The Gopis of Våndävana were so attached to Krishna that they were not satisfied simply with the räsa dance at night. They wanted to associate with Him and enjoy His company during the daytime also. When Krishna went to the forest with His cowherd boyfriends and cows, the Gopis did not physically take part, but their hearts went with Him. And because their hearts went, they were able to enjoy His company through strong feelings of separation. To acquire this strong feeling of separation is the teaching of Lord Caitanya and His direct disciplic succession of Gosvämés. When we are not in physical contact with Krishna, we can associate with Him like the Gopis, through feelings of separation. Krishna’s transcendental form, qualities, pastimes and entourage are all identical with Him. There are nine different kinds of devotional service. Devotional service to Krishna in feelings of separation elevates the devotee to the highest perfectional level, to the level of the Gopis.

It is stated in Çréniväsäcärya’s prayer to the six Gosvämés that they left the material opulences of government service and the princely status of life and went to Våndävana, where they lived just like ordinary mendicants, begging from door to door. But they were so much enriched with the Gopis’ feelings of separation that they enjoyed transcendental pleasure at every moment. Similarly, when Lord Caitanya was at Jagannätha Puré, He was in the role of Rädhäräëé, feeling separation from Krishna. Those who are in the disciplic succession of the Mädhva-Gauòéya-sampradäya should always feel separation from Krishna, worship His transcendental form and discuss His transcendental teachings, His pastimes, His qualities and His entourage. That will enrich the devotees to the highest devotional perfection. Feeling constant separation while engaged in the service of the Lord is the perfection of Krishna consciousness.

Once upon a time, the cowherd men of Våndävana, headed by Nanda Mahäräja, desired to go to Ambikävana to observe the Çiva-rätri ceremony. The räsa-lélä was performed during the autumn, and after that the next big ceremony is Holi, or the Doläyäträ ceremony. Between the Doläyäträ ceremony and the räsa-lélä ceremony there is one important ceremony called Çiva-rätri, which is especially observed by the Çaivites, or devotees of Lord Çiva. Sometimes the Vaiñëavas also observe this ceremony because they accept Lord Çiva as the foremost Vaiñëava. But the function of Çiva-rätri is not observed very regularly by the bhaktas, or devotees of Krishna. Under the circumstances, it is stated in Çrémad-Bhägavatam that Nanda Mahäräja and the other cowherd men “once upon a time desired.” This means that they were not regularly observing the Çiva-rätri function but that once upon a time they wanted to go to Ambikävana out of curiosity. Ambikävana is somewhere in the Gujarat province, and it is said to be situated on the river Sarasvaté. Yet we do not find any Sarasvaté River in the Gujarat province, although there is a river named Savarmaté. In India, all the big places of pilgrimage are situated on nice rivers like the Ganges, Yamunä, Sarasvaté, Narmadä, Godävaré and Käveré. Ambikävana was situated on the bank of Sarasvaté, and Nanda Mahäräja and all the other cowherd men went there.

They very devotedly began to worship the deity of Lord Çiva and Ambikä. It is the general practice that wherever there is a temple of Lord Çiva, there must be another temple, of Ambikä (or Durgä), because Ambikä is the wife of Lord Çiva and is the most exalted of chaste women. She doesn’t live outside the association of her husband. After reaching Ambikävana, the cowherd men of Våndävana first bathed themselves in the river Sarasvaté. If one goes to any place of pilgrimage, his first duty is to take a bath and sometimes to shave his head. That is the first business. After taking a bath, they worshiped the deities and then distributed charity in the holy places.

Thus hearing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, speaking to pacify them, the Gopis became very much pleased. They became completely relieved of the great suffering of separation, not only by hearing the words of the Supreme Personality of Godhead but also by touching His hands and legs. After this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead began His räsa dance. A dance in the midst of many girls is called a räsa dance. So Krishna began to dance among the most beautiful and fortunate girls within the three worlds. The Gopis of Våndävana, who were so attracted to Him, danced with Krishna, hand in hand.

Krishna’s räsa dance should never be compared to any kind of material dance, such as a ball dance or a society dance. The räsa dance is a completely spiritual performance. In order to establish this fact, Krishna, the supreme mystic, expanded Himself into many forms and stood beside each Gopi. Placing His hands on the shoulders of the Gopis on both sides of Him, He began to dance in their midst. The mystic expansions of Krishna were not perceived by the Gopis because Krishna appeared alone to each of them. Each Gopi thought that Krishna was dancing with her alone. Above that wonderful dance flew many airplanes carrying the denizens of the heavenly planets, who were very eager to see the wonderful dance of Krishna with the Gopis. The Gandharvas and Kinnaras began to sing, and, accompanied by their respective wives, all the Gandharvas began to shower flowers on the dancers.

As the Gopis and Krishna danced together, a very blissful musical sound was produced from the tinkling of their bells, ornaments and bangles. It appeared that Krishna was a greenish sapphire locket in the midst of a golden necklace decorated with valuable stones. While Krishna and the Gopis danced, they displayed extraordinary bodily features. The movements of their legs, their placing their hands on one another, the movements of their eyebrows, their smiling, the movements of the breasts of the Gopis and their clothes, their earrings, their cheeks, their hair with flowers—as they sang and danced these combined to appear like clouds, thunder, snow and lightning. Krishna’s bodily features appeared just like a group of clouds, the Gopis’ songs were like thunder, their beauty appeared to be just like lightning in the sky, and the drops of perspiration visible on their faces appeared like falling snow. In this way, the Gopis and Krishna fully engaged in dancing.

When Lord Krishna finally reappeared among the assembled Gopis, He looked very beautiful, just befitting a person with all kinds of opulences. In the Brahma-saàhitä it is stated, änanda-cin-maya-rasa-pratibhävitäbhiù: Krishna alone is not particularly beautiful, but when His energy—especially His pleasure energy, represented by Rädhäräëé—expands, He looks very magnificent. The Mäyäväda conception of the perfection of the Absolute Truth without potency is due to insufficient knowledge. Actually, outside the exhibition of His different potencies, the Absolute Truth is not complete. Änanda-cin-maya-rasa means that His body is a transcendental form of eternal bliss and knowledge. Krishna is always surrounded by different potencies, and therefore He is perfect and beautiful. We understand from the Brahma-saàhitä and Skanda Puräëa that Krishna is always surrounded by many thousands of goddesses of fortune. The Gopis are all goddesses of fortune, and Krishna took them hand in hand on the bank of the Yamunä.

It is said in the Skanda Puräëa that out of many thousands of Gopis, 16,000 are predominant, out of those 16,000, 108 are especially prominent, out of these 108 Gopis, eight Gopis are still more prominent, out of those eight Gopis, Rädhäräëé and Candrävalé are even more prominent, and out of these two Gopis, Rädhäräëé is the most prominent.

When Krishna entered the forest on the bank of the Yamunä, the moonlight dissipated the surrounding darkness. Due to the season, flowers like the kunda and kadamba were blooming, and a gentle breeze was carrying their aroma. Due to the aroma, the bees were also flying in the breeze, thinking that the aroma was honey. The Gopis made a seat for Krishna by leveling the soft sand and placing cloths over it.