312
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 8]
TRANSLATION
My dear lord, I am very impudent for not accepting your instructions, but this is not my fault. It is due to my being born in a kṣatriya family. My stepmother, Suruci, has pierced my heart with her harsh words. Therefore your valuable instruction does not stand in my heart.
PURPORT
It is said that the heart or mind is just like an earthen pot; once broken, it cannot be repaired by any means. Dhruva Mahārāja gave this example to Nārada Muni. He said that his heart, having been pierced by the arrows of his stepmother's harsh words, felt so broken that nothing seemed valuable but his desire to counteract her insult. His stepmother had said that because he was born in the womb of Sunīti, a neglected queen of Mahārāja Uttānapāda, Dhruva Mahārāja was not fit to sit either on the throne or on his father's lap. In other words, according to his stepmother, he could not be declared king. Dhruva Mahārāja's determination was to become king of a planet exalted even beyond that possessed by Lord Brahmā, the greatest of all the demigods.
Dhruva Mahārāja indirectly informed the great sage Nārada that there are four kinds of human spirit—the brahminical spirit, the  kṣatriya  spirit, the  vaiśya  spirit and the  śūdra  spirit. The spirit of one caste is not applicable to the members of another. The philosophical spirit enunciated by Nārada Muni might have been suitable for a  brāhmaṇa  spirit, but it was not suitable for a  kṣatriya . Dhruva frankly admitted that he was lacking in brahminical humility and was therefore unable to accept the philosophy of Nārada Muni.
The statements of Dhruva Mahārāja indicate that unless a child is trained according to his tendency, there is no possibility of his developing his particular spirit. It was the duty of the spiritual master or teacher to observe the psychological movement of a particular boy and thus train him in a particular occupational duty. Dhruva Mahārāja, having already been trained in the  kṣatriya  spirit, would not accept the brahminical philosophy. We have practical experience of this incompatibility of the brahminical and  kṣatriya  temperaments in America. The American boys, who have simply been trained as  śūdras , are not at all fit to fight in battle. Therefore, when they are called to join the military, they refuse because they do not have  kṣatriya  spirit. This is a cause of great dissatisfaction in society.
That the boys do not have the  kṣatriya  spirit does not mean that they are