cannot remain alone without thinking of Kṛṣṇa. We should live in Kṛṣṇa so that while eating, sleeping, walking and working we remain only in Kṛṣṇa.” How to achieve that? “This remembrance of the Lord can be continued if we hear about Him constantly.” Nowadays, we have the facility for hearing from sadhus not only personally and through books, but also through recordings, broadcasts, online meetings, and all sorts of electronic and virtual tools. We should, as far as possible, fill up our time with Kṛṣṇa-kathā. Prabhupada gives the example of devotees hearing lectures while working, making incense in the Spiritual Sky company, which devotees were running in the 1970s.

d) The fourth instruction, yamaiḥ, means to control our senses. This may sound very difficult in the beginning, but Prabhupada explains that “This is possible when one does not desire any material sense gratification.” This can be achieved by observing the regulative principles and abandoning the idea of enjoying our senses separately from Kṛṣṇa. By serving Kṛṣṇa, we obtain a higher taste.

e) The problem in rigidly following regulative principles is that this can make us envious or intolerant of others who are not following the same standard. Prabhupada explains that there are different religious systems destined to different grades of people, according to the influence of the three modes of material nature over them. Criticizing just creates enmity and agitates the mind, making people even more resistant. Instead, a devotee should encourage followers of other systems to stick to their principles, so that they may gradually progress. Doing so has two advantages: a devotee may encourage them to come closer to the standard of bhakti by encouraging them to follow positive principles present in their systems, and by this pleasant and soft approach, they may accept the devotee as a guide, which will open the door for them to become gradually attracted to the path of devotional service.

f) Finally, a devotee should be nirīhayā: simple, meek, and gentle. As Prabhupada defines, “A devotee should not live very gorgeously and imitate a materialistic person. Plain living and high thinking are recommended for a devotee. He should accept only so much as he needs to keep the material body fit for the execution of devotional service.” Life in the material world is always uncomfortable, and the more we try to make arrangements to reduce these discomforts, the less we have time to practice devotional service. We should thus learn to tolerate a certain level of bodily discomfort, so we can remain fixed in our spiritual practice.

How can we become fixed in these six principles? Sanat-kumāra concludes that this can be achieved by constantly hearing about Kṛṣṇa. This point was already made, but it is again emphasized in text 25.

Ordinarily, people are attracted to hearing about politics and other mundane topics, but a devotee should acquire a taste for hearing about Kṛṣṇa. How to acquire this taste? This brings us back to the principle of hearing from realized souls, which is again emphasized.

What is the result of following this process? After accepting a spiritual master and, by his guidance, attaining love for Kṛṣṇa and detachment from the world, the soul becomes free. Just as a fire appearing from wood destroys the wood itself, the soul practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness using the material body and senses gradually burns his material surroundings.

When one becomes advanced in spiritual practice, one becomes liberated even while still living in the material body. This situation is compared to a dry coconut detached from the coconut husk, even though still within the husk. The body of a pure devotee is called cin-maya-śarīra, or a spiritualized body, because he doesn’t perform material activities, even though engaged in all kinds of undertakings for Kṛṣṇa. This art of action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is described in the Gītā. By this process of devotional service, not only the performer, but the activity itself, the paraphernalia used to perform it, the offering, and even the place where a devotee performs his service merge into transcendence (Bg 4.19-24). Once our original Kṛṣṇa consciousness is covered by Maya, the only way to revive it is by engaging the material body, material consciousness, and anything else we have now in the service of the Lord.

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The third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam mixes narrations of events that happened in the first, sixth, and seventh Manvantaras. There are 14 Manus in each day of Brahmā, and they rule for 306.72 million years each.

The description of Vidura approaching Uddhava and Maitreya, which is the background for the discussions of the 3rd and 4th cantos of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, happened recently, after the disappearance of Krsna. These are events from the current Manvantara (the 7th). The descriptions of Diti and Kaśyapa Muni begetting children at the prohibited time, the birth of Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, and the fight of Lord Varāha fighting Hiraṇyākṣa all happened in the 6th Manvantara, while the descriptions of the creation of Brahma and the pastimes of Devahūti, Kardama Muni, and Lord Kapila, Drhuva Maharaja, the three lives of Bharata, etc., happened in the first Manvantara, following the main narration of the creation starting from Brahma.

Two personalities, however, challenge our understanding by appearing both in the description of events from the first Manvantara and from the sixth: Daksa (in his second birth) and Cākṣuṣa.

We studied the life of Daksa in a number of previous articles. He offended Lord Śiva in the first Manvantara, and for that, he ended up receiving the head of a goat. The latter left that body and was reborn as the son of the Pracetas, a life he used to practice great austerities to regain his post as the principal prajapati.

Cākṣuṣa also appeared as a descendant of Dhruva Maharaja. While he was reigning as a king, Dhruva had two sons: Utkala and Vatsara. Both were extremely qualified, but Utkala was a mahā-bhāgavata from birth and thus not interested in managing a kingdom. To avoid becoming entangled in politics and material activities, he hid his true qualifications by acting externally like a foolish, blind, and dumb person, while internally remaining fixed in the worship of the Lord. This led the ministers and elders to consider him mad and appoint his younger brother, Vatsara, as the successor to the throne. It’s described that Utkala remained like fire covered with ashes, remaining as a bhajanānandī for life, without ever showing his real qualification. In this way, he avoided all material relationships and lived free from botheration and unfavorable situations created by materialistic persons.

Vatsara married Svarvīthi and had six sons: Puṣpārṇa, Tigmaketu, Iṣa, Ūrja, Vasu, and Jaya. From these, the oldest, Puṣpārṇa, became the next king. He had two wives, Prabhā and Doṣā. The first became the mother of Prātar, Madhyandinam, and Sāyam, and the second of Pradoṣa, Niśitha, and Vyuṣṭa. In this way, Puṣpārṇa had six sons. Vyuṣṭa became the next in the line and was married to Puṣkariṇī. Their son, Sarvatejā, got married to Ākūti (different from the daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu) and gave birth to Cākṣuṣa.

Cākṣuṣa married Naḍvalā and begot 12 sons: Puru, Kutsa, Trita, Dyumna, Satyavān, Ṛta, Vrata, Agniṣṭoma, Atīrātra, Pradyumna, Śibi, and Ulmuka. Ulmuka married Puṣkariṇī and begot six sons: Aṅga, Sumanā, Khyāti, Kratu, Aṅgirā, and Gaya. Aṅga became the next in the succession line and married Sunīthā. Their son was Vena, who is the center of the narration that leads to the appearance of Pṛthu Maharaja.

The same Cākṣuṣa, however, later became the 6th Manu. This means he lived for billions of years more after being a king, just like Daksa after being reborn as the son of the Pracetas.

Contemporaneous commentators of the Purāṇas often come to contradictory conclusions about their lives and lineage, since they can’t conceive that they could live for so long, but the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the commentary of Śrila Prabhupada reveal the true accounts. Both Daksa (after his rebirth) and Cākṣuṣa lived all the way from the first to the sixth Manvantara when they finally assumed their posts. This happened because both were able to attain extremely long lifespans through the practice of austerities.

Although generally, people from Satya-yuga live for up to 100,000 years, people from Treta-yuga for 10,000 years, demigods for 306.72 million years (a Manvantara), etc., great sages who practice austerities can often attain much longer lifespans. In fact, inhabitants of the highest planetary systems (Satyaloka, Tapoloka, and Janaloka) can live up to the end of the life of Brahma. Mortality is something that exists only in the lower planetary systems, where people are involved in fruitive activities. Great sages and devotees who reach an advanced level of renunciation and mental control become free from the effects of karma and can thus achieve very long lifespans even while living in the earthly planetary system, like in the case of Daksa and Cākṣuṣa, as well as other personalities mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, such as Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi, Aśvatthāmā, Bali Maharaja, Vyasadeva, Hanuman, Kripacarya, and Parashurama. We can thus see some of them becoming involved in pastimes that happened in different Manvantaras.

Often, these personalities who attain these platforms are engaged in assuming the post of Manu, taking positions among the seven great sages, or even becoming important demigods or Prajāpatis due to their elevated level of qualification, performing these functions out of duty instead of attachment. Bali Maharaja will become Indra in the next Manvantara. Aśvatthāmā, Vyasadeva, Kripacarya, and Parashurama will assume posts among the Saptarṣis, and so on.

Daksa was reborn in the first Manvantara as the son of the Pracetās, while Cākṣuṣa appeared a little earlier, also in the lineage of Dhruva Maharaja. Daksa went to the mountains to practice austerities before generating descendants, but Cākṣuṣa got married, lived like a king, and begot children who continued his line before retiring into his practice of austerities. Later, Cākṣuṣa assumed the post of the 6th Manu, and Daksa resumed his service as the main Prajāpati, also in the 6th Manvantara.

Daksa had 16 daughters in his first birth and then 60 more daughters in his second birth. He also had a number of sons during the 6th Manvantara, but they all became renunciants after being instructed by Nārada Muni, without leaving descendants. Cākṣuṣa, in turn, had 12 sons in the first Manvantara. It’s not described if he had more sons, like Manu, in the 6th Manvantara, but we know that Satyavrata, the current Manu (the 7th in the sequence), is not his descendant, being born in the 6th Manvantara as the son of Vivasvān and the grandson of Kaśyapa and Diti.

One may suggest that both Daksa and Cākṣuṣa could have been born much later, at the end of the 5th Manvantara, which certainly would make the narration much easier to explain from a chronological perspective. Although that’s the conclusion of some commentators, it is not supported by the text of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which describes Cākṣuṣa as a descendant of Dhruva Maharaja and ancestor of the Pracetās, and Priyavrata assuming the throne still in the first Manvantara after the second birth of Daksa.

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The pastime of Dhruva Maharaja being offended by his stepmother, deciding to practice austerities in the forest, and receiving the darśana of Lord Viṣnu is very well known. Lesser-known is how the pastime ends: how Dhruva finally goes back to Godhead after ruling as a king and fighting with the Rakṣasas.

How does it go?

After concluding his allotted time as the king of earth, Dhruva Maharaja installed his son on the throne and retired to Badarīkāśrama to dedicate himself fully to the practice of devotional service. By the mercy of the Lord, he had the opportunity to enjoy the experience of being a king, including the execution of different types of duties and satisfaction of all material desires. However, just like other saintly kings, he was not attached to his position. As soon as a qualified son was ready to take the post, he left, considering his palaces, gardens, and other dominions to be creations of the illusory energy.

Badarīkāśrama is situated close to Bhārata-varṣa in the region of the higher-dimensional Himalayas. This is the abode of great sages, led by Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi, the ideal place for meditating on the Lord.

Like other perfect devotees, Dhruva Maharaja became completely free from material conditioning while still living in the body. Just like the pulp of a dry coconut becomes separated from the shell, even while still inside of it, a mahā-bhāgavata becomes disconnected from his material body, even while living in it. This means that one fully identifies with his eternal spiritual nature as a servant of the Lord and not with the temporary material identity connected with the false ego.

This stage is different from the simple disconnection from the gross material body we all experience at the time of death. At death, the gross body expires, but due to the false ego, the consciousness of the soul remains covered by the subtle body, which carries it to the next body. The situation of a perfect devotee is different. Dhruva Maharaja is described as mukta-liṅgaḥ because he became free from the covering of the subtle body by breaking the bounds of the false ego.

Normally, when a devotee attains the stage of liberation, he continues living in the body until the results derived from the prārabdha karma (the karma that is already giving fruits) completely cease. This gives a devotee the opportunity of further perfecting his devotional service and also the opportunity of teaching others. In the Mundaka Upanisad (3.1.4), it is mentioned that “Indeed, the Lord is the supreme life force behind everything. He shines in all beings, and He is the shelter of all. One who realizes that becomes absorbed in meditation into the Lord and enjoys the transcendental bliss of His association. He teaches others about devotional service and becomes dear to the Lord.”

In the case of Dhruva, however, there was nothing further to realize and nothing more to achieve in this world. Therefore, as soon as he attained this stage of perfect devotional service, he saw an airplane coming from Vaikuṇṭha to bring him to the eternal abode, driven by Nanda and Sunanda, two confidential servants of the Lord.

Dhruva was at first puzzled by the vision, but because he chanted the holy names, the Viṣṇudutas became immediately satisfied. Nanda and Sunanda glorified Dhruva Maharaja by describing how he performed severe austerities when just five years old and in this way satisfied the Lord. They then revealed their mission of taking him back home, back to Godhead, escorting him to Viṣṇuloka, the Polestar, the abode of Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu, whom the Lord desired would be ruled by Dhruva Maharaja. Because of him, the planet is now known as Dhruvaloka.

Although the Polestar appears inside our universe, it is not a material planet but an eternal Vaikuṇṭha planet that just manifests inside the material universe, just as Vṛndāvana, Navadvīpa, and Jagannātha Purī, which are part of Goloka Vṛndāvana, are also manifested here. Dhruva’s position in the Polestar is eternal, just as when one attains any of the other Vaikuṇṭha planets. When the universe is finally destroyed, his planet remains as part of the spiritual sky, and he eternally resides there with the Lord.

Dhruva desired to achieve a position superior to all his ancestors. Nanda and Sunanda reveal that his achievement is unique: no one before in the history of the universe became the ruler of a Vaikuṇṭha planet as he did. This position is much superior to the position of Brahma, who rules an insignificant material universe for just a short period.

It’s also interesting to note that Dhruva Maharaja didn’t board the airplane immediately after meeting the Viṣṇudutas. After getting notice of his departure, he took a bath, dressed himself suitably, performed his daily sādhana, and took blessings from the great sages present in Badarīkāśrama. This indicates that the performance of devotional service by Dhruva Maharaja was natural and spontaneous, and not just to attain liberation. As Prabhupāda notes, this also shows how he was alert in the performance of his spiritual practice, and he didn’t become proud in receiving the news of his liberation, taking time to ask for the blessings of the sages.

In the spiritual world, everything is alive. Everything is part and parcel of the Lord, even seemingly inanimate objects. In truth, there is nothing unconscious in the spiritual world. Rocks may not move, but even they are conscious. Understanding this perfectly, Dhruva Maharaja worshiped not only the associates of the Lord but also the airplane they were boarding. In the process, he assumed a golden, spiritual form.

Everyone has to face death at some point. Usually, we don’t see death itself but just feel its effects. Death, however, has a predominating deity, just as all other material potencies do. Dhruva could literally see personified death approaching him, but instead of being afraid, he just used him as a stepping stone to board the plane, stepping on his head. A materialist fears death because death means the end of the illusory life he is so attached to, but for a pure devotee, death is not a cause of fear, since he doesn’t fear losing his material body. On the contrary, death for a pure devotee is an opportunity to join the Lord in His eternal pastimes.

The departure of a pure devotee to the spiritual world is an extremely auspicious event, and thus, as Dhruva boarded the plane, kettledrums resounded from the sky, Gandharvas sang, and demigods showered flowers. Dhruva, however, remembered his mother and questioned himself: “How shall I go alone to the Vaikuṇṭha planet and leave behind my poor mother?”

Suniti showed the way of spiritual realization to Dhruva by instructing him to search for the Lord in the forest. Although Nārada Muni later gave him initiation and more instructions, everything started with his mother. Dhruva was thus concerned about her.

Suniti was a great devotee on her own merit, and the connection with her exalted son made her even more qualified to return back home, back to Godhead. If one can help his or her son, daughter, or disciple to attain perfection, he or she will also be able to go back to Godhead. Depending on the circumstances, this may happen in the same life or in the next few lives, but liberation will be assured. The mother of Dhruva went back to Godhead in the same life, while Hiraṇyakaśipu, the father of Prahlāda Maharaja, took two more lives, but both attained perfection.

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Dhruva wanted a kingdom greater than his ancestors, and for this, he practiced penances in the forest until the Lord personally appeared before him.

However, a kingdom greater than his ancestors’ was something very difficult to achieve. His grandfather was Manu, and his great-grandfather was Lord Brahma himself. How can someone obtain a position higher than Brahma, who is the master of the whole universe?

As an answer, the Lord decided to make Dhruva the ruler of the Polestar, a Vaikuṇṭha planet appearing inside of the universe, which serves as the central pivot for all the other planets. This planet includes also the island of Śvetadvīpa, where Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu resides, surrounded by the milk ocean (there is another milk ocean that is part of Bhū-Mandala, but that’s a different ocean). No conditioned soul can enter this transcendental abode. Even when the demigods desire to speak to the Lord, they can go only up to the border of the milk ocean, from where they offer their prayers and wait for the answer of the Lord.

It’s described that all the stars, as well as the sun, orbit the Polestar once per day, moved at great speed by currents of subtle wind, while simultaneously having their individual movements in the opposite direction, as explained in more detail in the Fifth Canto. This daily orbit of the sun and stars is responsible for the passage of day and night, while the annual orbit of the sun around Mount Sumeru in the opposite direction is responsible for the passage of the seasons. One could question how it is possible that the whole sky may orbit the Polestar? The answer is simply because the Lord wanted it. He wanted to manifest a spiritual planet inside the material universe as the center of all other planets and stars, so He could later give it to Dhruva.

Since Dhruva also had the desire to assume the throne of his father, the Lord organized that he would be the king for 36,000 years after the retirement of his father, and would be able to enjoy the full protection of the Lord. In other words, even while enjoying his senses as the king, he would remain fully protected from the influence of the material energy. After finishing this service, he would assume his eternal position as the ruler of the Polestar, also called Dhruvaloka in honor of him.

Normally, the Lord doesn’t give material opulences to a pure devotee, preferring to bring him quickly back to Godhead, but the case of Dhruva was an exception. He understood that Dhruva was such a great devotee that he would never deviate from his love of Godhead, even when living in great opulence.

One could question how it is possible that the Lord could create a Vaikuṇṭha planet, since by definition, all the planets of the spiritual sky are supposed to be eternal. As we learn in the Bhagavad-Gītā, everything that has a beginning has also an end, and creation and destruction exist only as part of the material manifestation.

The answer is that there are many eternal personalities and objects that appear to be created inside this material universe as part of different pastimes. Lord Varāha appeared from the nostril of Brahma, Laksmi Devi, and the Kaustubha gem appeared from the churning of the milk ocean, Krsna got His conch shell Pancajanya from killing the demon Pancajana, and so on. All of these are eternal forms, associates, and paraphernalia of the Lord, but when they appear inside of this material universe, they appear as part of a pastime, and thus appear to have been created at some point. These are just lilas, just like Krsna appearing as the son of Vāsudeva and Devakī, although He is the unborn Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Dhruvaloka appears inside the material universe during the duration of the creation of Brahma, and then remains as a fixed planet in the spiritual sky. After ruling Bhū-Mandala as a king, Dhruva would assume his eternal position in Dhruvaloka. In other words, his rule of Dhruvaloka is not a temporary position like that of a demigod ruling over a certain material planet, but is already his eternal spiritual position.

Dhruvaloka is an eternal planet in the spiritual sky, and Dhruva Maharaja is the eternal ruler of this spiritual planet. Just as other eternal associates of the Lord, like Nārada Muni, Dhruva appears in different universes to perform his pastime and give his great example of determination for all conditioned souls. As Dhruva appears, his planet also appears, and the pastime of Dhruva becoming the eternal ruler of his own planet is played, just as Nārada Muni appears as a human boy and practices self-realization to become Nārada Muni.

Another question that could be asked is how Dhruva can be the ruler of a Vaikuṇṭha planet? Aren’t all Vaikuṇṭha planets ruled by different expansions of Lord Vishnu? The answer is given by Śrila Rūpa Gosvāmi in the Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta (ch. 1.5). Quoting from the Pādma Purana Uttara-khanda, he explains that many of the Vaikuṇṭha planets are ruled by different eternal associates of the Lord, such as Satya, Acyuta, Ananta, Durgā, Visvaksena, Ganesa, etc. There are also the archetypal demigods: Indra, Agni, Yama, Vayu, Varuna, Kuvera, Isana, etc. They are also eternal associates of the Lord, who also rule different Vaikuṇṭha planets. The different material demigods that appear in this universe are just jīvas who inherit their names and are empowered by them to perform their functions. Similarly, it’s described that the different wives of the Lord, as well as His eternal potencies (in their personified forms), also rule different Vaikuṇṭha planets.

From this description, it is not difficult to understand how Dhruva Maharaja is also an eternal associate of the Lord, who eternally rules his own Vaikuṇṭha planet and simultaneously appears in different material universes to perform his pastimes just as Nārada Muni, Prahlāda Maharaja, and others. Such eternal associates appear to take birth in this material world under the influence of illusion, but in their case, everything happens under the influence of yoga-maya, and not mahā-maya (like in our case). In this way, they come to perform different roles in the pastimes of the Lord without actually leaving their eternal positions.

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Not only on our earth, but also on the other planets that form the earthly realms of Bhū-mandala, the inhabitants experience days and nights every 24 hours following the movements of the sun, as well as the annual movements of the seasons. Life conditions may be different, but this particular detail is constant.

There is, however, an area where it is always day. For the inhabitants of the top of Mount Sumeru, the central pivot, it’s always day. Why the difference? The summit of Mount Sumeru is positioned in such a way that the sun never goes below the horizon. The inhabitants thus see the sun as always circling overhead, similar to what can be observed on our planet in the region of the North Pole during summer.

This is revealed by Śukadeva Gosvāmi:

“The living entities residing on Sumeru Mountain are always very warm, as at midday, because for them the sun is always overhead. Although the sun moves counterclockwise, facing the constellations, with Sumeru Mountain on its left, it also moves clockwise and appears to have the mountain on its right because it is influenced by the dakṣiṇāvarta wind.” (SB 5.21.8)

The top of Sumeru Mountain is a celestial region, where Brahma and the other principal demigods have their administrative cities; from there, they can oversee the management of Bhū-mandala performed by the Manus.

This verse also corroborates the whole model of the sun having two simultaneous movements that is described in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. As the verse states: “Although the sun moves counterclockwise, facing the constellations, with Sumeru Mountain on its left, it also moves clockwise and appears to have the mountain on its right because it is influenced by the dakṣiṇāvarta wind.”

The counter-clockwise movement of the sun facing the constellations and with Sumeru on its left is made by the forward movement of the chariot of the sun. This is the annual movement through the zodiac that results in the seasons.

At the same time, however, the sun is forced to move backwards in a circular motion at great speeds, a clockwise motion imposed by the dakṣiṇāvarta wind. In this movement, the sun travels with Sumeru on its right.

Because the backwards movement is much faster, it appears that the sun is moving backwards, even though it is constantly traveling forward. To understand that, we could imagine the situation of a person walking through the aisle of a plane, front to back. In this case, the person is walking forward at a speed of maybe 5 or 6 km/h, while the plane is moving in the opposite direction at 900 km/h. For another person inside the plane, the person moves forward, but from the perspective of someone looking from the outside, the person appears to be moving backwards, since the movement of the plane is much faster.

In summary, the daily rotation of the sun is produced by the cosmic kāla-cakra centered on Dhruvaloka, while the motion through the zodiac signs belongs to the sun’s independent chariot.

“People living in countries at points diametrically opposite to where the sun is first seen rising will see the sun setting, and if a straight line were drawn from a point where the sun is at midday, the people in countries at the opposite end of the line would be experiencing midnight. Similarly, if people residing where the sun is setting were to go to countries diametrically opposite, they would not see the sun in the same condition.” (SB 5.21.9)

This verse confirms the point of the spherical nature of our planet, and explains how this is key for our experience of days and nights due to the daily movement of the sun, different from the experience of the inhabitants of the summit of Mount Sumeru, a flat surface where it’s always day.

This description also supports the point made by Prabhupāda in his conclusions about the model of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, of the other tracts of land described in the model of Bhū-mandala being also separate planets, which are connected by subtle pathways, since the description implies that the nature of days and nights should be consistent in the whole Bhū-mandala, or, in other words, similar to our planet.

He confirms this conclusion in his introduction to chapter 21: “Sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight occur in all these places because of the movements of the sun. Diametrically opposite the place where the sunrise takes places and the sun is seen by human eyes, the sun will be setting and passing away from human vision. Similarly, the people residing diametrically opposite the point where it is midday will be experiencing midnight. The sun rises and sets with all the other planets, headed by the moon and other luminaries.”

The fact that Śukadeva Goswami connects this with the point about being always day on top of Mount Sumeru is also significant, for it distinguishes the experience of demigods living there from the humans living in the earthly heavens of Bhū-mandala. If the other inhabitants of Bhū-mandala would also live on a flat surface and see the sun constantly circling overhead, there would be no practical difference between them, and the point raised by Śukadeva Goswami would become meaningless.

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After performing his legendary meditation in which he was able to stop the breath of the whole universe, the Lord appeared personally before Dhruva Maharaja to bless him.

Dhruva desired to immediately offer prayers to the Lord, but being just a child, he didn’t have proper knowledge. Understanding the awkwardness of Dhruva, the Lord touched him with His conch, blessing him with all Vedic knowledge. Dhruva then offered beautiful prayers to the Lord that are registered in chapter 4.9 of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

What did he say? These are the main points:

a) The real body of the living entity is his dormant spiritual body, which includes spiritual senses, mind, intelligence, and ego. In material life, the soul is sleeping, performing illusory activities under illusion, using the illusory material body. When the soul is finally awakened to spiritual realization, our real activities begin. When he was touched by the conch of the Lord, Dhruva fully awakened to spiritual realization, understanding his original position as a servitor of the Supreme Lord. The Lord is a person, and we are separate persons; therefore, our constitutional position is in an eternal loving relationship with Him. The process to attain the same spiritual realization Dhruva attained is to engage our current body, mind, and senses in the service of the Lord. In the beginning we may engage our senses mechanically following the rules and regulations and the instructions of the spiritual master, but after attaining spiritual realization, we can be engaged in full spiritual understanding. When the Lord becomes satisfied with us, He can reveal to us our original spiritual senses, and using them, we can fully glorify the Lord.

b) The Lord acts through His different energies, creating, maintaining, and finally destroying the material creation. The Lord is fully spiritual, and thus all His energies, being part of Him, are also spiritual. The internal potency is spiritual, the jīvas are spiritual particles, and the external potency, used by the Lord to create this material world is also spiritual. Pure devotees can thus see this material world as ultimately spiritual and connected to the Lord. Everyone else, due to their desire of lording over the material creation, is covered by māyā, the illusory energy, that makes them see the material world as separate from the Lord. Māyā (or Mahāmāyā) is a feature of the external potency, or bahiraṅga-śakti. It is also ultimately spiritual, but it has a specific function, which is to make rebellious souls forget their original spiritual nature and become engaged in this material world. Just as Yogamāyā is the deluding potency that creates the scenarios for the transcendental platforms of the Lord and inspires the inhabitants of the spiritual planets in their service, Mahāmāyā is the illusory potency that creates the conditions for material enjoyment and pushes us in the direction of sense gratification. As long as we want to enjoy separately from the Lord, we remain under the influence of Mahāmāyā, and when we desire to serve the Lord we come under the influence of Yogamāyā. When this happens, we suddenly realize the Lord was always with us.

c) The Lord is called ārta-bandhu, the friend of the distressed. All conditioned souls suffer in this material world, but when one finally surrenders to the Lord, he is saved from the material ocean. When the Lord sees one constantly engaged in devotional service, He gives him intelligence from within so he can make further progress. The devotee then feels obliged to the Lord for this transcendental reciprocation, and his devotion increases to the point he can’t forget the Lord even for a moment. This process of spiritual elevation is compared by Dhruva Mahārāja to the process of someone awakening from sleep. He uses the example of his grand-grandfather Brahma, who received knowledge from the Lord and became capable of performing his wonderful activities.

d) Conditioned souls are very anxious for material enjoyment, but when one comes to a platform of knowledge, he can understand that this material enjoyment so sought after is not valuable at all. Not only is it temporary, but it is also illusory. Sense enjoyment is more or less like trying to get pleasure by touching something with thick rubber gloves or tasting honey by licking a bottle. Real enjoyment can be tasted only on the spiritual platform using our spiritual senses, and not through the dull material body that covers our real self. The Lord is the very source of this unlimited spiritual pleasure; therefore, to approach Him to ask for sense gratification is like approaching a billionaire to ask for fake money. Dhruva thus regrets having approached the Lord, hankering for a material kingdom.

e) The transcendental bliss of serving the Lord in a personal relationship can’t be compared to the pleasure of impersonal liberation. What to say then about temporary enjoyment in the celestial planets? Even if one can attain the celestial planets by acting like a pious person, his’s staying there is temporary and thus ultimately valueless. All other positions apart from the original position of service of the soul are ultimately temporary, and this original nature can be uncovered by the mercy of the Lord.

f) Devotional service to the Lord can’t be complete and relishable without the association of devotees. Dhruva Maharaja, therefore, is anxious for the association of great devotees who are fixed in the transcendental service of the Lord and situated in an uncontaminated state of life. Once we obtain such an association, devotional service flows naturally, just like the waves of an incessantly flowing river, and becomes the cause of the development of further devotional service.

g) Although the scriptures repeat that we are not the body over and over again, it is not easy for a conditioned soul to effectively realize he is not the body and lose interest in it. Even great yogis remain interested in regulating their breath, which is nothing more than a bodily performance. By associating with pure devotees, however, one experiences a higher taste and becomes thus naturally detached from his material body, bodily relationships, offspring, friends, home, wealth, spouse, etc., which are so dear to materialistic persons. By this simple process of association with saintly persons, a devotee becomes more advanced in spiritual consciousness than even the greatest yogis.

i) Before becoming self-realized and seeing the Supreme Lord, Dhruva had experienced material life and seen different species of plants, animals, etc. In verse 13, he emphasizes the difference between these two states of consciousness. He is now fully Krsna conscious and engaged in the service of the Lord, while different living entities are simply serving their senses. Every living entity, whether in the conditioned or liberated state, has to serve because this is the eternal nature of the soul. The question is who we want to serve. When we decide to serve Krsna and become Krsna conscious, we can appreciate the transcendental form of the Lord, instead of being attracted to different material objects.

j) The Lord appears in innumerable forms, such as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu, Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu, Mahā-Vishnu, and so on. However, a pure devotee understands that in all these forms the Lord is the same, and that He is the creator and master of everything that exists. This perfect knowledge was also revealed to Dhruva by the Lord Himself.

k) All material activities are performed under the three modes of material nature. The Lord also performs activities, but His activities are transcendental. As the creator of the three modes, the Lord is not entangled by them, therefore He is called try-adhīśa, the master of the three modes. Even though the Lord gives all living entities the means and sanction to perform material actions as they please, He remains aloof. Even though He is the enjoyer of all sacrifices, He is unattached. The Lord has nothing to do with this material world and doesn’t desire anything from here. However, He creates the whole material manifestation just to give an opportunity to the conditioned living entities to perform devotional service and return to their original spiritual consciousness.

l) The impersonal Brahman is the immediate cause of the material manifestation. From it all the material potencies emanate, as well as the material duality, composed of knowledge and ignorance, pious and impious, good and bad, etc. However, Krsna is the ultimate cause, because He stands behind this source of all material causes. Powerful as it may be, the impersonal Brahmajyoti is just the bodily effulgence of Krsna. A transcendentalist who is not very advanced may think that the impersonal Brahmajyoti is the ultimate source and destination of everything, but another, more advanced, can understand that the Lord has multiple energies and performs unlimited pastimes.

m) In the material world, people desire different types of benedictions, believing that such benedictions will make them happy. Dhruva, for example, desired to have a kingdom greater than his ancestors. However, as Dhruva understood, the greatest happiness is to be engaged in unmotivated service to the Lord, who is the pañcama-puruṣārtha, the ultimate goal of life, the very source of all pleasure. Pure devotional service includes not praying to the Lord for wealth, a husband or wife, etc. However, the Lord is so merciful that even if someone approaches Him desiring some material benefit, the Lord takes care of him, just as a cow maintains her calf. The Lord satisfies the desires of such a devotee in ways that gradually elevate him to the position of pure devotional service, giving him intelligence to surpass all impediments. Dhruva, however, asks for the Lord to protect him from such desires, so his devotional service may not be hampered.

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When Dhruva Maharaja was offended by Suruci, his stepmother, he was advised by his mother to go to the forest and look for Lord Viṣnu, for only he could help him in this situation. On the way, he was approached by Nārada Muni, who was inspired by the Lord from inside the heart to help him.

After being instructed by Nārada, Dhruva Mahārāja went to Madhuvana, one of the forests around Vṛndāvana, and started his austerities:

“Elsewhere, Dhruva Mahārāja, having arrived at Madhuvana, took his bath in the river Yamunā and observed fasting in the night with great care and attention. After that, as advised by the great sage Nārada, he engaged himself in worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

For the first month Dhruva Mahārāja ate only fruits and berries on every third day, only to keep his body and soul together, and in this way he progressed in his worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In the second month Dhruva Mahārāja ate only every six days, and for his eatables he took dry grass and leaves. Thus he continued his worship.

In the third month he drank water only every nine days. Thus he remained completely in trance and worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is adored by selected verses.

In the fourth month Dhruva Mahārāja became a complete master of the breathing exercise, and thus he inhaled air only every twelfth day. In this way he became completely fixed in his position and worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

By the fifth month, Mahārāja Dhruva, the son of the King, had controlled his breathing so perfectly that he was able to stand on only one leg, just as a column stands, without motion, and concentrate his mind fully on the Parabrahman. He completely controlled his senses and their objects, and in this way he fixed his mind, without diversion to anything else, upon the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (SB 4.8.71-77)

By following the process given by his spiritual master, Dhruva was able to attain perfection in just five months. One can question how this can be possible, but there are examples of devotees who were able to fix their minds on the Lord even faster, as in the case of Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga, who had just a muhūrta (48 minutes) to live. The success of Dhruva serves as a testimony to the power of the spiritual process. We may have difficulty progressing in the beginning, when we are not properly practicing the spiritual process, but as we become fixed, our advancement becomes faster. If we don’t know how to reach the airport, our journey to a distant country can be very long and arduous, but as soon as we take the plane, everything goes quickly.

In the first month, Dhruva followed the regulative principles, worshiped the deity, and practiced mantra meditation and remembrance of the pastimes of the Lord as instructed by Nārada. He ate only fruits and berries that were naturally available in the forest every third day, minimizing his bodily needs and engaging himself fully in worshiping the Lord.

In the second month, he reduced his eating to just dry grass and leaves every six days. By practicing sense control in this way, he became fixed in his meditation and gradually completely stopped eating, starting to just drink a little water every nine days, starting from the third month.

In the fourth month, he became perfectly situated in his meditation and was able to cease all external activities. Completely absorbed in meditation, he worshiped the form of the Lord within, as instructed by Nārada. By practicing prāṇāyāma, yogis are capable of restricting their breath and thus extending their lifespans. Dhruva fully mastered this process. Not only did he completely stop eating or drinking, but he was able to restrict his breath (jita-śvāsaḥ) and breathe only once every twelve days.

By the fifth month, he was able to stand immobile in one leg, completely fixed in his meditation on the Lord. Because he was able to fully capture the Lord in his meditation, he became extremely heavy and was able to make the three words tremble. Prabhupāda explains this point, also making a parallel with our practical activities in spreading Krsna consciousness:

“By associating constantly with the Supreme Personality in his heart, Dhruva Mahārāja naturally became equal to the greatest, Brahman, by His association, and thus became the heaviest, and the entire universe trembled. In conclusion, a person who always concentrates on the transcendental form of Kṛṣṇa within his heart can very easily strike the whole world with wonder at his activities. This is the perfection of yoga performance, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (6.47). Yoginām api sarveṣām: of all yogīs, the bhakti-yogī, who thinks of Kṛṣṇa always within his heart and engages in His loving transcendental service, is the topmost. Ordinary yogīs can exhibit wonderful material activities, known as aṣṭa-siddhi, eight kinds of yogic perfection, but a pure devotee of the Lord can surpass these perfections by performing activities which can make the whole universe tremble.”

Yogis are capable of manifesting mystic perfections due to their contact with specific potencies of the Lord. Dhruva, however, was capable of fully capturing the Lord in his meditation, and thus he became more powerful than anyone. Before, Dhruva was just a defenseless child who was not able to even sit on the lap of his father, but now, due to his connection with the Lord, he became so powerful that he was able to make the whole universe tremble. Similarly, a devotee who never showed any particular talent in mundane life can become enormously successful in spreading Krsna consciousness due to his faith in the Lord.

Finally, due to his full concentration, he was able to close all the holes of his body and completely stop his process of breathing. At this point, the breath of all inhabitants of the universe became choked. This affected even the great demigods, who felt suffocated. As in other situations of danger, they approached Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu in Śvetadvīpa and begged Him to save them from the danger.

The Lord replied that all was due to Dhruva’s meditation, but his purpose was not destructive. It was more or less an accident since he was fully absorbed in samādhi and was not aware of how his meditation was affecting others. The Lord reassured the demigods and went to see Dhruva and stop his meditation. One reason was to relieve the demigods, as they pleaded, but an even more pressing reason is that the Lord became compassionate to Dhruva and wanted to stop him from performing such severe austerities.

No one can force the Lord to come to him, but by the power of the devotional service of Dhruva, the Lord Himself desired to visit him to relieve him of his severe penances and award everything he desired.

After reassuring the demigods that He would protect them, the Lord went to the Madhuvana Forest to see Dhruva, mounted on Garuḍa.

In his Laghu-Bhāgavatāmṛta, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains that Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu expanded into the Pṛśnigarbha incarnation to meet Dhruva. Being a Vaikuṇṭha planet, Dhruvaloka is an eternal abode, but it is described as being “created” in the same sense as Lakṣmī Devī and the Kaustubha jewel appear from the churning of the milk ocean, or that Lord Śiva appears from Brahma. They are all eternal, but when they manifest inside of this particular universe, sometimes it is said they are created. Pṛśnigarbha is also the same incarnation who appears as the son of Pṛśni and Sutapā.

At this moment, Dhruva was absorbed in his meditation, seeing the Lord inside his heart, when the form suddenly disappeared. This broke his meditation. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Lord personally present before him. Seeing the Lord, Dhruva developed all symptoms of ecstasy, looking at the Lord, embracing Him, kissing his feet, etc. He wanted to offer beautiful prayers to the Lord, but being just a boy, he couldn’t speak very eloquently. The Lord, however, touched Dhruva with his conch, and in this way, he was blessed with all transcendental knowledge. He could thus glorify the Lord with beautiful prayers, as he wanted. This shows us how the potency to perform any kind of service or to glorify the Lord in any capacity can be bestowed upon us by the Lord if we are eager to serve Him.

Another important point is that a pure devotee is empowered to speak directly by the Lord, and this inspiration is called brahma-maya, because a devotee so inspired speaks words that exactly represent Vedic knowledge in its pure form. As Śrila Madhvācārya mentions in his commentary on the Mundaka Upaniṣad, Vedic knowledge can be understood in two levels: pāra-vidya (transcendental knowledge) and apāra-vidya (mundane, superficial knowledge). Mundane persons, as well as neophyte devotees still under the three modes, are not capable of understanding the real meaning of the Vedas just by studying the text. The proper understanding can be revealed only by pure devotees. The words of a pure devotee such as Śrila Prabhupāda have thus much more weight than the words of a mundane scholar, who will probably not be able to reach the proper conclusions of the text, despite his grammatical knowledge. Literal translation of Vedic texts has very little value; the knowledge has always to be interpreted in some way. It all depends on the qualification of the person explaining it, and their connection with the proper Paramparā.

“At that time Dhruva Mahārāja became perfectly aware of the Vedic conclusion and understood the Absolute Truth and His relationship with all living entities. In accordance with the line of devotional service to the Supreme Lord, whose fame is widespread, Dhruva, who in the future would receive a planet which would never be annihilated, even during the time of dissolution, offered his deliberate and conclusive prayers.” (SB 4.9.5)

Having received all Vedic knowledge from the Lord, Dhruva offered eloquent prayers to the Lord, which are registered in the pages of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

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Just as Prahlāda Maharaja, Dhruva, and others, Hanumān still lives among us, giving association to conditioned souls and helping them to come closer to the Lord. It is described that he was blessed to remain in this world as long as Rama’s glories continue to be sung. In this way, he continues to serve the Lord.

The Bhāgavatam describes that he now lives in Kimpuruṣa-varṣa, where he is always engaged in devotional service to Lord Rāmacandra, followed by the local inhabitants. His prayers to the Lord are described in the 5th canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

As Rāmacandra, the Lord plays many dramatic, human-like pastimes, having His wife kidnapped, making political alliances, fighting in a war, and so on. However, different from ordinary human activities, these pastimes are wonderful and fully transcendental. The Lord has no need for a wife or kingdom, and certainly has no need to fear any enemy. However, as Rāma, the Lord teaches by His own example how to follow the path of virtue and thus attain success in human life, alerting us about the difficulties we have to face when we try to obtain happiness in family life. He also gave the perfect example of a moral life, and thus Hanumān refers to Him as the reservoir of all the good qualities of Āryans. Even today in India, people are inspired by the example of Lord Rama, and this pushes them in the direction of a moral life, conducive to spiritual advancement.

In his commentary, Śrila Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura mentions that people are praised for having good qualities, such as truthfulness, compassion, etc. However, all these good qualities reach their perfection in the character of Lord Rāmacandra. He is the nikaṣaṇa, or testing stone, against which the extent of one’s good qualities can be tested.

One could argue, however, that Rama should be accepted as simply a great personality, and not as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Hanumān, however, dismisses that by explaining that Lord Rāma has a pure form, uncontaminated by the modes of material nature, which can be perceived only by one endowed with pure consciousness. He has no material activities and no material form, meaning He is fully transcendental.

Being so, why did the Lord appear in the form of a human being?

Rāvana received a boon from Brahma that he could not be killed by any Gandharva, Yakṣa, Deva, Dānava or Rākṣa. With this, he was undefeatable by any of the powerful species of the universe. Once he invaded the hellish worlds and fought with Yamarāja himself, who (being a demigod) had to retreat because of this boom. Similarly, Rāvana fought with many other powerful beings all around the universe.

The Supreme Lord can do anything and is not restricted by boons granted by anyone. However, He usually respects the blessings given by the demigods, who are His devotees. Rāvana didn’t include human beings and animals in his request, considering them insignificant, and therefore the Lord appeared in the form of a human being, leading an army of monkeys and bears to kill him.

These adventurous aspects of the Rāma-lila are extremely attractive, but killing Rāvana was actually secondary. The purpose of the appearance of the Lord was to perform sweet pastimes with His devotees and teach the principles of dharma.

If everyone would just stop all material activities to serve the Lord without distraction and go back to Godhead, this would be the best. The Lord wants us to go back; He can make other plans for the continuity of the material creation. However, because we are not ready for this, he makes arrangements for us to get into family life and live with a spouse and children. However, there is no way we can find a perfectly peaceful situation in this material world, and therefore, family life is always full of tribulations. By His personal example, however, the Lord teaches us how to be dutiful in our family life, acting in ways we can progress in the spiritual path.

Another point is the bond between the Lord and His devotees. The Lord and His associates are eternally connected and can’t be separated in any circumstances. Externally, it may appear they are separated, but in this so-called separation, their connection becomes even stronger. All the lilas of the Lord operate thus under this dynamic of meeting and separation, which causes the loving reciprocation to increase unlimitedly. Because the spiritual reality is so intrinsically different from material existence, and the relationship of the Lord with His intimate associates is so inconceivable, the only way to properly understand all these points is to learn them from a self-realized soul.

Being the Lord so exalted, we may think we need a long list of material qualities and accomplishments to be able to become close to him, but in reality, nothing of that is necessary. The only thing we need is devotion. Lord Rāma gave the example by associating with monkeys and bears in the forest, who lacked any high qualification by material standards.

A person attains a good material position and qualities because of past pious activities, and the natural next step is to become a devotee. When one starts worshiping the Supreme Lord, then these assets are properly utilized. If, however, one simply becomes proud, then these material assets become actually an impediment. Anyone can approach the Lord; the only factor needed is eagerness and devotion. Sometimes, asuras perform great austerities, like Hiraṇyakaśipu, who meditated by standing upright for so long that all the flesh in his body was consumed by ants and parasites. A devotee, however, can approach the Lord simply by his or her attitude of service. Because of His wonderful pastimes and personal qualities, Lord Rāma inspires this attitude of service and is thus extremely potent in liberating practically all living entities who come in contact with Him.

Another point is that Lord Rāmacandra and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are one and the same. Lord Caitanya is represented in the six-armed form of ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti, showing that He is simultaneously Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. All the prayers of Hanumān, therefore, directly apply to all three of them. By worshiping these three forms, we can easily attain the goal of life.

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Many think that Satya-yuga is a time when human society is perfect. Certainly, it is better than now, but it is far from perfect. Not only are there many impersonalists in Satya-yuga, but there are also a few materialists who manifest qualities such as harshness and envy. In other words, the world is also inhabited by imperfect individuals in Satya-yuga. It is better than now, but still shares the same material faults. The only place where we can find a perfect society is in the spiritual world.

One example of human faults manifesting in Satya-yuga is the case of Suruci (the stepmother of Dhruva Maharaja) becoming envious and offending him. This led Dhruva to abandon his life in the palace and go to meditate in the forest, aiming at meeting the Supreme Lord.

At first, Dhruva was just a child who had some sentiment and had decided to meditate and practice austerities, but didn’t know exactly what to do. He was, however, helped by Nārada, who was inspired by the Lord in the heart to meet him and help him in his process of self-realization.

At first, Nārada Muni wanted to test Dhruva’s determination. He explained how dangerous the forest was, how difficult it is to satisfy the Lord by the process of mystic yoga he was planning to perform, and advised him to instead go home. Everything comes as a result of our previous actions, he said, and thus Dhruva should not be affected by the words of his stepmother. Instead, he should be satisfied with whatever comes naturally. When he had grown up, he could try to practice yoga, and by the mercy of the Lord, he could be successful.

In the context of the passage, these instructions have the purpose of testing the determination of Dhruva, but at the same time, these are very valuable general instructions that we can take to heart:

a) Honor and dishonor are both destined by our previous actions; therefore, we should be sober, neither sorry, nor excessively happy under any circumstances, as Krsna confirms in the Bhagavad-gītā. The feeling of dissatisfaction when we face reverses is another feature of the illusory energy, destined to keep us chained to this world.

b) A devotee should accept both happiness and distress as the mercy of the Lord. It’s easy to see the connection when we receive happiness, but distress can be a very powerful tool in the hands of the Lord to save us from the material clutches. As Nārada mentions, one who is intelligent should accept that process and be satisfied with whatever comes, favorable or unfavorable, by His supreme will.

c) It is very difficult to satisfy the Lord by any process, except the process of bhakti. The Lord can be satisfied even by a humble offering of water and Tulasī leaves by a devotee, but He will refuse even the most opulent offering from a proud materialist. The path of devotional service can be very easy for one who is determined and sincere, but when these two qualities are absent, the process can be very difficult.

d) By serving the Lord and remaining satisfied in any condition of life, understanding that both are the result of the supreme will, we can easily cross over the material ocean. As Prabhupāda explains, “When we enjoy life in so-called material happiness, it is to be understood that we are diminishing the resultant actions of our pious activities. And when we are put into suffering, it is to be understood that we are diminishing the resultant actions of our impious activities. Instead of being attached to the circumstantial happiness and distress resulting from pious or impious activities, if we want to get out of the clutches of this nescience, then whatever position we are put in by the will of the Lord we should accept. Thus if we simply surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we shall get out of the clutches of this material existence.”

e) Instead of being envious, we should be happy in receiving more qualified persons and learning from them, and instead of being oppressive to less qualified persons, we should be compassionate with them and try to raise them, especially by teaching them the process of Krsna consciousness. When we meet an equal, we should treat him or her as a friend, instead of becoming proud or inimical.

What about the situation of Dhruva? Certainly, a Brāhmaṇa should be able to tolerate reverses patiently, and a regular boy would be in great danger in the forest. However, Dhruva was not an ordinary boy, nor a Brāhmaṇa. He was a hot-blooded Kṣatriya with unshakable determination. Dhruva thus accepted the truth of Nārada’s instructions, but admitted that he could not accept them.

The father of Dhruva was the king of Bhu-Mandala, and his great-grandfather was Brahmā, the master of the universe. Dhruva desired a position more exalted than any of his ancestors, including Lord Brahmā. How could this be possible? Dhruva understood that Nārada Muni was directly empowered by the Lord, and therefore, with his mercy, nothing was impossible. We can see that by the end of the pastime, Dhruva effectively attained a position more exalted than Brahma, becoming the ruler of a Vaikuṇṭha planet, an eternal position much more exalted than any temporary position in this material world, including that of his great-grandfather. In his purport, Prabhupāda makes an important point: although Nārada Muni was competent to bless Dhruva with whatever he wanted, he limited himself to give him instructions to worship the Lord in devotional service, similarly to Krsna instructing Arjuna in the battlefield instead of simply giving him victory without having to fight. This shows how the duty of the spiritual master is not to just give the disciple what he wants but to give him instructions and engage him in the practice of devotional service so he can attain true success.

Although Dhruva’s desire was somehow childish, Nārada became compassionate towards him. He could fully understand the determination of Dhruva and advised him on how he could attain his goal. Nārada Muni thus instructed Dhruva in the practice of the process of bhakti-yoga, living in Vṛndāvana, bathing in the Yamunā, worshiping the deity, and practicing meditation in the form of the Lord inside the heart. The Lord is everywhere, but it is easier to approach Him in places of pilgrimage because these places are inhabited by great sages and pure devotees. The Lord is where His devotees are chanting his glories, therefore, these are the places where we can easily contact Him.

What was the process of worship taught to Dhruva?

Nārada instructed Dhruva to practice a combination of rules and regulations, chanting of the holy names, worship of the deity, and meditation in the form of the Lord. At first, it may appear that this is a process suitable only for Satya-yuga, especially when we consider the austerities performed by Dhruva Mahārāja, but that’s because Dhruva was able to practice it in a very high level. When we take into consideration the differences in time and place, the process taught by Nārada is the same we regularly practice.

Nārada started by instructing Dhruva to live in a holy place, a place favorable to his spiritual practice. Prabhupāda explains that unless one is very advanced in devotional service, one can obtain great benefit in living in holy places where the Lord performed His pastimes. He also mentions in other passages that temples of the Lord, as well as places of residency of pure devotees, are also holy places. If we can take shelter in one of such places, we will have greater facility in our spiritual practice.

Nārada Muni then explained to Dhruva Mahārāja the process of aṣṭāṅga-yoga, including detailed instructions of meditation in the personal form of the Lord, similar to the instructions of Lord Kapila in the 3rd canto. This process of meditation, described by Nārada Muni, translates into our daily practice in the form of the process of chanting the holy names and meditating in the form of the Lord.

How to meditate in the form of the Lord? Prabhupāda makes the connection between the description of meditation on the form of Paramātmā inside the heart described by Nārada Muni and deity worship, just as he does in the third canto during the description of Lord Kapila. At first, seeing the form of the Lord as the deity and meditation on the mantra (japa) may be two separate things, but as we progress, we become capable of seeing the form of the Lord within when we chant. He explains, however, that this is not an artificial process of imagination, but happens automatically when the Lord becomes pleased and decides to present Himself.

Nārada also initiated Dhruva in the chanting of the holy names thorough the mantra Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, emphasizing the power of the mantra by stating that by chanting the mantra for just one week, he would become so perfect that he would be able to see the demigods.

Nārada Muni also instructed Dhruva in the process of deity worship and remembering the Lord’s pastimes. How could Dhruva worship a deity while living in the forest? This was actually very simple because Dhruva could make a deity out of the materials available there, such as metal, wood, or clay, and worship Him by offering pure water, flower garlands, fruits, flowers, and vegetables available in the forest, as well as Tulasī leaves. Living in Vṛndāvana, Dhruva would certainly not have any difficulties in collecting pure water from the Yamunā and Tulasī leaves.

Pure devotional service means to engage in devotional service without any desire apart from serving the Lord in pure love. However, Nārada also explained that even though Dhruva had material desires, this was not a disqualification, for anyone who worships the Lord attains his desires and simultaneously advances in spiritual realization.

Instructed in this way, Dhruva circumambulated Nārada and offered obeisances unto him. He then departed for Madhuvana, one of the twelve forests of Vṛndāvana, to practice as he was instructed.

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A beautiful part of the 4th canto is the Rudra Gītā, the prayers of Lord Śiva. Despite acting as a demigod to the atheists who worship him as such in exchange for material benedictions, Lord Śiva reveals his inner mood as the greatest Vaiṣnava when he has the opportunity of meeting other exalted devotees. In these prayers, the interlocutors are the Pracetas, whom Lord Śiva wants to instruct on the confidential path of pure devotion to the Lord.

The Lord is the Supersoul, the Supreme Being, and He is all-perfect. Because He is perfect, He can give perfect instructions to His devotees so they can also become perfect, be it internally as the Supersoul or externally as the spiritual master. Through these instructions, devotees worship the Lord, and by worshiping the all-perfect, they also become perfect. Perfect knowledge means to recognize the personal form of the Lord and remain His devotee.

Lord Śiva appeared from the anger of Brahma, and in his humility, he considers himself a product of this material world. He therefore addresses the Lord as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣnu, the source of the whole universal manifestation and the father of Brahma. The Lord is the supreme controller of the senses, and thus, when we surrender to Him, He can control our senses from within and engage them in His service.

He also addresses the Lord as Vāsudeva, the all-pervading source of consciousness, which allows us to perform devotional service. To be engaged in devotional service means to remain always under the protection of Lord Vāsudeva; therefore, by mentioning Him, Lord Śiva indirectly prays to be always engaged in devotional service.

The ultimate goal of pious activities

Both the Lord and the jīva are all-pervading. The difference is that the jīva is all-pervading only in his own body, while the Lord pervades everything. Just like one’s body moves according to his desire, in the same way, the whole universe moves according to the desire of the Lord. Everything that exists should be used in the service of the Lord, and such devotional service is the true pious activity. This practice brings us to the Lord; therefore, the Lord is the ultimate goal of all pious activity. Since devotional service continues after we attain one of the spiritual planets, the Lord is the ultimate goal of pious activities executed both within this material world and beyond it.

To help the souls entrapped in this material world, the Lord reveals his transcendental vibrations, the Vedas, which, when studied under the spiritual master, reveal the actual meaning of everything. Because the Vedas constitute the ultimate understanding, they are known as śabda-brahma (the Absolute in the form of sound). The ultimate understanding of the Vedas, however, is the Hare Krsna Mahā-mantra, and by the chanting of the mantra, everything becomes known. Lord Śiva thus prays to the Lord to be kind to us and give His mercy so we can be successful in chanting the Mahā-mantra.

The Lord is not partial

Lord Śiva mentions that the Lord is inclination, disinclination, and their resultant activities. In other words, from the Lord come the different natures of the living entities and their desire to perform certain activities and avoid others, and the Lord is also the one who gives the results of one’s pious and impious activities. The Lord is also the one who put the jīva in contact with matter, and the one who can liberate us. Hearing this, one may think that the Lord is partial, making some demigods and others lower animals, and sending some of the jīvas to enjoy eternal bliss in the Vaikuṇṭha planets, while condemning others to perpetual suffering in this material world.

The answer is that while it is a fact that the Lord is the controller of everything, He does so according to the desires of the jīva. Because one desires to enjoy his senses without restriction, the Lord puts one in an animal body, where one may do so. Similarly, because one wants to be pious, the Lord may put him in a brāhmaṇa or demigod’s body, giving him facilities to cultivate such piety. Similarly, the Lord sends the jīva to the material world due to one’s desire to enjoy matter, and as one becomes sinful, He helps one to forget Him and glide down to the lower species of life. Conversely, when we sincerely desire to return, He helps us to do so. All the situations of life are thus granted by the Lord according to the desire of the soul.

The source of all benedictions

The Lord is the topmost of all bestowers of all benediction. It’s only because of the blessings of the Lord that sages and demigods can give benedictions to others. Although we are eternal, Krsna is considered the oldest because He is the foundation of everything. Even Balarāma is supported by Krsna, as we can observe in the deities of Krsna-Balarāma in Vṛndāvana.

Kṛṣṇa is sāṅkhya-yoga-īśvarāya because He is the master of the principles of sāṅkhya-yoga, since He personally comes as Lord Kapila, and the sāṅkhya system describes Him. Yogeśvarāya also means He is the master of all mystical powers, different from yogīs and other powerful living entities who possess just fragments of this power.

The Lord is also called dharmāya (one who knows the best of all religion), because real religion is established by Him. No one can create a new system of religion, because religion is already there eternally, being established by the Lord through the scriptures. Being unlimited and the possessor of all knowledge, the Lord is also called akuṇṭha-medhase (He whose brain activity is never restricted). Empiricists and mental speculators have limited brains that can accommodate only tiny amounts of knowledge, but the Lord has no such limitations. He knows everything about everyone, and also about the past, present, and future. Because the Lord knows everything, there is no question of chance. Everything has a cause, and the ultimate cause is the Lord.

Becoming free from false ego

Lord Śiva, or Rudra, is the controller of egotism, but he does so as a representative of the Lord; therefore, the Lord is the supreme controller of egotism. Under the influence of this false ego, we forget our eternal spiritual identity and accept temporary identities in this material world. It was already established that although the supreme controller of everything, the Lord reciprocates our desire, therefore He will not remove our false ego until we sincerely desire it. Lord Śiva thus prays for our benefit, teaching us how we should pray to the Lord so that our false ego may be removed and our real ego as eternal servants of the Lord may be awakened.

The practical process for removing false egotism is to be engaged both in thought and actions in devotional service, according to the directions of the scriptures, received through the spiritual master. If the Vedic vibration, or the instructions received, is pure, without adulteration, it leads to perfect knowledge and perfect activities. Perfect knowledge includes chanting the Mahā-mantra, which is the conclusion of all scriptures. In this way, our mind, senses, and words will all turn toward devotional activities. Again, Lord Śiva shows by his own example how we should pray.

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The earthly heavens of Bhū-mandala

In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, it is described that Bhū-mandala, the intermediate planetary system, has its center in Jambūdvīpa, which is in turn separated into nine varṣas, or different tracts of land.

Among the nine varṣas of Jambūdvīpa, Bhārata-varṣa is the field of fruitive activities, where we have to work and prove ourselves. The other eight varṣas are semi-celestial places, reserved for elevated souls.

There are three divisions of heavens in the universe: divya-svarga, bhauma-svarga, and bila-svarga. Divya-svarga means the celestial planets that compose Svargaloka, where the demigods live, while bila-svarga refers to the subterranean heavens in the lower planets, where pious demons live. The expression “pious demon” may sound contradictory, but it is important to notice that demigods and demons appeared from Diti and Aditi, two wives of Kaśyapa Muni. In other words, they are two branches of the same family. The word “demon” (asura) is used to describe all kinds of atheists that are not devotees of Viṣnu, but many of these atheists follow Vedic culture, worship the brāhmanas, etc. These are the materially pious demons who live in the bila-svarga and sometimes fight the demigods.

Bhauma-svarga, on the other hand, describes the earthly heavens of Bhū-mandala, where pious human beings live. The natural Vedic sequence is that human beings who have a desire for material enjoyment have the opportunity of practicing varnāśrama while living on Earth, performing pious activities, and thus being elevated to Svargaloka at the end of life. There, they can live for 10,000 years of the demigods. When their pious merits are almost exhausted, they take a last birth in heavenly circumstances in one of the eight celestial varṣas in Bhū-Mandala for another life of 10,000 years, in still comfortable conditions. After their pious merits are finally completely exhausted, they take birth again on earth, where, having their material desires satisfied, they can finally dedicate themselves to the practice of devotional service.

Although the Vedas recommend this path for ordinary people in the karma-kanda section, the scriptures also alert for the ultimate futility of this process. Why waste time going up and down an uncertain path, just to come back to the same point? Better to solve the problem once and for all.

Another interesting detail is that the cycles of four eras happen only in Bhārata-varṣa, accommodating souls of different levels of consciousness that need to take birth here. The other eight varṣas of Jambūdvīpa are places of enjoyment reserved for pious souls who are receiving the results of their past work. In all of these varṣas, they have a quality of life similar to Treta-yuga, living for 10,000 years with many opportunities for sense enjoyment. No one becomes old, and couples can enjoy sex life freely, with pregnancy happening only once close to the end of one’s life.

From this description, we can see that most of the population of the universe actually lives in quite comfortable situations by material standards. People in the higher planetary systems (starting from Maharloka), as well as in Svargaloka, obviously live comfortably, and even demons live comfortably in the Bila-svarga. Even on this planet, people live most of the time comfortably (from Satya-yuga to Dvāpara-yuga). Only in Kali-yuga do people experience acute suffering. Why is that?

We live now in difficult conditions because we exhausted the results of our past karma, and we are now in the test room preparing a new set of karma, which we will either enjoy in the heavenly realms or suffer in hell and in the animal species. Even if one has no desire to go back to Godhead in this life, it makes sense to at least live piously, so one can escape this difficult condition.

We can see that if people were properly educated in the cosmological model of the Vedas, understanding these different abodes and how our actions lead to one or another, they would undoubtedly become more inclined to practice Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, or at least live a pious life. It is thus not surprising that Prabhupāda put so much emphasis on the construction of the temple of the Vedic Planetarium, which can serve as a vehicle for the dissemination of this knowledge.

All the inhabitants of these heavenly varṣas in Jambūdvīpa are devotees. They enjoy an elevated standard of sense gratification and at the same time have the opportunity of worshiping the Lord, who is present in all these eight varṣas in His deity form. Prabhupāda explains this point in his purport to text 5.17.14:

“In this connection, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura informs us that the demigods worship the Supreme Lord in His various Deity forms (arcā-vigraha) because except in the spiritual world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be directly worshiped in person. In the material world, the Lord is always worshiped as the arcā-vigraha, or Deity in the temple. There is no difference between the arcā-vigraha and the original person, and therefore those who are engaged in worshiping the Deity in the temple in full opulence, even on this planet, should be understood to be directly in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead without a doubt.”

As long as we are not free from material desires, we are forced to accept material bodies, and thus we are not able to directly serve the Lord in His spiritual form. He thus mercifully appears to us in a form we can see and touch, so we can perfect our devotional service and return to Him. This is the situation both here and in the heavenly varṣas of Jambūdvīpa.

In general, devotees avoid the path of sense gratification, since their goal is to decrease their attraction to this material world and increase their attachment to Kṛṣṇa. However, if one has the desire to enjoy this world and, at the same time, practice devotional service to a certain degree, this is also possible; one just has to wait for the right time.

As Prabhupāda explains, “The inhabitants of this earth also desire such heavenly enjoyment, but when they somehow or other achieve imitation pleasures like sex and intoxication, they completely forget the service of the Supreme Lord. In the heavenly planets, however, although the residents enjoy superior sense gratification, they never forget their positions as eternal servants of the Supreme Being.”

When we are not fixed in piety, sense gratification (in special unlawful sense gratification, obtained through sinful activities) is very dangerous, because it makes us forget about the service to Kṛṣṇa. That’s why we are forced to live under strict rules on this planet. However, if we can restrain from sinful activities during this lifetime, and become fixed in devotional service, we can receive the opportunity, if we so desire, to enjoy without such restrictions in the next life, be it in one of the earthly heavens of Jambūdvīpa, or in another situation where this will not jeopardize our devotional service. Certainly, this is much better than forgetting Kṛṣṇa and ending up going to hell under a load of sins.

The text also describes hermitages, which are inhabited by great sages. Kardama Muni himself was living in one of these hermitages when practicing his austerities, on the banks of the Bindu-sarovara lake. This shows that just as on our planet, some use the facilities for sense enjoyment, while others use them for spiritual realization. Great sages are also present in Svargaloka. The problem is that these places have many distractions. That’s why Earth is considered the ideal place for practicing self-realization.

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The pastime of Lord Vāmanadeva is described in detail in the 8th canto of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. At a certain point, having secured the blessings of the brāhmanas, Bali Maharaja was able to defeat the demigods and take possession of the celestial planets. Defeated, the demigods appealed to Lord Viṣṇu, who appeared as Vāmanadeva.

Vāmanadeva covered the whole universe with two steps by increasing His size. With the first step, he covered the entire surface of the earth, and when he raised his foot to take his second step, his foot hit the coverings of the universe and opened a crack through which the water of the causal ocean leaked inside. It is described that “a few drops” of the causal ocean entered the universe, but this is from the perspective of someone almost as big as the universe itself.

Each material universe is like a coconut, with a hollow central part half-filled with water and surrounded by seven coverings. Outside these coverings are the spiritual waters of the causal ocean, where Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu stays. This water is pure in itself, but it became even more sacred after touching the lotus feet of the Lord, becoming the transcendental river Ganges.

This stream of water then falls through the universe, reaching Svargaloka and then Bhū-Mandala after passing through Dhruvaloka (the Polestar). Dhruvaloka is described in the verse as the topmost planet in this universe, because it is a Vaikuṇṭha planet, and also because it is situated above Svargaloka. Geographically speaking, however, Dhruvaloka is situated below the planetary system Maharloka, and above the Saptarṣi constellation (the seven sages).

“Dhruva Mahārāja, the famous son of Mahārāja Uttānapāda, is known as the most exalted devotee of the Supreme Lord because of his firm determination in executing devotional service. Knowing that the sacred Ganges water washes the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu, Dhruva Mahārāja, situated on his own planet, to this very day accepts that water on his head with great devotion. Because he constantly thinks of Kṛṣṇa very devoutly within the core of his heart, he is overcome with ecstatic anxiety. Tears flow from his half-open eyes, and eruptions appear on his entire body. The seven great sages [Marīci, Vasiṣṭha, Atri and so on] reside on planets beneath Dhruvaloka. Well aware of the influence of the water of the Ganges, to this day they keep Ganges water on the tufts of hair on their heads. They have concluded that this is the ultimate wealth, the perfection of all austerities, and the best means of prosecuting transcendental life. Having obtained uninterrupted devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they neglect all other beneficial processes like religion, economic development, sense gratification and even merging into the Supreme. Just as jñānīs think that merging into the existence of the Lord is the highest truth, these seven exalted personalities accept devotional service as the perfection of life.” (SB 5.17.2-3)

These two verses describe the spiritual potency of the water of the Ganges, whose waters are accepted by both Dhruva and the sages with great respect. Because these great sages keep the water on the tufts of hair on their heads with such great respect, they obtain uninterrupted devotional service to the Lord, and lose interest in the materialistic process of karma-kanda and economic development, culminating in impersonal liberation.

This shows how the waters are spiritually powerful. If even such great sages derive such great benefit, what to say about us? This also reveals the true benefit of bathing in the Ganges: ultimately, it’s not just about becoming free of sins, but attaining pure devotional service to the Lord.

The next point is the interplanetary flow of Gangā. Dhruvaloka and the abode of the Seven Ṛṣis are far above Svargaloka. How to make a river flow through space over such a great distance? The solution found by the demigods is to carry the waters on their vimānas. The verse mentions that an army of thousands and millions of vimānas (sahasra-koṭi-vimānānīka) is constantly engaged in this service of carrying the waters of the Ganges all the way to Candra-loka (the moon). From there, the water flows into Brahmapurī, the abode of Lord Brahma on top of Mount Sumeru, the central mountain of the high-dimensional Bhū-mandala.

Prabhupāda describes the whole process in his purport:

“We should always remember that the Ganges River comes from the Causal Ocean, beyond the covering of the universe. After the water of the Causal Ocean leaks through the hole created by Lord Vāmanadeva, it flows down to Dhruvaloka (the polestar) and then to the seven planets beneath Dhruvaloka. Then it is carried to the moon by innumerable celestial airplanes, and then it falls to the top of Mount Meru, which is known as Sumeru-parvata. In this way, the water of the Ganges finally reaches the lower planets and the peaks of the Himālayas, and from there it flows through Hardwar and throughout the plains of India, purifying the entire land. How the Ganges water reaches the various planets from the top of the universe is explained herein. Celestial airplanes carry the water from the planets of the sages to other planets.”

In Brahmapurī, on top of Mount Sumeru, the waters of the Ganges divide into four streams, which go into the four directions, flowing through Bhadrāśva-varṣa to the east, Ketumāla-varṣa to the west, Ramyaka, Hiraṇmaya, and Uttarakuru to the north, and Hari-varṣa, Kimpuruṣa, and Bhārata-varṣa to the south. These four principal streams ramify into many, bathing many different tracts of land.

Just as the continents of our planet are surrounded by the ocean, Jambūdvīpa is surrounded by a salt ocean that has the same breadth as the island itself. Therefore, it is said that all these different streams of water flow into the salt ocean.

On our planet, the Ganges appears to originate from melted ice in the Himalaya region, but this is just the apparent cause. Somehow, the subtle waters flow from other regions of Bhū-mandala and mix with this gross water coming from the Himalayas, producing the river we can bathe in to become free from all material contamination.

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It may not be very well known, but Yamarāja has a son called Bhadraśravā, who is the ruler of Bhadrāśva-varṣa, the tract of land east of Ilāvṛta-varṣa in the cosmology of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

This is described as a tract of land that is part of Jambūdvīpa, the central island of Bhū-mandala, a tract of land where human beings live for 10,000 years in semi-celestial conditions. The Lord is present there in His deity form as Hayaśīrṣa (or Hayagrīva), the director of all religious principles and protector of the Vedas, and is worshipped by Bhadraśravā, followed by the other inhabitants.

First of all, who is Hayagrīva?

At the end of each day of Brahmā, the Vedas are stolen by ignorance personified, who hides them in the lower planetary systems. Normally, the Lord, who is present as Matsya sustaining the whole structure of Bhū-mandala, fights with the demon and saves the Vedas, transmitting them again to Brahmā at the beginning of his next day.

At the end of the previous day, however, the Lord appeared as Hayagrīva (the horse-headed incarnation) to fight with the demon and save the Vedas. This appears to be connected with the universal destruction at the end of the first half of the life of Brahma, which is a special event, different from the end of the other days of Brahmā.

How is it that the Vedas can be stolen by a demon? In his purport, Prabhupāda connects it with the Vedas being forgotten and then transmitted again at the beginning of the next cycle of creation: “Although Vedic knowledge is imperishable, within this material world it is sometimes manifest and sometimes not. When the people of this material world become too absorbed in ignorance, the Vedic knowledge disappears. Lord Hayagrīva or Lord Matsya, however, always protects the Vedic knowledge, and in due course of time it is again distributed through the medium of Lord Brahmā. Brahmā is the trustworthy representative of the Supreme Lord. Therefore when he again asked for the treasure of Vedic knowledge, the Lord fulfilled his desire.”

A demon doesn’t necessarily have to assume a form with two hands and legs to cause harm. Just as Tṛṇāvarta had the form of a whirlwind, Tamasā (the demon of ignorance personified) made everyone forget the knowledge of the Vedas.

This same Lord Hayagrīva, who preserved the Vedas during the whole period of the night of Brahmā, is present in His deity form in Bhadrāśva-varṣa, where He is worshiped by His devotees, who offer Him respectful obeisances and offer Him prayers in devotional trance. You can read his prayers on SB 5.18.2-6.

In his purport to text two, Prabhupāda reinforces the point that the purpose of human life is to purify our existence, which is achieved by worshiping the Supreme Lord and performing penances and austerities. Human life is not meant for blind indulgence in sense gratification.

As students of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, we are already familiar with this conclusion, but it is missed by 99% of the population. Bewildered by the illusory energy, they continue their materialistic life day after day, without considering the impending danger of death. People simply get absorbed in momentary sense gratification, without considering the future. If my father dies, this is a very clear warning that I’m the next. A materialist, however, simply takes the inheritance and continues his process of enjoyment without a second thought. Often, people lack even basic decency; a father who loses his son may sometimes take away his possessions and start an affair with the widow. From this, we can see how the fixation on sense gratification makes one gradually lose all good qualities.

What materialists don’t realize, however, is that even to enjoy their senses, they need the cooperation of the Lord. If Paramātmā doesn’t give them sanction and empower them to perform their actions, materialists can’t act at all, as it happens sometimes at the end of life, when one becomes paralyzed or falls into a coma. In this way, both devotees and materialists depend on the mercy of the Lord. The difference is that a devotee is guided and empowered by the Lord to attain success in human life and go back home, back to Godhead, while a materialist is allowed to act sinfully for some time, as he desires, but later has to deal with the karmic consequences.

As Prabhupāda explains in his purport to text three: “In other words, materialistic persons want to commit all kinds of sinful activities, but without the sanction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, no one can do anything. Why does the Supreme Personality of Godhead permit sinful activities? The Supreme Lord does not want any living being to act sinfully, and He begs him through his good conscience to refrain from sin. But when someone insists upon acting sinfully, the Supreme Lord gives him the sanction to act at his own risk (mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca). No one can do anything without the sanction of the Lord, but He is so kind that when the conditioned soul persists in doing something, the Lord permits the individual soul to act at his own risk.”

Different from the materialists, who are simply deep into ignorance, others study the Vedas and understand the temporality of this material world. By practicing this knowledge, they become detached from the bodily concept of life. In other words, they become liberated souls.

However, the illusory energy is so powerful that even such great scholars can fall back into illusion. How is that possible? Prabhupāda explains that, “A liberated soul is a person who has sufficient knowledge of this material world and is therefore unattached to the bodily conception of life. But because of association with the modes of material nature for a very long time, even liberated souls sometimes become captivated by the illusory energy due to inattentiveness in the transcendental position. Therefore, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (7.14), mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te: “Only those who surrender unto Me can overcome the influence of the material energy.”

Because we are in contact with the material energy for a very long time, there is still a tendency to become illusioned, even in advanced stages of knowledge. Being a Vedic scholar is thus not sufficient; one has to become a devotee of the Lord.

Even when we come to the devotional platform, however, we need to remain vigilant. The pastime of Bharata Maharaja shows that even in the devotional path, inattention can create havoc. As Prabhupāda explains:

“Everyone should very cautiously execute devotional service by rigidly following regulative principles. Thus he will remain fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord. Otherwise, a little inattention will create havoc. We have already seen an example of this in the case of Mahārāja Bharata. Mahārāja Bharata was undoubtedly a great devotee, but because he turned his attention slightly toward a small deer, he had to suffer two more births, one as a deer and another as the brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharata. Afterward he was liberated and went back home, back to Godhead.”

As soon as we surrender to Kṛṣṇa, He protects us and is ready to forgive our mistakes. However, if we insist on the same mistake over and over, He may allow us to fall into illusion again for some time so we can again get a taste of the suffering of the material world and become serious again in our practice.

In summary, the prayers of the inhabitants of Bhadrāśva-varṣa teach us that:

a) The goal of life is purification, not just blind sense gratification.

b) Despite the mercy of the Lord being available to everyone, most of the population remains under the spell of Māyā.

c) How to escape? Ultimately, one has to become a devotee. Even being a Vedic scholar is not sufficient.

d) Because the material energy is the divine potency of the Lord, it can be overcome only when we come back to our original position of service, sheltered at His lotus feet.

e) The Lord is the cause of everything, but still He remains separate from everything. Because He remains transcendental, He is the one who can save us from the material ocean. No one can become free by his own power.

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A very significant passage of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the appearance of Lord Viṣnu in the sacrificial arena of Pṛthu Maharaja after the sacrifice had been repeatedly frustrated by Indra. We often associate the mercy of the Lord with success in our spiritual endeavors, but that’s a case where the opposite occurred: Pṛthu Maharaja was unsuccessful in his desire to perform 100 sacrifices, and despite this failure, the Lord appeared to him. Not exactly because he failed, but due to his attitude to this failure.

This emphasizes that the ultimate purpose in all our activities should be to satisfy the Lord, and not to merely obtain a certain material objective. In fruitive performances, as well as in ordinary material activities, an incomplete performance does not yield results. Demigods reward the performers of fruitive sacrifice for correctly executing the rituals, and ordinary business transactions generate profit only after concluded. One may bake a cake, but until it is delivered and paid for, one doesn’t get any money for it. Service to the Lord, however, operates in a different dynamic. The Lord sees not just the effort, but the intention. One can thus advance even without completing an activity. In fact, one can advance even without starting it, as long as his’s intention is positive. Even though not completing his 100 sacrifices, Pṛthu Maharaja satisfied the Lord, and that’s what counts.

Lord Viṣnu desired to give him spiritual instructions, helping him to remain situated in spiritual consciousness and forgive the offenses committed by the king of heaven wholeheartedly. These teachings go from text 4.20.3 to 4.20.16. Here are the main points in the verses and purports, revealing instructions that can be extremely useful in our spiritual practice:

a) A person advanced in consciousness understands that the body is different from the soul, and seeing everyone as part and parcel of the Lord, he is never malicious to others. On the contrary, he is eager to perform activities that will be beneficial. He understands that, in fact, the soul is transcendental and does not do anything, and that all material actions happen under the three modes of material nature. He thus forgives any offense committed by others. Forgiveness is a quality of those who are advancing in spiritual knowledge.

b) Perfect knowledge can be obtained only through the paramparā system, by following the instructions of previous ācāryas. When a person is properly trained in this line, he or she goes beyond the bodily conception of existence and becomes free from the bewilderment caused by the material energy, just like King Pṛthu. If, however, one remains under the influence of the three modes, this proves that his practice is not being effective.

c) This material body is produced from the material nature and is therefore created from ignorance. This ignorance covers the soul and makes us think we are the body and that we should satisfy the desires of the body through material actions. Some try to directly satisfy their senses, thinking this will bring them happiness, while others aim to obtain a higher grade of sense gratification in the celestial planets by performing Vedic rituals. Both are in illusion. Even philanthropic activities performed under the idea of making people happy by improving their political or economic situation are illusory, because no one can be happy in this way. Whatever we desire or perform under the bodily conception of life is illusory and can’t bring us to real happiness. On the opposite, real happiness can be found only in the spiritual platform and starts from understanding that we are not the body.

d) Becoming free from affinity to the material body cuts out all material affinity by the root, destroying the bodily conception of life based on attachment to family life, wealth, etc. This, in turn, eliminates the necessity of performing fruitive sacrifices. In reality, fruitive sacrifices are offered in the Vedas to attract materialists who are mad after sense gratification into following the path of the Vedas. This fruitive understanding is based on the three material modes, and thus called traiguṇya-viṣayā vedāḥ. A person who becomes advanced in spiritual knowledge loses attraction to such materialistic performances and instead becomes attracted to the higher duties connected with his eternal position as servitor of the Supreme Lord. Devotional service is called nistraiguṇya because it is transcendental to the three modes. In other words, the Lord reinforces the previous instruction, arguing that Pṛthu Maharaja should stop his performance of horse sacrifices and instead become fixed in his performance of loving devotional service.

e) Devotional service to the Lord can be ultimately performed only in the spiritual platform, which in turn means to see ourselves in our original position as souls instead of as the body and mind. When we attain this position, we realize the Supersoul, understanding that the Lord resides in all bodies and that we are never separated from Him.

In conditioned life, the soul is covered by material ignorance and sees himself as the cause of material actions. The Lord, however, remains always transcendental, living inside the heart as a neutral witness. When the soul becomes free from material contamination, he becomes transcendental, just like the Lord. The pure soul is described as asaṁsaktaḥ (without attachment) and budhaḥ (fully cognizant of everything). This means that in his original consciousness, the soul is pure and fully conscious of his original position as a servant of the Supreme Lord.

f) What is the practical symptom of a pure soul who attains this realization of the Supersoul? Even though residing in a material body, inside the material creation, he is never affected by the modes of material nature. Instead, he remains always situated in transcendental loving service, practiced without motive for material gain. In the Bhagavad-gītā, the Lord describes the process of karma-yoga, which is the practical process to be gradually elevated to this platform by working without being attached to the results. As we advance in this devotional practice, we gradually become very satisfied within.

g) In the conditioned stage of life, we see everything in terms of duality: pleasant and unpleasant, gain and loss, victory and defeat, etc. However, when the heart is cleansed from this material contamination through the linking process of devotional service, our consciousness becomes broader and our mind transparent, becoming a medium for the manifestation of our original spiritual consciousness, instead of blocking it. Free from material contamination, we see everything equally, without attachment or aversion. At this stage, there is peace, and we become situated in the spiritual platform, becoming sac-cid-ānanda, just like the Lord.

h) The material creation is always moving, and the body is always changing. The soul, however, is described as kūṭa-stham, fixed. In the Gītā, the soul is also defined as acalaḥ, immovable, like a mountain. Throughout all the movements of the material manifestation, the soul remains fixed in his original spiritual position, beyond the movements of the body and mind. The soul is just like the moon reflected in a pot of water. The reflection in the pot moves, following the movements of the water, but the moon is fixed in the sky. Ultimately, the soul simply observes the material manifestation, just like the Lord. The difference is that, due to the influence of Maya, we forget ourselves and identify with the material consciousness, the reflection on the water, while the Lord is always fully aware of His transcendental position. When this mistaken conception is removed, however, we become eligible to be liberated from material bondage.

i) Since the soul is completely different from the combination of gross and subtle material elements that form the material self, a devotee who is firmly connected with the Lord in friendship and affection, being completely in knowledge, is never agitated by material happiness and distress. As Prabhupāda mentions, those who are fully absorbed in devotional service do not care what is going on with the external body. That status is called samādhi.

How is it possible for anyone to be indifferent to the activities of the body? Prabhupāda gives the example of a businessman seated in a car, giving instructions to the driver. Although he understands how the car works and supervises the driver, he is more concerned with his business in the office. Similarly, a devotee remains absorbed in thoughts connected with his devotional service to the Lord. That’s how he can remain separate from the activities of the material body, in a position of neutrality.

j) The Lord concludes his instructions with practical advice for Pṛthu Maharaja in his reign: Be equipoised and treat people equally, even the ones considered lower than him. Not be disturbed by material happiness or distress, understanding both to be temporary, and control his mind and senses, and remain in a transcendental position while at the same time executing his duties as a king, as a service to the Lord.

These are characteristics we can also try to bring into our lives.

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