Śrī-Śrī Caitanyāṣṭakam (Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī)

VERSE 4:

ANĀVEDYĀṀ PŪRVAIR API MUNI-GAṆAIR BHAKTI NIPUṆAIḤ
ŚRUTER GŪḌHĀṀ PREMOJJVALA RASA-PHALAṀ BHAKTI LATIKĀM
KṚPĀLUS TĀṀ GAUḌE PRABHUR ATI KṚPĀBHIḤ PRAKAṬAYAN
ŚACĪ SŪNUḤ KIṀ ME NAYANA ŚARAṆĪṀ YĀSYATI PUNAḤ

Will the son of mother Śacī, who very mercifully revealed in Bengal the vine of devotion, which bears the fruits of ujjvala prema rasa (the flavours of amorous love) which is hidden in the Vedas and which was not previously known even to the wise men who were experts in devotion to God, cross the path of my eyes again?

Stavāmṛta Kaṇā Vyākhyā by Śrī Rādhākuṇḍa Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrī Ananta Dās Bābājī:

This vine of devotion that Śrīman Mahāprabhu gave to the people of the world yields the fruit of brilliant rasa, the amorous love of Vraja, particularly of the most confidential personal service of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī, named mañjarī bhāva sādhanā. This great gift was not given by any other descension of God before; even the wise men who were experts in devotion to God did not know this secret fruit of the vine of devotion. They used to practise vaidhi bhakti, regulated devotion to God, out of fear and respect for the Supreme Lord, and even if there were any rāga-bhaktas in the Vraja-bhāva before Mahāprabhu’s descension, then they would be serving Kṛṣṇa in the mood of a servant or a friend. Nobody knew the secret of the sweet devotional love of the gopīs for Kṛṣṇa, what to speak of the topmost mādana mahā bhāva of Śrī Rādhā, the crownjewel of all the gopīs!
The wish-yielding vine of devotion revealed by Mahāprabhu was also hidden in the Vedas. In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa it is described that Uddhava Mahāsaya was stunned when he witnessed the glorious love of the gopīs and he prayed that he might take birth as a shrub or a bush in Vraja so that he might get the footdust of the gopīs on his head. In this way he revealed the glories of the gopīs to the whole world: yā dustyajaṁ svajanam arya-pathaṁ ca hitvā bhejur mukunda padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām “The best way to attain Mukunda’s lotus feet is to give up one’s relatives and the path of traditional virtue, thus following in the footsteps of the spontaneous gopīs. This path is vainly sought for even by the Vedas, even now!” This verse shows that there is no limit to the glories of the gopīs’ relish of extra-marital love for Kṛṣṇa and that there is no other way to learn it.
In the Vāmana Purāna some incidents in the gopīs’ previous lives are described. It is said there that in their previous births they were the presiding deities of the Vedas who became greedy after attaining the mood of the gopīs. They began to worship Kṛṣṇa in the spontaneous way of rāga bhakti and thus took their next births in Vraja as gopīs, where they attained Kṛṣṇa’s devotional service. But even they kept this ecstatic attainment hidden in the baskets of their hearts, that’s why it is said śruter gūḍhām: “It is hidden in the Vedas”
In the pre-Caitanya-era there was a cult of sakhī-bhāva (love for Kṛṣṇa as a participating amorous consort) preached by great devotees like the poet Jayadeva, Caṇḍīdāsa, Vidyāpati, Bilvamaṅgala and others, but the mañjarī bhāva sādhanā, the personal and exclusive service of Śrī Rādhā, was a new gift, introduced by Śrī Gaurasundara and the ācāryas that took shelter of His lotus feet. The seed of this vine of devotion is given by a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava saint or guru and it is sprinkled by the water of hearing, chanting and remembering, so that the vine will ultimately bear the ripened, delicious fruits of rādhā dāsya bhāva. This is the premojjvala rasa phalām mentioned in the verse.
One may ask now: “Why did Śrīman Mahāprabhu reveal this confidential bhakti kalpalatā, that is not perceived even by the great sages or the Vedas, to the degraded and sinful people of the present age of Kali (quarrel)? The plain reason is that Śrīman Mahāprabhu is the fully independent and most merciful descension of God, therefore it is said here: kṛpālus tāṁ gauḍe prabhur ati kṛpābhiḥ prakaṭayan. “The completely independent and capable Śrīman Mahāprabhu has most mercifully revealed this in Bengal.” The mercy of the Lord completely erases the candidate’s unworthiness. The kṛpā sakti (power of compassion) is the crownjewel of all the Lord’s innate potencies and makes Him truly worthy of the title Bhagavān, the Qualified One. This mercy-potency finds its culmination when the Lord gives something precious to an undeserving soul. In Śrīman Mahāprabhu this this kṛpā-śakti is again manifest to its fullest extent, not tolerating any distinction. Upset as He was about the misery the living entities in Kali must go through He gives ecstatic love, particularly the love of the gopīs who serve Śrī Rādhārāṇī, that makes sense-enjoyment and even liberation insignificant, and that is practised through the process of hearing and chanting, to them. All glories to Śrī Gaurahari’s mercy to the fallen souls! Śrīpāda again desires to see the lotus feet of this merciful Śrī Gaurahari.

munigana vallabha, bhāvanā sudurlabha,
śruti gūḍha amūlya ratana
premojjvala phala dātā, prakāśilā bhakti latā,
dekhibo ki śacīra nandana

“Will I ever see mother Śacī’s son, who revealed the creeper of devotion that bears the fruits of brilliant amorous love, that is a precious jewel hidden in the Vedas and that was rarely conceived of even by the previous sages, again?”