IS YOUR BHAJAN TAKING YOU TO RADHARANI'S SEVA?

After ceto-darpana-mārjanam, the cleansing of the heart, the soul will begin a process of blooming into a fragrant and beautiful lotus flower. When the soul is bound in a conditioned state of material existence, it is dormant and does not grow or even act. It is only like a witness. However, when the bodies and senses perform sinful activities the soul is the one that suffers. The body itself does not suffer. The soul is who experiences pain. A soul truly becomes alive and awake when surcharged with rādha-rasa. It becomes active. It first buds, then blossoms, and then becomes very fragrant and sweet.
The soul can blossom from inside the body, just like a lotus will sprout from the mud. Upon receiving Rādhārānī’s mercy the soul will realize its spiritual form and senses and engage in the service of Govinda.
The body of a conditioned soul is engaged in serving other people, or other bodies, and trying to gratify the mundane senses, but the spiritual body only engages in service to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Mādhurya-rasa is then like the nectar or honey of the lotus-like soul and Kṛṣṇa is always eager to taste that nectar.
The spiritual senses are like the soft and attractive petals of the lotus, and those are only used for govinda-arādhanā. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Enjoyer and the jīvas being His separated  parts, try to also enjoy the material energy when they turn away from Kṛṣṇa, but meet only with suffering in doing so. The enjoyment that they think they receive is insignificant and temporary.
As conditioned souls, we are trying to satisfy ourselves but instead of finding coolness we jump into fire; considering poison to be nectar, we kill ourselves. Govinda-arādhanā is the real nectar of the soul when the soul blossoms by Rādhārānī’s mercy then our soul becomes like a flower to be appreciated by Kṛṣṇa.
At the perfected stage, when our souls have fully blossomed, Rādhārānī comes and teaches us how to sing, dance, and perform all the different arts for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa. We will learn to sing and dance so sweetly that Kṛṣṇa will be enamored and will witness our performance with so much happiness. This can only be done with the spiritual body. However much we try to help the material body it will only become more and more against us.
It will never be helpful. The body and material senses are cheaters and only want to make us suffer. You can try and help the body so much, but a little later it will drag you toward hell.
The body is like a pig. No matter how much you try and give it nice food and decorations it will always run to the gutter. At the earliest opportunity, we must pray, “O Śrīmatī Rādhika, when will I have darśana of Your beautiful face? When will You advise me how to serve.”
“O Śrīmatī Rādhikā, I am always remembering Your attractive and beautiful face. Whoever remembers Your face is supremely fortunate. The essence of all good fortune is simply the remembrance of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī.”
Ordinary people think that they are lucky if they have a nice wife or husband, good cars, big houses, or many followers and temples. But this is not good luck. Real good fortune is to always be with Rādhārānī. The greatest misfortune is to take the fruits of our offered service and run away from Vraja with them. Many people come to guru and receive nāma-dīkṣa. Then they go far away from their guru and practice, but because they lose their connection to guru by not serving him and maintaining a relationship with him then instead of becoming greatly fortunate they fall into deep misfortune. They are so unfortunate because having received the greatest opportunity they wasted their golden chance.
An intelligent sādhaka will take all the spiritual wealth gained from his guru-sevā, and all that sukṛti gained from the service of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and keep it as a balance in his heart, where it will create more and more spiritual interest, just like a business man gains wealth by interest from the bank or stocks.
Kṛṣṇa is always eager to sing, play, and dance with the followers of Rādhārānī. Play cannot take place when alone. There must be friends. When we are in Vraja we will always be absorbed in playful pastimes with Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa, and the Vraja-devīs. It is not that we will be alone, or that Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are alone and engaged in Their pastimes together without any friends. In Vraja there is always a festival of many playful pastimes.
Plunged in a nectar ocean of love for each other, and Their forms and pastimes all perfectly enchanting, the fair and dark Divine Couple is splendidly mani­fested in a cottage in the blossoming forest of Vṛndāvana. Verse 197
O Śrīmatī Rādhikā, when, yearning to become Your maidservant, will I become Your guest by the Yamunā’s shore in the forest of Vṛndāvana? Verse 198
Gopendra-kumāra Kṛṣṇa, the all-attractive youth of Vraja, knows many arts, including the art of enchantment and bewildering others. He enchants everyone, but He fails when He tries to enchant the followers of Rādhārānī. He is Madana-mohan but Rādhārānī is Madana-mohana-mohinī. Kṛṣṇa appeared before Śiva as Mohinī-mūrti and completely bewildered him, causing him to run after the form of a woman that he saw, but despite all his efforts Kṛṣṇa cannot bewilder or enchant the mañjarīs. When Gopendra-kumāra Kṛṣṇa speaks to the gopīs and smiles sweetly, the mañjarīs are far from falling under His control. Smiling, they brush Kṛṣṇa aside, and continue on their way. They are strong because they are filled with rādha-rasa and completely and contently engaged in their service.
At the hands of the paramount sweetness of the mañjarīs Kṛṣṇa is disarmed and He surrenders Himself. He wishes to just serve them. Sweetness may be available everywhere, but the level of sweetness derived by serving Rādhārānī is certainly not. That is only in the hearts of the followers of Rādhārānī. That ocean of sweetness is boundless and fathomless.
Kṛṣṇa looks into the eyes of the Vraja-devīs and there He sees, within them, only Rādhārānī. They always long for Rādhārānī's glance.
Why do we learn from our ācāryas to pray for Śrīmatī Rādhārānī to look at us? With this prayer, we say, “May You look at me and attract me to You in such a way that I may never go far away from You. Please protect me, O Vṛndāvaneśvarī, and keep me nearby You. Again and again I am bowing down in Your direction and am begging for Your mercy. May I never have any independent desire. Even if Kṛṣṇa comes and tries to cheat me, may I never look toward Him. Oh, when will that perfection be mine, where I am always in Your sight?”
Many problems come to the sādhakas when they are engaged in bhajana. All forms of obstacles will come to stop you from developing your mood of service toward Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. Even Kṛṣṇa will come and try to enchant you and cheat you with His
mohinī-svarūpa. That is why you must pray to Rādhārānī to always protect you; to give you Her kṛpā-katākṣa—Her glance of mercy—so that you will never think of or desire anything other than Her lotus feet. If She sees your deep niṣṭhā for Her lotus feet, Śrīmatījī Herself will surely come and take you in Her lap. She will say, “Oh how wonderful your nature is. Even Kṛṣṇa has come and
He is waiting for you to follow Him, but you do not even speak with Him. You are only waiting for My service.” Seeing our dependency on Her mercy, Rādhārānī’s heart melts and She becomes happy with us. We will then be able to serve the Divine Couple under Rādhārānī’s guidance and will taste the sweetness and joy of rādhā-rasa.
Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī therefore prays: tavaivāsmi tavaivāsmi,  na jīvāmi tvayā vinā, iti vijñāya devī tvaṁ, naya māṁ caraṇāntike
Śrī Vilāpa Kusumāñjali 96
“I am Yours. I am Yours. O Rādhe, please do not forsake me. I know nothing but your lotus feet.”
Srila Prabhodananda Sarasvati Thakura ki Jaya! (excerpted from the Bhaktabandhav book publication, "Sri Sri Radha Rasa Sudha Nidhi". Available from: rasik@bhaktabandhav.org )