ਧ੍ਰ (dhroo)
Meaning: noun: Dhru or Dhruv, a devotee of the Divine.
Quote:
ਪਾਂਚ ਬਰਖ ਕੋ ਅਨਾਥੁ ਧ੍ਰੂ ਬਾਰਿਕੁ ਹਰਿ ਸਿਮਰਤ ਅਮਰ ਅਟਾਰੇ॥
paaṅch barakh ko anaath dhroo baarik hari simrat amar aṭaare.
The five year old orphan boy, Dhru, attained an immortal and permanent status through the remembrance of the Divine. – Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib, 999
Message: As the legend goes, Dhru or Dhruv was the older son of King Uttanpad. His mother was the King’s first wife, Suniti. The King had a second wife, Suruchi, who had a younger son called Uttam.
The King loved Suruchi more than Suniti. One day Dhru saw Uttam sitting in the lap of his father and expressed his desire to sit in his place. Suruchi objected to it and said, “O child, do not try to do so since you were not born from my womb. Only a child born to me has the right to the affection of the King as well as to the throne.”
When Dhru protested, Suruchi berated him saying, “Only God can allow you that privilege. Go ask Him.”
On hearing this, Dhru came weeping to his mother and narrated the whole incident. Suniti, being of gentle nature and now the lesser favorite wife, tried to console the distraught child.
The conversation between Dhru and his mother has been narrated by Bhai Gurdas in his vaar 10, pauri 1, as follows:
Tearfully and with fear, he asked his mother, “Are you a queen or a maidservant”? His mother replied, O son! “I am born a queen but I did not remember God and did not undertake acts of devotion and this is the reason for this plight”.
Dhru asked, “With what effort can the Kingdom be obtained, and enemies turned into friends?”
The mother replied, “One needs to worship the Divine through which one becomes virtuous”.
Dhru resolved to leave home and went into the forest alone to worship the Divine. He was fortunate to meet some wise men who guided him and gave instructions in spiritual wisdom. Legend has it that through meditation, he soon forgot the objective of his quest and instead, decided to lead a life devoted to the Divine. In place of just a Kingdom, the Divine granted him immortality.
This may have been a legend, but we can see in it a resolve, a determination in a child to seek the Divine. Age is no barrier in this quest. As the story goes, we see that the seeker of truth is never disappointed. We may not get what we ask for but we are given what we deserve, for the effort that we put in. Dhru returned home and was given the Kingdom by his father but his spiritual experience was much more valuable and precious.
ਅਟਲ ਭਇਓ ਧ੍ਰੂਅ ਜਾ ਕੈ ਸਿਮਰਨਿ ਅਰੁ ਨਿਰਭੈ ਪਦੁ ਪਾਇਆ॥
Through the remembrance of the Divine, Dhru became stable and obtained the state of fearlessness. – Guru Teg Bahadar, Guru Granth Sahib, 632
