Text 27] Svayambhuva Manu Advises Dhruva Maharaja 479

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tam eva mrtyum amrtam tata daivam
sarvatmanopehi jagat-parayanam
yasmai balim visva-srjo haranti
gavo yatha vai nasi dama-yantritah

tam—unto Him; eva—certainly; mrtyum—death; amrtam—immortality;
tata—my dear son; daivam—the Supreme; sarva-atmana—in all respects;
upehi—surrender; jagat—of the world; pardyanam—ultimate goal; yasmai—
unto whom; balim—offerings; visva-srjah—all the demigods like Brahma;
haranti—bear; gavah—bulls; yatha—as; vai—without fail; nasi—in the nose;
dama—by a rope; yantritah—controlled.

TRANSLATION

My dear boy Dhruva, please surrender unto the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, who is the ultimate goal of the progress of the world. Everyone,
including the demigods headed by Lord Brahma, is working under His
control, just as a bull, prompted by a rope in its nose, is controlled by its
owner.

PURPORT

The material disease is to declare independence from the supreme
controller. Factually, our material existence begins when we forget the
supreme controller and wish to lord it over material nature. Everyone in
the material world is trying his best to become the supreme controller—
individually, nationally, socially and in many other ways. Dhruva Maharaja
was advised to stop fighting by his grandfather, who was concerned that
Dhruva was adhering to a personal ambition to fight to annihilate the whole
race of Yaksas. In this verse, therefore, Svayambhuva Manu seeks to eradi-
cate the last tinge of false ambition in Dhruva by explaining the position
of the supreme controller. The words mrtyum amrtam, “death and immor-
tality,” are significant. In Bhagavad-gita the Lord says, ‘“‘] am ultimate
death, who takes away everything from the demons.” The demons’ busi-
ness is to continually struggle for existence as lords over material nature.
The demons repeatedly meet death after death and create a network of
involvement in the material world. The Lord is death for the demons, but
for devotees He is amrta, eternal life. Devotees who render continuous
service to the Lord have already attained immortality, for whatever they
