ShriMaharaj was engaged in a friendly discussion in the temple of Rama at Jalna. Just then an official accompanied by his wife came for darshana. They requested that both be granted initiation. When asked what they wanted to achieve by receiving initiation, the official said, 'We want it so as to obtain love for Rama and His nama.' Upon this, addressing the gathering, ShriMaharaj said, 'How many years have passed since each one of you received initiation ?' Some said five years, some ten, some seventeen, and some said twenty-three years. After listening to all that, ShriMaharaj asked, "In that case all of you must have developed love for nama; can you say, yes, to that ?" But no one would say 'yes'. Then ShriMaharaj said, "You all worship your guru every day, peruse religious books, practise namasmarana a good deal; and yet you have not been able to develop love for nama. What is the reason? You do not feel that nama is everything in life. You do not live for nama. To develop love for nama, one should either chant it because one's guru likes it, or alternatively, one should chant it with a firm conviction that in chanting nama lies one's welfare. One can presume that love for nama is born when one feels restless without nama. Then a person's mind will not get involved in anything else."
