The love of gopa and gopis has a strong element of want. Demand and love do not go together. The streams of true love and bhakti are released when Sri Krishna departs from Vrindavan. They miss him and then gradually they turn this love inward towards the discovery of Sri Krishna within. Nevertheless it is primarily a movement of the heart. With Arjun this love takes the form not only of a devotion towards Krishna but obedience to His Will and the joy of serving Him in the world. That is why with Sri Krishna’s physical departure it is the Pandavas who are most affected and walk away to the Himalayas renouncing everything. Arjuna’s love in this regard is much more complete.
Bhakti is simply a general term indicating one who takes joy in God. Relations are the shades it takes.
As to Adwait, Sri Krishna clarifies it in the Gita itself. The Adwaitin steps out of the Kshara and realises the Akshara, the Immutable passive Brahman without form and name and features and relations. But beyond the stillness of the Akshara is the Divine Personality, the Purushottama or the Ishwara or the dynamic Brahman one with the Shakti.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
