For those who have been wondering why ALL our purva-acaryas are mañjarīs  – Here is why.
😀

Śrīmatī Rūpa Mañjarī has accomplished the meeting of Rādhikā and Śyāmasundara in a solitary cave of Govardhana Hill, and she secretly looks through a hole in that cave to witness Their sweet love-pastimes.

Rādhā and Śyāma are both intoxicated by Each other’s presence.
How expertly are They playing Their pastimes! At the end of these pastimes Śyāmasundara bites Śrīmatī’s lips, leaving a mark there.

The relationship between Rādhikā and Rūpa Mañjarī is so pure that all the signs of Kṛṣṇa’s lovemaking on Śrī Rādhikā’s body, such as His bitemarks on Her lips, become manifest on Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī’s body also. Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī is beside herself of ecstasy, so she’s not aware of this reflection.
Then she thinks to herself: “Aha! My sakhī Tulasī Mañjarī (Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī) has not seen these sweet pastimes! Where is she? Alas, I should bring her here and show this to her!”, so she leaves the window and starts searching for Tulasī.

When Tulasī meets Rūpa Mañjarī, she notices Kṛṣṇa’s bite marks on her lips and jokingly asks her: “My dear friend Rūpa Mañjari! You never look at the faces of other men! You’re famous in Vraja for your chastity! But, despite the fact that your husband is not at home, I see that your lips have been bitten! Has some great parrot maybe done this?”

If anyone considers the words śuka puṅgavena to indicate that Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī was enjoyed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then that would contradict the definition the ācāryas have given of the mañjarīs within their books.    

ananya śrī rādhā padakamala dāsyaika rasadhī   
hareḥ saṅge raṅgam 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 here because of the kiṅkarīs’ loyalty to Her service. The bee enjoys the flowers, not the buds (mañjarīs). The buds (mañjarīs) enhance the bee’s thirst for the flowers. They are mañjarīs in name, mañjarīs in form and mañjarīs in nature! Śrī Rūpa is the bud of Śrī Rādhā’s form (rūpa mañjarī), Śrī Rati Mañjarī is the bud of Śrīmatī love (rati), Śrī Vilāsa Mañjarī is the bud of Śrī Rādhā’s love-play (vilāsa). Śrī Kṛṣṇa accepts defeat at their bhāva-niṣṭhā.

rādhā raṅga lasat tad ujjvala kalā sañcāraṇā prākriyā   
cāturyottaram eva sevanam ahaṁ govinda samprārthaye   
yenāśeṣa vadhū janodbhata manorājya prapañcāvadhau  
nautsukyaṁ bhavad aṅga saṅgama rase’py ālambate man manaḥ 
(Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi Sakhi 88)

One sakhī was picking flowers for making a vana-mālā and Kṛṣṇa, seeing her, told her: “O beautiful girl! Make your birth a success by joining Me for a while in this kuñja!” Hearing this, that sakhī (mañjarī) said: “O Govinda! I only want to serve while You make love with Śrī Rādhā, showing Your brilliant amorous skills on the stage of erotic dancing named Śrī Rādhā! All the girls of Vraja find the limit of perfection on the strength of this service, therefore, O Gokula-candra! My mind is never eager to relish the rasa of Your Anaṅga-saṅga (erotic union). Please just engage me in this long-desired service!” 

Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī writes in his ‘Ānanda Candrikā’ commentary on this verse:

tvayā saha sāṅga saṅga sukhād api jāla randhrādau śrī rādhāṅga-saṅga darśanotthaṁ sukham adhikam anubhūtaṁ man manasā. na hi labdhādhika sukha jana alpe sukhe pravartante iti bhāvaḥ.

“I relish more pleasure in witnessing Your sports with Śrī Rādhā in the kuñja looking through the holes in the vines than in personally enjoying with You. People don’t endeavour for a smaller happiness when they can attain greater happiness!” 

Even Śrī Rādhā Herself fails in having them meet with Śrī Kṛṣṇa:

tvayā yad upabhujyate murajid aṅga saṅge sukham   
tad eva bahu jānati svayam avāptitaḥ śuddha-dhīḥ    
mayā kṛta vilobhanāpy adhika cāturi cāryayākadāpi
maṇi mañjarī na kurute’bhisāra spṛhaṁ

Śrī Rādhikā engaged one sakhī to make Maṇi Mañjarī meet with Kṛṣṇa, but that sakhī returned to Rādhā unsuccessfully, saying: “O Rādhe! Maṇi Mañjarī finds more happiness in Your meeting with Kṛṣṇa than in her own! Just see how pure her consciousness is! Although I expertly tried to tempt her to go out and meet Kṛṣṇa, she never desires this!” (Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi, sakhī prakaraṇa 89)

The special reward the mañjarīs get from their abhinava bhāva-śuddhi (novel, immaculate attitude) is unatttainable even for the preṣṭha sakhīs like Śrī Lalitā.

Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī has written in his Vraja Vilāsa Stava (38):
tāmbūlārpaṅa pāda-mardana payo dānābhisārādibhir
vṛndāraṇya maheśvarīṁ priyatayā yās toṣayanti priyāḥ
prāṇa preṣṭha sakhī kulād api kilāsaṅkocitā bhūmikāḥ
kelī bhūmiṣu rūpa mañjarī mukhās tā dāsikāḥ saṁśraye

“I take shelter of Śrī Rādhikā’s maidservants, headed by Rūpa Mañjarī, that always engage in serving betel leaves, 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 dearer to Her than life), and She is therefore not at all shy before them!”

[Śrī Kiśora Gopāla Gosvāmī and Rādhākuṇḍa Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrī Ananta dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja]

Mañjarī bhāva sādhanā, the spiritual practise 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!

…

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 kīrtanamane –
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- practise 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 practise is internal – one establishes one’s self-esteem in the spiritual body which is given 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.

The mañjarīs consist of nothing but the transcendental mellow of devotional service. Their hearts are dedicated to devotional service, and without service they do not know anything else. Because of their steadiness and fixation in the mellow of service, we can see that they are even more trusted by the Yugala in Their coming and going to Their private places of kuñja-vilāsa than the sama-snehā  parama-preṣṭha-sakhīs like Śrī Lalitā. The mañjarīs consist of nothing but the transcendental mellow of devotional service. Their hearts are dedicated to devotional service, and without service they do not know anything else. Because of their steadiness and fixation in the mellow of service, we can see that they are even more trusted by the Yugala in Their coming and going to Their private places of kuñja-vilāsa than the sama-snehā  parama-preṣṭha-sakhīs like Śrī Lalitā.
…

Because of the complete purity of their attitude, Śrī Rādhā has accepted the mañjarīs as Her own Self, so that they automatically gain free access to all the places where the Śrī Yugala meets and performs pastimes.  The Śrī Yugala considers them to be like the embodiments of Their absorption in Their erotic pastimes. Because of this exclusive privilege, the mañjarīs are situated in the highest position in the kingdom of prema. The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas perform their bhajana in allegiance to them. This is the unprecedented merciful gift of Śrīman Mahāprabhu.

[Rādhākuṇḍa Mahānta Paṇḍita Śrī Ananta dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja]

The object of the mañjarīs’ affection is the Holy Couple of Śrī Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa together. Therefore, the perfection of the mañjarīs’ power of sight and the thirst of their eyes is to see that couple locked in embrace. The craving of their ears is to hear the Holy Couple’s sweet murmuring conversations and that is the fulfillment of their sense of hearing. The desire of their tongues is to relish the flavour of the condiments touched by the Holy Couple’s lips, and in that way their sense of taste attains perfection. Similarly, the sweet fragrance that arises at the Holy Couple’s union is the object craved for by their nostrils and its experience is the fulfillment of their sense of smell. The tactile sense finds plenitude in massaging the Holy Couple’s feet and bodies, and this is the only object of their sense of touch.

sakhyaḥ śrī-rādhikāyā vraja-kumuda-vidhor hlādinī-nāma-śakteḥ
sārāṁśa-prema-vallyāḥ kiśalaya-dala-puṣpādi-tulyāḥ sva-tulyāḥ |
siktāyāṁ kṛṣṇa-līlāmṛta-rasa-nicayair ullasantyām amuṣyāṁ
jātollāsāḥ sva-sekāc chata-guṇam adhikaṁ santi yat tan na citram ||
Govinda-līlāmṛta 10.16

Just as the moon enlivens the lilies, so Kṛṣṇa is the bright moon who enlivens the lily-like hearts of the residents of Vrindavan. His pleasure-giving potency is personified in Rādhā, who is like a creeper whose fruits are prema. Her girlfriends are like the unlimited branches, leaves and flowers which expand out from her self and are thus equal to her. For this reason, when that winding creeper of love is watered with the heavenly potion of Kṛṣṇa’s sporting activities, then the leaves and flowers (the sakhīs) find hundreds of times more pleasure than if they were themselves to be sprinkledthis seems quite normal

[Kuñja Bihārī Dās Bābājī’ – Mañjarī-svarūpa-nirūpaṇa]