If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad

“If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.” — thus spoke Sri Ramakrishna, the saint of Bengal, whose life burned like a lamp of devotion in the dark age of disbelief. In these words, the mystic unveils a divine paradox — that the world calls madness what heaven calls ecstasy, and that true sanity is not found in the pursuit of power, wealth, or pride, but in the madness of divine love. To the worldly mind, such passion seems folly; but to the awakened soul, it is the highest wisdom, for it is through this sacred madness that the soul finds its home in eternity.

The origin of this saying lies in the teachings and life of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–1886), a mystic whose heart overflowed with devotion to the Divine Mother. He was a man who saw God everywhere — in every face, in every grain of sand, in every breath of wind. To those around him, his behavior sometimes seemed eccentric, even mad; he would speak to the Divine as to a beloved, laugh and weep in ecstasy, and forget the world in his trances of love. Yet through this divine madness, he became a living embodiment of purity and compassion, revered by thousands. Thus, when he said, “If you must be mad, be mad with the love of God,” he was not condemning the passion of the heart — he was sanctifying it, directing it away from illusion and toward truth.

The things of the world — wealth, fame, pleasure, and power — are like mirages that vanish when pursued. Men and women spend their lives chasing them, and when they fail to grasp them, they fall into despair; when they succeed, they find emptiness. This, Ramakrishna called worldly madness. It is the madness that drives one to envy, greed, and restlessness — the madness of a mind enslaved by desire. Yet this same energy, when turned toward the divine, becomes a river of grace. He taught that the passion which binds us to the world can also free us from it, if only we change its direction. Be mad for God, he said — love Him so deeply that all other desires fade into shadow. For in that madness lies peace, and in that surrender lies freedom.

The story of Saint Francis of Assisi offers a shining mirror to Ramakrishna’s truth. Francis was born to wealth and comfort, yet he abandoned everything to follow the voice of heaven. The people of his town mocked him as a fool, a beggar, a madman — for he spoke to birds, blessed the sun, and sang to God in the streets. But his madness was the madness of love, and through it he found the joy that all the riches of the world could not give. When Francis walked barefoot through the dust, smiling in poverty, he was living the same vision that Ramakrishna later proclaimed: if one must be mad, let it be for the eternal, not the fleeting. The world may call it insanity, but heaven calls it devotion.

In truth, every great soul has known this divine madness. The prophets and saints of every age — whether it was Mirabai, who sang to Krishna while the world scorned her; or Kabir, who defied priests and kings to speak the language of love — all drank from this same cup. To love God completely is to lose oneself, and in that loss, to find the Self that is beyond all boundaries. Ramakrishna, in his simple way, invites all to taste this nectar — to go beyond reason, beyond convention, beyond the pale comforts of the world, and to plunge into the infinite.

But how, one may ask, can we live this teaching in the world of duty and responsibility? Ramakrishna would say: begin where you are. Let your love for the divine grow like a fire — start with prayer, with gratitude, with service to others. Love the divine not as an abstract power, but as the very essence that breathes through all beings. See God in the faces you meet, in the work you do, in the silence between thoughts. If you must be “mad,” then let your madness be one of compassion, forgiveness, and wonder. Let it make you gentle, not reckless; free, not detached.

So, my child, remember this: the madness of the world ends in weariness, but the madness of love ends in peace. To be “mad for God” is not to reject the world, but to see it through divine eyes — to live in it without being consumed by it. When the heart burns with divine love, every act becomes worship, every moment becomes holy. Therefore, if your soul must burn, let it burn for what is eternal. If your heart must break, let it break open in love for God.

For the saints and sages knew what the world forgets — that the highest wisdom often looks like folly, and the truest sanity lies in surrender. Be mad, then, but mad with the love of God. Let the world call you foolish; let heaven call you blessed. For the one who loves God with all his being has already crossed the stormy sea of life — and stands, serene and shining, upon the shores of eternity.