व्रजभूमावयं जातस्तस्यां गोपत्वमाचरत् ।
गोपालोपासनानिष्ठो विशिष्टोऽस्मन्महाशयः ॥

vraja-bhūmāv ayaṁ jātas tasyāṁ gopatvam ācarat |
gopālopāsanā-niṣṭho viśiṣṭo’sman mahāśayaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.62)

“[Śrī Uddhava along with Śrī Nārada to Gopa Kumāra:] He was born in the land of Vraja, he has engaged in cowherding (gopatva) there, and he has fixity in worship (upāsanā) of Gopāla. This great soul is superior to us.”

Commentary

Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda comments that three reasons Uddhava and Nārada consider Gopa Kumāra superior to them are stated in this verse: (1) he was born in Vraja, (2) he engaged in cowherding there, and (3) he has fixity in worship of Gopāla by means of steady practice of japa of the exalted ten-syllable mantra the devatā of which is Śrī Madana Gopāla (tatra hetavaḥ—tasyāṁ Vraja-bhūmau jātaḥ gopatvaṁ go-pālanādikaṁ ca tasyām ācarat akarot | kiṁ ca, Śrī-Madana-Gopāla-Daivatā-daśākṣara-mantra-vara-japādinā tad-upāsanāyāṁ niṣṭhā yasya saḥ). Moreover, that he is described as a “great soul” (mahāśaya) indicates that he felt a lack of satisfaction even with these three fortunes as a result of his one-pointed regard for Śrī Madana Gopāla (tatrāpi mahāśayaḥ tad-ekāpekṣayā tatra tatrāpy atṛpteḥ), meaning, his longing for Śrī Madana Gopāla was so intense that not even being born in Vraja, living as a cowherd there, and being absorbed in worship of Śrī Madana Gopāla was enough to satisfy that longing, and it goes without saying in this context that even the tremendous experiences he had had of the varieties of bliss found in Vaikuṇṭha, Ayodhyā, and Dvārakā were not enough to satiate his longing and thus he left them behind.

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