ye yathÄ mÄá¹ prapadyante
tÄá¹s tathaiva bhajÄmy aham
mama vartmÄnuvartante
manuá¹£yÄḥ pÄrtha sarvaÅ›aḥ
ye - those who; yathÄ - as; mÄm - to Me; prapadyante - surrender; tÄn - them; tathÄ - so; eva - certainly; bhajÄmi - reward; aham - I; mama - My; vartma - path; anuvartante - follow; manuá¹£yÄḥ - men; pÄrtha - O son of Pá¹›thÄ; sarvaÅ›aḥ - in all respects.
“In whatever way My devotees surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pá¹›thÄ.â€
Kṛṣṇa was never ungrateful to the gopÄ«s, for as He declares to Arjuna in this verse from the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.11), He reciprocates with His devotees in proportion to the transcendental loving service they render unto Him. Everyone follows the path that leads toward Him, but there are different degrees of progress on that path, and the Lord is realized in proportion to one’s advancement. The path is one, but the progress in approaching the ultimate goal is different, and therefore the proportion of realization of this goal — namely the absolute Personality of Godhead — is also different. The gopÄ«s attained the highest goal, and Lord Caitanya affirmed that there is no method of worshiping God higher than that followed by the gopÄ«s.
