Passage 18

In English

The fourth one is called Gopika Bhakthi or Madhura Bhakthi. In this category, the gopikas always thought of Krishna and they completely surrendered themselves, their thoughts and ideas to Krishna. They would say that all their wealth, their body, their mind, and whatever else they had was all surrendered to Krishna. Whatever they did, or ate, or talked was all in the name of Krishna. They regarded their entire life as being dedicated to Krishna. If there was any moment of time, it had to belong to Krishna. If Krishna was not there even for a moment, they regarded themselves as lifeless. When Krishna used to go away with the cowherds, these gopikas always used to think of him and his comfort. They were always worried whether he had proper protection or not, whether he had slippers on or not, whether he had any discomfort of any kind, and so on. They would always think of Krishna and his comforts. One of the gopikas would be thinking that originally Krishna was dark-complexioned and was worried whether his visit to the forest would make him darker because of sunburn, and was thinking how nice it would be if he would take an umbrella the next day to protect his skin. In this way, all the time they were thinking of Gopala and his comforts. They were always thinking of Gopala. During the time they were eating their food, they were wondering whether Gopala was getting the correct food or not. While they were resting, they were thinking whether Gopala had a good place to rest. Thus while they were eating, sleeping, or resting, they were always thinking of Gopala and enjoying their own life, Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavati. So if we think of God and if our ideas are turned towards God, we will become one with God. At all times, because their thoughts were completely filled with Krishna, they were turning themselves and their bodies into being like Krishna.