After a long life in which the only blot was a war with the Yakshas, Dhruv ascends to heaven and becomes the Pole Star.
Dhruv married Bhrami, the daughter of Prajapati Sisumara, and sired two sons Kalpa and Vatsara. He also married Ila, the daughter of demi-God Vayu, who gave birth to a son Utkala and a daughter. Dhruv’s younger stepbrother, Uttam, while still unmarried went on a hunting expedition to the Himalayas with his mother Suruchi. There a Yaksha killed them both.
This angered Dhruv and he decided to wage war on the Yakshas and annihilate their kingdom of Alkapuri. Dhruv faced an army of 130,000 Yakshas and a fierce battle ensued. Soon the Yakshas were on the receiving end and resorted to sorcery. They created a storm that rained blood and other body fluids. Simultaneously an assortment of weapons began to fall on Dhruv’s army. To top all this, snakes spewed fire and venom. The sages who were watching the battle urged Dhruv to use the Narayanastra or the weapon of Narayan. Narayan is another name of Vishnu. Therefore Dhruv fitted the arrow of Vishnu to his bow and released it on the Yaksha horde. The Yakshas began to fall and die under Dhruv’s onslaught.
From Pitraloka Swayambhav Manu was watching his grandson decimating the Yakshas and he was not pleased. He descended on earth to offer advice to Dhruv. He told Dhruv that excessive anger was not good. He pointed out that Dhruv was killing Yakshas who had nothing to do with the slaying of Uttam. Such slaughter was against the principles of religion and was a blot on the illustrious family of which Dhruv was a part. He said that Dhruv, who had already attained the blessings of Vishnu at the tender age of five (refer The Penance of Dhruv), should lead an exemplary life and not squander away his merits by such senseless and unacceptable action. Uttam’s fate was decided by the Lord on the basis of his karma and the Yaksha was merely an instrument of the Lord. Hence he instructed Dhruv to stop this massacre and yield to the Supreme God and also beg forgiveness of Kuber whose descendents Dhruv have killed. Having thus advised Dhruv Swayambhav Manu went back to his abode.
After receiving the words of wisdom from his grandfather, Dhruv yielded his anger and ceased fighting. Kuber came out to meet Dhruv, who greeted him with folded hands. Kuber thanked Dhruv for heeding Manu’s words and offered him any boon he sought. Dhruv first begged forgiveness for his actions and said that all he wanted was unflinching devotion to the Supreme God. Having been thus blessed by Kuber, Dhruv returned to his capital.
Dhruv ruled for thirty-six thousand years. He performed many sacrifices and established the rule of the righteous on earth. He continued rendering devoted service to Vishnu. He began to understand that all comforts and all relationships were illusionary. Therefore he gave up his kingdom and left for Vadrikashram in the Himalayas. Vatsara was appointed king in his place.
In Vadrikashram Dhruv concentrated all his energies in meditating on the Supreme God. In due course he yielded his mortal body and achieved liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Vishnu’s own chariot descended to earth with His personal attendants to escort Dhruv to Vishnulok. Death approached Dhruv as he was about to board the chariot but he was not frightened. He stepped on Death’s head and mounted Vishnu’s chariot. The only concern that Dhruv had was that his mother was being left behind on earth. Suniti was responsible for inculcating devotion during his formative years and was very close to him. But then he saw her ascending in another chariot and was happy.
Vishnu kept the promise that he had given to Dhruv when he was a lad of five years. Because of his unwavering devotion Dhruv was given the position of the Pole Star, the only star that does not revolve and about which the entire universe revolves.
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