What is this gopi prem (the Divine love of the Gopis) that, you and I, we all need to practice? What is this?
A Gopi (cowherd maiden devotee of Krishna) took a piece of paper in hand and wanted to write something. But this Gopi is absolutely illiterate. She doesn’t know how to sign her name, so how can she write a letter? Holding the paper, she is very, very seriously thinking about what to do.
And she enters into this ecstatic state where her entire body is horripilating, shaking, shivering. The temperature of virah (Divine separation), the fire of separation, is burning so much in her heart that her whole body is set on fire. Literally, she is burning. The temperature is so high. The tears are rushing down her cheeks. Big, big drops of tears are coming, washing away the kajal (eyeliner) that she had applied to her eyes. This Gopi, holding the piece of paper, does not know what to do. She has entered into samadhi (deep Divine absorption), into roopdhyan (meditation on the Divine form), into great samadhi of Krishna, thinking of Shree Krishna when He had gone to Mathura.
So the Gopi’s tears are running down. (There are) hot, hot tears in virah, and cold, cold tears in union. This is virah. This is separation. So hot, hot tears, like acid, are dropping. Hot tears washing away the kajal are falling on the paper which she is holding. Down below, where she was holding the paper, it is all burnt due to her body temperature - virah temperature. And it has left the burnt marks of her fingerprints. And the tears that had rolled, washing away the kajal, had fallen on the top of this paper. It had melted the paper over there. There are bumps created. In some places, it is even torn. And the kajal marks are everywhere, splashed all over the paper.
And then the Gopi becomes conscious. Somebody was leaving for Mathura very soon. So quickly the Gopi folds the paper, not realizing what is happening, and she gives it to this person to hand over to Shree Krishna in Mathura. The person takes it, and Shree Krishna opens the letter and reads it. How could He read it when nothing was written? Because of the burnt marks of the fingerprints He knows the temperature of virah. And the tears that had melted the paper and the kajal that had washed away - it is not any water. It is the kajal. And Krishna can see the virah of the Gopi, the pangs of separation, the fire of separation. The temperature is so high. This Gopi is so desperate in her longing, in her love for her Divine Beloved Krishna. She could not give it to anyone else to write the letter because this is something so personal, so very personal. Thus, Shree Krishna read the Gopi.
This is Gopi prem. This is how personal and how intimate our heart’s love for our Beloved should be. It is very pure. It has nothing to do with the physical. It is all with our soul, our soul Beloved. He is seated within us. He is nowhere else. He is seated within us. But to drink Divine love, we have to bring Him before us. The milk within the cow’s udder is of no use until it is milked out and then consumed, making one healthy. Where is the Lord? He is in our hearts. But He is not available to us because we do not remember Him. So we have Him in form outside and then bring Him in again, and remind ourselves of His presence all the time, consciously, that ‘He is with me. My protector is watching me, and have the deep love of your heart for Him all the time’.
This is Gopi prem.
