Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is . . . we are teaching people, our students especially, how to increase attachment for Kṛṣṇa. Why this temple? They are feeling that, "We are sitting in Kṛṣṇa's presence. Kṛṣṇa is so nicely dressed. I am dressing." Otherwise, from atheistic point of view, you see that "Why these people are bothering like this? They have taken a brass idol and wasting time after it?" They can say like that, because they have no love for Kṛṣṇa. But one who has love for Kṛṣṇa, he sees, "Kṛṣṇa is so kind. He's accepting my dressing. I am crowning. I am garlanding." That is a feeling.
So the whole process is to increase our feeling of love for Kṛṣṇa. That is required. Not anything else. Just gopīs. They are not Vedāntist. They are not scholars. They are village girls, and also low class. Brāhmin, kṣatriya—vaiśya, the third class. The fourth class is the śūdra. They were neither brāhmin nor kṣatriya. Vaiśya. Kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.44).
Vaiśyas, they have to take three kinds of profession: agriculture, trade and cow protection. As the kṣatriyas were meant for giving protection to the human being, the vaiśyas are understood to give protection to the cows. Go-rakṣya. Go means cow, rakṣya means protection. That is their business. So these Vṛndāvana people, they were . . . Nanda Mahārāja, he had 900,000's of cows, and he was a big man amongst the agriculturist.
So they were ordinary men, agriculturist, taking care of the cows. They were not Vedāntists, not philosopher, not scientist. Ordinary. But what is their credit? The credit is nobody could love Kṛṣṇa excelling them. That was their credit. Therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended, ramyā kācid upāsanā vrajavadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā (Caitanya-manjusa): "There is no comparison of the method of worship which was adopted by the damsels of Vraja." Unalloyed love for Kṛṣṇa. No bargaining: "By loving Kṛṣṇa, I shall become a big man, I shall become great philosopher or great scientist," or "I shall improve my material condition," these are anyābhilāṣitā. And bhakti begins when one is devoid of all these material considerations.