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The Princess of Kashi
Image source: Marta Dalloul Art
Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince. He was a wise man who cared for others and people in his kingdom. The people in his kingdom were grateful that one day this wise prince would become their king. He must have been in his early 20s when this story took place.
One day, he was walking along in his palace enjoying the beautiful morning. That day, accidentally, he came across a door in his palace. The door was locked and he had never been to the other side of that door. He was curious to know what was behind that door. So he called out to the servants and asked them about the door. They informed him that the door goes to an underground cellar and there are ancient items stored there that are no longer in use. Something intrigued the prince. May be he thought that he will find something of value belonging to his ancestors. So he asked the servants to open the door.
As the servants told him, the door led to an underground dark cellar. The prince walked in with his servants in that large dark room that stored a large collection of items – some interesting and some not so interesting. As the prince walked ahead with a fire torch in his hand, his eyes fell on a grand painting – a painting of a girl. The moment the eyes of prince fell on that picture, he was instantly enamored by the innocent looking face of that girl. The royal clothes and the magnificent jewelry that this girl wore indicated that she must be of a royal lineage. The prince was right as indicated by the graving below that painting. It said – “The Princess of Kashi.” There was a date signed in that painting too. The prince quickly calculated how old this princess would be now based on that date. She must be close to his age! The prince got excited. He was in love with this princess. He wanted to meet her.
Sadly, it wasn’t appropriate for a royal prince to profess his love. He kept it to himself. But the desire to meet that princess kept on growing. He grew sad and started to lose his health. Everyone in the palace got worried but no one knew what ailed the prince. Until one day, an old minister came up to him to talk to him. This minister was known to be able to talk and get others to share what is in their heart.
“I am in love.”, the prince told the minister.
“Oh! That’s a good news, prince. Tell me, who is that lucky girl?”, the minister asked.
“I have only seen her painting from her childhood. I am sure she must be of my age. I want to to marry her but I don’t know if I can find her.”, the prince said.
“Of course, we will find her for you. Why don’t you show me that painting? We need to hurry up because who knows that girl might be married now. We don’t even know if she is alive today. Do tell me where did you find that painting?”, the minister asked.
“Minister, I found that painting in our royal cellar.”, the prince said.
The minister smiled because he now knew the mysterious girl the prince was talking about. He still humored the prince and said, “Let’s walk and see that painting once. Do you know anything more about her, prince?”
“Yes, she is a princess of Kashi.”, the prince said.
The minister smiled once again as the prince just confirmed what he had doubted so far. When they walked and reached the cellar to look at that painting, the prince spoke once again, “Can you help me find this beautiful princess, minister?”
“Of course, prince. I think I have already found her.”, the minister said and he started looking for something. He then asked the prince to turn around and look at the mirror. He said, “Here she is … the princess of Kashi. You are that prince!”
The prince looked puzzled and that’s when the minister told him a story from 15 years back. “Once the queen had planned to stage a drama in the palace called ‘The Princess of Kashi’. The role of that young princess was to be played by a 5 year old girl. Since the queen couldn’t find anyone suitable to play that role, she dressed you as a young girl in the royal clothes. After the drama was over, the queen found you to be so cute and beautiful that she ordered a painter to paint the picture of the young prince as a princess. That’s how that painting was created, prince. That princess is none other than you.”, the minister told.
The prince staggered back in shock and bewilderment as he heard the minister’s words.
On realising the truth that the Princess of Kashi didn’t exist, and that he himself was what he was yearning for, his desire for the princess melted away.
He realised that he alone is that girl in the painting! But why, did the desire go away? Is it because he married her? No. Or did it go away because he realized there was no way he could marry her? No. It went away because he realized that there is no such girl, as apart from him. The girl in the picture and he himself are one and the same. In this story, the Prince realized the duality of him and the Princess, was only ignorance and not reality. There are no two different individuals, two different beings. The illusion was caused by his not knowing, was because of darkness of ignorance. The desires within his mind and understanding also disappeared.
This story is often used to convey that the source of our sorrow is that we want to acquire things in this world and we consider those things to be separate and apart from us. The ultimate truth is that this world is a mere illusion of supreme consciousness where nothing is separate from us. Everything is part of us and within us only. The moment we realize this truth that we are not separate but one, our desires cease to exist and we are fulfilled because there is nothing left to acquire in that oneness.
Deep down, we crossdressers are lucky that we have a glimpse of this truth because we all have our princess of Kashi. We all know that she is no one else but our own self. And yet, we suffer and crave for her. What is it that we are doing wrong here? We know the truth but we don’t use this truth to understand our true nature. What do you think?
You can read more about this story here.
Note: No copyright violation intended. Image will be removed upon request.
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Wow this was unexpectedly good
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Thanks Nikki. This story has a significant deeper meaning for spiritual aspirants. So we don’t want to undermine that. It’s an attempt for us to think why a prince who was in a similar situation as us and found instant peace and happiness but we are still yearning for it.
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