The ladies of Mathura speak of madhurya Krsna who had come to Mathura from Vraja. Why didn’t He bring His flute with Him to Mathura? Because if He were to play the flute in Mathura, no lady would leave her home and family in the dead of night to come to Him; there was no qualified recipient for the flute song in Mathura. The ladies there saw His beautiful form, but would they ever leave their husbands to go to Him? Would it happen in Dvaraka? All would be afraid of transgressing their dharma and being disgraced in society. Because mahabhava and yavadasraya-vrtti do not exist there, no one would come.
In this regard Sanatana Gosvami says in his commentary that a devotee will perform kirtana and hear hari-katha of his worshipable Deity, but direct experience of Him will only come in the dhama. A devotee may meditate on Krsna, become absorbed in remembrance of Him, and gain some attachment for the bhava of Vraja, but direct experience of Krsna can come only in Vrndavana, whether it is Gokula or Goloka. In other places meditation and remembrance are possible, but direct experience of Him is available only in Vrndavana.
Therefore Krsna’s eternal associates in Dvaraka and Mathura may also be able to estimate the madhurya of Krsna in Vraja to a certain degree, but could they ever achieve direct experience of it? Would they ever be able to abandon everything and come to Krsna in the dead of night? No, and nor would Krsna ever enter the royal assembly hall in Dvaraka in His Vraja attire.
Bhakti Rasayana page 100 [CC-by-ND GVP]