कृष्णे गते मधुपुरीं बत बल्लवीनां
भावोऽभवत्सपदि यो लयवह्नितीव्रः ।
प्रेमास्य हेतुरुत तत्त्वमिदं हि तस्य
मा तद्विशेषमपरं बत बोद्धुमिच्छ ॥
kṛṣṇe gate madhupurīṁ bata ballavīnāṁ
bhāvo’bhavat sapadi yo laya-vahni-tīvraḥ |
premāsya hetur uta tattvam idaṁ hi tasya
mā tad-viśeṣam aparaṁ bata boddhum iccha ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.232)
“The cause of the gopīs’ bhāva, intense like the fire of [universal] destruction, that immediately arose when Kṛṣṇa went to Madhupurī is prema, and this [i.e., this state] is indeed its [i.e., prema’s] very nature. Bata! Do not desire to understand anything other than this description.”