Śrī Raghunātha suffers intolerable agony because he cannot attain his beloved deity, and then again he relishes the flavours of Svāminī’s devotional service in a transcendental vision.

After bathing Svāminī he dried Her off, dressed Her and made Her braid, and now he will make a tilaka-mark on Her forehead. How can the devotee continue on his path if he never experiences or relishes anything? This relish causes the devotee to forget everything else and awakens his constant meditation on the Lord. This is the purpose of upāsanā.

In the introduction to his commentary to the Chandogya Upaniṣad, Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has explained the word upāsana as follows: upāsanaṁ tu yathā-śāstra samāpitaṁ kiñcid ālambanam upādāya tasmin samāna citta vṛtti santāna karaṇam tad avilakṣana pratyayāntaritam iti: “Upāsana means to hold on to a certain subject of meditation, according to the scriptural injunctions, with such one-pointedness that no other subject matter can enter.”

For Śrī Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī there is nothing in this world except his connection with Śrī Rādhā. In Bhakti Ratnākara (Fifth Wave) it is described how, in his spiritual absorption, he rejected buttermilk from Sakhīsthalī, the village of Rādhā’s arch-rival Candrāvalī:

dāsa nāme eka vrajavāsī etha roy; dāsa gosvāmīra tāre sneha atiśoy teho eka dina sakhī-sthalī grāme gelā; bṛhat palāśa patra dekhi tuli’ nilā dāsa gosvāmīra kothā mone mone kohe; annādika tyāga koilā dāruṇa virahe eka donā takra piye niyama tāhāra; ithe kichu atirikta hoibe āhāra aiche mone kori ghare āsi donā koilā; tāhe takra loiyā raghunātha āge āilā navya patra donā dekhi’ jijñāse gosāi; e bṛhat patra āji pāilā kon ṭhāi dāsa kohe – sakhī-sthalī genu gocāraṇe; pāiyā uttama patra āninu ekhāne sakhī-sthalī nāma śuni’ krodhe pūrṇa hoilā; takra saha donā dūre phelāiyā dilā koto kṣaṇe sthira hoiyā kohe dāsa prati; se candrāvalīra sthāna – na yāibā tathi

“There was one Vrajavāsī (inhabitant of Vraja) named Dāsa who loved Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī very much. He went to the village of Sakhīsthalī (close to the town of Govardhana) and found a big leafcup there, which he brought along, thinking of Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, who had given up eating all solid food out of coarse separation from Rādhārāṇī. Dāsa thought: “It is Raghunātha Dāsa’s rule to drink only one cup of buttermilk a day. When I give Him this bigger leafcup he can eat a little more”, and brought some buttermilk from his house to fill up the big leafcup. When he came before him, Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, seeing the new cup, asked him: “Where did you get this big leaf cup from?” Dāsa said: “I went to Sakhī-sthalī to herd my cows and I found this good leaf cup there and brought it to you!” Hearing the name ‘Sakhī-sthalī’, Raghunātha Dāsa became filled with anger and threw the leaf cup with the buttermilk far away. After some time he calmed down and told Dāsa: “That is the place where Candrāvalī lives! Don’t go there!”

How wonderful is Śrī Raghunātha’s loyalty to Śrī Rādhā! What else can there be but strong feelings of possessiveness towards someone that you have known for eternity! Anyone who has tasted even a little of this spiritual practice will get some of this feeling of possessiveness towards Rādhārāṇī also, and, even though it may not be so strong, he will also feel some separation from Śrī Rādhā! The nectar of Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet is the greatest support for a devotee. “The body and everyone and everything connected with it is all temporary, it will all go! With whom shall I stay then? I don’t have any other place to stay but Śrī Rādhā’s lotus feet!” This is the mood of an ekānta-(one-pointed) devotee. When feelings of separation set in, the devotee feels intolerable agony. He cannot eat, sleep and be merry anymore, and nothing can please his heart anymore. He can only be consoled by experiencing Svāminī’s form, taste, sound, touch and smell, whether in dreams, smaraṇa or during revelations.

Śrī Ānanda Gopāla Gosvāmī, tika to Vilapa Kusumanjali verse 24