Rāmānanda Rāya then began his explanation, saying that the transcendental activities of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are very confidential. These activities cannot be understood by one who has an emotional relationship with the Supreme Lord as servant to master, friend to friend, or parent to son. This confidential subject matter can be understood only in the association of the damsels of Vraja, for these confidential activities have arisen from the feelings and emotions of those damsels. Without the association of the damsels of Vraja, one cannot nourish or cherish such a transcendental understanding. In other words, because these confidential pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa have expanded through the mercy of the damsels of Vraja, without their mercy one cannot understand them. One has to follow in the footsteps of the damsels of Vraja in order to understand.
When one is actually situated in that understanding, he becomes eligible to enter into the confidential pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. For one who wants to understand these confidential pastimes, there is no alternative to following in the footsteps of the damsels of Vraja. This is confirmed in the Govinda-līlāmṛta (10.17): "Although manifest, happy, expanded and unlimited, the emotional exchanges between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa can be understood only by the damsels of Vraja or their followers. Just as no one can understand the expansion of the spiritual energy of the Supreme Lord without His causeless mercy, no one can understand the transcendental sex life between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa without following in the footsteps of the damsels of Vraja."
The associates of Rādhārāṇīinclude Her personal associates, called sakhīs, and Her near assistants, called mañjarīs. It is very difficult to express the dealings of Rādhārāṇī’s associates with Kṛṣṇa because they have no desire to mix with Him or enjoy with Him personally. Rather, they are always ready to help Rādhārāṇī associate with Kṛṣṇa. Their affection for Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī is so pure that they are simply satisfied when Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are together. Indeed, their transcendental pleasure is in seeing Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa united. The actual form of Rādhārāṇī is just like a creeper embracing the tree of Kṛṣṇa, and the damsels of Vraja, the associates of Rādhārāṇī, are just like the leaves and flowers of that creeper. When a creeper embraces a tree, the leaves and flowers of the creeper automatically embrace it. The Govinda-līlāmṛta (10.16) describes the pleasure of Rādhārāṇī’s associates as follows: "Rādhārāṇī, the expansion of the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa, is compared to a creeper, and Her associates, the damsels of Vraja, are compared to the flowers and leaves of that creeper. When Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa enjoy Themselves, the damsels of Vraja relish the pleasure more than Rādhārāṇī Herself."