Chapter One: Rāgamayī Bhakti and Its Vaishnava Tradition
Thus, a person who has become eager for the disposition of Vraja's residents should serve on the rāgānugā path in the practitioner's form—through the present body—and in the perfected form—through the inwardly contemplated perfected body—while accepting the guidance of Vraja's people.
The merely physical body born of one's parents is the practitioner's body. The body contemplated inwardly as suited to the direct service of one's chosen Sri Radha and Govinda is the perfected body. The disposition of Vraja is attained through that perfected body. Regarding contemplation of the perfected body in sweet worship, the Sanatkumāra Tantra says:
Ātmānaṃ cintayet tatra tāsāṃ madhye manoharām /
rūpa-yauvana-sampannāṃ kiśorīṃ pramadākṛtim //
"Within the disposition of a gopī, one should contemplate oneself in the perfected body as an exquisitely charming adolescent girl, endowed with beauty and youth."
Ever eager to serve according to the sakhī's command, one continually contemplates this mañjarī body—adorned with ornaments that are Sri Radha's consecrated remnants—as the perfection of one's practice. In the form of a mañjarī there is not the slightest scope for personal erotic enjoyment; there is only the longing to serve. In this connection the Padma Purāṇa, Pātāla-khaṇḍa, says:
Ātmānaṃ cintayet tatra tāsāṃ madhye manoramām /
rūpa-yauvana-sampannāṃ kiśorīṃ pramadākṛtim //
nānā-śilpa-kalābhijñāṃ kṛṣṇa-bhogānurūpiṇīm /
prārthitām api kṛṣṇena tatra bhoga-parāṅmukhīm //
rādhikānucarīṃ nityaṃ tat-sevana-parāyaṇām /
kṛṣṇād apy adhikaṃ prema rādhikāyāṃ prakurvatīm //
prītyānudivasaṃ yatnāt tayoḥ saṅgama-kāriṇīm /
tat-sevana-sukhāhlāda-bhāvenāti-sunirvṛtām //
ity ātmānaṃ vicintyaiva tatra sevāṃ samācaret /
brāhmaṃ muhūrtam ārabhya yāvat syāt tu mahāniśā //
The worshipper of the gopī disposition should contemplate herself as one of the sakhīs wholly engaged in serving the Beloved Lady and her Beloved: an exceedingly charming adolescent girl endowed with beauty and youth, skilled in many crafts and arts, and fit for Sri Krishna's enjoyment, yet entirely averse to personal divine union with him even if he should request it; an eternal attendant of the youthful Radha, always devoted to her service; one who loves Radha more even than Krishna; and one who, every day, with great love and care—