Unmindful of their own joys and sorrows, it is towards the pleasure of Lord Krishna that the gopis direct all their physical and mental activities. They give up everything in order to focus on the exclusive happiness of Krishna in all purity.

Krishna vows to respond to His devotees according to their worship of Him.

Krishna says: According as a devotee surrenders to Me, I reward him proportionately. All men follow My way in one way or another.

Krishna never showed ingratitude to the gopis, for He always responds to His devotees according to the service of spiritual love they render to Him. Everyone follows the path that leads to Him, but there are various stages of progress on this path.

However, the realization of Lord Krishna varies in proportion to the progress of the devotee. The path is One, but the progress towards the ultimate goal is different for different human beings, and therefore the proportion in which they are given to realize that ultimate goal, which is none other than Krishna, God, the Supreme Person, is also variable.

The gopis were able to achieve this supreme goal, and Lord Chaitanya, the Golden Avatar, stated that no mode of worship of Krishna could surpass that which they adopted. The worship of the gopis caused this vow to be broken, as Lord Krishna Himself agrees.

The Lord states to this effect: O gopis, never can I discharge the debt I have incurred to you for your immaculate service, even in the space of a lifetime of Brahma. The relationship between you and Me is beyond reproach. You have worshipped Me, breaking all family ties, so difficult to sever. So let your glorious deeds be in themselves your reward.

The wonderful qualities of the gopis are beyond imagination. Although they have no desire for self-gratification, the joy they experience when Krishna takes pleasure in them exceeds a million times that which the Lord Himself feels. They have no desire for their own happiness, and yet it increases. This is a paradox.

The truth is that the joy of the gopis lies in that of Krishna, their beloved, for the Lord is the source of bliss, of all happiness, the fountain of joy, and love personified. Lord Krishna's beauty is enhanced when He sees the beauty of the gopis, and the more they admire Krishna's beauty, the more their own beauty increases. It is in the beauty and qualities of the gopis that Krishna derives his joy, and when the gopis see Him happy in this way, their own happiness is intensified. The joy of the gopis thus feeds the joy of Krishna. That is why lust does not taint their love. They constantly feel an intense desire to please Krishna, so that their relationships are all imbued with pure love for God, without the slightest trace of carnal sexuality, which is a matter of animality and found only in the material universe.