Jayadvaita Maharaja, has begun teaching Module 2 of the Mayapur Institute’s Bhaktivaibhava course. Drawing from the Fourth Canto’s history of Maharaja Dhruva, Maharaja’s first lesson was all about determination, a quality the students will need to go the distance in Bhaktivaibhava.

Having heard from his mother that only God could help him get a kingdom greater than his father’s, Dhruva went to the forest determined to find God. Though only a boy of five years, he fearlessly approached tigers, elephants, and other wild beasts to see if they were God. So determined was Dhruva that after only six months, the Lord Himself appeared to ask Dhruva what he wanted.

Famous for getting to the point, Jayadvaita Maharaja challenged the students to be determined to please Krsna by their studies. Good scores on assessments are all well and good, but the point is to please the Lord by deeply studying the purports of His pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada. As the Lord says in the Adi Purana: “One who says he is My devotee is not actually My devotee. But one who is a devotee of My devotee, he is actually My devotee.”