Introduction 15

Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami maintains that the Radha and Krsna Deities show us
how to serve Radha and Krsna. The Madana-mohana Deities simply establish that
“lam Your eternal servant.” With Govinda, however, there is actual acceptance of
service, and therefore He is called the functional Deity. The Gopinatha Deity is
Krsna as master and proprietor of the gopis. He attracted all the gopis, or cowherd
girls, by the sound of His flute, and when they came, He danced with them. These
activities are all described in the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. These gopis
were childhood friends of Krsna, and they were all married, for in India the girls
are married by the age of twelve. The boys, however, are not married before
eighteen, so Krsna, who was fifteen or sixteen at the time, was not married.
Nonetheless He called these girls from their homes and invited them to dance with
Him. That dance is called the rasa-/7/a dance, and it is the most elevated of all the
Vrndavana pastimes. Krsna is therefore called Gopinatha because He is the beloved
master of the gopis.

Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami petitions the blessings of Lord Gopinatha. “May
that Gopinatha, the master of the gopis, Krsna, bless you. May you become blessed
by Gopinatha.” Just as Krsna attracted the gop7s by the sweet sound of His flute,
the author of Caitanya-caritamrta prays that He will also attract the reader’s mind
by His transcendental vibration.
