" The Chariot and Five Horses Run in Relative Speed "

Raman and Ramanan , two young friends, were seated near the pool of water under the shadow of a mango tree in the garden and were engaged in a conversation. They saw a Rishi coming towards the direction they were sitting but stopped ten yards before.

The Rishi unfolded a bundle and took out some white substance which looked like ' Ata flour.' The sage became busy gathering bundles of dry sticks and lighted them. He took out a medium sized stone from the ground and kept it above the fire. Raman and Ramanan were watching the Rishi preparing Roti with the gadgets he found in the garden site. He made two Rotis and then rushed to the pool side to fetch water. As he was fetching the water, the friends observed a cryptic change in the Rishi's face. The sage was fast to reach the first spot and took the two rotis in his hand and tore them to pieces , scattered them on the floor and splashed the water over and started walking in the opposite direction.

Ramanan signalled his friend and both ran after the Rishi to inquire his action which was truly baffling. The sage stood still hearing footsteps behind and Ramanan begged the sage to let them know why he abandoned the Rotis.

The Rishi looked sorrowful but explained he should not have desired on the first count to have the Roti. In the short interval of time when he went to fetch the water for drinking, he confessed that his mind oscillated whether the Rotis were safe or any bird, animal or some Yatri had carried away from its place. It was a form of fear and soon turned as greed as he felt that the Rotis belonged to him and no one had the right to snatch them from him. A Rishi should not have a belonging sense and the desire itself took the form of hate and the ' Raga, Dvesha' made him to realise that it was not becoming of a true Rishi which ultimately led him to throw away the Rotis into pieces.

The sage took deep breath and addressed the the youths :- " The uncontrolled worldly desires will ruin the beautiful spiritual journey of life. The body can be compared to a chariot. the soul is the passenger. Duty and renunciation are the two wheels of the chariot. Love for ' Parama Dhama ' can be regarded as the axle. The five senses are the horses of the chariot. Raga and Dvesha are the stumbling blocks and lust, greed, anger are the plunderers. Scriptures provide knowledge to dispel the darkness. Intellect is the driver of the chariot. The intellect needs to be strong by the fire of self - Knowledge and discrimination Yama and Niyama serve as the whip when Sadhana and Detachment will act as the two cords to control the sense-horse. Carelessness can cause accident on the road to " Parama Dhama ". The Maya river has to be crossed by using Japa as the boat.

The Sage continued that the ' Pancha Boothas ' namely Akasa or Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth are the basic elements and one should make the right use of the five sense organs namely the ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose. Supreme intellect is known by various names based on the functions performed by the body. When it thinks, it is known as the MIND. When it reasons it is BUDDHI. Citta or thought waves when the mind wanders or remembers and it is ' Ahankara or EGO when it has the feeling of doer-ship. When it does the functions in the BODY it is called " PRANA ", the vital force of life.

Ramanan and Raman realised at the end of Rishi's lecture that self realisation is the goal of human birth. the intellect becomes polluted during the youthful years just like the clear water of Ganga gets muddy during the rainy season.

Ramanan's face brightened and he told his friend what the Rishi told had also been confirmed by the Scientist Einstein that the mind and matter are both forms of Energy and found the famous formula E = mc2. " Energy equals mass times the speed of Light squared - the theory of relativity "