Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c8.s2.20

c8.s2.20

(i) Kāmānugā, which may again be either desire for enjoyment inspired by a sense of Kṛṣṇa's sport (*keli-tātparyavat sambhogecchāmayī*), or a desire to realise those particular Bhāvas (*tat-tad-bhāvecchātmikā*) of particular Gopīs, especially the erotic feeling (*bhāva-mādhurya-kāmitā*). The Padma-purāṇa, one of the authoritative works of Bengal Vaiṣṇavism, is cited to support the view that even men can follow this way of love of the Gopīs, for in the Mathurā-māhātmya of the Purāṇa it is said that the Munis of Daṇḍaka, out of their curiosity to enjoy the sport of Kṛṣṇa, became incarnated as Gopīs of Vṛndāvana.