Once upon a time, there was a king by the name of Uttanpada. He had two wives - Suniti and Suruchi. While Uttanpada loved Suruchi and her son deeply, he despised Suniti and her son. In fact, he even sent away Suniti and her son, Dhruva to the forest.
One day, Dhruva went to the palace and found Suruchi’s son sitting on his father’s lap. Dhruva too wanted to sit on his father’s lap, but when he went to ask him, Suruchi interrupted him and told him that there was no place for him there. Uttanpada too did not say anything and upon seeing this, Dhruva became very sad and went back to his mother. He cried to her narrating what had happened. Suniti then started to preach to him about Lord Vishnu and the universe. Dhruva then decided to ask Lord Vishnu for help and started to perform penance in the forest. Seeing this, sage Narada was impressed and taught Dhruva to defend himself in the forest against wild animals.
Dhruva went to a place as guided by Narada and started his penance. His penance was said to be so intense that the 3 worlds shook and all the gods were impressed by a child’s devotion. Lord Vishnu was impressed with the penance done by Dhruva and finally appeared before him. He granted Dhruva the wish of sitting on his father’s lap as well as being the only star in the sky which would never change its position. He also said that Dhruva would go on to become a great ruler and his fame would spread far and wide.
Sage Narada then informed king Uttanpada about Dhruva and his penance. King Uttanpada was ashamed by his actions and awaited the return of Dhruva. Once he returned, king Uttanpada abdicated his throne and made Dhruva the king. Dhruva went on to become a wise and just king and after his death he became the bright northern star which we see in the sky today. That is why to this day, the northern pole star always remains constant in the sky and travellers use it as a guide for direction.