seclusion in the forest. Six years later
he is killed in a forest fire.
Dhruva
(“fixed”) In Hindu mythology, a boy who
is a symbol for the unrelenting pursuit
of a goal. Dhruva is a king’s son, but for
some unknown reason his father favors
Dhruva’s half-brother over Dhruva.
Distressed by this insult, Dhruva takes a
vow to attain a place above all others,
and goes off to the forest to perform aus-
terities (tapas). After enduring bodily
mortifications for eons, the god Vishnu
appears to Dhruva to grant him a boon.
In response to Dhruva’s request for a
place above all others, Vishnu promises
Dhruva that after his death he will be
installed as the Pole Star, the pivot
around which all the other stars in the
sky will turn. Even now this star is
known by that name in India.
Dhuni
(from Sanskrit dhu, “to ignite”) A
smoldering firethat is kept burning by
ascetics. This fire serves multiple pur-
poses in asceticlife: It is a means to
stay warm in cold climates, a means to
perform physical asceticismby with-
standing heat, particularly in the sum-
mer, and its care and tending is also a
form of religious observance. The
dhuni is a natural gathering place, and
for many ascetics it is the center of
ascetic life, providing heat for warmth,
a fire for cooking and making tea, and
coals for lighting the chillum, a
straight pipe used to smoke tobacco
mixed with hashish (charas). The fire
itself is seen as the deity Agniin mate-
rial form. Agni is a witness to the con-
versation around the dhuni, which
should be of a serious and spiritual
nature. The dhuni’s sacred character
can be seen by certain restrictions that
were designed to maintain its purity:
one should not blow directly on the
fire (lest some saliva should contami-
nate it), but through a tube used for
this purpose; one should keep clean
the boundary around the dhuni (usu-
ally of made of hardened clay); and
one should not touch this boundaryDhuniAscetics gather around a dhuni, a smoldering fire used to stay warm and perform ascetic rituals.