Page:The Gospel of Râmakrishna.djvu/248

 Tamal tree they were seized with the very mad- ness of love. Disciple: This was also the case with Chai- tanya. Looking at the forest he thought it was Vrindavan, the sacred birthplace of Sri Krishna, that was before him ! Bhagavan: Oh! if anyone is but favored with a single particle of this ecstatic love! What devotion! What intense love! Of this devotion they not only had the full complement (sixteen Annas) but a great deal more than the full complement — five Sikas and five Annas! This is called the madness of Divine Love. The chief thing is to have intense love and sincere and earnest longing for God. On what- ever path you may travel, whether you believe in the Divinity with or without form, whether you have faith in God-incarnate in a human form or not, — if you have intense love and sin- cere longing for Him, you are sure to attain to Him. He alone knows what He is like. He Himself will make you realize His Divine Nature. Why should you be mad after the things of the world? If you must be mad, be mad for God. There is a madness of Divine Love, a madness of Bhakti, or ecstasy, and a madness of Jnana. Radha had the madness of