Hare Kṛṣṇa,
CC Ādi 1.6
śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vānayaivā-
svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ
saukhyaṁ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt
tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ
Desiring to understand the glory of Rādhārāṇī’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appeared from the womb of Śrīmatī Śacī-devī, as the moon appeared from the ocean.
Therefore, the third of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s three desires is to experience the happiness that Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs experience in their exchange of loving service with Kṛṣṇa.
In order to explain this principle further, Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami explains in length the difference between love and lust. In this material world, we have a perverted understanding of love. What is lust in this world is mistakenly coined as love. He explains, through the example of the gopīs, the meaning of true love:
“The desire to gratify one’s own senses is kāma [lust], but the desire to please the senses of Lord Kṛṣṇa is prema [love]. The object of lust is only the enjoyment of one’s own senses. But love caters to the enjoyment of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus it is very powerful. Social customs, scriptural injunctions, bodily demands, fruitive action, shyness, patience, bodily pleasures, self-gratification and the path of varṇāśrama-dharma, which is difficult to give up — the gopīs have forsaken all these, as well as their own relatives and their punishment and scolding, for the sake of serving Lord Kṛṣṇa. They render loving service to Him for the sake of His enjoyment. That is called firm attachment to Lord Kṛṣṇa. It is spotlessly pure, like a clean cloth that has no stain. Therefore lust and love are quite different. Lust is like dense darkness, but love is like the bright sun. Thus there is not the slightest taint of lust in the gopīs’ love. Their relationship with Kṛṣṇa is only for the sake of His enjoyment.” (CC Adi 4.165-172)
Next Srila Kaviraja Goswami describes how the vraja- gopīs have no tinge of desire for self-enjoyment; their existence is for the sole purpose of pleasing Kṛṣṇa. They do not care for their own pleasures or pains. All their physical and mental activities are directed toward offering enjoyment to Lord Kṛṣṇa. They have renounced everything for Kṛṣṇa; their only attachment is to give Him pleasure. Everything they did is just for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. They dressed themselves as beautifully as possible, just to make Kṛṣṇa happy by seeing them. They had no ulterior desires. They dedicated their bodies, and everything they possessed, to the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, taking for granted that their bodies were meant for His enjoyment. They dressed themselves on the understanding that Kṛṣṇa would be happy by seeing and touching them. (CC Adi 4.181 Purport)
Mathematically, in transcendental realm, the happiness a devotee feels are directly proportional to the selfless devotional service he/she offers to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The gopis have no inclination for their own enjoyment; their only happiness is in seeing Kṛṣṇa happy. Thus, they experience greater bliss in proportion to the extent that they can make Him happy. This makes sense from the principle/formula Krsna Himself established: “In whatever way My devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.” (BG 4.11)
“The wonderful characteristics of the gopīs are beyond imagination. They have no desire for personal satisfaction, yet when Kṛṣṇa is happy by seeing them, that happiness of Kṛṣṇa makes the gopīs a million times more happy than Kṛṣṇa Himself.” (CC Adi 4.187 Purport)
Thus, a transcendental competition ensues. When Lord Kṛṣṇa sees the gopīs, His joy increases, and His unparalleled sweetness increases also. The beauty of Lord Kṛṣṇa increases at the sight of the beauty of the gopīs. And the more the gopīs see Lord Kṛṣṇa’s beauty, the more their beauty increases. In this way a competition takes place between them in which no one acknowledges defeat. Kṛṣṇa, however, derives pleasure from the beauty and good qualities of the gopīs. And when the gopīs see His pleasure, the joy of the gopīs increases. (CC Adi 4.190-194)
To keep it simple, the gopīs have practically demonstrated the meaning of pure devotional service (uttama-bhakti):
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ
“”When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṇa favorably, as Kṛṣṇa desires.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11)
“The gopīs know Kṛṣṇa’s desires, and they know how to render perfect loving service for His enjoyment. They perform their service expertly for the satisfaction of their beloved.” (CC Adi 4.212)
Therefore, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu declares, gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ
“I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the maintainer of the gopīs.” (Padyāvalī 74)
On the occasion of Sri Gaura Purnima, may we also follow in His footsteps by desiring to be the servant of the servants of the gopis. This will lead us to the ultimate perfection of live – to exist and serve for the sole pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
All glories to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 