1082
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 24]
PURPORT
After the scorching heat of the summer season, it is very pleasing to see dark clouds in the sky. As confirmed in  Brahma-saṁhitā: barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam . The Lord wears a peacock feather in His hair, and His bodily complexion is just like a blackish cloud. The word  sundara , or  snigdha , means very pleasing, even when compared with  kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya . Kṛṣṇa's beauty is so pleasing that not even millions upon millions of Cupids can compare to it. The Lord's form as Viṣṇu is decorated in all opulence; therefore Lord Śiva is trying to see that most opulent form of Nārāyaṇa, or Viṣṇu. Generally the worship of the Lord begins with the worship of Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu, whereas the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā is most confidential. Lord Nārāyaṇa is worshipable by the  Pāñcarātrika-vidhi , or regulative principles, whereas Lord Kṛṣṇa is worshipable by the  Bhāgavata-vidhi . No one can worship the Lord in the  Bhāgavata-vidhi  without going through the regulations of the  Pāñcarātrika-vidhi . Actually neophyte devotees worship the Lord according to the  Pāñcarātrika-vidhi , or the regulative principles enjoined in the  Nārada-pañcarātra . Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa cannot be approached by the neophyte devotees; therefore temple worship according to regulative principles is offered to Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Although there may be a Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa  vigraha , or form, the worship of the neophyte devotees is acceptable as Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa worship. Worship according to the  Pāñcarātrika-vidhi  is called  vidhi-mārga , and worship according to the  Bhāgavata-vidhi  principles is called  rāga-mārga . The principles of  rāga-mārga  are especially meant for devotees who are elevated to the Vṛndāvana platform.
The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, the  gopīs , mother Yaśodā, Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd boys, the cows and everyone else, are actually on the  rāga-mārga  or  Bhāgavata-mārga  platform. However, they participate in five basic  rasas—dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya, mādhurya  and  śānta . Although these five  rasas  are found in the  Bhāgavata-mārga , the  Bhāgavata-mārga  is especially meant for  vātsalya  and  mādhurya , or paternal and conjugal relationships. Yet there is the  vipralambha-sakhya , the higher fraternal worship of the Lord especially enjoyed by the cowherd boys. Although there is friendship between Kṛṣṇa and the cowherd boys, this friendship is different from the  aiśvarya  friendship between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. When Arjuna saw the  viśva-rūpa , the gigantic universal form of the Lord, he was afraid for having treated Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary friend; therefore he begged Kṛṣṇa's pardon. However, the cowherd boys who are friends of Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana sometimes ride on the shoulders of Kṛṣṇa. They treat Kṛṣṇa equally, just as they treat one another, and they are never afraid of Him,