Who wishes to chant God's Name?

Sri Ramakrishna: By repeating His name you rid yourself of all your sins. Lust, anger, desire for creature comforts and the rest all disappear.

A Devotee:  But who likes to repeat His name?

Sri Ramakrishna — Pray to God with a longing heart that you may develop a taste for His name. He always fulfills one’s wishes ...

Saying this, Sri Ramakrishna begins to sing in a sweet voice. Overwhelmed by the sorrows of man, he expresses to the Divine Mother the pangs he feels in his heart. Bringing upon himself the state of an ordinary human being, he talks to the Divine Mother of suffering of humanity.

Song –

O Mother Shyama, it is not anybody’s fault. I myself am drowning in the well I have dug.

The six passions – lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride and envy – are the spade by which I have dug a well in sacred land.

This well is now full of the waters of Kala (Death).

O the heartthrob of Death! O the Beloved of Death!

O my Redeemer! How can I save myself?

O the embodiment of the three gunas, You can rid me of these modes through Your powers.

How can I save myself from these waters of Death? Thinking of it, I shed an unceasing flow of tears.

Before, the level of the water of Death was not so high, but now it rises to my chest. How can I save myself?

O my Mother! You are my only refuge. Mother, liberate me. You can take me across by a single glance of Yours.

And then he sings of the delirious fever of mankind, which can be cured only by one’s love for Her name.

Song –

O Mother Shankari, O great physician, what delirious fever I suffer, in spite of the grace of Thy feet.

This perishable transitory pride of mine is consuming me in its flames. What depraved attachment I have developed for ‘me and mine’!

How can I sustain my life – my desire for wealth and friends is ceaseless?

O the bestower of all goodness! I continue to indulge in things illusory, in wrong doings, in committing sinful acts and so on.

Says Dasharathi: My eyes are full of the deep sleep of maya,

And my stomach filled with the worm of violence. I am revolving as in a whirlpool of illusory action.

I am developing night and day distaste for Your name. Alas! will I be cured of this malady?

Sri Ramakrishna — ‘Developing distaste for Your name.’ If in disease you develop distaste, you have no possibility of being saved. If you retain a bit of taste, there is good hope for cure. Therefore, they talk of taste for the Name. The Lord’s name must be repeated. Call the Lord by any name: Durga, Krishna, Shiva or any other. If, while repeating the Name, your love increases day by day, if you feel joy, then there is no danger. You are sure to be cured. His grace is sure to fall on you.

Source: Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita: Vol 2, Section 2, Chapter III