Page:Stories of India's Gods & Heroes.djvu/139

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There lived of yore a king named Uttanapada, who had two wives, Suniti and Suruchi by name; and of these, Suruchi was the favourite. A son was born to her, named Uttama, and to Suniti one named Dhruva.

When these children were somewhat grown, it chanced on a day that King Uttanapada dandled Suruchi's son upon his knee; seeing which, the five-year-old Dhruva was fain to climb up too; but the king did not even notice him. Thereon Suruchi, seeing the despised wife's son thus slighted, spake arrogantly to the child in the king's hearing, saying, "Thou art unfit for such honour why seek it? If thou wouldst have it, go, adore the Supreme Being!"

Struck by these harsh words, the child Dhruva, sighing like a snake hissing in anger, left his father and repaired to his mother; and she, racked with grief, like a creeper caught in a forest fire, wept copiously. Then she said, "What my rival wife has said, is true : it is only by adoring the Supreme Being that thou canst overcome this inferiority."

With that, the boy, collecting his spirits, left his father's house, to do that which had been told him; and as he went, he met the sage Narada, who laid his hands upon him and blessed him, saying, "Surely thou art too young to vex thy spirit with thoughts of honour and dishonour; but if such thoughts do trouble thee, rest assured that the Deity overrules all actions. As for thy purpose, that