Also during the stage of sādhana there must be relish according to one’s own rasa at the time of meditation. This relish according to one’s relationship (with the deity) arises while identifying oneself with one’s svarūpa. Taking shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Guru will remain fruitless if this relationship with the deity is not established.
maṣjarī bhāva means to have your mind completely reflect the picture of Śrīmatī’s moods and feelings. It is not easy to reflect Śrīmatī’s bhāva citra (pictures of Her feelings) completely. She is the embodiment of the full mādanākhya mahā-bhāva, and on top of that She is completely mad with attraction to the form, qualities and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who embodies the transcendental erotic śṛṅgāra rasa. There is nothing in the spiritual world as pure as this śṛṅgāra rasa or śuci rasa.

By associating with like-minded and more advanced saints and by gaining their grace these feelings and flavours will gradually be experienced, but the heart must be prepared for this rasa-saṁskāra by giving up all material customs. The svarūpa I came to know through Śrī Guru’s grace must be brought to full realisation by giving up the service of māyā, which consists of identification with the material body.

ātmānaṁ cintayet tatra tāsāṁ madhye manoramāṁ rūpa yauvana sampannāṁ kiśorīṁ pramadākṛtiṁ sakhīnāṁ saṅginī rūpām ātmānaṁ vāsanāmayīm ājṣā sevāparāṁ tadvat ratnālaṅkāra bhūṣitām (Śrī Sanat Kumāra Saṁhitā)

“A practising devotee should think himself to be amongst them (the other gopīs), as an enchanting beautiful young adolescent female. As a female associate of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s girlfriends such as Śrī Lalitā, Viśākhā and Śrī Rūpa Maṣjarī she is dedicated to the services that are ordered to her and her vāsanāmayī mūrti (form consisting of divine desires) is decorated with jewelled ornaments (that are given to her by Śrī Rādhā as remnants). The word cintayet means that one should see and face one’s spiritual self as having a special form and feeling, like the nitya siddha maṣjarīs.”

This siddha deha is automatically manifest in the heart of a jāta rati sādhaka (a devotee whose bhāva bhakti has arisen). It is as if he forgets his sādhaka deha (external devotee-body). The sādhakas whose rati has not yet arisen will conceive of this siddha deha within the mind.

The stronger and clearer this meditation on the siddha deha becomes, the further the sādhaka advances into the kingdom of bhāva.

Why hesitate to meditate on Rādhārāṇī’s breasts? They must be meditated upon in a blissful state of mind. When the heart is not pure this sevā cannot be contemplated. When bodily consciousness is strong one has no right to meditate on these intimate pastimes – this is the opinion of Śrī Jīva.

Śrī Śuka Muni has said: “Anyone who faithfully hears and chants about the pastimes of Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava will swiftly attain the topmost prema bhakti in the mood of the gopīs and will become grave, having given up heart’s diseases like lust. (see the final verse of the Rāsa-līlā, starting with vikrīḍitaṁ vrajavadhūbhiḥ).“

Therefore, if that is so, then the qualification to worship Śrī-Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava will be accomplished through the process of hearing and chanting these pastimes. The great words of the ācāryas are the support for the weak sādhakas. These words are very powerful and they will scent the hearts of the fortunate devotee with the desire for Śrīmatī’s devotional service, like a powerful mantra.

mahatera bhāva bhāvite bhāvite, tad-bhāve hobe sarva vismaraṇa antar bāhye tabe ekākāra hobe, mahad bhāve rasa hobe āsvādana

“When we attain the ecstatic mood of the great devotional teachers we will forget everything. The internal and the external will then assume one form. In the mood of the great souls we will relish transcendental flavours.”

Śrīla Ananta dāsa Bābājī

Śrīla Ānanda Gopāla Gosvāmī