Acharya Prashant uses a metaphor to explain the relationship between the ego, the mind, and the Self. He describes a scene in a king's palace where the queen is in her chamber, surrounded by her many friends, maids, and attendants. The atmosphere is one of great intimacy, friendship, and harmony. There is laughter, teasing, and a sense of belonging. The queen is sharing food with them, and there is a lot of fun and frolic. This scene, where the queen is surrounded by at least fifteen to twenty people, appears beautiful and heartwarming, a picture of complete happiness. Suddenly, the king arrives. The moment he enters, all the people who were with the queen immediately depart. The speaker notes that the wise ones leave on their own, while the shameless ones have to be told to leave. The queen, who was just moments ago enjoying the company of her friends, now has a new kind of smile on her face, a glow that is of a higher order than the happiness she felt before. This sudden departure of everyone and the queen's transformed expression is a great surprise. Acharya Prashant then explains the metaphor: the queen is the ego (Aham), and all her friends and attendants represent the mind (Man) and its various contents and attachments. The king represents the Self (Atma). The ego, surrounded by the mind's activities, feels a sense of completeness, but this is a superficial relationship. The moment the Self (the king) arrives, all the contents of the mind (the friends) become irrelevant and disappear. The ego (the queen) had a delusion that her friends were her true companions, but her only true companion is the king (the Self). The speaker quotes Kabir Saheb: "When the bride and groom unite, the wedding procession becomes pale." He further elaborates that the state of the queen before her friends arrived was loneliness, a state of emptiness waiting to be filled. In contrast, her state after the king's arrival is aloneness (ekant), a state of completeness where the need for worldly content is gone. The mind is full of thoughts and desires only as long as it is waiting for the Self. The arrival of the Self, like the arrival of the king, empties the mind of its usual chatter. This is what Lao Tzu meant when he said, "Under the leadership of the Sage, people's minds become empty." The speaker concludes that if the mind is full of noise, it is a sign of the Self's absence.
