So, here's a little backstory to this blog. I've been a big admirer and follower of Swami Sarvapriyananda, a monk within the Ramkrishna order. I often heard him share this story called "The Princess of Kashi" in his YouTube videos. It’s one of those stories you will not find much about on the internet, and there weren't any pictures or visuals related to it anywhere online.
As someone who's been experimenting with generative AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E lately, a thought struck me. Why not try making some visuals for this story myself? It sounded like a fun project, and who knows, maybe I can send it to swami if they turn out good.
Fast forward a bit, and after some tinkering with DALL-E, I managed to create a bunch of images that I felt really captured the story. I then Emailed them to swami. To my surprise, they got back to me pretty quickly, saying
“Thank you for your email and your beautiful representations of the story of the Princess of Kashi. We showed them to Swamiji this afternoon, and he asked us to let you know how much he liked them and to extend his namaskars and appreciation for your work.”
After that, I was left wondering what to do with these visuals. It felt like they deserved to be shared more broadly rather than just sitting on my computer. So, here we are—I decided to put together this blog post, not just to share the images, but also to dive into the story, exploring its deep message.
In an ancient Indian kingdom, there was a play called "The Princess of Kashi." This story happened a long time ago.
In this play, the role of the Princess of Kashi was to be played by a little girl. But, in the palace, there wasn't any little girl to play this part. So, the queen had a bright idea. She thought, why not dress up the prince, who was just five years old, as a girl for this role?
It was a small part. The prince just had to stand there, dressed up as the princess. He looked so cute that the queen wanted to remember this moment forever. She asked an artist to paint a portrait of him as the princess.
The artist finished the painting and wrote "The Princess of Kashi" at the bottom, along with the date.
Years passed, and this painting was forgotten in the palace cellar. The prince grew up to be a handsome, smart young man of 20, learning how to run the kingdom.
One day, the prince was wandering around the palace and found his way to the cellar. There, he found the painting of a young girl, the Princess of Kashi. He saw the date and realized she would be his age now. She was so beautiful that he fell in love with her at first sight.
The prince couldn't stop thinking about her. He was so in love that he stopped paying attention to his duties.
The king and queen noticed his strange behavior and were worried. They asked him what was wrong, but he was too shy to tell them.
Finally, a kind old minister talked to the prince. He promised to keep the prince's secret and managed to get him to open up.
The prince shyly admitted he was in love with the Princess of Kashi, whom he saw in a painting. He was determined to marry her.
The minister, surprised, asked to see the painting. When he saw it, he recognized it immediately.
He told the prince, "I need to tell you something important."
The prince was anxious, wondering if the princess was already married or worse.
The minister then revealed the truth about the play from 15 years ago. He explained that the prince himself had played the role of the Princess of Kashi.
The prince was shocked. He realized that the Princess of Kashi didn't exist, and his love was for an illusion.
Now, let's understand the deeper meaning of this story.
According to Vedanta, we see ourselves as separate individuals, living in a world of differences. This is duality - "me" and "the world.
"We all seek happiness. But, we often look for it outside, in the world. The problem is, the happiness we find in the world isn't real.
You might think, "But I do feel happy sometimes, like when I get something I want, or when I'm with people I like.
"Yes, these things make us happy. But this happiness isn't permanent. It's not the true, unchanging happiness we all want.
True happiness is constant and doesn't depend on anything outside. It's always there, no matter what's happening around us.
But, even though we don't find lasting happiness in the world, we keep looking for it. It's like we're programmed to seek this permanent happiness.
So, what's the big lesson from the Princess of Kashi story?
If the world doesn't have real happiness, then it must be within us. In fact, happiness is our true nature.
We are not just our personalities. We are the spirit, or the Self, and our nature is pure happiness, unaffected by anything outside.
We might have forgotten this truth, but deep down, we know it. That's why we never stop looking for happiness. We're trying to rediscover our true nature!
The most amazing teaching of Vedanta, shown through this story, is that in reality, there is no separation between "me" and "the world." The world that we think brings us happiness is just like the Princess of Kashi – it doesn't really exist in the way we think it does. What we are searching for is actually ourselves.
Just as the prince realized that the Princess of Kashi was just him in disguise, we too need to understand that the happiness we seek outside is actually within us. There's no world separate from us. It's all about finding ourselves, our true nature.
In simple words, we are not just who we think we are – our jobs, our relationships, our roles. We are something much deeper, much more joyful. Our true self is full of happiness, not touched by the changing world.
This story is a reminder to look within for happiness. It tells us that what we are looking for in the outside world has been inside us all along. We just need to recognize it.
So next time you feel unhappy or start looking for happiness in things, people, or situations, remember the story of the Princess of Kashi. It's a simple yet powerful reminder that the true joy we seek is already within us, waiting to be discovered.