Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 8.204-205
Follow the Gopīs in Conjugal Service
“Without the help of the gopīs, one cannot enter into these pastimes. Only one who worships the Lord in the ecstasy of the gopīs, following in their footsteps, can engage in the service of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa in the bushes of Vṛndāvana. Only then can one understand the conjugal love between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. There is no other procedure for understanding.
What the purport teaches
- Devotional service is the means for returning home, back to Godhead. Everyone has a different taste in the Lord’s service.
- Service in servitude, fraternity or parental love does not enable one to enter the Lord’s service in conjugal love.
- To attain such service, one must follow in the footsteps of the gopīs in the ecstasy of sakhī-bhāva. Only then can one understand the transcendental mellow of conjugal love.
Try this today
Reread the translation today, noting the need to follow the gopīs rather than approach these pastimes independently.
Ask yourself
What does this teaching show me about the need for guidance in approaching Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s conjugal love?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.