A spiritual vision saves the life of a devotee who feels separation from the Divine Couple, and when there is any delay in that vision it becomes very difficult to tolerate the resultant misery.
The stories we hear in the confidential rāgānuga Vaiṣṇava history about Rūpa Gosvāmī’s strong yearning for Rādhā and Mādhava’s service and darśana are extraordinary, and they are an example that should be followed by all the rasika rāgānugā-devotees of the world. When aspirants discuss the topics of Śrīla Rūpa’s extraordinary ecstatic behavior the light on the path of rāga bhakti will shine for them, and when they meditate on this eager kind of devotion-in-separation they can also develop this transcendental yearning for the intimate love of Vraja within their hearts.

The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas worship in a spontaneous mood, not in a formal mood. To have a natural, deep loving thirst for the Lord is called rāga, and that rāga, that loving thirst creates the greatest absorption in God-consciousness. This passionate devotion is called rāgātmikā bhakti, according to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:

iṣṭe svārasikī rāgaḥ paramāviṣṭatā bhavet
tanmayī yā bhaved bhaktiḥ sātra rāgātmikoditā
(Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.272)

iṣṭe gāḍha tṛṣṇā ‘rāgera’ – svarūpa lakṣaṇa;
iṣṭe ‘āviṣṭatā’ – taṭa-stha lakṣaṇa kathana
(Caitanya Caritāmṛta)

“The primary symptom of rāga bhakti is a deep thirst for the beloved Lord, and a marginal symptom is complete absorption in God-consciousness.” With ‘deep thirst’ is meant the intense and pure desire to make the Lord happy with one’s service; this is the main characteristic. The result of this strong desire is the complete absorption in God-consciousness. This is the marginal characteristic of rāga bhakti.

ākṛti prakṛti dui svarūpa lakṣaṇa;
kārya dvārā jñāna ei taṭastha lakṣaṇa

“Each thing can be recognized through its svarūpa lakṣaṇa and its taṭastha lakṣaṇa. The svarūpa lakṣaṇa is the shape and nature of the object and the external activities and symptoms are its taṭastha lakṣaṇa.”

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī writes in Bhakti Sandarbha (310):
tatra viṣayinaḥ svābhāviko viṣaya saṁsar¬gecchātiśaya-mayaḥ premā rāgaḥ. yathā cakṣurādīnāṁ saundaryādau tādṛśa evātra bhaktasya bhagavatya api rāga ity ucyate
– “A materialist is naturally very fond of contacting his beloved sense-objects, and this is normally called rāga, or passion. Just as the eyes are naturally attracted to seeing beautiful objects, and they don’t have to be encouraged in this attraction, the devotee is also naturally attracted to the Lord. Such a ‘thirsty’ (eager) love is called rāga, and devotees who are endowed with such natural love are called rāgātmikā- devotees”.
Caitanya Caritāmṛta says:

rāgātmikā bhakti mukhyā vrajavāsī jane;
tāra anugatā bhakti rāgānugā nāme

“The main rāgātmikā- devotees are the inhabitants of Vraja, and devotion in their wake is called ‘rāgānugā bhakti’.” Śrīla Rūpa and Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī are the rāgātmikā Vraja-devotees that are followed by the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. Rāgānugā bhakti means to hear about their expert and anxious loving devotional service from the scriptures and from the mouths of the great devotees.

Srila Ananta das Babaji