Text 31 ]
Dhruva Mahārāja Returns Home
403
aho-oh; bata-alas; mama-my; anātmyam-bodily consciousness; manda-bhāgyasya —of the unfortunate;  paśyata —just see;  bhava —material existence;  chidaḥ —of the Lord who can cut off;  pāda-mūlam —the lotus feet;  gatvā- —having approached;  yāce- —I prayed for;  yat —that which;  antavat —perishable.
TRANSLATION
Alas, just look at me! I am so unfortunate. I approached the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who can immediately cut the chain of the repetition of birth and death, but still, out of my foolishness, I prayed for things which are perishable.
PURPORT
The word  anātmyam  is very significant in this verse.  Ātmā  means the soul, and  anātmya  means without any conception of the soul. Śrīla Rṣabhadeva instructed his sons that unless a human being comes to the point of understanding the  ātmā , or spiritual position, whatever he does is ignorance, and this brings only defeat in his life. Dhruva Mahārāja regrets his unfortunate position, for although he approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always able to give His devotee the highest benediction of cessation of the repetition of birth and death, which is impossible for any demigod to offer, he foolishly wanted something perishable. When Hiraṇyakaśipu asked immortality from Lord Brahmā, Lord Brahmā expressed his inability to offer such a benediction because he himself is not immortal; therefore immortality or complete cessation of the chain of repeated birth and death can be offered by the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead Himself, not by others.  Hariṁ vinā na ṣrtiṁ taranti . It is said that without the blessings of Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, no one can stop the continuous chain of birth and death within this material world. Therefore the Supreme Lord is also called  bhava-cchida . The Vaiṣṇava philosophy in the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness prohibits the devotee from all kinds of material aspirations. A Vaiṣṇava devotee should always be  anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya , free from all material aspirations for the results of fruitive activities or empiric philosophical speculation. Dhruva Mahārāja was actually initiated by Nārada Muni, the greatest Vaiṣṇava, in the chanting of  oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya . This  mantra  is a  viṣṇu-mantra , for by practicing the chanting of this  mantra  one is elevated to the Viṣṇuloka. Dhruva Mahārāja regrets that although he was initiated in the  viṣṇu-mantra  by a Vaiṣṇava, he still aspired for material benefits. That was another cause for lamentation. Although he got the result of the  viṣṇu-mantra  by the causeless mercy of the Lord, he lamented how foolish he was to strive for material benefits while