Remember that night of the Rasa dance? The Gopis were dancing with Krishna — and suddenly the Divine vanished. The Gopis grew frantic. They searched everywhere — the forest, the riverbank, every place they had ever spent with Krishna. And then they sang that famous "Gopi Gita" — soaked in longing, drenched in love.
Looked at from the outside, this seems like pure attachment. Anguish at a beloved's absence, searching, weeping — that's exactly what any ordinary lover does. So why do the scriptures hold up the Gopis' love as devotion's highest ideal? Where exactly is the line between attachment and surrender?
That's precisely the question Krishna answered — sometimes through direct teaching, sometimes through his own actions — for the Gopis, and for us.
What the Texts Actually Say
1. Bhagwat Puran — The Gopis Had No Desire Left, Not Even for Liberation
The Gopis, setting aside worldly convention entirely, attained the Divine's own station — through supreme passion and complete surrender. Every thought, word, intention, and movement of their being rested only at Krishna's feet. The Gopis had no desire even for liberation — because they were already complete in Krishna alone.
Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Tenth Canto, Uddhava's Conversation With the Gopis
"No desire even for liberation" — read that line carefully. Liberation itself is still a desire — and wherever desire exists, "I" exists. Nothing of "I" remained in the Gopis. Only Krishna.
This is the first distinction between attachment and surrender. Attachment always carries a wish to gain something, to hold onto something. In surrender, that wish itself dissolves.
2. Bhagwat Puran — Uddhava's Message: Not Through Knowledge, but Through Love
Uddhava brought the Gopis a message of yoga and knowledge. The Gopis replied — O Uddhava! This path of yoga is meant for those whose minds are tangled in the business of the senses. Our minds are already submerged at Krishna's lotus feet — we have no need of any other path.
Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Tenth Canto, The Uddhava-Gopi Dialogue
This is a genuinely bold answer. Uddhava — himself a realized soul — was offering the Gopis a path of reasoning and discernment. But the Gopis said, respectfully, we don't need it.
Why? Because in attachment, the mind gets tangled in external things, which is exactly why yoga and dispassion are needed — to pull the mind back. But in surrender, the mind never went anywhere to begin with — it's already resting at a single point. No other method is required there.
3. Bhagwat Puran — Before the Rasa Dance: The Breaking of Pride
When the Gopis felt a flicker of pride in their good fortune — that the Divine himself was dancing with them — Krishna vanished at that very moment. This happened precisely to dissolve that pride.
Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Tenth Canto, The Five Chapters of the Rasa Dance
This episode matters a great deal. Even in the Gopis' love, a subtle trace of ego flickered for a moment — "I have been granted this good fortune" — and the Divine disappeared instantly.
Here's the second distinction between attachment and surrender. Attachment always carries the feeling "I have gained this" — a sense of achievement, of ownership. In surrender, even that feeling finds no footing. The Divine taught this through his own action — there is no room for pride in love.
4. Bhagwat Puran — Even in Separation, Thoughts of the Divine Alone — Not Suffering, but Sacred Remembrance
When Krishna vanished, the Gopis went searching for him in the forest. They asked every tree, every vine — have you seen the lord of our life? This longing revealed the depth of their love, not their self-interest.
Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Tenth Canto, The Gopi Gita
A distinction matters here — longing and attachment are not the same thing. The Gopis' longing wasn't the grief of "I have lost something." It was the feeling of "the one in whom I live is, for a moment, out of reach."
In attachment's longing, the sense of one's own loss dominates. In surrender's longing, only the memory of the beloved dominates — with no complaint on one's own behalf. The Gopis asked the trees and the vines — but never once said, "why did this happen to us."
5. The Bhagavad Gita — The Mark of Exclusive Devotion: Free of Attachment, Free of Enmity
He who performs all his duties solely for my sake, who is devoted to me, entirely dependent on me, free from attachment, and free of enmity toward all beings — such a person, united in exclusive devotion, attains me alone.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 11, The Vision of the Universal Form
This verse is also a measure of the Gopis' love. "Free from attachment" — meaning no anxiety about outcomes. "Free of enmity" — meaning no jealousy, no rivalry. Even among themselves, the Gopis held no competition — every single Gopi was simply absorbed in her own love.
Attachment always involves comparison — "I got more than she did." In surrender, there's no room for comparison at all — because there's no "I" left to do the comparing.
6. Bhagwat Puran — The Divine's Own Praise: A Debt No One Can Repay
Krishna himself said — O Gopis! You have set aside even worldly and scriptural conventions to worship me. I could not repay my debt to you even across hundreds of years. This pure love of yours is itself your reward.
Shrimad Bhagwat Puran, Tenth Canto, The Five Chapters of the Rasa Dance
Here the Divine himself makes it explicit — "your love is itself your reward." No additional fruit, no boon granted. Love is complete in itself.
This is the deepest mark of surrender — where love expects nothing in return. Attachment always asks for something — companionship, security, reciprocation. Surrender asks for nothing — it is already whole in itself.
Bringing It Together
Krishna taught the Gopis this distinction less through direct instruction and more through his own actions. By vanishing, he broke their pride. By sending Uddhava, he made clear the difference between knowledge and love. And by praising them himself, he showed that true love needs no reciprocation at all.
Attachment carries desire, ownership, comparison, and the expectation of return. Surrender holds only the beloved — everything else becomes secondary. This is exactly why the Gopis' love is considered devotion's highest ideal — because there, attachment had dissolved completely into surrender.