The loving affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, that is not ordinary material things as we conceive. Generally people are very much interested in painting picture of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa's love. These pictures are very popular, because they think, "Kṛṣṇa is like us. He is after young girls. So He's a great support for us. We are also after young girls. So Kṛṣṇa has done, so we are doing that." So Kṛṣṇa affairs—different. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says,
- rūpa-raghunātha-pade, haibe ākuti,
- kabe hāma bujhabo śrī-yugala-pīriti
It is not so easy to understand the loving affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. It is meant for the most advanced spiritually. That is not ordinary thing. Not only the loving affairs of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī, but everything. They are not material. They are all spiritual. It has nothing to do.
So, how it is spiritual? That we have to understand through the teachings of Rūpa Gosvāmī, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Nectar of Devotion. Without reading all these books, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Bhagavad-gītā, if we jump over Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to understand Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, that is not good, and therefore it is not effective. Nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau, vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-go . . . The Gosvāmīs . . . You'll find in The Nectar of Devotion, so many Vedic literatures are quoted. So that is required: śāstra-vidhi. Then we'll be fixed up. Vidhi-bhakti is very important, then rāga-bhakti, then prema-bhakti. So we should not imitate prema-bhakti without going through vidhi-bhakti. This is vidhi-bhakti—just like we rise early in the morning, perform maṅgala-ārati, all regulative principles, then wash the temple, dishes, and then dress the Deities, then again ārati, then class. In this way, according to . . . Because we have no natural . . . we have not awakened yet our natural love for Kṛṣṇa, so it requires practice, practicing this vidhi-bhakti, compulsory. Vidhi-bhakti means the injunction of the śāstras and the order of spiritual master, what one has to follow. Not whimsically we can do anything. Vidhi-bhakti is required. Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ na sa siddhi . . . (BG 16.23) Na siddhim . . . What is that?
Harikeśa: Nāvāpnoti . . .
Prabhupāda: Nāvāpnoti siddhi na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim. So in the beginning, neophyte stage, not that "Because we have come to Vṛndāvana, immediately we have become advanced." No. Vidhi-bhakti must be followed, regulative principle, by the injunction of the śāstra and by the order of spiritual master. Vidhi-bhakti. Kṛṣṇa Himself says, yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya (BG 16.23). Rūpa Gosvāmī has said also, śruti-smṛti-purāṇadi-pāñcarātriki-vidhiṁ vinā. Again, vidhi.
- śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-
- pañcarātriki-vidhiṁ vinā
- aikāntikī harer bhaktir
- utpātāyaiva kalpate
- (Brs. 1.2.101)
If you do not follow the vidhi as they are given in the Vedas, śruti, and smṛti, as in the Bhagavad-gītā, śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi, and the Purāṇas, Padma Purāṇa, Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa, Agni Purāṇa, Sāttvika Purāṇa . . . So śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi and pañcarātrika, Nārada-Pañcarātra.