Shloka 15
Dhruva’s Darśana, Transformative Prayers, and the Boon of the Dhruva-loka
Pole Star
त्वं नित्यमुक्तपरिशुद्धविबुद्ध आत्मा कूटस्थ आदिपुरुषो भगवांस्त्र्यधीश: । यद्बुद्ध्यवस्थितिमखण्डितया स्वदृष्टया द्रष्टा स्थितावधिमखो व्यतिरिक्त आस्से ॥ १५ ॥
tvaṁ nitya-mukta-pariśuddha-vibuddha ātmā kūṭa-stha ādi-puruṣo bhagavāṁs try-adhīśaḥ yad-buddhy-avasthitim akhaṇḍitayā sva-dṛṣṭyā draṣṭā sthitāv adhimakho vyatirikta āsse
My Lord, You are the eternally liberated, perfectly pure and fully awakened Self—unchanging Paramātmā, the original Puruṣa, Bhagavān endowed with six opulences, and the everlasting master of the three guṇas. By Your unbroken transcendental glance You are the supreme witness of every stage of intellect. As Viṣṇu You sustain the affairs of the universe, yet remain aloof, enjoying the fruits of all sacrifices.
An atheistic argument against the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead states that if God, the Supreme Person, appears and disappears and sleeps and awakens, then what is the difference between God and the living entity? Dhruva Mahārāja is carefully distinguishing the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from that of the living entities. He points out the following differences. The Lord is eternally liberated. Whenever He appears, even within this material world, He is never entangled by the three modes of material nature. He is therefore known as try-adhīśa, the master of the three modes of material nature. In Bhagavad-gītā (7.14) it is said, daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā: the living entities are all entangled in the three modes of material nature. The external energy of the Lord is very strong, but the Lord, as the master of the three modes of material nature, is ever liberated from the action and reaction of those modes. He is therefore uncontaminated, as stated in the Īśopaniṣad. The contamination of the material world does not affect the Supreme Godhead. Kṛṣṇa therefore says in the Bhagavad-gītā that those who are rascals and fools think of Him as an ordinary human being, not knowing His paraṁ bhāvam. Paraṁ bhāvam refers to His being always transcendentally situated. Material contamination cannot affect Him.
FAQs
This verse describes the Lord as the unbroken seer (draṣṭā) who observes the mind and intelligence in all their states, while remaining eternally separate and untouched by them.
Dhruva praises Vishnu as eternally liberated and unchanging to contrast the Lord’s transcendence with the changing conditions of the material mind and the world Dhruva had sought to overcome through devotion.
Practice remembering that thoughts and emotions change, but the soul’s spiritual goal is steady; by bhakti—hearing, chanting, and prayer—you learn to observe mental agitation without being ruled by it, turning attention to the Lord.