Uttanapada

Uttanapada was a king of the Solar Dynasty. He ascended the throne after his father Manu. Uttanapada was a fragile and an uxorious king. He had two wives, named as Suruchi and Suniti who were blessed with a son each. Uttanapada was particularly more affectionate towards Suruchi. As a consequence, his other wife Suniti and her son Dhruva were not much paid attention. One day during the absence of his wife Suruchi, the king took the six year old Dhruva on his lap to fondle him. Queen Suruchi when saw this became annoyed and asked the king to stop loving the child and put him down. This incident hurt the little lad who went and complained to his mother Suniti. His mother calmed the grieving prince and asked him to pray to the Almighty for happiness. The young lad followed his mother`s words thenceforward began to pray to God for better days. Later when he grew up he ran away from his mother to live in the forest to lead an ascetic life. There he prayed to the Lord with much concentration of mind. The devotion of the Dhruva is much talked about among the Hindus. He had request for a kingdom which he had gained by the grace of god.

Meanwhile the proud queen, Suruchi, along with her son Uttama passed days merrily in the kingdom. One day the kingdom was overshadowed with a disaster. Prince Uttama with a large troop went out for hunting. During the prolonged period of hunting he arrived at the north of the Himalaya Mountain in the country of Yakshas. Uttama battled fiercefully with the Yakshas but met with a fatal end. On the other hand Uttanapada under the influence of Suruchi had expelled his other queen, Suniti and her son from his kingdom. After the death of his son Uttama he grew repentant and summoned back his queen Suniti and son Dhruva. He crowned Dhruva as the next king and he took up religious retirement.

Dhruva ascended the throne after his father and began to rule around 2865 BC. He led an army against the Yakshas to take revenge of his brother`s death. After a fierce battle he was finally able to defeat the Yakshas. Dhruva had become a popular king. After ruling the kingdom gloriously for many years he attained Bramha jnana (a true knowledge of the Supreme Being) and left the Kingdom to his eldest son Sisti.