Dhruva, the Pole Star

The little prince saw his half-brother sitting on their father's lap, and he wanted, more than anything, to sit there too.

So he climbed up beside him.

But before his father could say a word, the queen standing nearby pulled him away. You are not my son, she told him coldly. If you wanted to sit there, you should have been born to me.

Two queens

The king was Uttanapada, and he had two wives. Suruchi was his favourite, proud and beautiful, and her son was called Uttama. Suniti was gentle and quiet, and the king paid her little attention. Her son was the little prince, Dhruva.

The king had seen everything, but he said nothing. He was afraid of upsetting Suruchi.

Dhruva ran to his mother, his face hot with tears, and told her what had happened.

A mother's advice

Suniti held her son close. She was hurt too, but she did not say a bitter word about the other queen.

She told him that what Suruchi said was true in one way. Suruchi had done good things, and so good things had come to her. If he wanted a high place in the world, she said, he should not be angry. He should be kind, patient and good, and the rest would follow.

Dhruva listened carefully. Then he made up his mind.

He did not want a place on someone's lap that could be taken away. He wanted a place of his own, higher than any throne, that no one could ever push him from.

Into the forest

So the small boy left the palace and walked into the forest.

There he met seven great sages, sitting together. He bowed to them and told them his story. He asked how he could reach a place higher than any other.

The sages were surprised to see such determination in a child. They told him that the highest place of all could be reached only by turning his whole heart to Vishnu, the protector of the world.

The boy who would not be moved

Dhruva went to a quiet grove called Madhuvana, on the banks of the river Yamuna. There he sat down, closed his eyes, and fixed his mind on Vishnu.

Days passed, and then months. He ate less and less. He sat as still as a stone.

The gods grew worried. If a child could become so steady, what would happen to their own power? So they tried to disturb him.

First they made a vision of his mother appear in front of him, weeping and begging him to come home. Dhruva did not open his eyes.

Then they sent terrifying shapes, howling and shrieking around him in the night. Still Dhruva did not move. His mind stayed fixed, like a lamp in a room with no wind.

The gift

At last, Vishnu himself appeared before the boy.

Dhruva opened his eyes and was overwhelmed. He wanted to praise the god, but he was only a child, and he did not know the right words. Vishnu touched his cheek gently with the tip of his conch shell, and at once beautiful words of praise came to Dhruva's lips.

Then Vishnu asked him what he wished for.

Dhruva said that he wanted a place above all others, steady and lasting, a place from which no one could ever move him.

Vishnu granted it. Dhruva would become a star, set high in the northern sky. All the other stars and planets would turn around him, but he himself would never move. And his gentle mother, Suniti, would shine near him as a star too.

Still shining

In time, Dhruva went home. His father welcomed him with shame and joy, and Dhruva ruled the kingdom wisely for many years.

But the part of the story people remember most is the sky. In India, the Pole Star is called Dhruva Tara, Dhruva's star. Through the night, the other stars turn slowly around it, while it stays almost perfectly still. For thousands of years, travellers have used it to find their way north.

About this story

This story comes from the first book of the Vishnu Purana, translated into English by H. H. Wilson in 1840. It is also told, with some differences, in the Bhagavata Purana, where the sage Narada guides Dhruva and he is said to be just five years old. This version is a shortened, simplified retelling.