Story of the Prince who grew up in the house of a Hunter (as told by Sankaracharya in his Bhashya to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

I had used this story in the introduction to my book.

Once a prince got separated from his parents at the time of his birth, and was left in a forest. A hunter noticed him and brought him up. Not knowing his birth in a royal family, and thinking that he belonged to the hunter tribe, the prince used to perform the duties of the hunter tribe. Ignorant of the truth *I am a king* he did not perform the duties of a King. Once, he happened to meet a most compassionate and wise person, who recognised that he was of princely birth, by the characteristic marks of royalty in his body (Samudrika sastra), and informed him of his royal ancestry. He told the prince "You are not a hunter. You are the son of some King. But due to some reason or the other you just happened to reside in this house of a hunter". In this way, he made the prince realise the truth. Realising his true nature, the Prince gave up his acquired habits of a hunter tribe, and following the instructions of his Guru, regained his kingdom and started performing his duties as per his natural inheritance. In the same way, this soul which has separated from the Paramatma, like sparks are seen separated from the fire, having entered this deep dense forest comprising of the body, indriyas etc thinks "I am a combination of this body and indriyas. I am lean. I am obese. I am happy. I am sad" without remembering his true nature of identity with the Paramatma. When a learned Acharya makes him realise thus "I am not a combination of body etc. I am the Supreme Brahman uncontaminated by these things", he discards the three fundamental desires, and starts meditating "Aham Brahmasmi" "I am Brahman". Just as, even during his life as a hunter, the prince never truly loses the royal marks upon his body, should one understand the statement "You have come out of your state of union with Parabrahman, like sparks come out of the fire" since it is seen that the spark, before arising out of the fire, was one with fire.