Shloka 4
Dhruva’s Benediction from Kuvera and His Ascension to Viṣṇuloka
Dhruvaloka
अहं त्वमित्यपार्था धीरज्ञानात्पुरुषस्य हि । स्वाप्नीवाभात्यतद्ध्यानाद्यया बन्धविपर्ययौ ॥ ४ ॥
ahaṁ tvam ity apārthā dhīr ajñānāt puruṣasya hi svāpnīvābhāty atad-dhyānād yayā bandha-viparyayau
جسمانی تصورِ حیات کی بنیاد پر ‘میں’ اور ‘تم’ کی بےمعنی تمیز جہالت سے پیدا ہوتی ہے۔ یہ خواب کی مانند جھوٹی دکھائی دیتی ہے؛ اور اسی سے بندھن اور جنم و مرگ کا سلسلہ جاری رہتا ہے۔
The conception of “I” and “you,” ahaṁ tvam, as separate from each other, is due to our forgetfulness of our eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Person, Kṛṣṇa, is the central point, and all of us are His parts and parcels, just as hands and legs are parts and parcels of the whole body. When we actually come to this understanding of being eternally related to the Supreme Lord, this distinction, which is based on the bodily concept of life, cannot exist. The same example can be cited herewith: the hand is the hand, and the leg is the leg, but when both of them engage in the service of the whole body, there is no such distinction as “hands” and “legs,” for all of them belong to the whole body, and all the parts working together constitute the whole body. Similarly, when the living entities are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no such distinction as “I” and “you” because everyone is engaged in the service of the Lord. Since the Lord is absolute, the services are also absolute; even though the hand is working one way and the leg is working in another way, since the purpose is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are all one. This is not to be confused with the statement by the Māyāvādī philosopher that “everything is one.” Real knowledge is that hand is hand, leg is leg, body is body, and yet all together they are one. As soon as the living entity thinks that he is independent, his conditional, material existence begins. The conception of independent existence is therefore like a dream. One has to be in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, his original position. Then he can be freed from material bondage.
FAQs
This verse says the sense of “I” and “you” is ultimately insubstantial for one established in true knowledge; it appears like a dream due to misidentifying the Self with what is not the Self.
He explains that when the mind contemplates the non-Self (body, possessions, roles), duality seems real—like a dream—producing bondage, whereas correcting that contemplation leads to liberation.
Practice stepping back from ego-based reactions (“me vs. them”), cultivate self-awareness through sādhana (hearing, chanting, remembrance), and make decisions from the standpoint of the soul rather than temporary identity.