Narada asked Vishnu once: ‘The rishis or sages who had attained the purest wisdom relating to the universal Atma could not win your grace; but the illiterate milk-maids of Gokul who were charmed by Your beauty, Your sport, Your music, Your prattle, Your sweetness, Your inscrutable novelty-they won Your grace. How did this happen? But, Narada himself came to know later that the Gopis had Krishna (the Lord) as the very breath of their lives, as the very sight of their eyes, the very sound of their ears, the very taste of their tongues, the very touch of their skin. While tending the cows and calves, attending to their husbands and children, doing the thousand and one chores of worldly life, they lived in Krishna with Krishna and by means of Krishna only. Sarvada, sarvatra, sarva kaleshu Hari Chintanam – Under all conditions, at all times, in all places; their minds dwelt on Hari (Krishna-the Lord). How then can God deny them grace?

When Narada went to Gokul and called the Gopis to gather around him so that they can listen to his teachings about the attainments of Jnana, the Gopis gave no heed; they said, they did not like to waste precious minutes. ‘The hours of day and night are not enough for us to dwell on the name of the Lord, We do not require your verbal acrobatics to convince us that God is Satchitanandswarupa; we know, we feel, we experience the bliss every moment’. It was after this revelation of the supremacy of Bhakti that Narada composed the Bhakti Sutras, which became the guiding lamps for aspirants. (CK, pp. 32-33)

Bhakti is service to Hrishikesha,’ it has been said; Service to God has been described as Bhakti. The heart of the devotee flows with love of the Lord through constant remembrance and recitation of His name. Out of this stream of love, devotion emerges. One who is nourished by the nectar of Bhakti will have no desire for anything else. To be unaffected by joy or sorrow, gain or loss, praise or blame, to remain steadfast and unwavering in faith, is the hallmark of true devotion. Affection, attachment, desire are natural qualities in man. When these qualities are directed towards God and when one is continuously engaged in good deeds, these qualities acquire purity and sacredness. Then a man becomes not only a great soul but can become divine. (SSS Vol.19, p. 2)