How wonderful is the Gosvāmīs’ loyalty to the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā!

Śrīmad Prabodhānanda Sarasvati has written in Rādhā Rasa Sudhānidhi (78): yā vṛndāvana sīmni kācana ghanāścarya kiśorī maṇis tat kaiṅkarya rasāmṛtād iha paraṁ citte na me rocate – “Nothing else can please my mind than the nectar-rasa of the maidservanthood of some most amazing jewel of adolescent girls from the outskirts of Vṛndāvana!”

It is natural that nothing then pleases the mind anymore, because rāgānugā bhakti is a ‘mental religion’, as Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī says in Rāga Vartma Candrikā (rāgasya manodharmatvāt). There is no necessity of scriptural injunctions, for lobha eva pravartakaḥ “Only sacred greed is the inaugurator”. Even the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot experience the beauty of the thoughts of Śrī Rādhā’s maidservants!

In the Vaiṣṇava-scriptures the glories of the ekānta (one-pointed)-devotee are specifically sung. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī writes (Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhuḥ 1.2.58):

tatrāpy ekantīnāṁ śreṣṭha govinda hṛta mānasaḥ yesāṁ śrīśa prasādo’pi mano hartuṁ na śaknuyat

“Of all the devotees those one-pointed devotees whose hearts have been stolen by Govinda are the best. Even the mercy of Śrīśa (Lord Viṣṇu), the husband of the goddess of fortune, cannot take their minds away!”

The one-pointed loyalty of Rādhā’s maidservants is even more wonderful than the one-pointed loyalty of Kṛṣṇa’s devotees.. They do not even want Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s grace without that of Rādhā. Their hearts are exclusively surrendered to Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet.

tavaivāsmi tavaivāsmi na jīvāmi tvayā vinā – “I am Yours! I am Yours only! I cannot live without You!” (Vilāpa Kusumanjali, verse 96)

This is the slogan that proclaims their loyalty to Rādhā’s lotus feet. Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa cannot tolerate even the idea of worshiping Śrī Kṛṣṇa without Śrī Rādhā. In his Sva Niyama Daśaka (6) he has written:

anādṛtyodgītām api muni-gaṇair vaiṇika mukhaiḥ pravīṇāṁ gāndharvām api ca nigamais tat priyatamām yā ekaṁ govindaṁ bhajati kapaṭī dāmbhikatayā tad abhyarṇe śīrṇe kṣaṇam api na yāmi vratam idam

“Not even for a moment will I go near that impure place where a proud hypocrite worships Govinda alone while neglecting or disrespecting His most expert lover Śrī Gāndharvā (Rādhā), whose glories are sung by the Vedic scriptures and great sages like Nārada Muni, who carries the Vīṇā. That is my solemn vow!”

Whoever carries Rādhā’s lotus feet in the heart has such a beautiful mind.