Once upon a time, there was a king called Uttanpad. He had two wives – Suniti and Suruchi. The king had two sons. Dhruv was the elder son, born to his first wife Suniti and Uttam was born to his second wife Suruchi. Suruchi was very beautiful and the kings was in love with her. He was biased and gave all his attention to her and their son Uttam. Suniti and Dhruv were neglected by the king. Because of this constant neglect, they both left the palace and went to stay in the forest. Uttam and Suruchi lived a royal life with all the royal privileges. Dhruv was now five years old and he longed to experience his father’s love for him. He was sorry to see his mother in pain.
One day Dhruv asked Suniti, ‘Mother! I want to meet my father. Can I go to the palace?’ Suniti said, ‘Yes. Of course you can Dhruv.’ Dhruv set out to go to the palace. When he reached there, he saw the king playing with his younger son Uttam. Dhruv called out to the king, ‘Father! I want to come and play with you too. I too want to sit on your lap.’ Worried about offending Suruchi, the king refused to let Dhruva sit on his lap. Just then Suruchi arrived and mocked Dhruv. She said ‘You brat! What are you doing here? You cannot play with the king. Go back to your mother and don’t come here again!’
Dhruv was very hurt. He turned away with teary eyes and went back to his mother. He burst out crying when he saw his mother and hugged her. Suniti was saddened to hear what had happened at the palace. She tried to console Dhruv. Dhruv asked his mother ‘Why does father neglect you and me? Why does he not love us? What should I do?’ Suniti thought for a while and said. ‘Dhruv, you should pray to Lord Vishnu. He can make all sorrows go away.’
Dhruv listened to his mother and after taking her blessings he set out to go to the mountains to do penance and pray to Lord Narayan. On his way, he met Sage Narada. Narada said ‘Where are you going little boy?’ Dhruv said, ‘Namaste Muni! I am going to the mountains to do penance and pray to Lord Vishnu’. Hearing this Sage Narada shared the mantra with Dhruv for pleasing Lord Vishnu. He said, ‘Chant the mantra “Om Namo Bhagwate Vasudevaya” and pray to Lord Vishnu. Only think about Lord Vishnu’ Dhruv thanked Sage Narada and took his blessings and proceeded to the mountains.
Dhruv reached the mountains and found a spot under a tree to meditate. He started chanting the mantra which Sage Narada had shared with him. The intense penance then began. During his first month in the mountains, Dhruv survived off roots and tubers. The next month, he ate dried leaves. The third month he only had water from the river and in the fourth month he only survived by breathing air. After the fourth month, Dhruv stopped breathing during his meditation. Standing on a single leg, Dhruv focused all his attention on Lord Vishnu.
Devraj Indra got worried with Dhruv’s growing powers. He went to Lord Vishnu to appraise him of the situation. Lord Vishnu calmed Devraj Indra saying ‘Dhruv’s tapasya is about to complete. I will give him darshan very soon.’ Soon after, Lord Vishnu appeared before Dhruv and said ‘I, Lord Vishnu am here. I am very pleased with your penance. What do you want?’ Dhruv smiled but did not move. He had overcome all his desires and had even forgotten the objective of his tapasya. All he wanted now was to live a life in memory of Lord Vishnu.
Vishnu blessed him and said ‘Dhruv, I grant you your wish. You will become a celestial star. The Saptarishi will surround you as stars. You will be the revered star – Dhruv tara (Pole Star).’ Dhruv returned to his kingdom and was warmly received by his family. He was crowned king at the age of six. He ruled for many years and was a just king.
Renunciation is the most essential quality to attain eternal peace as per Hindu religion. Dhruv had no personal desires left. This is why the Saptarishi decided to give him the most revered seat of a star – the Pole Star. Dhruv’s story also tells us that with concentration, determination, effort and belief in yourself and God we can achieve seemingly impossible feats.
Today when we look in the sky we can find Dhruv and the Saptarishi as stars. The Saptarishi are the Ursa Major or Great Bear constellation of stars. Dhruv is the Pole Star.
