The Gopi Gita is the heart of the Bhagavatam. There is no Bhagavatam without the Gopi Gita, which is the song of the gopis that expresses the longing for their Beloved. The gopis were filled with intense Love but, at the same time, their hearts were breaking because they could not see Krishna. They were all crying, wailing, ‘Where are You, my Lord?’ So in their agony, they started singing and praising their Beloved Lord Krishna.
It's very important to note that their hearts and their minds did not belong to them anymore. Even if they appeared to do everything externally, their minds and their hearts were with Krishna. Whatever they did in their daily life (service to their husbands, children, cows, and household chores) was just to please Krishna, just to attain Krishna and nothing else.
So when Krishna started playing the flute, He called from deep inside their hearts. This inner feeling to be called to do something was awakened inside their hearts. Like that, they could not be untrue towards themselves. You can be untrue towards everybody. You can pretend, you can act. But can you be untrue towards yourself? Can you be untrue towards your feeling? People will try to stop you. But you can't be untrue towards what you are feeling inside. Likewise, the relatives of the gopis were trying to stop them, yet their inner truth was calling them. So, enchanted by this inner sound of the flute, they refused to go back.
Some of the gopis were locked inside their houses. They could not manage to go out to meet Krishna physically, and they could not bear the separation. So, they met Him inwardly. They went inside their hearts and meditated on Krishna. Here this represents the life journey from the mind to the heart: 40 centimetres. They were immersed in a state of pure Love, a Love without any condition, that Love we call 'prem'. In deep meditation, they embraced Krishna and went into a deep ecstasy.
Krishna is the Supreme Soul. However, as He had taken an outer form, they could have an intimate relationship with Him. They loved Krishna so dearly that they wanted this intimacy. But don't confuse this intimacy of the Lord with human intimacy. There is a big difference. Due to this deep feeling, this longing to attain the Lord, all the karma which bound them to this reality was finished.
Learn how to venerate the gopis in upcoming Vedic Chanting courses dedicated to learning from the great bhaktas. One of the verses you will learn is from the Sri Gopi Gita:
viṣa-jalāpyayād vyāla-rākṣasād
varṣa-mārutād vaidyutānalāt
vṛṣa-mayātmajād viśvato bhayād
ṛṣabha te vayaṁ rakṣitā muhuḥ
O crest-jewel among men, You have repeatedly saved us from the grips of
death, and from so many terrifying demons of this world. You have saved
us from Kaliya who had poisoned Yamuna’s water, and from the python
Aghasura. You have lifted Govardhana and saved us from the great deluge
caused by the enraged Indra, from the whirlwind demon Trinavarta, from
the thunderbolt of Indra, from the fierce forest fire, from Aristhasura, the bull
demon, and from Vyomasura, the son of Maya. Why do you kill us now?
