NO CHARM LIKE RAMANAMA

Nama Article 18th June 2007

NO CHARM LIKE RAMANAMA

By Mahatma Gandhi

Speaking at the prayer meeting, Gandhiji gave the healing message of Ramanama and said: " Ramanama is not for the few; it is for all. He who takes this name lays by a rich store for himself, and it is inexhaustible. The more you draw upon it, the more it increases. It is infinite. As the Upanishad says, you take out infinite out of infinite and infinite remains behind. It is the unfailing panacea for all ills.

"But the condition is that it must come from the heart. Do evil thoughts possess you, or are you tormented by lust or greed? Then, there is no charm against it like Ramanama."

And he illustrated his meaning by a parable. "Suppose you are tempted to amass a big fortune by some easy and dishonest means. If you have faith in Ramanama, you will say to yourself. 'Why should I amass for my wife and children riches which they might squander away - why not leave them a legacy in the shape of sound character and sound education and training that will enable them to earn their living by honest industry and body labor? Ceaseless repetition of Ramanama will dispel your delusion and false attachment and the living realization will dawn on you that you were a fool to hanker after millions for the sake of your dear ones, instead of offering them the priceless treasure of His name which frees one from all bondage and wandering. Filled with the joy of that realization, such a person will tell his wife and children: 'I have not brought for you the treasure I had set out for, but something infinitely richer'.

'Where is it, show it to us?' they will say incredulously. 'It is the Name which is richer than all treasures,' he will reply, 'because It quenches the thirst for all riches. It is enshrined in my heart'."

Source: RAMANAMA