have the same result. In every age there are demons, monsters, birds and animals, which are in passion and ignorance, and there are also human beings in the categories of businessmen, women, workers, outcasts, etc., who cannot study the Vedic scriptures [of the Vedas, the original holy scriptures]. Nonetheless, by the purifying effect of association or union with devotees of God, they can all attain the supreme abode of Krishna, the Divine Person, while without such holy association or reunion even those who strive very seriously in yoga, study of Sāṅkhya, charity, vows and the practice of the order of renouncing material life, may be unable to reach the Supreme Person.
The gopis, young ladies of Vraja [Mathura region, which covers about two hundred and sixty square kilometers, where the Supreme Lord, Krishna, manifested his sublime entertainments 5,000 years ago in the company of his pure devotees. It is the main place of pilgrimage for all holy beings. Also and more directly refers to Vrindavana], ignoring the true identity of Lord Krishna, regarded him as their lover who would please them. Yet, by the power of their constant union with Krishna, they have attained the Supreme Absolute Truth, which even great celestial beings like Brahma cannot attain. The young women of Vrindavana showed such a deep attachment to Lord Krishna that their minds, overflowing with ecstasy to be with Him, perceived an entire night spent in His company as a fraction of a second.
However, when Akrura (great devotee of Krishna) took Krishna with Baladeva (first full emanation of Krishna) to Mathura, the gopis then thought of each night without Him as having a duration equal to one thousand years of heavenly beings. Tormented by separation from Lord Krishna, they could not imagine anything that could give them satisfaction other than his return. It is the incomparable excellence of the pure love of the gopis for God.
The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna [Sri: title of veneration attached to the Name of Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, for He possesses in their fullness and opulence, the following six perfections: Beauty, wealth, fame, power, wisdom and renunciation], after imparting his instructions to Uddhava [Lord Krishna's most confidential friend and advisor], advised that in order to attain Absolute Truth, the latter must abandon all consideration of religion and irreligion as promulgated in the revealed holy scriptures and instead to take the example of the gopis, the women of Vrindavana.
Krishna, God, the Supreme Person says:
By associating with My pure devotees, one can destroy his attachment to all objects of material sense satisfaction. Such a purifying union puts Me under the control of My devotee. One can perform the method of yoga, engage in a philosophical analysis of the elements of piety, sing the hymns of the Vedas, perform penance, adopt the order of renunciation (of material life), perform sacrificial performances and dig wells., plant trees and perform other public welfare activities, give to charity, fulfill