Srila Gurudeva: Krsna is like our sadhya. He is the object of love for the sadhaka. Sadhaka means practitioner. Krsna is running and Yasoda Maiya is running after Krsna to catch hold of Him. So Yasoda will have to run faster than Krsna, otherwise she cannot catch Him. If there is a thief running and there is a policeman who is following him, if the policeman cannot run faster than the thief, then he cannot catch that thief. So Krsna is running and Yasoda is running. Yasoda must run faster than Krsna, otherwise she cannot catch Him. But anyone cannot run faster than Krsna. But a devotee should practice in such a way that he should have more love and affection for Krsna than Krsna has for that devotee.
Krsna has some affection for His devotees, and the devotees have some affection for the object of their love, Krsna. But if it is equal, if Krsna loves the devotee and the devotee loves Krsna and both are equal, then Krsna will not be controlled. But if the love and affection of any sadhaka is more than the love that Krsna has for the devotee, then Krsna can be controlled. Krsna has some affection for the devotee, but if the devotee has more love than Krsna has, then Krsna can be controlled. Krsna has so much love and affection for His mother, but here, the love and affection of mother Yasoda was much more in comparison to the love that Krsna had.
So Yasoda Maiya ran towards Krsna very fast. She was running faster than Krsna. This is the hidden conclusion. If anyone wants to conquer Krsna and bring Him under their control, then you should know that He cannot be controlled by vaidhi-bhakti. He will not be controlled if you have the mood that, “Krsna is superior and I am inferior.” He can never be controlled by this. By vaidhi-bhakti, anyone cannot control Krsna. Also Krsna cannot have so much love for that devotee either.
That devotee will not be able to control Krsna. But where there is so much love and affection, more than even Krsna has, then this is called raganuga or ragatmika-bhakti. The gopis have much more love for Krsna than Krsna has for the gopis. That is why Krsna is controlled by them and Krsna says that, “I cannot repay you for this love because I have no such love.” That is why He wants to serve the gopis. He even takes their foot dust on His head. The foot dust of the gopis is so powerful. Krsna can only be controlled if anyone has love and affection for Him like His mother or like the gopis. Otherwise, He cannot be controlled. That Krsna, being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He becomes an ignorant baby by the effect of their love. That is why this love is the topmost aim and object of all aims and objects. This is the supreme goal of life, vraja-gopi prema.
[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on December 6th, 1998, Malaysia, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 25]