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Imported quote 13030
The Lord is so merciful to His devotee that He immediately said to Dhruva Maharaja, "Let there be all good fortune for you." The fact is that Dhruva Maharaja was very much afraid in his mind, for he had aspired after material benefit in discharging his devotional service and this was hampering him from reaching the stage of love of God. In the Bhagavad-gita (2.44) it is said, bhogaisvarya-prasaktanam: those who are addicted to material pleasure cannot be attracted to devotional service. It was true that at heart Dhruva Maharaja wanted a kingdom that would be far better than Brahmaloka. This was a natural desire for a ksatriya. He was also only five years old, and in his childish way he desired to have a kingdom far greater than his father's, grandfather's or great-grandfather's. His father, Uttanapada, was the son of Manu, and Manu was the son of Lord Brahma. Dhruva wanted to excel all these great family members. The Lord, however, knew Dhruva Maharaja's childish ambition, but at the same time how was it possible to offer him a position more exalted than Lord Brahma's?    (More...)
The Lord assured Dhruva Maharaja that he would not be bereft of the His love. He encouraged Dhruva not to be worried that he childishly had material desires and at the same time had the pure aspiration to be a great devotee. Generally, the Lord does not award a pure devotee material opulence, even though he may desire it. But Dhruva Maharaja's case was different. The Lord knew that he was such a great devotee that in spite of having material opulence he would never be deviated from love of God. This example illustrates that a highly qualified devotee can have the facility of material enjoyment and at the same time execute love of God. This, however, was a special case for Dhruva Maharaja.    (More...)
Imported quote 13713
Being covered by material desires, a spirit soul is also considered to be covered by designations belonging to a particular type of body. Thus he considers himself an animal, man, demigod, bird, beast, etc. In so many ways he is influenced by false identification caused by false egotism, and being covered by illusory material desires, he distinguishes between matter and spirit. When one is devoid of such distinctions, there is no longer a difference between matter and spirit. At that time, the spirit is the only predominating factor. As long as one is covered by material desires, he thinks himself the master or the enjoyer. Thus he acts for sense gratification and becomes subjected to material pangs, happiness and distress. But when one is freed from such a concept of life, he is no longer subjected to designations, and he envisions everything as spiritual in connection with the Supreme Lord. This is explained by Srila Rūpa Gosvami in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu: anasaktasya visayan yatharham upayunjataḥ/ nirbandhaḥ krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate (Bh.r.s. 1.2.255).    (More...)

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