The Bhagavata Purana presents the love between Krishna and the gopīs of Vṛndāvana as the apex of devotion, yet it does so in a notably veiled manner regarding Radha herself. In the Tenth Canto, especially in the chapters describing the rāsa-līlā, Krishna’s intimate, transcendental dance with the cowherd maidens is narrated in rich detail, and their love is extolled as the highest form of prema-bhakti—utterly selfless, exclusive, and willing to disregard all social and scriptural convention for the sake of union with the Divine. Within this collective portrayal, the text repeatedly hints at one gopī who is uniquely dear to Krishna, whose separation wounds him most deeply, and who receives a special, singular attention from him. Although her name is not explicitly given, later devotional understanding recognizes this figure as Radha, and the Purana’s own narrative emphasis clearly marks her as supreme among the gopīs.

The nature of this relationship is portrayed as entirely spiritual, even when it appears outwardly romantic or erotic. The Bhagavata insists that Krishna is the Supreme Lord, and the gopīs’ seemingly amorous devotion is interpreted as the purest God-consciousness, free from mundane desire. Their love is often characterized in terms of parakīyā-bhāva—love that stands outside conventional marital bounds—precisely to underscore that divine love transcends ordinary dharma and worldly categories. The intense experience of separation (viraha) from Krishna, especially in the case of this foremost gopī, is depicted as even more spiritually potent than moments of union, revealing the depth and refinement of their prema.

In this way, the relationship between Krishna and the preeminent gopī, implicitly Radha, becomes a theological and devotional paradigm. It symbolizes the soul’s longing for and surrender to the Supreme, with Radha representing the devotee in the highest possible state of self-forgetting love. Later Vaiṣṇava theologians draw out this implication by identifying her as Krishna’s internal pleasure potency and by treating her love as the pinnacle of bhakti, but the seeds of that vision are already present in the Bhagavata’s subtle yet powerful depiction. The divine play of Krishna and his most beloved gopī thus serves as a scriptural icon of the ultimate union between the individual soul and the Supreme, expressed through ecstatic love that both unites and, through the fire of separation, endlessly deepens.