How could Dhruva become the ruler of a Vaikuṇṭha planet?

Dhruva wanted a kingdom greater than his ancestors, and he practiced penances in the forest until the Lord personally appeared before him. That was, however, something very difficult to achieve.

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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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