SB 4.30.4
dasa-varsa-sahasrante
purusas tu sanatanah
tesam avirabhut krcchram
santena samayan ruca
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
At the end of ten thousand years of severe austerities performed by the Pracetas, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to reward their austerities, appeared before them in His very pleasing form. This appealed to the Pracetas and satisfied the labor of their austerities.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Performing ten thousand years of severe austerities does not seem a happy endeavor. Yet the devotees, the serious students of spiritual life, undergo such austerities to attain the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At that time, when the duration of life was very long, people could undergo severe austerities for thousands of years. It is said that Valmiki, the author of Ramayana, underwent meditational austerities for sixty thousand years. The Supreme Personality of Godhead appreciated the austerities undergone by the Pracetas, and He finally appeared before them in a pleasing form. Thus they all became satisfied and forgot the austerities they underwent. In the material world, if one is successful after hard labor, he is very pleased. Similarly, the devotee forgets all his labors and austerities as soon as he contacts the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although Dhruva Maharaja was only a five-year-old boy, he underwent severe austerities by eating simply dry foliage, drinking only water and taking no food. In this way, after six months he was able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. When he saw the Lord, he forgot all his austerities and said, svamin krtartho ’smi: “My dear Lord, I am very pleased.”
Of course, these austerities were performed in the Satya-yuga, Dvapara-yuga and Treta-yuga, but not in this Age of Kali. In this Kali-yuga, one can attain the same results simply by chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Because the people of this age are fallen, the Lord is kind enough to give them the easiest method. Simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, one can attain the same results. However, as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu points out, we are so unfortunate that we are not even attracted to chanting the maha-mantra — Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.