Text 18]
Dhruva Mahārāja Goes Back to Godhead
509
of achieving the ultimate goal of life, that is to say, becoming always absorbed in thought of the Lord. This incessant thought of the Lord, as prescribed in the  Bhagavad-gītā , makes one the topmost  yogī .
TEXT 18
मक्ति हरौ भगवति प्रवहन्नजस्र- मानन्दबाष्पकलया मुहुरर्घमानः । विक्लिद्यमानहृदयः पुत्काविताङ्गो नात्मानमस्सरदसाविति मुक्तलिङ्गः ॥१८॥
bhaktim harau bhagavati pravahann ajasram ānanda-bāṣpa-kalayā muhur ardyamānaḥ viklidyamāna-hṛdayaḥ pulakācitāngo nātmānam asmarad asāv iti mukta-liṅgaḥ
bhaktim —devotional service;  harau —unto Hari;  bhagavati —the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  pravahan —constantly engaging in;  ajasram —always;  ānanda —blissful;  bāṣpa-kalayā —by a stream of tears;  muhuḥ —again and again;  ardyamānaḥ —being overcome;  viklidyamāna —melting;  hṛdayaḥ —his heart;  pulaka —standing of hairs;  ācita —covered;  aṅgaḥ —his body;  na —not;  ātmānam —body;  asmarat —he remembered;  asau —he;  iti —thus;  mukta-liṅgaḥ —free from the subtle body.
TRANSLATION
Due to his transcendental bliss, incessant tears flowed from his eyes, his heart melted, and there was shivering and standing of the hairs all over his body. Thus transformed, in a trance of devotional service, Dhruva Mahārāja completely forgot his bodily existence, and thus he immediately became liberated from material bondage.
PURPORT
Due to constant engagement in devotional service—hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping the Deity, etc., as prescribed in nine varieties—there are different symptoms which appear in the body of a devotee. These eight bodily transformations, which indicate that a devotee is already liberated within himself, are called  aṣṭa-sāttvika-vikāra . When a devotee