Guru Maharaj: Of course, Dhruva Mahārāja was the grandson of Svyāmbhuva, the great grandson of Lord Brahmā. He was a kṣatriya and he wanted to achieve a post higher than his grandfather. But then he was fully concentrating on the Kṛṣṇa japa. So, by that means he was not being swayed. But practicing these austerities in the age of Kali is not necessary. By the mercy of Lord Caitanya, by the mercy of Śrīla Prabhupāda, we can achieve pure devotion to Kṛṣṇa. With some basic austerities we perform – we eat kṛṣṇa-prasāda, we chant our japa, we avoid breaking the regulative principles. Like this we stay occupied in Kṛṣṇa’s service. So, if you do very harsh austerities, there are dangers that your heart will become hard. Some devotees, their heart becomes like gold and hard. Some devotees’ hearts are like butter and that melts. So, we admire the great austerities of Dhruva, but fortunately we don’t necessarily have to perform some austerities,our austerities are relatively simple.
16-Aug-2020 Śrīdhām Māyāpur, India