Srimad Bhagavatam — Chaturtha Skandha, Shloka 66
Dhruva’s Humiliation, Sunīti’s Counsel, and Nārada’s Bhakti-Yoga Instruction
अप्यनाथं वने ब्रह्मन्मा स्मादन्त्यर्भकं वृका: । श्रान्तं शयानं क्षुधितं परिम्लानमुखाम्बुजम् ॥ ६६ ॥
apy anāthaṁ vane brahman mā smādanty arbhakaṁ vṛkāḥ śrāntaṁ śayānaṁ kṣudhitaṁ parimlāna-mukhāmbujam
My dear brāhmaṇa, the face of my son was just like a lotus flower. I am thinking of his precarious condition. He is unprotected, and he might be very hungry. He might have lain down somewhere in the forest, and the wolves might have attacked him to eat his body.
FAQs
This verse shows the father’s fear and compassion—Dhruva is described as helpless, hungry, and exhausted in the forest—highlighting the gravity of Dhruva’s renunciation and the human concern for a devotee’s safety.
After Dhruva departed, Uttānapāda was overwhelmed with remorse and anxiety, imagining his young son alone among wild animals; he voices this worry while addressing a brāhmaṇa, lamenting Dhruva’s vulnerable condition.
It reminds us that intense spiritual resolve can alarm loved ones; balancing determination with compassion, and offering practical protection and support to sincere seekers, is a dharmic response.