308
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 8]
and  vānaprastha  life also and takes to  sannyāsa , completely devoting himself to devotional service.
Generally, people think that childhood is meant for enjoying life by engaging oneself in sports and play, youth is meant for enjoying the company of young girls, and when one becomes old, at the time of death, then he may try to execute devotional service or a mystic  yoga  process. But this conclusion is not for devotees who are actually serious. The great sage Nārada Muni is instructing Dhruva Mahārāja just to test him. Actually, the direct order is that from any point of life one should begin rendering devotional service. But it is the duty of the spiritual master to test the disciple to see how seriously he desires to execute devotional service. Then he may be initiated.
TEXT 33
यस्य यद् दैवविहितं स तेन सुखदुःखयोः । आत्मानं तोषयन्देही तमसः पारमृच्छति ॥३३॥
yasya yad daiva-vihitam sa tena sukha-duḥkhayoḥ ātmānam toṣayan dehī tamasaḥ pāram ṛcchati
yasya —anyone;  yat —that which;  daiva —by destiny;  vihitam —destined;  saḥ —such a person;  tena —by that;  sukha-duḥkhayoḥ —happiness or distress;  ātmānam —one's self;  toṣayan —being satisfied;  dehī —an embodied soul;  tamasaḥ —of the darkness;  pāram —to the other side;  ṛcchati —crosses.
TRANSLATION
One should try to keep himself satisfied in any condition of life—whether distress or happiness—which is offered by the supreme will. A person who endures in this way is able to cross over the darkness of nescience very easily.
PURPORT
Material existence consists of pious and impious fruitive activities. As long as one is engaged in any kind of activity other than devotional service, it will result in the happiness and distress of this material world. When we