DHRUV -POLE STAR

Dhruv as the Pole star, a Pahari painting by Manaku c. 1740

Dhruva (ध्रुव, Dhruva, "unshakeable, immovable, or fixed")

The Sanskrit term dhruva nakshatra ("polar star") has been used for Pole Star in the Mahabharata.

He was the son of Uttānapāda and grandson of Manu.His mother was Suniti.

The king also had another son Uttama, born to his second queen Suruchi, who was his favorite.

 Once, when Dhruva was a child of five years of age, he was sitting on his father's lap at the King's throne.

 Suruchi, who was jealous of the older son from the first wife (since he - Dhruva - would be heir to throne, and not Suruchi's son), forcefully removed Dhruva from his father's lap. 

When Dhruva protested and asked why he could not be allowed to sit on his father's lap, Suruchi berated him saying, 'only God can allow you that privilege. Go ask him

Suniti - being of gentle nature and now the lesser favorite wife - tried to console the distraught child, but Dhruva was determined to hear of his fate from the Lord himself. 

Seeing his firm resolve, his mother bade him farewell as he set out on a lonely journey to the forest. 

Dhruva was determined to seek for himself his rightful place, and noticing this resolve, the divine sage Narada appeared before him and tried to desist him from that. 

But, Dhruva's fierce determination knew no bounds, and the astonished sage guided him towards his goal by teaching him the rituals and mantras  to meditate on when seeking lord Vishnu. 

The one mantra which Narada taught and which was effectively used by Dhruva was Om  Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.

 Dhruva started his meditation, and went without food and water for six months, his mind fixed on the Lord. 

His  tapasya shook the heavens and the Lord appeared before him, but the child would not open his eyes because he was still merged in his inner vision of Vishnu's form described to him by Narada.

 Vishnu had to adopt a strategy of causing that inner vision to disappear. Immediately Dhruva opened his eyes, and, seeing outside what he had been seeing all along in his mental vision, bowed down before the Lord. 

But he could not utter a single word. Vishnu touched Dhruva's right cheek by his divine conch and that sparked off his speech. 

Dhruva asked for the varadān of a knowledge of stuti (hymn). 

Other persons would have asked for worldly or heavenly pleasures, or for  moksha  at the most, but Dhruva had no personal desire. 

Renunciation of all desires is regarded to be essential for eternal peace in Hinduism: this is the meaning of Dhruva-pada. 

That was the reason why the Saptarshis decided to give Dhruva the most revered seat of a star - the   Pole Star .

Having spent a long time in the Lord's remembrance he even forgot the objective of his tapasya, and only asked for a life in memory of the Lord.

 Pleased by his tapasya and by his stuti, Vishnu granted his wish and further decreed that he would attain Dhruva-pada: the state where he would become a celestial body which would not even be touched by the Maha Pralaya. 

Dhruva returned to his kingdom, to be warmly received by his family, and attained the crown at the age of six. He ruled for many decades in a fair manner. 

How was the story?

Shall I share with you one secret?

When  I heard the story in my childhood, I also wanted to do tapasya as Dhruva,but I didn't find any Jungle, so it was not done 😑.

Dhruv was my first  ever star known to me in my astronomy journey.

And do you know till no observation is possible without aligning Pole star when tracker is used?

Okay.Bye then.

We will meet soon with another story.

Do comment.