Gopi is a word of
Sanskrit (गोपी) originating from the word
Gopala referring to a person in charge of a herd of cows. In
Hinduism especially the name
gopika (feminine form of
Gopi) is used more commonly to refer to the group of
cow herding girls famous within
Vaishnava Theology for their unconditional devotion (
Bhakti) to
Krishna as described in the stories of
Bhagavata Purana and other
Puranic literatures. Of this group, one gopika known as
Radha (or
Radhika) holds a place of particularly high reverence and importance in a number of religious traditions, especially within
Gaudiya Vaishnavism. In Gaudiya Vaishnavism, there are 108 gopikas of Vrindavan.
