What Gives Kṛṣṇa Pleasure?

According to such spiritual authorities, Krsna is the reservoir of all pleasure, and therefore He is all-attractive. Yet Krsna Himself derives pleasure from the service rendered by His devotees. Such devotional service attracts even Him. Krsna Himself, while speaking to a friend, confirms this as follows in Srimad-Bhagavatam: "My dear Uddhava, you may know from Me that the attraction I feel for devotional service rendered by My devotees is not to be equaled even if one performs mystic yoga, philosophical speculation or ritualistic sacrifices, studies Vedanta, practices severe austerities or gives up everything in charity. These are, of course, very nice activities, but they are not as attractive to Me as the transcendental loving service rendered by My devotees." (Bhag. 11.2.1)

Krsna is full in six opulences: beauty, wealth, fame, strength, knowledge and renunciation. No amount of material opulence, therefore, can attract Him. Just as one could not attract a millionaire by offering him a few dollars, one cannot attract Krsna merely by one's limited material opulence. Nevertheless, pure devotional service attracts even Krsna. This is the unique transcendental excellence of devotional service.

Srimati Radharani is the embodiment of pure devotional service. No one can be a greater devotee than She. The very name Radharani comes from the Sanskrit word aradhana, which means "worship." Her name is Radharani because She excels all in worshiping Krsna. Although Krsna is so beautiful that He can attract millions of Cupids and is therefore called Madana-mohana, "the attractor of Cupid," Radharani can attract even Krsna. She is therefore called Madana-mohana-mohani-"the attractor of the attractor of Cupid."

The same Krsna who is not attracted by any amount of material opulence finds Srimati Radharani irresistible. One time Krsna, to joke with the gopis, the cowherd girls of Vrndavana, was hiding Himself beneath a bush, but finally they spotted Him from a distance. Krsna then changed Himself into His four-armed form of Narayana. When the gopis approached and found Narayana instead of Krsna, they were not very interested in Him; only Krsna's original two-armed form attracted them. They therefore offered their respectful obeisances unto Lord Narayana and prayed that He would bestow upon them the benediction of Krsna's eternal association. Then they went on searching for Krsna. When Srimati Radharani passed by, however, Krsna tried to maintain His disguise as Narayana but was unable to do so; He kept slipping back to His original two-armed form. This illustrates the great influence of Srimati Radharani's pure transcendental love.

Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita that as one surrenders unto Him, He reciprocates accordingly. Therefore the more Radharani tries to please Krsna, the more He desires to please Her, thus in turn increasing Her enthusiasm to increase His pleasure. Therefore although the Lord is unlimited, both He Himself and His potency for pleasure are always increasing. The all-blissful reciprocation between the Lord and His pleasure potency is expressed in the transcendental pastimes of Radha and Krsna, which are described in detail in Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.