हरिं सुरागमार्गेण सेवते यो नरोत्तमः ।
केवलेनैव स तदा गोपिकात्वमियाद्व्रजे ॥
hariṁ surāga-mārgeṇa sevate yo narottamaḥ |
kevalenaiva sa tadā gopikātvam iyād vraje ||
(Attributed to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda in Aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā-smaraṇa-paddhati (148) of Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī and Dhyānacandra Govsāmī (151))
“An exalted human being who worships Hari by means of the excellent path of rāga [i.e., the path of rāgānugā-bhakti-sādhana] alone then attains the state of being a gopikā in Vraja.”
Commentary
A variant of tadā as sadā is also listed in the publication of the paddhatis by Śrī Hari Dāsa Dāsa Mahārāja. The meaning according to this variant is as follows: “An exalted human being who worships Hari by means of the excellent path of rāga alone always (sadā) attains the state of being a gopikā in Vraja.”