narada uvaca

jananyabhihitah panthah

sa vai nihsreyasasya te

bhagavan vasudevas tam

bhaja tam pravanatmana

 

Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada: 

 

The great sage Narada told Dhruva Maharaja: The instruction given by your mother, Suniti, to follow the path of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is just suitable for you. You should therefore completely absorb yourself in the devotional service of the Lord.

 

Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada: 

 

Dhruva Maharaja’s demand was to achieve an abode even greater than Lord Brahma’s. Within this universe, Lord Brahma is supposed to be in the most exalted position, for he is the chief of all demigods, but Dhruva Maharaja wanted a realm beyond his. Therefore his desire was not to be fulfilled by worshiping any demigod. As described in Bhagavad-gita, the benedictions offered by the demigods are all temporary. Therefore Narada Muni asked Dhruva Maharaja to follow the path recommended by his mother to worship Krsna, Vasudeva. When Krsna offers anything, it is beyond the expectation of the devotee. Both Suniti and Narada Muni knew that the demand of Dhruva Maharaja was impossible for any demigod to fulfill, and therefore both of them recommended following the process of devotional service to Lord Krsna.

 

Narada Muni is referred to here as bhagavan because he can bless any person just as the Supreme Personality of Godhead can. He was very pleased with Dhruva Maharaja, and he could have at once personally given whatever he wanted, but that is not the duty of the spiritual master. His duty is to engage the disciple in proper devotional service as prescribed in the sastras. Krsna was similarly present before Arjuna, and even though He could have given him all facilities for victory over the opposing party without a fight, He did not do so; instead He asked Arjuna to fight. In the same way, Narada Muni asked Dhruva Maharaja to undergo devotional discipline in order to achieve the desired result.