Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 5

Sanskrit:

मयि ता: प्रेयसां प्रेष्ठे दूरस्थे गोकुलस्‍त्रिय: ।स्मरन्त्योऽङ्ग विमुह्यन्ति विरहौत्कण्ठ्यविह्वला: ॥ ५ ॥

ITRANS:

mayi tāḥ preyasāṁ preṣṭhedūra-sthe gokula-striyaḥsmarantyo ’ṅga vimuhyantivirahautkaṇṭhya-vihvalāḥ

Translation:

My dear Uddhava, for those women of Gokula I am the most cherished object of love. Thus when they remember Me, who am so far away, they are overwhelmed by the anxiety of separation.

Purport:

Whatever is dear to us becomes an object of our possessiveness. Ultimately the most dear object is our very soul, or our self. Thus things in a favorable relationship to our self also become dear to us, and we try to possess them. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, among countless millions of such dear things, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the most dear of all, even dearer than one’s own self. The gopīs had realized this fact, and thus they were stunned in separation from the Lord because of their intense love for Him. Although they would have given up their lives, they were kept alive by the Lord’s transcendental potency.