Let Us Be Gods-XI

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There is a very ancient story in India of a prince who became a very great devotee, and he"s still held up before us as an ideal of devotion. He was the eldest son of the king, and he was the son of the elder queen. But the king married a younger woman, and then his first queen became more or less forsaken. Of course, the king took care of the boy, but that great affection was no longer there. The king used to live with his new queen. The boy would sometimes go to see his father, but the new queen didn"t like it. And the father also became a little careless.

One day, the father had not paid much attention to the boy and he got deeply hurt. He came back to his mother and said: 'Mother, father didn"t even talk to me today." The queen was deeply moved by that, and she said, 'My son, there is one who never forgets anybody. Never." And he asked, 'Who is that, mother?" 'That is the Lord. He never forgets anybody. He"s full of love for his devotees, and he will never neglect you."

The boy took it to his heart. He believed what his mother said. He was just eight years old. And he went to the woods and he began to call on the Lord. Day and night he called. At the end of the night, the Lord himself became very much disturbed because the boy"s call was so earnest, so he had to appear before his devotee. He appeared to Dhruva in the resplendent form of Vishnu, most beautiful form of Vishnu. Dhruva was the name of this boy. But Dhruva was plunged in deep meditation, calling on the Lord. His mind had become concentrated and he had lost outward consciousness.

The Lord seeing Dhruva steeped in meditation said, 'Dhruva, open your eyes. Look. Open your eyes." So Dhruva opened his eyes and saw the Lord before him, and infinite, boundless was his joy as he looked at the Lord. And the Lord said, 'Dhruva, don"t you want to ask something of me?" 'No, Lord. I have nothing to ask. I am filled with joy and satisfaction in having seen Thee." The Lord asked, 'Didn"t you ask to get back your father"s affection for you? Didn"t you want that?" Then Dhruva said, 'Lord, I was seeking glass beads and now I have found a diamond. What shall I do with these glass beads?"

However, the Lord, seeing that his devotee was just a small boy, blessed him and said, 'Your father will show great affection to you, he will be very affectionate always." And so, it happened like that. And eventually Dhruva became the king. After he died, the Lord put him in the sky as an example to all other men. And if you want to see him, you look for the polestar. That"s he. Dhruva means fixed, unchanging. The position of the polestar never changes and that star is considered to be this devotee, Dhruva. Yes, it happens like this, you see. That is true devotion when the mind doesn"t seek anything else. We are seeking glass beads, then we find a diamond, and we entirely forget all the glass beads. So don"t say that devotion is easy for you. Careless devotion is easy because you don"t achieve anything. It gives you some temporary satisfaction, but that"s not finding the truth. So if you want to find the truth, you have to go to the truth.

About the author

Swami Ashokananda

Swami Ashokananda (1893-1969) was a much-venerated monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He was ordained into sannyasa by Swami Shivananda, and was the editor of Prabuddha Bharata, an English monthly of the Ramakrishna Order brought out from the Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati in Uttaranchal. He was an outstanding writer and speaker and the leader of the Vedanta Society of Northern California (San Fransisco) from 1931 until his passing away in 1969.

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