śṛṇuta kṛpayā hanta prāṇeśayoḥ praṇayoddhurāḥ
kim api yad ayaṁ dīnaḥ prāṇī nivedayati kṣaṇam
pravaṇita manāḥ kiṁ yuṣmābhiḥ samaṁ tilam apy asau
yugapad anayoḥ sevāṁ premṇā kadāpi vidhāsyati

O Beloved maidservants of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, the Lord and Mistress  of my life!
Please listen for a moment to what this fallen soul has to tell you!
Can I be even a sesame-seed in comparison with you?
Will I ever attain the Loving service of this Divine Couple?

PREMA SEVĀ LĀLASĀ  (Yearning for Loving Service):

Makaranda Kaṇā Vyākhyā:

In this verse Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī prays to Śrī Rādhikā’s maidservants.

The blessed service of the Divine Couple can never be attained without the mercy of these maidservants, who are absorbed in the flavours of this devotional service day and night.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is himself Rūpa Mañjarī in the eternal Vraja, but still he is praying like this, just to instruct those who aspire for mañjarī bhāva.

Śrīla Narottama dāsa Thākura described in his Prārthanā Gītī how the blessed service of Śrī Yugala Kiśora is attained under the direction of Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī:

“May I get the mercy of Śrī Rūpa (Gosvāmī or Mañjarī)!
Anyone who surrenders to his/her feet is a great soul!
When will my master Lokanātha Gosvāmī take me along and submit me to Śrī Rūpa’s lotus-feet?”       
When  will that blessed moment come when Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī will  look at me and call me ‘this new maidservant’,  quickly  ordering  me:  “O dāsi! Come here! Quickly get the paraphernalia of your  service!’?
My  heart will be filled with joy when she orders me like this, and I will render my service with a pure heart.
I will keep my paraphernalia  for service on a jewelled plate, fill up a golden pitcher  and  quickly  come before Rādhā  and  Kṛṣṇa. 
When  will  Narottama Dāsa attain that state?
I will shyly stand behind Śrī Rūpa as Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa look at me again,  smile and ask Rūpa with kind hearts:
‘O Rūpa! Where did you get this new maidservant?’
Hearing Their inquiry, Śrī  Rūpa  Mañjarī then tells Them: ‘Mañjulālī Mañjarī (the spiritual name of Śrīla Lokanātha Gosvāmī) has given me  this  maidservant to bring her before You!’
I’ve come to know her as a very humble girl, so I’m keeping her here to serve You.
Then she (Rūpa Mañjarī) engaged me, Narottama in the devotional service of the Divine Couple, after personally telling Them these things.”

The mañjarīs have access to even more blessed services than the sakhīs; this unique fortune of devotional service is clearly described by Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī in his Vraja Vilāsa Stava (38):

tāmbūlārpana pāda-mardana payo dānābhisārādibhir
vṛndāraṇya maheśvarīṁ priyatayā yās toṣayanti priyāḥ
prāṇa preṣṭha sakhī kulād api kilāsaṅkocitā bhūmikāḥ
kelī bhūmiṣu rūpa mañjari mukhās tā dāsikāḥ saṁśraye

“I take shelter of Śrī Rādhikā’s maidservants, headed by Rūpa Mañjarī, that always engage in serving betelleaves, massaging the feet, serving water, and arranging for the Divine Couple’s secret trysts. These maidservants are even more dear to the great Queen of Vṛndāraṇya (Śrī Rādhikā) than the prāṇa preṣṭha sakhīs (the girlfriends that are dearer to Her than life), and She is therefore not at all shy before them!”

This shows that the mañjarīs’ position is more special than that of the sakhīs. Furthermore, in Muktā Caritra (274), Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī says:

raṅgaṇa-mālā prabhṛtayaḥ parama praṇayī sakhyaḥ api svābhilaṣita paricaraṇa viśeṣa lābhāya paricārikā iva vyavaharanti  – “Although Raṅgaṇa-mālā (another name of Rūpa Mañjarī) and others are Śrī Rādhikā’s most beloved girlfriends they behave just like maidservants, and therefore they are eligible to render services that even the parama preṣṭha sakhīs like Lalitā and Viśākhā can not enter into.”

The service of Rādhā and Mādhava is their very life! The most coveted services come after Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa have finished Their vilāsa:

rati-raṇe śrama-yuta,
nāgarī nāgara mukha bhari tāmbūla yogāya
malayaja kuṅkuma,        mṛgamada karpūra,
militahi gāta lāgāya
aparūpa priya sakhī prema!
nija prāṇa koṭi,        dei niramañchai,
naha tula lākho bāṇa hema

“How wonderful is the love of the priya sakhīs! They serve Nāgarī (heroine Rādhikā) and Nāgara (hero Kṛṣṇa) with millions of lives when They are tired of lovemaking, by filling Their mouths with betel leaves and by anointing Their bodies with sandalwood paste, vermilion, musk and camphor. Their love is so pure that it cannot even be compared to gold molten a hundred thousand times over!”

manorama mālya,      duhu gole arpai,
vījai śīta mṛdu bātasugandhī śītala,
koru jala arpaṇa,yaiche hota duhu śānta

“They offer enchanting garlands to Their necks, give Them a cool breeze by fanning Them, and relieve Them from Their heated affliction by offering Them cool and fragrant water.”

duhuka caraṇa puna,
mṛdu samvāhana,
kori śrama korolohi dūraiṅgite śayana,
korolo duhu sakhī-gaṇasabahu manoratha pūra

“These sakhīs again softly massage Their feet and thus remove Their fatigue. On Their indication they put the Divine Pair to rest and fulfill any of Their other desires.”

kusuma śeje duhu,
nidrita herai,sevana parāyaṇa sukha.
rādhā mohana dāsa,
kiye herabo,meṭabo saba mano-duḥkha

“These girls, that are totally dedicated to their devotional service, then put the Divine Pair to sleep on a bed of flowers. All the mental distress of Rādhā Mohana dāsa is mitigated when he sees this.”  The opportunity to peek through the latticed windows of the solitary kuñja to admire the sweet confidential vilāsa of Rādhā and Mādhava, and the opportunity to render confidential service to Them at that time is the very life-support of these maidservants.

On Rādhā’s request the other sakhīs may sometimes act as nāyikās (heroines) to please Kṛṣṇa, but the mañjarī never has this.

ananya śrī rādhā padakamala dāsyaika rasadhī
hareḥ saṅge raṅgaṁ svapana samaye nā’pi dadhati
balāt Kṛṣṇa kūrpāsakabhidi kim apy ācarati kā-
py udāśrur meveti pralapati mamātma ca hasati
(Vṛndāvana Mahimāmṛta 16,94)

“The maidservants, that are exclusively devoted to the service of Śrī Rādhā’s lotus-feet, that are like an ocean of nectar, do not enjoy with Śrī Hari even in their dreams. When Kṛṣṇa forcibly pulls  at  their  bodices they cry out: ‘No, no!’, while Rādhikā watches and laughs.”

Śrīmatī laughs because She sees the loyalty of Her maidservants, and this amuses Her. The mañjarīs find so much pleasure in serving Śrī Rādhā and Mādhava during Their amorous pastimes and in watching these pastimes through the latticed windows of the arbour that they don’t desire anything else anymore.

Here Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī prays at the lotus-feet of the mañjarīs:

“O beloved maidservants of the Rasika Yugala! Please allow me to join you, so that I can assist you in your loving devotional service!”

The mañjarī bhāva sādhaka should also pray like that to the lotus-feet of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava for attaining Their service in the company of the sakhīs. Śrīla Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura prayed in Prārthanā:

prāṇeśvari! ei bāra karuṇā koro more!
daśanete tṛṇa dhari,
añjali mastake dhari,
ei jana nivedana kore

“O Queen of my life! This time be merciful to me! This person holds a straw between his teeth and folds his hands on his head while praying to You:”

priya sahacarī saṅge,
sevana koribo raṅge,
aṅge veśa koribeka sādherākho ei sevā kāje,
nija pada paṅkajepriya sahacarī-gaṇa mājhe

“I will blissfully serve You along with the priya sakhīs, dressing Your limbs nicely. Keep me at Your lotus-feet for this devotional service, amidst Your beloved girlfriends.”

sugandhi candana,
maṇimaya ābharaṇa,
kauṣika vasana nānā raṅgeei sab sevā yāra,
dāsī yeno hao tāra,anukṣaṇa thāki tāra saṅge.

“I always stay with the sakhīs as if I am their maidservant, serving the Divine Couple with fragrant sandalwoodpulp, jewelled ornaments and silken garments.”

jala suvāsita kori,
ratana bhṛṅgāre bhari,
karpūra vāsita guyā pāna.e sab sājāiyā ḍālā,
labaṅga mālatī mālā,bhakṣya dravya nānā anupāma

“I fill up a jewelled pitcher with fragrant water and I prepare betelleaves that are scented with camphor. I will string a garland of Labaṅga- and Mālatī-flowers and I will prepare different matchless eatables.”

sakhīra iṅgita hobe,
e sab ānibo kobe,
yogāibo lalitāra kāche.narottama dāsa koy,
ei jeno mora hoy,dāḍāiyā rahu sakhīra pāche.

“When will I, on the sakhīs’ indication, bring all these things here and hand them to Lalitā? Narottama dāsa says: “May I then stand behind the sakhīs (waiting for orders)?”

This most confidential service of Śrī Rādhā is the unique and unprecedented merciful gift of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Even after Śrī Gaurasundara, who is the combined form of rasa rāja (Kṛṣṇa, the king of relishers) and mahā bhāva (Rādhā, the embodiment of the topmost ecstatic love) fulfilled His three desires, He had the supreme savour of mañjarī bhāva left to relish.

This ecstasy caused His transcendental limbs to slacken and to become disconnected, and this ecstasy caused Him to contract His limbs like a turtle!

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is His intimate associate, hence he prays with his heart like this –

ei nivedana dhoro yoteko mañjarī;
yugala praṇaya pātra premera kiṅkarīnata citte māge yāhā ei akiñcana;
karuṇā koriyā sabe koroho śravaṇarādhā-kṛṣṇa prāṇa mora īśvara īśvarī;
yugalera pāda-padme sevāra bhikhārīheno dina hoibe ki tomādera sane;
prema sevā koribo śrī yugala caraṇesei śubha lagna kobe hoibe āmāra;
śrī rūpa gosvāmī kohe koriyā phutkāra

“O, all of you mañjarīs! O objects of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s love! O loving maidservants! I pray to you humbly, please listen to me. I am a beggar for the service of the lotus-feet of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, my master and mistress who are my very life!” Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī weeps and says: “When will that auspicious day come that I can serve Their feet in your company?”