Devotees who are attracted to Krishna as parents or as friends should follow in the footsteps of Nanda Maharaja or Subala, respectively. Nanda Maharaja is the foster father of Krishna, and out of all of the friends of Krishna, Subala is the most intimate in Vrajabhumi.
In the development of becoming either the father or friend of the Lord, there are two varieties. One method is that one may try to become the father of the Lord directly, and the other is that one may follow Nanda Maharaja and cherish the ideal of being Krishna’s father. Out of these two, the attempt to directly become the father of Krishna is not recommended. Such a development can become polluted with Mayavada (impersonal) philosophy. The Mayavadis, or monists, think that they themselves are Krishna, and if one thinks that he himself has become Nanda Maharaja, then his parental love will become contaminated with the Mayavada philosophy. The Mayavada philosophical way of thinking is offensive, and no offender can enter into the kingdom of God to associate with Krishna.
In the Skanda Purana there is a story of an old man residing in Hastinapura, capital of the kingdom of the Pandus, who desired Krishna as his beloved son. This old man was instructed by Narada to follow in the footsteps of Nanda Maharaja, and thus he achieved success.
There is a statement in the Narayana-vyuha-stava prayers that persons who are always engaged in thinking of the Lord as their husband, friend, father or well-wisher are always worshipable by everyone. This spontaneous love for Krishna can be developed only by the special mercy of Krishna or His pure devotee. This process of devotional service is sometimes called pushti-marga. Pushti means “nourishing,” and marga means “path.” Such development of sentiment nourishes devotional service to the highest standard. Thus it is called the path of nourishment, or pushti-marga. The Vallabha-sampradaya, which belongs to the Vishnusvami sect of Vaishnava religion, worships Krishna in this pushti-marga. Generally devotees in Gujarat worship Bala Krishna, under this heading of pushti-marga.”
~ N.O.D. (Nectar of Devotion OR Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhu), Ch 16, Spontaneous Devotion Further Described
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