Unfulfilled Desire

There was once a kingdom. A king lived there, and as in every familiar tale, the kingdom was prosperous. The king cared for his people as if they were his own children, and the people revered him like a God.

The king had a beautiful queen, and their daughter, the princess, was equally beautiful.
Everything in the kingdom resembled a fairytale, a perfect king, queen, and princess.

The princess had grown up surrounded by love and luxury. Her parents had never let her feel the absence of anything. Words like “lack” or “shortage” held no meaning for her.

As she came of age, one day she expressed her wish to travel outside the kingdom with her friends. Instantly, the entire royal machinery began preparing for her journey.

However, this time, the princess wished for something different, a simple trip, just her and a few selected friends, free from royal formalities and lavish arrangements. She wanted to escape the glitter and the constant service of maids and servants for a while.

Being who she was, her wish was fulfilled.

As planned, she set out with her close companions. Upon reaching a neighbouring kingdom, she encountered a different world altogether: poverty, helplessness, hunger, suffering. It was as though she had stepped into another universe.

While wandering through the kingdom, she saw a little girl pleading with her father to buy her a doll. But the father refused. Judging by their appearance, it didn’t seem like they couldn’t afford it, yet he still said no. The little girl, surprisingly, didn’t insist again and happily moved on.

This seemingly small incident had a deep impact on the princess’s mind.
To someone like her, who had never heard the word “no,” the entire situation was completely new.
What astonished her the most was how calmly the little girl accepted her father’s refusal.

What was an ordinary experience for most was something novel and unsettling for her.
The realisation that life includes denial and not everything is attainable for everyone shook her deeply.

She returned to her kingdom, but the memory of that incident lingered in her mind.

Gradually, her behaviour began to change. She grew resentful of the grandeur and luxury around her.
From the moment she woke up in the morning, even before her feet touched the floor, a maid would place her slippers; this long-standing practice now started to irritate her.

Even if she casually lifted her hand, multiple servants would rush in asking, “Do you command something?” There was no discomfort of any sort, and yet all of it began to feel unbearable. But she didn’t understand why.

When we lack something that others have, we naturally begin to envy that.
The princess, too, had begun to feel the same way.

She now wished that her life included at least one unfulfilled desire, but which one, she didn’t know.

In her perfectly comfortable life, that seemed like an impossible dream. Still, she constantly searched for a desire that could remain incomplete, something out of reach.

What could possibly be impossible for a princess?

She tried endlessly, but couldn’t think of any wish that could remain unfulfilled.

Day by day, her temperament grew strange.
Once cheerful and smiling, the princess had become irritable and angry at every little thing.

The king and queen were deeply troubled.
They couldn’t understand what exactly their daughter wanted.
They would keep asking, “What’s wrong? What do you need?”

But they didn’t realise that it was their constant fulfilment of her every wish that had become the very cause of her suffering.

Even the princess found it difficult to express her state of mind.
Because if you know what you want, you can chase after it. But if you don’t know what you’re seeking, then everything becomes difficult.

Even with everything she had, the princess felt that “something was missing.”

Her health deteriorated under the burden of her thoughts and behaviour.
Doctors, sages, and spiritual healers all tried their best, but nothing helped.

The king finally made a royal announcement, “Whoever cures the princess will be rewarded generously.”

Soon, people from around the world began to attempt to help her. Days passed, but nothing worked.

After some time, a sage was invited.

Using his powers, the sage realised that the princess suffered from no physical illness.

He took her into confidence and gently asked,
“Child, tell me what’s in your heart. No medicine can heal the mind.”

After so many days, the princess finally felt like someone understood her.
She narrated the incident she had witnessed that day and how it had affected her ever since.

The sage listened carefully, understood her dilemma, and with the king’s help, summoned the little girl’s father from the neighbouring kingdom.

Following the summons, the man came to meet the princess.
The sage explained to him the purpose of his presence and brought him to the princess.

After a moment, the princess asked, “Despite your ability to afford it, why did you refuse to buy your daughter that doll?”

The father replied, “You are right. I could have bought it for her. But I didn’t. Because I believe that if I always give her everything she asks for, she will get used to having all her wishes fulfilled. And one day, when I truly cannot give her anything, her disappointment will be unbearable”.
So I said no that day, to teach her that not everything in life is guaranteed.”

With that, the man quietly left.

The sage then turned to the princess and said, “Child, in this life, it is rare for anyone to receive everything they want. God has arranged it that way.

Some people, like that little girl, desire something as small as a doll and don’t get it. And others, like you, who have everything, still feel the absence of something. You, too, are searching for something.

In your case, the feeling of ‘something remaining incomplete’, that itself is your destiny.

Just like the doll remained an unfulfilled desire for that little girl, similarly, you too will have at least one desire that will remain incomplete in your life.

You must learn to live with that.

The way the little girl calmly accepted her father’s ‘no’, you too must accept that some desires may forever remain unfulfilled.”

The princess finally understood.

Slowly, her condition began to improve.

In time, she came to understand the true meaning of her life. She realised that not all desires can be fulfilled.

And just like the little girl quietly walked away after hearing “no”,
the princess, too, continued her life, carrying within her a silent, unfulfilled desire