Ramkrushna Paramhamsa’s intense yearning

Children, in order to realise God we need to have intense yearning for Him. Let us see one example of intense yearning of the great Saint Ramkrushna Paramhamsa in the following story.

​Ramkrushna Paramhamsa’s parents lived a life of poverty. They were so kind, that they used to give away their food to other poor and hungry people and themselves starve throughout the day. Ramkrushna Paramhamsa was born to such generous parents. When Ramkrushna was very young, his father passed away. So, Ramkrushna had to now find a way to fend for himself. He was accepted as a priest in a temple in the village of Dakshineshwar in Bengal. He used to perform puja (ritualistic worship) of Goddess Mahakali everyday. He used to feel like talking to the Goddess. He started becoming curious to know whether there was really any truth in the stone idol of God. He had only one aim, that is, to actually get a vision of God someday.

Day by day he started becoming restless and often used to cry for vision of the Goddess. He used to ask the Goddess, ‘Mother, are you really there? Is it possible to get a vision of God? If yes, how is it possible?’ This was the only thought in his mind; he could think of nothing else. Due to this, day after day it became difficult for him to regularly perform the puja and other rituals in the temple. To get a vision of the Goddess, he sometimes used to rub his forehead on the floor and cry out loudly, “Goddess, please have mercy on me. I want nothing else but Your presence in my heart.”

​Ramkrushna had heard that unless we give up all our desires we cannot get a vision of the Goddess. So, he started living accordingly. He sacrificed all the money that he had and took a vow that he shall never again even touch money. Everyone started to think that Ramkrushna had lost his mind.

In this way, many months passed, but Ramkrushna’s efforts to realise the ultimate truth did not cease. Finally, one day he got a vision of the Goddess. Thereafter, he got a vision of God innumerable times. He started to get vision of different forms of God. Thus he finally reached a state of Self-Realisation. In this way, the Goddess herself became Ramkrushna Paramhamsa’s Guru and showered Her grace on Him.

Children, in order to get a vision of God we must have intense yearning, just like Ramkrushna Paramhamsa. If we call God with intense yearning, He rushes to meet us and we can be graced with a vision of God.