Shloka 10
Dhruva Uses the Nārāyaṇāstra; Manu Checks His Wrath and Teaches Dharma
नायं मार्गो हि साधूनां हृषीकेशानुवर्तिनाम् । यदात्मानं पराग्गृह्य पशुवद्भूतवैशसम् ॥ १० ॥
nāyaṁ mārgo hi sādhūnāṁ hṛṣīkeśānuvartinām yad ātmānaṁ parāg gṛhya paśuvad bhūta-vaiśasam
This is not the path of saintly souls who follow Hṛṣīkeśa. One must not mistake the body for the self and, like animals, slaughter the bodies of other beings.
The words sādhūnāṁ hṛṣīkeśānuvartinām are very significant. Sādhu means “a saintly person.” But who is a saintly person? A saintly person is he who follows the path of rendering service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hṛṣīkeśa. In the Nārada-pañcarātra it is said, hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate: the process of rendering favorable service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead with one’s senses is called bhakti, or devotional service. Therefore, why should a person who is already engaged in the service of the Lord engage himself in personal sense gratification? Dhruva Mahārāja is advised here by Lord Manu that since he is a pure servitor of the Lord, why should he unnecessarily engage, like the animals, in the bodily concept of life? An animal thinks that the body of another animal is his food; therefore, in the bodily concept of life, one animal attacks another. A human being, especially one who is a devotee of the Lord, should not act like this. A sādhu, a saintly devotee, is not supposed to kill animals unnecessarily.
FAQs
This verse says that cruelty to living beings—acting “like an animal”—is not the path of sādhus who follow Hṛṣīkeśa; devotion requires compassion and inner, God-centered consciousness.
Dhruva, overwhelmed by grief and anger, was destroying the Yakshas; Manu intervened to stop excessive violence and to redirect Dhruva to the saintly path of devotion and restraint.
When anger rises, pause before acting, avoid harming others (physically or verbally), and re-center the mind on the Lord—choosing compassion and self-control as the devotee’s path.