Context
Young Prince Rama has returned from a pilgrimage to holy places across the land. Instead of returning refreshed, he appears gaunt, withdrawn, and deeply troubled. King Dasharatha, alarmed by his son's condition, summons the royal court including Sage Vasishtha. Rama is asked to speak his heart.
The Dialogue
Rama: "O noble ones gathered here, forgive me if my words bring discomfort. I have traveled to sacred rivers and ancient temples, yet everywhere I looked, I saw only the same thing - impermanence devouring everything. What is the use of wealth when the wealthy man dies? What is the purpose of pleasure when it turns to ash in the mouth even as we taste it?"
Vasishtha: "Speak on, dear Rama. Let your heart empty itself completely."
Rama: "I have seen kings reduced to beggars by time's wheel. I have seen beautiful cities now buried under sand. Every attachment seems a preparation for grief. Every gain, a setup for loss. Tell me, revered sage - what is the point of living when death stalks every breath? Why should I act at all when all action leads to the same dust?"
Vasishtha: "Your questions, Rama, are not signs of weakness but of awakening. The sleeping man does not question his dream. Only one who is beginning to wake asks - what is real?"
Rama: "But this questioning brings no peace! It is like a fire that consumes but gives no warmth. I cannot enjoy what others enjoy. The palace feels like a prison. The pleasures of youth seem like toys for the deluded."
Vasishtha: "And yet, you still breathe. You still ask. There is something in you that refuses to be extinguished by this despair. What is that?"
Rama: "I do not know. Perhaps it is merely habit. Or perhaps... perhaps there is something I have not yet understood, some truth that would make sense of this senseless existence."
Vasishtha: "That 'perhaps' is the seed of liberation, dear prince. Your despair is not a disease - it is the beginning of the cure. The one who is content with shadows never seeks the light. Your disenchantment with the unreal is the first step toward the Real."
Rama: "Then teach me, O sage. What is this Real that remains when all else passes away? I will sit at your feet for a hundred years if needed."
Vasishtha: "A hundred years of sitting will not help if the mind wanders. But a single moment of true understanding can dissolve lifetimes of confusion. The teaching I shall give you is not new information but a mirror - to show you what you have always been, beneath the costume of prince, beneath the drama of birth and death."
Rama: "I am ready to hear, even if the truth destroys everything I thought I was."
Vasishtha: "Good. That willingness to be destroyed is itself the doorway. Let us begin."
✨ Key Lesson
Disenchantment with worldly life (vairagya) is not depression but the awakening of discrimination. The one who questions the dream is beginning to wake up. This existential despair, when properly directed, becomes the first step toward liberation.