Mañjarī bhāva sādhanā, the spiritual practice in the mood of a maidservant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, is the unique gift of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to the fallen souls of this age of Kali (quarrel), and it has been preached and spread particularly by His dearest associates Śrī-Śrī Rūpa and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī.

There are two kinds of madhurā rati (conjugal mellows) in Vraja:

1) sambhogecchātmikā (nāyikā bhāva, the mood of an amorous heroine) and

2) tad bhāvecchātmikā (sakhī-bhāva, the mood of an amorous accomplice).

In Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu (1.2.299), Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states: tad-bhāvecchātmikā tāsāṁ bhāva mādhurya kāmitā: “The devotional attitude of wanting to assist Śrī Rādhā and other yūtheśvarīs (gopī-groupleaders) in meeting Śrī Kṛṣṇa and enjoying amorous pastimes with Him and to relish the sweetness of these pastimes rather than to enjoy with Kṛṣṇa personally is called tad-bhāvecchātmikā or sakhī-bhāva.
This attitude attracts the hero and heroine and awakens a causeless, completely sincere and unlimited love for the yūtheśvarī or nāyikā. Indeed, the heroine becomes dearer to such a devotee than his (her) own life-airs or even self!

Śrī Rādhā has five kinds of girlfriends:

asyāḥ vṛndāvaneśvaryāḥ sakhya pañca-vidhāḥ matāḥ
sakhyaśca nitya sakhyaś ca prāṇa-sakhyaś ca kāścana
priya-sakhyaś ca parama preṣṭha sakhyaś ca viśrutāḥ
(Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi)

Sakhīs are for instance Dhaniṣṭhā and Vindhyā, who are kṛṣṇa-snehādhikā (they love Kṛṣṇa more than Rādhā). priya-sakhīs and parama preṣṭha-sakhīs are Kuraṅgākṣī and the eight chief sakhīs, such as Lalitā and Viśākhā. They are sama snehā (having equal love for Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa), and the prāṇa-sakhīs and nitya-sakhīs are Kasturī, Maṇi Mañjarī and others, who are rādhā-snehādhikā (they love Rādhā more than Kṛṣṇa). They are called mañjarīs. Their bodies consist of nothing but devotional service, and although they are in the class of sakhīs they are mostly surrendered to (assisting in) the intimate nikuñja-pastimes of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava due to their fixation in a service attitude. The sweet, relishable rāgānugā bhajana of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas consists of allegiance to them.

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)

After taking shelter of the lotus-feet of Śrī Guru, Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava-practitioners get acquainted with their own mañjari – or siddha-body in the process called Śrī Guru-siddha praṇālī.

In the opinion of Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, this siddha-body is one of the countless spiritual bodies present in the spiritual sky that are suitable for serving the Lord, and that are particles of the Lord’s light.

On the strength of meditation, Śrī Gurudeva is aware which one of the countless spiritual bodies in the spiritual sky will be accepted by the Lord (as the spiritual body of the candidate), and he points out that body to the practitioner.

This is not anyone’s speculation. To consider the spiritual body of the practitioner, which automatically arises within the heart of Śrī Gurudeva, who is the compact embodiment of the Lord’s compassion, steeped in the great power of the Lord, and which spontaneously arises within his meditation or recollection, as imaginary or false, is sheer atheism and a greatly harmful offence to devotion itself. The practitioner must identify himself with this spiritual body and meditate on it –

bāhye antara ihāra dui to sādhana;
bāhya – sādhaka dehe kore śravaṇa kīrtana
mane – nija siddha deha koriyā bhāvana;
rātri-dina kore vraje kṛṣṇera sevana (C.C.)

“There are two kinds of sādhana (devotional practise) – external and internal. Externally, within the sādhaka deha (gross physical body) one practises hearing and chanting the glories of Kṛṣṇa and internally, that is mentally, one meditates on one’s own siddha deha (spiritual body) in which one serves Kṛṣṇa in Vraja day and night.”

In the rāgānugā- practice of the most intimate feelings of the mañjarī, there are two flawless ways of attaining the loving service of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa.

One is external, which means that in one’s material body of a devotional practitioner one hears, chants, worships the deity and offers prayers and so, in a way that is not unfavourable to one’s own devotional feelings.

The other type of practice is internal – one establishes one’s self-esteem in the spiritual body which is revealed to the sadhaka by Śrī Guru and with it mentally meditates on its loving service in the time-framework of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s eternal eight-fold transcendental daily pastimes.

The main internal practice of the practitioner is, ACCORDING TO HIS QUALIFICATION, to mentally serve Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava with Their girlfriends and to remember Their forms, attributes and pastimes alongside.

While the practitioner remembers the forms, attributes and pastimes of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava and thus relishes Their sweetness within this internal practise of recollection, he should take special care that this does not become a mechanical, duty-bound practice – he should take care that there is a gradual increase of eagerness for the attainment of the direct service of the Lord upon Whom he meditates.
A practitioner who has attained the stage of rati will spontaneously perceive his spiritual body within himself, while the practitioner who did not attain rati yet will intently perform mental service within his mentally conceived spiritual body.

As the dirt of lusty, material desire is removed from the practitioner’s heart through this external practise of hearing, chanting etc., accordingly he perceives his spiritual body either indistinctly, somewhat clearly or very clearly and accomplishes the beauty of his mental service. The careful practitioner gives up his identification with his mortal mundane body and its belongings and relationships and endeavours to firmly identify himself with his spiritual form. Such encouragements can be found also in the scriptures that were composed by the ancient seers –

ātmānaṁ cintayet tatra tāsāṁ madhye manoramāṁ
rūpa yauvana sampannāṁ kiśorīṁ pramadākṛtiṁ
sakhīnāṁ saṅginī rūpām ātmānaṁ vāsanāmayīm
ājñā sevāparāṁ tadvat ratnālaṅkāra bhūṣitām
(Sanat Kumāra Saṁhitā)

“An aspirant should think himself to be amongst them (the other gopīs), as an enchanting beautiful young adolescent female. As a female associate of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s girlfriends like Lalitā and Viśākhā, she is dedicated to the services that are ordered to her and she is decorated with jewelled ornaments (that are given to her by Śrī Rādhā as remnants).”

The purport of the word cintayet here is that one should see oneself with the form and the feelings of an eternally perfect girlfriend and really experience that. In other words, one should nourish a firm esteem of “this body with this shape and this feeling – that is me.”

This is the endeavour of the practitioner, but actually the spiritual body manifests spontaneously within the heart of such a practitioner who has a service attitude, by the grace of the Lord.

yad yad dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti tat tad vapuḥ praṇayase sad anugrahāya
(Bhag. 3.9.11)

Lord Brahmā told the Supreme Lord: “O Lord! You are very kind upon the devotees who are eager to serve You. Whatever body they meditate upon, which is favourable for their service and which they desire, He bestows upon them, so that He can accept their eternal service.”

When the practice reaches perfection the practitioner, with the aid of Yogamāyā (the divine illusion that assists the Lord in His pastimes), is blessed with attaining his desired ḷoving service of the Divine Youthful Pair Themselves in his spiritual body within the realm of Their pastimes.
(Srila Ananta das Babaji)