Once upon a time King Ranaturya ruled over Kirtinagar. His government’s performance was going smoothly. The subjects felt blessed owing to such a great king. No one had any complain in his kingdom.

Shridhar, the richest man in town, was King Ranaturya’s intimate friend. They spend most of the hours of a day together. The rich man’s eldest son was highly talented; he had been running the rich man’s business very efficiently. King Ranaturya had great respect for his friend. Even in the decisions of the administration, he sought his rich friend’s advice. If Shridhar could not meet the king due to some other work, the king would leave his palace and begin to look for his friend in the town. Both of them were past fifty years of age. People admired their friendship.

The summer was on the verge of adieu and clouds had begun to appear in the sky. One pleasant day, the rich man reached the king’s palace. Like any other day, he took his seat beside the king.

It was surprising that that day the king looked at him but did not say anything. The rich man remained quiet too. All other activities were going on smoothly in the court and the courtiers were busy. When the court was adjourned, the courtiers went back to their homes but the king did not speak. Shridhar was worried because of the king’s silence.

When he was about to leave, the king said, “Where are you going? Let’s sit somewhere.”

The rich man stopped. They went out for a walk but there seemed to be a kind of disturbing silence between them. They talked but something was missing. At night they said goodbye to each other and went to their houses.

Next morning, the king met the rich man but that meeting was nowhere like their earlier meetings. There was no intimacy. They were sad but there was no obvious reason.

One morning, when the rich man reached the palace, the king took him to his bedroom and informed him that he was restless. Shridhar said that he was restless too. They decided to visit the Royal Scholar to seek his advice in this regard.

The Royal Scholar heard them both and then said, “There are two types of human passions, good and evil, always active in a person. When two people come close to each other with good feeling, a stream of love begins to flow. This occurrence is named love by us. Since our passions can’t speak, we give them words. When we are unable to give words to our passion, they remain suppressed and disturb us, and as a result even the pure stream of love within our existence is contaminated and our relations are strained. You will have to find the reasons within you and if you can’t find them, your problem will never be solved.”

The king and the rich man began to think.