The ladies of Mathura lamented that although they were seeing Krsna directly, they did not possess the quality of prema for Him by which they could see His form of unsurpassed beauty as the gopis always did. A person eats something with great pleasure when they are hungry. And if someone isn’t hungry, they may pinch a bit of the preparation off with their nails, examine it, find fault with it, and not desire to eat it. But if one is hungry, he will consider any preparation to be tasteful, even if it is stale. Then what to speak of that preparation which is unlimitedly sweet?
In this way, the gopis ‘hunger’ for Krsna is such that as they taste Krsna’s madhurya, their mahabhava increases so much that it knows no upper limit. Even though there is no space for it to increase any further, still it increases. In the upper stages of mahabhava known as madana and modana, it perpetually increases and feels ever-new and fresh.
In our present condition we cannot estimate even a fraction of that, but when our faith in guru, Vaisnavas, and Bhagavan is sufficiently developed, then as we become free from the influence of our anarthas, nistha will come. Even if we possess some sraddha and nistha in partial form, still, our ruci must become deep. For now our minds may not remain steady, but someday bhava will come to us, and precisely when it will come is not in our hands. It is solely in the hands of Bhagavan and those devotees who possess that bhava, and only when they bestow their mercy will it come to us. At that time even the experience of mahabhava will come to a deserving soul automatically, even though he may have not previously known anything of that tendency. It may seem that there is no hope of it ever coming and no space whatsoever for it in our hearts, but still it will come automatically. Then by its wonderful influence one will easily cross over whatever seemingly insurmountable obstacles which may exist in this world.
Bhakti Rasayana page 99 - 100 [CC-by-ND GVP]