Srila Rupa Goswami writes in his Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu:

|| 1.2.295 ||

sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi |
tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā vraja-lokānusārataḥ ||295||

Following after the inhabitants of Vraja, one should perform service in one’s physical body and in one’s siddha body,
with a desire for a particular bhāva.

Ever since I met the devotees in 1989, I was wondering about whom to follow. Sure, we must follow Sri Gurudeva, but whom is HE following?

I loved reading the book by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami called “Teachings of Lord Caitanya” and I was thunderstruck by reading these words:

“The associates of Radharani include Her personal associates, called sakhis, and Her near assistants, called manjaris. It is very difficult to express their dealings with Krsna because they have no desire to mix with Krsna or to enjoy Him personally. Rather, they are always ready to help Radharani associate with Krsna. Their affection for Krsna and Radharani is so pure that they are simply satisfied when Radha and Krsna are together. Indeed, their transcendental pleasure is in seeing Radha and Krsna united. The actual form of Radharani is just like a creeper embracing the tree of Krsna, and the damsels of Vraja, the associates of Radharani, are just like the leaves and flowers of that creeper. When a creeper embraces a tree, the leaves and flowers as well as the creeper automatically embrace it. Govinda-lilamrta (10.16) confirms that Radharani is the expansion of the pleasure potency of Krsna and is compared with a creeper, and Her associates, the damsels of Vraja, are compared to the flowers and leaves of that creeper. When Radharani and Krsna enjoy Themselves, the damsels of Vraja relish the pleasure more than Radharani Herself.
…
One should think of Radha and Krsna twenty-four hours a day and engage in Their service within one’s mind, not externally change one’s dress. By adopting the mood of the associates and friends of Radharani and following in their footsteps, one can ultimately achieve the perfectional stage of being transferred to Goloka Vrndavana, the transcendental abode of Krsna. By adopting this emotional mood of following in the footsteps of the gopis, one attains his siddha-deha.” 
[TLC 31: The Supreme Perfection]

I thought: “How wonderful!”

Srila Rupa Goswami writes “with a desire for a particular bhāva“…right then and there I knew that this beautiful love of the gopis would be the bhava I would develop a desire for.

Since then, many asked me the question that if Krsna loves everyone equally, why do you want to follow the gopis of Vrindavana?

It is true that Krsna loves everyone equally, but some He loves even more…How can this be? Isn´t this a paradox?

Nope.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krsna says:

ye yatha mam prapadyante 
tams tathaiva bhajamy aham 

“As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly.”
(BG, 4.11)

 

So, Krsna is not partial or unfair…He rewards any living entity according to the love they have for Him.

In this age of Kali, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given us the chance to follow them who are rewarded with the utmost love. We have the possiblity to follow those “role-models” who have the highest love for Krsna.

Srila Rupa Goswami writes in his Sri Upadesamrita:

karmibhyaḥ parito hareḥ priyatayā vyaktiḿ yayur jñāninas
tebhyo jñāna-vimukta-bhakti-paramāḥ premaika-niṣṭhās tataḥ
tebhyas tāḥ paśu-pāla-pańkaja-dṛśas tābhyo ‘pi sā rādhikā
preṣṭhā tadvad iyaḿ tadīya-sarasī tāḿ nāśrayet kaḥ kṛtī

In the śāstra it is said that of all types of fruitive workers, he who is advanced in knowledge of the higher values of life is favored by the Supreme Lord Hari.
Out of many such people who are advanced in knowledge [jñānīs], one who is practically liberated by virtue of his knowledge may take to devotional service.
He is superior to the others. However, one who has actually attained prema, pure love of Kṛṣṇa, is superior to him.
The gopīs are exalted above all the advanced devotees because they are always totally dependent upon Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the transcendental cowherd boy.
Among the gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the most dear to Kṛṣṇa. Her kuṇḍa [lake] is as profoundly dear to Lord Kṛṣṇa as this most beloved of the gopīs.
Who, then, will not reside at Rādhākuṇḍa and, in a spiritual body surcharged with ecstatic devotional feelings [aprākṛtabhāva], render loving service to the divine couple Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda, who perform Their aṣṭakālīya-līlā, Their eternal eightfold daily pastimes.
Indeed, those who execute devotional service on the banks of Rādhākuṇḍa are the most fortunate people in the universe.

Srila Sanatana Goswami writes in his Sri Brihad Bhagavatamrita:

Dear Mother! With prema-bhakti, singing of nama-sankirtana, and desiring the dasya-bhava of the gopis, like him you also please worship that gopa-kishora Sri Krsna, Who in the nectar-ocean of the rasa-lila is surrounded by gopis who are fully enchanted in prema for Him.
(1.154-155)

There, Srila Sanatana Goswami qoutes this famous verse, spoken by Sri Uddhava:

āsām aho caraṇa-reṇu-juṣām ahaṁ syāṁ
vṛndāvane kim api gulma-latauṣadhīnām
yā dustyajaṁ sva-janam ārya-pathaṁ ca hitvā
bhejur mukunda-padavīṁ śrutibhir vimṛgyām
(SB 10.41.61)

The gopīs of Vṛndāvana have given up the association of their husbands, sons and other family members, who are very difficult to give up,
and they have forsaken the path of chastity to take shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, Kṛṣṇa, which one should search for by Vedic knowledge.
Oh, let me be fortunate enough to be one of the bushes, creepers or herbs in Vṛndāvana, because the gopīs trample them and bless them with the dust of their lotus feet.
(2.150)

Krsna Himself clearly shows us WHOM we should follow: Those He can´t repay.

na pāraye ‘haṁ niravadya-saṁyujāṁ
sva-sādhu-kṛtyaṁ vibudhāyuṣāpi vaḥ
yā mābhajan durjara-geha-śṛńkhalāḥ
saṁvṛścya tad vaḥ pratiyātu sādhunā
Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.32.22)

My darling gopis, your meeting Me is innocent and immaculate in every respect because it is devoid of even a single iota of desire for your own happiness.
It is overflowing with supremely pure love. Although the bonds of affection for the members of one’s own home are impossible to overcome, you have completely demolished them.
Thus, for loving service to Me, you have transgressed the moral laws of this world. Even if I lived as long as the gods I would be unable to requite even one drop of your love, sacrifice and service. All of you may free Me from debt simply by your own gentle nature, but I am forever the debtor of your prema, and will always continue to be.

 

“Na paraye´ham” – Krsna says that He is unable to repay the dearest gopis.

By the grace of Sriman Mahaprabhu, we can desire for this very special bhava, the most special love of all the inhabitants of Vraja.

The love which the manjaris possess, those who are closest to Srimati Radhika, is the highest love.
Radha-dasyam, service to the Lotus Feet of Srimati Radhika, is most rewarding because it is the most selfless service and it is pleasing Krsna the most.

Srila Raghunatha das Goswami prays:

PĀDĀBJAYOS TAVA VINĀ VARA DĀSYAM EVA
NĀNYAT KADĀPI SAMAYE KILA DEVI YĀCE
SAKHYĀYA TE MAMA NAMO’STU NAMO’STU NITYAṀ
DĀSYĀYA TE MAMA RASO’STU RASO’STU SATYAM      

“O Goddess! I shall never pray to You for anything else but the excellent service of Your lotus feet! I offer my constant obeisances to the idea of becoming Your friend, but I really relish the idea of becoming Your maidservant!

 

Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatīpāda has written about the sweet mood of the mañjarīs:

“Since they will die if they are separated from the lotus feet of their Īśvarī Śrī Rādhārāṇī, the mañjarīs stay with Her lotus feet day and night. What more can I say? When Śrīmatī enjoys with Her lover in the vine cottage She will take the mañjarī with Her onto the bed and sometimes even covers her with the sheets! The mañjarī does not desire anything but the service of Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet in all three phases of time — past, present, or future, and is always immersed in a boundless ocean of ecstatic love for Rādhā. Even in dreams she does not know anything else but the lotus feet of Rādhā. She is beautified by waves of the billowing ocean of prema for Śrī Rādhā, she has an adolescent female form that astonishes even the great gods and the entire universe, and she wears big goosebumps due to relishing rasa on her body at every moment. Rādhā’s maidservants captivate everyone by the endless luster and beauty of their every limb and they always anxiously wander around here and there in Rādhā’s service.”

 

And Srila Rupa Goswami prays for this service too:

PRAṆIPATYA BHAVANTAM ARTHAYE
PAŚUPĀLENDRA KUMĀRA KĀKUBHIḤ
VRAJA YAUVATA MAULI MĀLIKĀ
KARUṆĀ PĀTRAM IMAM JANAṀ KURU

O Prince of the cowherders (Kṛṣṇa)! I offer my obeisances unto You and I pitifully pray to You:
Please make me the object of mercy of the crown-garland of young girls of Vraja (Śrī Rādhikā)!
(Utkalika Vallari)

 

Srila Krishna das Kaviraja sings:

mahyam atma-pada-padma-dasya-dastu radhika –
May Sri Radhika bestow upon me the service of Her own lotus feet.

 

Srila Narottama das Thakur:

sama snehā viṣama snehā, nā koriho dui lehā
kohi mātra adhika snehā-gaṇa
nirantara thāke saṅge, kṛṣṇa kathā līlā raṅge
narma sakhī ei sab jana 

“Equal affection for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa or more affection for Kṛṣṇa than for Śrī Rādhā – do not become attached to that. I will just speak about preference for Śrī Rādhā! They are always in Her company, blissfully telling Her about Kṛṣṇa. They are all called narma sakhīs.”

śrī rūpa mañjarī āra, śrī rati mañjarī sāra,
lavaṅga mañjarī mañjulālī.
śrī rasa mañjarī saṅge, kasturikā ādi raṅge,
prema sevā kore kutūholī

“Blissfully render loving devotional service with Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī, Śrī Rati Mañjarī, Lavaṅga Mañjarī, Mañjulālī Mañjarī, Śrī Rasa Mañjarī, Kasturikā and others.”

e sabhāra anugā hoiyā, prema sevā nibo cāiyā,
iṅgite bujhibo sab kāja.
rūpe guṇe ḍagamagi, sadā hobo anurāgī,
vasati koribo sakhīra mājha

“I will follow in their footsteps and render loving devotional service. Simply on their hints I will understand what is my duty. I will always be passionately absorbed in Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s forms and qualities while I reside amongst the sakhīs.”

vṛndāvane dui jana caturdike sakhīgaṇa,
samaya bujhiyā rasa sukhe
sakhīra iṅgita hobe, cāmara ḍhulā’bo kobe,
tāmbūla yogābo cāṅda mukhe.

“When Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are enjoying in Vṛndāvana, surrounded by Their girlfriends, I will understand the time (for service) in rasika bliss. When will I get a hint from these girlfriends to wave a whisk-fan and place betel-leaves in Their moon-like faces?”

yugala caraṇa sevi, nirantara ei bhāvi,
anurāgī rohibo sadāya
sādhane bhāvibo jāhā, siddha dehe pābo tāhā,
rāga pathera ei se upāya

“I constantly think of the service of Their lotus feet and I will always stay there in great devotional attachment. Whatever I think of during my spiritual practise, this I will attain in my spiritual body. These are the ways of the path of rāga.”
(Prema Bhakti Candrikā, Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura)

 

If we want to desire this most special bhava of the closest girlfriends of Srimati Radhika and truly follow them, we must take shelter of a Sri Gurudeva who himself is following this path.
By the mercy of a true sad guru, this wonderful bhava can enter into our hearts and our life can reach perfection.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the most merciful Lord and we are very fortunate to be under His most magnanimous shelter.