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The Nectar of Devotion
Parenthood or Eriendshinn
Devotees who are attracted to Kṛṣṇa as parents or as friends should follow in the footsteps of Nanda Mahārāj or Subala, respectively. Nanda Mahārāj is the foster father of Kṛṣṇa, and out of all of the friends of Krsna, Subala is the most intimate in Brajabhūmi.
In the development of becoming either the father or friend of the Lord, there are two varieties. One method is that one may try to become the father of the Lord directly, and the other is that one may follow Nanda Mahārāj and cherish the ideal of being Kṛṣṇa’s father. Out of these two, the attempt to directly become the father of Kṛṣṇa is not recommended. Such a development can become polluted with  māyāvāda  (impersonal) philosophy. The  māyāvādīs  or monists think that they themselves are Kṛṣṇa, and if one thinks that he himself has become Nanda Mahārāj, then his parental love will become contaminated with the  māyāvāda  philosophy. The  māyāvāda  philosophical way of thinking is offensive, and no offender can enter into the kingdom of God to associate with Kṛṣṇa.
In the  Skanda Purāṇa  there is a story of an old man residing in Hastināpur, capital of the kingdom of the Pāṇḍus, who desired Krṣṇa as his beloved son. This old man was instructed by Nārada to follow in the footsteps of Nanda Mahārāj, and thus success was achieved by him.
There is a statement in the  Nārāyaṇa-vyūha-stava  prayers that persons who are always engaged in thinking of the Lord as their husband, friend, father or well-wisher are always worshipable by everyone. This spontaneous love for Kṛṣṇa can only be developed by the special mercy of Kṛṣṇa or His pure devotee. This process of devotional service is sometimes called  puṣṭi-mārga .  Puṣṭi  means nourishing and  mārga  means path. Such development of sentiment nourishes devotional service to the highest standard. Thus it is called the path of nourishment, or  puṣṭi-mārga . The Vallabha- sampradāya , which belongs to the Viṣṇu-svāmī sect of  Vaiṣṇava  religion, worships Kṛṣṇa in this  puṣṭi-mārga . Generally devotees in Gujerat worship Bāla-Kṛṣṇa, under this heading of  puṣṭi-mārga .