‘May māyā, in the form of bodily consciousness, not take my mind away from the lotus feet of my beloved deity!’ Māyā stops one from remembering the beloved deity.

hoiyā māyāra dāsa, kori nānā abhilāṣa, tomāra smaraṇa gelo dūre
(Prārthanā)

“As a servant of māyā I desire different things and my remembrance of You has gone far away!”

The scriptures and the great teachers have said that the rāga-devotee must fix himself firmly on his svarūpāveśa:

rāgera bhajana patha, kohi ebe abhimata, loka veda sāra ei vāṇī
sakhīra anugā hoiyā, vraje siddha deha pāiyā, ei bhāve juḍābe parāṇi
(Prema Bhakti Candrikā)

“Now I will tell you my opinion about the path of spontaneous devotion. These words are the essence of the popular and Vedic teachings. If you follow in the footsteps of the sakhīs you will attain a spiritual body in Vraja. In this way you will gratify your spiritual self.”

Nothing else but this can gratify the hearts of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas! No one can attain perfection while being in bodily consciousness.

Although Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī was the crownjewel of scholars he still humbly enquired from Śrīman Mahāprabhu:

ke āmi, kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya? ihā nāhi jāni āmi – kemone hita hoy
sādhya sādhana tattva puchite nā jāni; kṛpā kori sab tattva kohoto āpani {C.C.}

“Who am I? Why am I suffering the threefold miseries? I do not know what is my own benefit. I ask You what is the means and what is the goal, for I do not know. Please tell me all these truths Yourself!”

Śrīman Mahāprabhu gave the following very simple answer:

jīvera svarūpa hoy – kṛṣṇera nitya dāsa;
kṛṣṇera taṭasthā śakti – bhedābheda prakāśa

“The constitutional position of the spirit soul is that it is the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.
It is Kṛṣṇa’s intermediary energy and is both different and non-different from Kṛṣṇa.”
{C.C.}

kṛṣṇa nitya dāsa jīva tāhā bhuli gelo; sei doṣe māyā tāra golāya bāndhilo
tāte kṛṣṇa bhaje kore gurura sevana; māyā jāla chuṭe, pāya kṛṣṇera caraṇa

“The living entity is Kṛṣṇa’s eternal servant, but he has forgotten that, and for that fault māyā has bound him around the neck. But when the soul worships Kṛṣṇa and serves the guru’s feet the network of māyā will break and he will attain Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.”

But the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas do not have their aspirations fulfilled unless they worship Śrī Rādhā and they attain Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet. Śrī Raghunātha is burning in the fire of separation from Śrī Rādhā only. He has no other shelter but Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet.

bhajāmi rādhām aravinda-netrāṁ smarāmi rādhāṁ madhura smitāsyām
vadāmi rādhāṁ karuṇā bharārdrāṁ tato mamānyāsti gatir na kāpi
(Viśākhānandada Stotram – 131)

“I worship lotus-eyed Rādhā, I remember the sweetly smiling face of Rādhā and I speak of Rādhā, who is filled with compassion. In this way there is no other shelter for me.”

Srila Ananta das Babaji