This is a description of His second desire. Now please listen as I describe the third. (159) This conclusion of rasa is extremely deep. Only Svarūpa Dāmodara knows much about it. (160) Anyone else who claims to know it must have heard it from him, for he was the most intimate companion of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (161) The love of the gopīs is called rūḍha- bhāva. It is pure and spotless. It is not at any time lust. (162) “The pure love of the gopīs has become celebrated by the name ‘lust.’ The dear devotees of the Lord, headed by Śrī Uddhava, desire to taste that love.” (163) Lust and love have different characteristics, just as iron and gold have different natures. (164)
The desire to gratify one’s own senses is kāma [lust], but the desire to please the senses of Lord Kṛṣṇa is prema [love]. (165) 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. (166) 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, along with their families, and suffered their relatives’ punishment and scolding, all for the sake of serving Lord Kṛṣṇa. They render loving service to Him for the sake of His enjoyment. (167-169) That is called firm attachment to Lord Kṛṣṇa. It is spotlessly pure, like a clean cloth that has no stain. (170) Therefore lust and love are quite different. Lust is like dense darkness, but love is like the bright sun. (171)
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. (172) “O dearly beloved! Your lotus feet are so soft that we place them gently on our breasts, fearing that Your feet will be hurt. Our life rests only in You. Our minds, therefore, are filled with anxiety that Your tender feet might be wounded by pebbles as You roam about on the forest path.” (173) The gopīs do not care for their own pleasures or pains. All their physical and mental activities are directed toward offering enjoyment to Lord Kṛṣṇa. (174) They renounced everything for Kṛṣṇa. They have pure attachment to giving Kṛṣṇa pleasure. (175) “O My beloved gopīs, you have renounced social customs, scriptural injunctions and your relatives for My sake. I disappeared behind you only to increase your concentration upon Me. Since I disappeared for your benefit, you should not be displeased with Me.” (176)
Lord Kṛṣṇa has a promise from before to reciprocate with His devotees according to the way they worship Him. (177) “In whatever way My devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.” (178) That promise has been broken by the worship of the gopīs, as Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself admits. (179) “O gopīs, I am not able to repay My debt for your spotless service, even within a lifetime of Brahmā. Your connection with Me is beyond reproach. You have worshiped Me, cutting off all domestic ties, which are difficult to break. Therefore please let your own glorious deeds be your compensation.” (180)
Now, whatever affection we see the gopīs show for their own bodies, know it for certain to be only for the sake of Lord Kṛṣṇa. (181) [The gopīs think:] “I have offered this body to Lord Kṛṣṇa. He is its owner, and it brings Him enjoyment. (182) “Kṛṣṇa finds joy in seeing and touching this body.” It is for this reason that they cleanse and decorate their bodies. (183) “O Arjuna, there are no greater receptacles of deep love for Me than the gopīs, who cleanse and decorate their bodies because they consider them Mine.” (184)There is another wonderful feature of the emotion of the gopīs. Its power is beyond the comprehension of the intelligence. (185)
When the gopīs see Lord Kṛṣṇa, they derive unbounded bliss, although they have no desire for such pleasure. (186) The gopīs taste a pleasure ten million times greater than the pleasure Lord Kṛṣṇa derives from seeing them. (187) The gopīs have no inclination for their own enjoyment, and yet their joy increases. That is indeed a contradiction. (188) For this contradiction I see only one solution: the joy of the gopīs lies in the joy of their beloved Kṛṣṇa. (189) When Lord Kṛṣṇa sees the gopīs, His joy increases, and His unparalleled sweetness increases also. (190) [The gopīs think:] “Kṛṣṇa has obtained so much pleasure by seeing me.” That thought increases the fullness and beauty of their faces and bodies. (191) 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. (192)
In this way a competition takes place between them in which no one acknowledges defeat. (193) 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. (194) Therefore we find that the joy of the gopīs nourishes the joy of Lord Kṛṣṇa. For that reason the fault of lust is not present in their love. (195) “I worship Lord Keśava. Coming back from the forest of Vraja, He is worshiped by the gopīs, who mount the roofs of their palaces and meet Him on the path with a hundred manners of dancing glances and gentle smiles. The corners of His eyes wander, like large black bees, around the gopīs’ breasts.” (196) There is another natural symptom of the gopīs’ love that shows it to be without a trace of lust. (197) The love of the gopīs nourishes the sweetness of Lord Kṛṣṇa. That sweetness in turn increases their love, for they are greatly satisfied. (198)
The happiness of the abode of love is in the happiness of the object of that love. This is not a relationship of desire for personal gratification. (199) Whenever there is unselfish love, that is its style. The reservoir of love derives pleasure when the lovable object is pleased. When the pleasure of love interferes with the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the devotee becomes angry toward such ecstasy. (200-201) “Śrī Dāruka did not relish his ecstatic feelings of love, for they caused his limbs to become stunned and thus obstructed his service of fanning Lord Kṛṣṇa.” (202) “The lotus- eyed Rādhārāṇī powerfully condemned the ecstatic love that caused a flow of tears that hindered Her sight of Govinda.” (203) Furthermore, pure devotees never forsake the loving service of Lord Kṛṣṇa to aspire for their own personal pleasure through the five kinds of liberation. (204)
“Just as the celestial waters of the Ganges flow unobstructed into the ocean, so when My devotees simply hear of Me, their minds come to Me, who reside in the hearts of all. (205) “These are the characteristics of transcendental loving service to Puruṣottama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: it is causeless, and it cannot be obstructed in any way. (206) “My devotees do not accept sālokya, sārṣṭi, sārūpya, sāmīpya or oneness with Me-even if I offer these liberations-in preference to serving Me.” (207) “My devotees, having fulfilled their desires by serving Me, do not accept the four kinds of salvation that are easily earned by such service. Why then should they accept any pleasures that are lost in the course of time?” (208) The natural love of the gopīs is devoid of any trace of lust. It is faultless, bright and pure, like molten gold. (209) The gopīs are the helpers, teachers, friends, wives, dear disciples, confidantes and serving maids of Lord Kṛṣṇa. (210)
“O Pārtha, I speak to you the truth. The gopīs are My helpers, teachers, disciples, servants, friends and consorts. I do not know what they are not to Me.” (211) 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. (212) “O Pārtha, the gopīs know My greatness, My loving service, respect for Me, and My mentality. Others cannot really know these.” (213) Among the gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhikā is the foremost. She surpasses all in beauty, in good qualities, in good fortune and, above all, in love. (214)”Just as Rādhā is dear to Lord Kṛsṇa, so Her bathing place [Rādhā- kuṇḍa] is dear to Him. She alone is His most beloved of all the gopīs.” (215)
“O Pārtha, in all the three planetary systems, this earth is especially fortunate, for on earth is the town of Vṛndāvana. And there the gopīs are especially glorious because among them is My Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.” (216) All the other gopīs help increase the joy of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with Rādhārāṇī. The gopīs act as the instruments of Their mutual enjoyment. (217) Rādhā is the beloved consort of Kṛṣṇa, and She is the wealth of His life. Without Her, the gopīs cannot give Him pleasure. (218) “Lord Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Kaṁsa, left aside the other gopīs during the rāsa dance and took Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to His heart, for She is the helper of the Lord in realizing the essence of His desires.” (219)
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