mahajanera yei patha,           tate hobo anurata,
purvapara koriya vicara
sadhana smarana lila,          ihate na koro hela
kaya mane koriya susara (14)

“I will remain dedicated to the path outlined by the mahajanas, the great authorities, distinguishing between the former and the later. Do not neglect the practice of smarana and make this the perfection of your body and mind.”
– Srila Narottama das Thakur (Prema Bhakti Chandrika)

Srila Visvanatha Cakravartipada’s tika: dandakaranya-vasi munayo brihat vamanokta srutayas ca candrakanti jayadeva vidyapati candi dasa bilvamangaladayas ca purva mahajanah shad gosvaminah para mahajanah. susara— susiddham.

Allegiance to the Mahajanas:

Sudha kanika vyakhya—

Srila Thakura Mahasaya mentioned the greatest cause or means of attaining prema is exclusive devotion, and in this tripadi he describes the Gaudiya Vaishnavas’ internal worship in allegiance to the mahajanas. The great sage Vedavyasa has called allegiance to the mahajanas the unfailing and safe way to attaining the spiritual world — tarko’pratishthah srutayo vibhinna nasavrishir yasya matam na bhinnam. dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah (Mahabharata, Vanaparva 112)
“Arguments have no basis, for what one man propounds with due consideration can be defeated by another learned pundit, who will then establish his own opinion. Such arguments never lead to a steady conclusion. Apart from that, there is no rishi or sage who does not have another opinion from the other rishis. Thus the real religious principles are very deep (hard to ascertain). Therefore the way of practice propounded by the mahajanas, through which they achieved their desired end, is the unfailing path to be followed to achieve one’s desired end.”
Hence Srila Thakura Mahasaya said: mahajanera yei patha, tate hobo anurata
“I will become attached to the path that was practised and preached by the mahajanas and I will show attachment to that.”
In the raga bhajana of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas this attraction or attachment to the path shown by the mahajanas carries some speciality. They do not just maintain attraction to the path shown by the mahajanas, but they must practise bhajana in full allegiance to the mahajanas of their own sampradaya (tradition). Srimat Rupa Gosvamipada has written:  seva sadhaka rupena siddha rupena catra hi; tad bhava lipsuna karya vraja lokanusaratah   “A person who desires loving attraction to His beloved deity Sri Krishna in Vraja must serve in allegiance to the people of Vraja, both in the current practitioner’s body as well as in the spiritual, mentally conceived body, which is fit for serving the beloved deity. Mental service must be rendered in the spiritual body in allegiance to Sri Radha, Lalita and Rupa Manjari and service in the current physical body must be rendered in allegiance to Vraja-people like Sri Rupa and Sanatana.”
Srila Thakura Mahasaya has said:
purvapara koriya vicara, meaning that there is a distinction between the mahajanas of yore and the current mahajanas and that the sadhaka must, as far as fitting, do bhajana in allegiance to the current mahajanas, whose hearts are filled with the desired mood.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravartipada has written in his comment on this part of the tripadi: dandakaranya-vasi munayo brihat vamanokta srutayas ca candrakanti jayadeva vidyapati candi dasa bilvamangaladayas ca purva mahajanah shad gosvaminah para mahajanah
“The former are the sages of Dandakaranya that were mentioned in the Brihad Vamana Purana, the personified Vedas, Candrakanti, Jayadeva, Vidyapati, Candi dasa and Bilvamangala. The latter are the Six Gosvamis.”
The purport of this is that by Sriman Mahaprabhu’s grace, the Gaudiya Vaishnavas in this current Kali age have attained the good fortune of worshipping Vraja’s super excellent madhura rasa (sweet mellows). Worshippers of this madhura rasa were the previous mahajanas, the sages of the Dandaka forest, the Vedas mentioned in the Brihad Vamana Purana and lovers of Sri Krishna like Candrakanti, who became greedy after Him as a lover and thus worshipped Him as lovers in allegiance of the eternally perfect gopis.
Then, when they attained gopi-bodies, they rendered loving service to Sri Krishna as ladyloves. About the sages of the Dandaka-forest the following is written in the Padma Purana—

pura maharshayah sarve dandakaranya vasinah;
ramam drishtva harim tatra bhoktum aicchan suvigraham
te sarve stritvam apannah samudbhutas ca gokule
harim samprapya kamena tato mukta bhavarnavat

“In the days of yore, there were some sages in the Dandaka forest, who worshipped Sri Krishna. When Sri Ramacandra came to the Dandaka forest with Sita and Lakshmana in obedience to His father, and the sages saw Him, they became very greedy to taste their worshipable Sri Krishna’s sweetness as lovers. Although they were too shy to pray for such a boon from Sri Ramacandra, still they attained perfection in raga bhakti-practice by the grace of Sri Ramacandra, who is like a wish-yielding tree, and they took birth in Gokula as gopis, gaining the right to render loving service to Sri Krishna as lovers. How the presiding deities of the Vedas attained the status of the Lord’s lovers is described in Brihad Vamana Purana —

kandarpa koti lavanye tvayi drishte manamsi nah;
kamini bhavam asadya smara kshubdhanya samsaya
yatha talloka vasinya kama tattvena gopika;
bhajanti ramanam matva cikirshajani nas tatha

“When the presiding deities of the Vedas, who resided at Brahma loka, beheld Sri Krishna, they prayed: ‘O Sri Krishna! When we see the luster of Your body, that defies millions of Cupids, our hearts become agitated by lusty desires and we desire to serve You as lovers! Just as the gopikas who live in Sri Vrindavana serve You in a sweet and amorous manner as their heart’s lover, we similarly have a strong desire to serve You!'”

They also attained gopi-bodies with the right to serve in Vraja as lovers.
In Padma Purana it is written about a Gandharva-maiden named Candrakanti, that she worshipped Sri Krishna and thus received the boon from Sri Krishna’s pure devotee Brahma to meet with Sri Vrishabhanu’s daughter.
All of them attained Sri Krishna’s service due to their desire to enjoy with Him as lady-lovers. Then also we know about the way devotees like Jayadeva, Vidyapati, Candi dasa and Bilvamangala worshipped Krishna in the mood of sakhis. All these are mahajanas that preceded Sriman Mahaprabhu.
The Six Gosvamis, headed by Sri Rupa and Sanatana, are the current mahajanas. They are all eternally perfect manjaris of Vraja or Sri Radha’s eternal maidservants. They have descended along with Sriman Mahaprabhu as His associates to preach the practice of manjari bhava to the world and to take the practising devotees of this world into Vraja’s nikunjas to bless them with the gift of Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava’s loving service.
When we consider the practices of the former and the latter mahajanas we can learn that those who relish Sri Krishna’s sweetness as His lovers, who wish to enjoy with Him in an erotic way, do not obtain the good fortune of fully relishing Sri Krishna’s sweetness, for in Sri Radha’s presence the ocean of Sri Krishna’s sweetness surges up in a boundless manner! In Sri Caitanya Caritamrita (Adi ch.4) it is known in Sri Krishna’s words —

yadyapi nirmala radhara sat prema darpana; tathapi svacchata tara barie khone khon
amara madhuryera nahi bariite avakase; e darpanera age nava nava rupe bhase
man madhurya radha prema donhe horia kori; khone khone barie donhe keho nahi hari

“Although the mirror of Radha’s true love is spotless, still its clarity increases at every moment. There is no end to the increase of My sweetness and in front of that mirror it floats in ever new forms. My sweetness and Radha’s love are constantly competing with each other. Each one is increasing and neither of the two accept defeat.”
Although those who worship the Adolescent Pair in the mood of Sri Radha’s girlfriend will attain the good fortune of experiencing the relish of Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava’s matchless sweetness, those who worship in the mood of Sri Radha’s maidservants, or manjari bhava, are blessed with the greatest relish of the Divine Pair’s sweetness. That is because by the wish of Sri Radharani, the sakhis may occasionally enjoy with Sri Krishna‚ and since the sakhis and Sri Radha feel equal to each other the sakhis feel some hesitation and thus they are also ineligible to go in and out of the secret and private playgrounds of the Adolescent Pair.
The manjaris are Srimati’s maidservants, non-different from Her in body and in spirit, therefore they are blessed with attaining the good fortune of beholding the sweet and intimate pastimes of the Adolescent Couple and relishing the mellows of the services that are to be rendered at that time. Because of their matchless one-ness in feeling with Sri Radharani, even the signs of Krishna’s lovemaking on Sri Radha’s body become reflected and manifest on their own bodies. Therefore the greatest relish of the sweetness of the Divine Pair lies in the mood of the kinkaris.
The current mahajanas, the six Gosvamis, headed by Sri Rupa and Sanatana, are the teachers and preachers of Sriman Mahaprabhu’s dearmost practice of manjari bhava, therefore the Gaudiya Vaishnavas who have surrendered to Sriman Mahaprabhu’s lotus feet do not practise the worship of the previous mahajanas, who practised sakhi bhava, but instead follow the current mahajanas, the six Gosvamis, in the practice of manjari bhava.

After this the blessed author says: sadhana smarana lila, ihate na koro hela, kaya mana koriya susara “Do not neglect the practice of smarana and make this the perfection of your body and mind.”
The main item of raganuga bhajana is lila smarana for raga is a mental religion, and that means smarana. When the mind is joined with the Lord’s holy names, attributes, form and pastimes then this is called smarana. Here the instruction is given to perform lila smarana. Srila Thakura Mahasaya has said: yugala vilasa smriti sara. During his practice of recollecting Sri Radha-Madhava’s eight fold daily pastimes, the devotee has to identify himself with his siddha svarupa or spiritual body in which he/she is rendering service to Them. The service that he meditates on during his practice, he will get when he attains perfection. sadhane bhavibo yaha, siddha dehe pabo taha “That what I meditate on during my practice I will attain in my spiritual body.” There can be no taint in this transcendental psychology of Srila Thakura Mahasaya.
Since the practice of smarana depends on purity of the heart, it may first seem difficult to accomplish for the practising devotee, therefore some slackening or neglect of this item of worship may occur. The practitioner must give up his own sense of ‘doer-ship’ and depend on the Lord’s grace in this practice of smarana. Then he will easily be able to purify his heart and gradually his recollection of lila will become easily accessible and blissful. Although the practice of smarana is dependent on the Lord’s grace, still it is absolutely necessary that the practitioner concentrates his mind, for it is the perseverance and enthusiasm in the devotee’s practice that unleashes the Lord’s grace. Hence the aspirant must commence the smarana item of his bhajana by establishing his self esteem in the spiritual body given to him by Sri Guru, with body, mind and words.
“The item of bhajana named smarana is wholly dependent on the Lord’s grace and not on personal endeavour, therefore I will commence bhajana whenever the Lord’s grace shines on me. Now there is no need for the bhajana-item of smarana.”
— When such words of despair and pessimism dwell within the heart the Lord’s grace will never descend. Hence Srila Thakura Mahasaya has said: sadhana smarana lila, ihate na koro hela, kayo mane koriya susara
“Do not neglect the practice of lila smarana, but make it the essence of your life, with both body and mind.” (14)

– commentary by Radhakunda Mahanta Sri Srimat Ananta das Babaji
– translated by my friend Sripad Advaita das