Teachings of Dhruv Maharaj | 30 Jun 1997 | Russia (Moscow) | Śrīla Gopāl Kṛṣṇa Goswāmī

Prasthite tu vanaṁ pitraḥ datva-gaṁ dharma-saṁśrayaḥ sat-vimśaḥ varṣasaḥ śrāṁ rakṣitavyahāt indriyām. So this verse is being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And so we do this verse which has a one-line purpose, and we may do the next verse also today. The Supreme Personality of Godhead was very pleased by the young boy's determination and austerities that he performed. He performed the austerities with great determination. Because Ramdeva Maharaj was going towards the forest to start his austerity program, Narada Muni tested him on one occasion. Narada Muni said, "You are just a young boy." 'Your stepmother was just joking with you. You don't have to take her words seriously. Go back home and play. This is the age for playing, not for looking for God.' But Dhruva Maharaj was so determined, he said, 'If you can help me look for God, I'm ready to talk to you. If you're not ready to help me, then please don't distract me.' So Dhruva Maharaj's father actually started lamenting. That because of his harsh behavior and his attachment to his second wife, his young boy has left home and gone to the forest. His father's name was King Uddhanapada. So one day, Narada Muni showed up in the palace of the king, and he saw that the king was feeling very morose. So he inquired, what was the cause of your moroseness? The father stated that he was lamenting for his rude behaviour towards his son and he was worried that in the forest his son may have been attacked by the animals and he may be undergoing so many inconveniences. But Narada Muni said, "You don't have to worry. Your son is taken care of by the Lord and your son will return to this kingdom and he will enhance your glories." Like a young child, Dhruva Maharaj initially had a very big ambition, that is to have a kingdom that would even surpass the kingdom of any of his ancestors. Of course, we will see later in this chapter that Dhruva Maharaj was lamenting that he had manifested such a desire. So after having performed austerities for 6 months, Dhruva Maharaj was able to see the Lord face to face. Of course, his austerities were very severe. Like in the first month, he ate fruits and berries every 3 days. Second month, he ate every 6 days, dry grass. In the third month, he drank water once every 9 days. In the fourth month, he would inhale once every 12 days. In the fifth month, he had controlled his breathing process to such an extent that he was standing straight like a pillar, like a column. Of course, all these austerities of Dhruva Maharaj was accompanied by his chanting of the Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya mantra and his meditation on the Lord, the form of the Lord that he had made with mud and water. So the Supreme Lord was so pleased by his austerities that he personally manifested himself in front of him, touched his forehead, and he gave him the blessing that he wanted. As you read in the verse that we discussed yesterday, the Lord has said that I am going to give you a very special planet, the Pole Star. Further, Lord is telling Dhruva that you will rule over this only planet for 36,000 years. Actually, King Uttanapada was very pleased after Dhruva Maharaja performed his austerities. And the Lord had told him that he should return. So when King Bhuthanapada heard about this, he could not even believe that one day his son would come back. So when the king got the news that his son was returning from the forest, the entire city prepared for Dhruva's arrival in a very royal manner, just like you read in the 9th canto about Lord Rama returning to Ayodhya. When Lord Brahmā was returning from exile, the entire citizens there of Ayodhya were there to welcome him. Similarly, when Dhruva Mahārāja was returning from Madhuvaṇ forest, all the citizens and his father and all the ministers of the cabinet, his mother, stepmother, brother, they all came to receive Dhruva Mahārāja. So this incident, as Prasad Raaval explains in the purport, This Leela took place in Satya Yuga. This is a Leela of a devotee of the Lord. You have Krishna Leela and you have Leelas of his devotees. So Dhruva Maharaj, when he returned from his penitent austerities, his father consulted all his ministers, and Dhruva Maharaj was so popular with the citizens That they all decided that now Dhruva must become the king. So the father, when he saw that Dhruva Maharaj was very much liked by the citizens, and when all the council of ministers agreed that Dhruva should become the king, he gave him the throne, and he left for the forest to practice extreme austerity. So Bhagavad Gita explains that Dhruva performed austerity when he was a young child, and his father performed extreme austerity in old age. It's not like the present-day rulers who virtually never want to give up their seat unless they're defeated in the elections or knocked down by an opponent by some other foul play. In the Vedic days, the king automatically would give up the throne the moment the child was ready to sit on the throne. So Dhruva Maharaj did achieve his desire to have a very opulent kingdom. He was also given the benediction that he will be able to rule over the planet for 36,000 years, plus all his senses will continue to be as strong as they are when he was a young child, and he would never become old. And an important point to realize is that Krishna, the Supreme Lord, gave Dhruva Maharaj this facility to have a very unique kingdom, opulent kingdom, and to rule over the planet for 36,000 years because Lord knew that Dhruva Maharaj would not get affected by this opulence. Bhagavatam explains that 4 factors become impediments on the path of self-realization. Want to hear them? One is material opulence. If you have a lot of money, you don't easily surrender to God. Is anyone in this room from a millionaire's family? You are the real millionaires. Maybe if you have a Mercedes car or a Rolls-Royce. So material opulence is an impediment. When you have material opulence, you don't really think you need to go to God. You think money can buy everything. That's why Krishna doesn't give material opulence easily to a devotee because Material opulence has the capacity to bewilder you and distract you from spiritual life. Then material education. Kṛṣṇa says 4 types of people don't surrender to me. Na mam duṣkṛtṇa-mūraḥ prapadyādhena rādhamaṁ māyāya-pārtā-jñānaṁ śrāvamāṇaśrīkāḥ. That māyāya-pārtā-jñānaṁ. Those who have a lot of so-called material knowledge, they don't really surrender to me. Tākya-bhākṇyur compares material knowledge to A heavy turban on your head, just like a man is getting drowned, if he has a heavy turban, he will get drowned faster. Then beauty, a very beautiful body. You have a very beautiful body, whether it's he body or she body, then again you get bewildered because everyone is running after you. And then the fourth is a very sweet family situation. So in that situation, you know, you think that life is so sweet. Question of— So the point is, these 4 factors become impediments on the path of self-realization. But they don't necessarily have to be impediments. If you are intelligent, you will come to the realization, "Yes, I have this opulence. This is by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. So let me use it for Kṛṣṇa." Just like there are so many millionaires who are also devotees in our movement. Then if you have material education, You can use that education to also establish the supremacy of God. See, a devotee has the capacity to use opulence, education, beauty, etc., in service to the Lord. So we are not against millionaires becoming devotees. We are not against PhDs becoming devotees. And we are not against handsome people and beautiful people becoming devotees. And we are not against people with the situations, become into religion, provided you know how to use everything in service of the Lord. So in the case of Dhruva Maharaj, the Lord knew that He gave him the three opulent kingdoms, something that no one ever had. Dhruva Maharaj would not get enamored by this opulence. Just like we saw even in the case of Srila Prabhupada. After Prabhupada started the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement in the Western countries, His disciples would give him lakṣīṇa donations. But Prabhupāda used all this facility to make opulent temples in Vṛndāvana, Māyāpur, Bombay, etc. If you were to describe to the modern man the story of Dhruva Mahārāja, that he ruled over the planet for 36,000 years, he would probably not believe it. Because our material knowledge is limited. They have no idea that in Satya Yuga people could live for 100,000 years. They have no idea that in Treta Yuga they would live for 10,000 years. They have no idea that in Dwapara Yuga people's lifespan extended to 1,000 years. And Kali Yuga, it's a maximum of 100 years. You don't have much energy. In Satya Yuga, people live for 100,000 years.. And they were all devotees of the Lord. So through these scriptures we get the history, we get the correct history. The Lord was so pleased with Dhruva Maharaja's austerities and sincerity that he not only gave him a very opulent kingdom, but he also gave him the benediction that your senses will remain strong, you will remain strong, you will always be youthful, you will never get old. And he will constantly perform charities and austerities. In the 18th chapter of the Gita, Krishna recommends that austerities and sacrifices should never be given up even by a learned man. In the Bhagavatam, Krishna says that I am also the heart of all sacrifices. So Dhruva Maharaj was given the benediction that he will be able to perform austerities and sacrifices and he will perform great charity. So it doesn't matter in what position or ashrama of life you may be in, we should never forget the importance of austerities, sacrifices, and charity. What is the austerity for this age? To chant Hare Krishna, to follow the regulative principle. Unlike material austerities that are painful, spiritual austerities result in joy, and the nature of the joy is It goes on increasing, increasing, increasing. Then one must also perform charity. What charity can we perform? You may argue that I'm not as rich as Luamaraaj. I'm struggling for my own existence. What charity can I perform? So who knows what charity you can perform? Give food for life? Someone said give food for life. What now? Real charity you can perform is give this transcendental knowledge to others. That's a charity. That's an asset all of you have. Whether you are initiated or not, whether you are staying in the temple or a visitor to the temple, you, all of you are convinced Krishna is the Bhagavan Swamyam. So give this knowledge to others. People make, these days everybody takes pride in giving charity. Two nights ago I was doing a program in Düsseldorf in Germany, and one of the ladies there said, "I spend all my time collecting money." for cancer patients in India. So I told her, just collecting money to cure people's cancer is not the solution. You will have to give people knowledge of God. Why are people getting disease? Why are people getting cancer? Why are people getting AIDS? Why are they getting other fatal diseases? Because they are leading a sinful life against the laws of God. So unless people give up their sinful activities, They will not be able to really escape the sevenfold miseries of life. So real charity is to give people transcendental knowledge as to how they can become really happy and engage in service to the Lord. So just like Dhruva Maharaj was given the benediction by the Supreme Lord that he will have the uplands, he will get an upland kingdom. And he will have the opportunity to perform sacrifices and charity. We, the Krishna Consciousness movement, are also fortunate. By the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda and Lord Caitanya, we have the opportunity also to perform austerities, sacrifices, and charity. What is the plan for austerity? We have already discussed. Sacrifice and charity is engage in activities by which you can give people this transcendental knowledge. Sacrifice. Sacrifice the desires of your mind. The mind is always contemplating so many nonsense activities including laziness. And the opportunity to perform great sacrifice is there. The opportunity to perform, the opportunity to give charity is there. So we give charity by distributing, attempting to distribute this transcendental of wisdom. Therefore devotees of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement engage in this activity of preaching. Preaching means giving charity, but giving real charity. Just like once Prabhupāda was speaking very strongly and there was a lady in the audience. She said, Swāmitī, a sadhu should not speak so harshly. But Prabhupāda said, when you have a boil, you don't blow over that boil, but you press the boil and get the pus out. So we have to give people the real charity, not just this artificial philanthropic work. Just like in some parts of the world, they have some people who go to old age homes just to cheer up the old people. So it's okay, cheer them up, but give them knowledge how they should meditate on the Lord. If they don't serve the Lord, everything is useless. So there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the highest charitable activity that one can engage in is giving people transcendental knowledge, especially through the medium of giving people Prabhupada's books. That is why Prabhupada engaged, instruct— gave us so many instructions on the importance of giving this transcendental charity. Unfortunately, people today are so intoxicated that even when we try to give them something for their benefit, they tend to reject it. Just like Prabhupada used to give the story of a man who was absorbed in flying his kite. He was about to fall off the terrace and someone said, "Careful!" He said, "Don't disturb me, let me fly the kite." So now people are materially intoxicated. We as devotees should not get discouraged by it. We shouldn't forget the symptoms of Kali-yuga that are predicted in the first canto of Bhāgavata. By and large, people are lazy spiritually, misguided, quarrelsome, unfortunate. But because we have the order of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "Jāre dakāktaḥ iti, o Kṛṣṇa-bhūteṣu." We must perform this highest charity to endeavor to give people this transcendental wisdom. Dhruva Mahārāja did not attract the Lord by virtue of material opulence or by virtue of the fact that he was the son of a great king. He attracted the Lord because of his faith in the words of his spiritual master and because of the determination to to capture the mercy of the Lord and undergo austerities. Similarly, we can also capture the mercy of the Lord by having faith in the words of the spiritual master, predecessor or chariots, and in having faith in the process of austerity. What was attained by Dhruva Maharaj thousands and thousands and thousands, millions of years ago, is possible to be attained even today in the Kali Yuga. If you follow the process that was adopted by Dhruva Maharaja. You don't have to start eating every 3 days and gradually stop eating. You can eat 3 times a day if you want. Perform the austerity of only eating Krishna prasada and dedicating yourself to distributing this charity that everybody is hungry for. Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja manifested the mood of compassion. He said, my dear Lord, I am not worried about my own liberation. I know you are the Supreme. I know how to please you. But I am worried about those those who are trying to convert a position of distress to a position of comfort. So we should look forward to the opportunity to bestowing this transcendental knowledge upon others. And the best way to distribute charity is to give people proper books. This is the highest charity. The devotees of the Krishna Consciousness movement are the real missionaries on this planet. Haridas Thakur, by his pure chanting, He was able to convert everyone into devotees. Haridas was also preaching and performing charities. His chanting was so pure that people would come from a great distance, see him, and get transformed. Even a prostitute got transformed. So we can't imitate Haridas Thakur because we don't have that level of purity. We endeavor to preach and distribute this transcendental wisdom. Krishna within the heart is the pre-blessed. Krishna, the Lord was so pleased by Dhruva Maharaj that not only did he give him these benedictions, but he also gave him the benediction that at the end of life he will be able to remember him. Ante narayana-smriti. Our life should be so molded that at the end of life we can remember the Supreme Lord. So we should be serious about Krishna consciousness. Yamyam bhāpī svayam bhāvām. Wherever your mind is at the moment of death, That's where the living entity gets transported. In the story of King Baharat, you see how at the moment of death he was thinking of a deer, and then he had to take his next life as a deer. So we should so mould our life that at the moment of death we will be able to remember Krishna. And that is possible if we strictly practice Krishna consciousness. If the devotee knows that I only have a— the devotee is always thinking, I just have a minute left in my life. So he's always serious about Krishna consciousness. So Dhruva Maharaja had received all these blessings, and the Lord granted, gave him these blessings, gave him all the facilities because he knew that Dhruva Maharaja would not get distracted from the path of devotional service. And during Dhruva Maharaja's rule, the citizens were all very happy, just like during Lord Rāma Chandra's rule on this planet. The citizens were extremely satisfied. During King Prithu's rule on this planet, the citizens were very happy. But during Maharaja Vena's rule on the planet, were the citizens happy? They were miserable. So when the head of the state is Kṛṣṇa conscious, God conscious, then the citizens are also happy. In countries like India, even today people talk of Rām-rāja. Rām-rāja was a period associated with Extreme satisfaction, happiness, contentment, no disease, no old age. But the real cause was they were all God conscious. So Prabhupada has explained that he can create rām-rāja even in Kali-yuga. Just like you have technology today that in your country in the winter when it's -40°C outside, but inside the room if you have good heating you can feel feel as if you're in Sahara Desert. And when it's very, very hot in the Middle East countries, the sheikhs have these air conditioners, it looks like they're in North Pole. Similarly, by spreading the sankirtan-yagya in this age of Kali, you can create rāma-raja, you can create satya-yuga atmosphere even in Kali-yuga by spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness mood. And Prabhupāda says, If you perform sankirtana-yajña, take part in sankirtana-yajña, then in the end of your life you're guaranteed to also remember Kṛṣṇa. So by distributing transcendental knowledge in the form of books, by giving Kṛṣṇa prasāda, by giving the holy name, by having very good Deity worship so that people who come to the temple are attracted to the Deities, by receiving the guests nicely, by keeping a great Kṛṣṇa conscious environment, By keeping the temples clean, we will spread this sankirtana-yagya. So every one of us should see himself or herself as a player in Lord Caitanya's plan to flood this place with love of God. We all have the opportunity to become as fortunate as Dhruva Maharaja if we take advantage of Lord Caitanya's magnanimous philosophy to chant and to make others chant. So please do not be misers. You know what's a miser? He has money, but he doesn't want to spend it. So don't be a spiritual miser. You have the plan by which everyone can become happy, but you don't want anybody else to get this plan. Why? I'm in a bad mood. I can't take part in this. I'm too frightened for me. No. A devotee should never think like that. So if you endeavor, the Lord will help, as we've said many times. And we should have the determination that was manifested by Dhruva Maharaj. Druva was a young child of 5 years old. All of you are a lot older than 5. So why should you not take advantage of Druva's determination? Some of you may say, "If I become austere like Druva, will I become as rich as Druva Maharaj?" Maybe then I will. But if you can convince Kṛṣṇa that you will not misuse the opulence, then anything is possible. But it's best to think, "Kṛṣṇa knows what's best for me." So just try to follow the instructions like Dvāmānaka followed Nārada Mūhyī's instructions, and your spiritual life will be blissful and happy. And Kṛṣṇa will recognize you for all the books you gave, for all the prasādhi distributed, for all the people you told, "Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." All your sankirtan scores are being recorded and maintained. The record is maintained permanently. Isn't it, Kṛṣṇa? You may have forgotten your scores of 5 years ago. Krishna hasn't forgotten. Your records are fresh. So give charity, perform sacrifice, perform a charity. Don't be a miser and be happy. And then Krishna says, you also remember me at the moment of death. And if you become a miser, then you won't get the same degree of mercy. Hare Krishna. Hale Krishna, Hale Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.