Srimad Bhagavatam – day 207
Swayāmbhuva Manu continued, “He is the original Lord for this illusory world, which although appears to be existing in reality does not. He is eternal. He is an embodiment of bliss. All the various energies eternally serve Him! Develop selfless love towards Him. Through this, gradually you will be able to cut through spiritual ignorance which has hardened in the form of attachments and infatuations.
O Emperor! Anger is the greatest enemy for all auspiciousness that could be obtained by the person. Just as disease is cured through medication, you reflect upon this teaching of mine and cure your anger. May you be blessed with auspiciousness!
Seeing a person who is filled with anger all living beings tremble with fear. Hence the intelligent person who seeks liberation, who wishes that other living beings should not fear him or who seeks that he should not fear other living beings, should not succumb to anger.
Infuriated that they have killed your brother, you are killing these Yakshas. You have thereby insulted their leader Kubera, who is also a guardian deity for the world. Shiva, the Lord of Kailasa, has accepted Kubera as his brother.
My son! Before the wrath of the guardian deity swallows up our lineage, please bow and offer your obeisance to him. Speak to him and please him with your gentle words”.
Swāyambhuva Manu thus preached to his grandson Dhruva. Dhruva offered his obeisance to his grandfather. Then Swāyambhuva Manu together with the Maharishis left the place.
With this the eleventh chapter of the fourth canto comes to an end.
Fourth Canto Twelfth Chapter
In this chapter, Dhruva pleases Kubera. Then returning to his city he worships Lord Srihari through many Yagnas accompanied by plentiful dakshinas. Thereafter he obtains the final abode of Lord Srihari, which is worshipped and revered by all the three worlds and which even the seven great sages find it difficult to obtain.
Maitreya Maharishi continued, “Coming to know that Dhruva had given up his anger and that he has stopped attacking the Yakshas, Kubera decided to meet Dhruva. As Yakshas, Cāraṇas and Gandharvas were praying to him, he stepped out.
Immediately upon seeing him, Dhruva folded his hands and offered obeisance. Kubera addressed Dhruva and said, “O emperor! You are a supremely meritorious. I am very pleased with you. Giving up feelings of enmity and hatred is very difficult, yet, abiding by your grandfather’s advice, you instantly gave up your anger towards Yakshas.
To tell you the truth, you did not kill these Yakshas. In the similar fashion, it was not the Yakshas who killed your brother. Time alone is responsible for the birth and death of every living being.
Everything that appears in a dream belongs to the person. Even then, when feelings of ‘I and mine’ develop towards one particular body, everything apart from it appears to have a distinct existence. This is incorrect. This is because in a dream, the same person manifests as all the different characters.
It is the same in the waking state too! The person develops feelings of ‘I’ towards his gross body. Therefore differences of ‘I’ and ‘you’ arise in the person. Dualities step in. However this is far from reality. Spiritual ignorance is the root for all this. All these karmic bondages and this repeated cycle of births and death occur only because of the feelings of differences and dualities that exist within a person.
O Dhruva! Return back to your kingdom. May you be blessed with auspiciousness! O King, Lord Srihari cannot be understood through any direct visible proofs. He is the one who is present before us in the form of the various living beings. Those who ardently worship His lotus feet are freed from these repeated cycle of births and deaths.
Even though He accepts the carrier known as illusion (māya), which is composed of the trigunas, and undertakes the tasks of creation, sustenance and dissolution of the universe, He remains non-dual. Illusion cannot touch him. Serve this Supreme Lord purely with the intent of exiting this cycle of repeated births and deaths. Begin to see every living being as the form of the Self.
O son of Uttānapāda! O Dhruva, you are worthy of being bestowed with boons. We have heard that you are very dear to the lotus eyed Lord Srihari. Therefore without any hesitation, please seek whatever you like”.
Dhruva, the supreme devotee of the Lord was very intelligent and wise. When Kubera, the king of kings asked him to choose a boon he asked, “That remembrance of the Supreme Lord by which spiritual ignorance that is hampering liberation can be dispelled, that remembrance of Srihari by which the repeated cycle of re-births that arise due to spiritual ignorance can be easily crossed over, I seek to be blessed with a firm remembrance of Lord Srihari”.
Hearing Dhruva’s desire Kubera was immensely pleased. He blessed that Dhruva’s mind should eternally remember Srihari. As Dhruva was watching, he disappeared from there.
Dhruva returned to his kingdom. He now began many Yagna rituals so as to please Lord Srihari. He gave away plentiful Dakshina (money).
Yagna is the form of Lord Srihari. The ingredients used in Yagna, the sub-divisions of the Yagna and process of yagna are also forms of Lord Srihari. The Lord who bestows the result for the Yagna is also Srihari.
Sarvātmany acyute ’sarve tīvraughāṁ bhaktim udvahan
Dadarśātmani bhūteṣu tam evāvasthitaṁ vibhum
Srihari is the original form which is the root for all various visible forms! Although all these various bodies shine within Him, in reality they do not exist within Him. Dhruva fixed his unending flow of devotion exclusively upon this Lord Srihari. He began to see the all-pervading Lord Srihari as existing in the form of the Self, within him and within every being in this creation.
Devotion became part and parcel of his nature. He revered exponents of Vedas. He was compassionate towards the helpless. He protected dharmic regulations. All the citizens of the country loved him as their father.
Emperor Dhruva began to exhaust his balance of both merits and sins. Through experiencing kingly riches and comforts he exhausted his balance of merit (punya). Through performance of Yagnas he washed away all his sins.
Hrishikeśāya namah.