The highest goal in bhakti-yoga, prayojana-tattva, is given to us by the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
When we know our true self and when we love our true self, we can understand the way or the path we have to follow. Srila Sanatana Goswami tells us who we really are and about our eternal relationship with Sri Sri Radha Krishna and Srila Rupa Goswami shows us the way to reach our goal.
The goal is to love Sri Sri Radha Krishna in a very special way. When we want to love Krishna, we have to follow those who have the topmost love for Him. Our goal is the highest love. So we should find out who has the highest love for Krishna. In Srila Sanatana Goswami´s work “Brihad Bhagavatamrita”, we will find out who has the highest love for Krishna. Uddhava, Krishna´s dearest friend, prays that he can take birth as a blade of grass in Vrindavana so that the feet of the gopis can touch his head permanently. When Uddhava saw Srimati Radharani talking to the bumble bee in the forest of Vrindavana, he realized that Srimati Radharani´s love for Krishna is the zenith, the highest reachable point, on the scale of pure love for the Lord. Nobody has a deeper love than Srimati Radharani.
We are very fortunate that Sri Caitanya opened up the treasurebox of this most astonishing love. He freely distributed that amorous love of the gopis of Vrindavana. If we follow his teachings, written down by his most intimate followers, we too can realize the love of the gopis of Vrindavana. We only have to take shelter at those who have this highest love in their hearts. We have to take shelter at the Lotus Feet of Srimati Radharani. She is compassion personified and She is our only shelter. Srimati Radharani is our shelter (ashraya) and love of Krishna (prema-bhakti) is our goal (vishaya). We do this by taking shelter of our Sri Gurudeva, who is very near and dear to Srimati Radharani.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed Srila Raghunatha das Goswami to write about this subject, about the highest love imaginable.
He wrote many books, but his final work
“Sri Vilapa-kusumanjali (A flower-bouquet of lamentations)”
deals with the most intimate loving service a spiritual soul ( jiva) can possibly perform: the loving service to Srimati Radharani, the soul identifying herself as a very intimate ladyfriend of Srimati Radharani. This is the gift of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and by humbly following his teachings and the teachings of his acaryas under the guidance (anugatya) of a loving Sri Gurudeva, we all can realize this gift and live forever happily in the kingdom of Radha-dasyam (service to Srimati Radharani).
Srila Raghunatha das Goswami prays:
tvam gopika vrisharaves tanayantike ‘se
sevadhikarini guro nija-pada-padme
dasyam pradaya kuru mam vraja-kanane shri-
radhanghri-sevana-rase sukhinim sukhabdhau
“O beloved spiritual master, you are always in the presence of the cowherd girl Radha, the daughter of King Vrishabhanu. Please award me the loving service to your lotus-like feet, which are the proprietors of devotional service. Please place me in the ocean of joy by bestowing upon me the happiness in the mellows of service to the feet of Sri Radha in the groves of Vraja Dhama.”