Not very much... (Books)

Expressions researched:
"not very much"

BG Chapters 1 - 6

BG 6.44, Purport:

Advanced yogīs are not very much attracted to the rituals of the scriptures, but they automatically become attracted to the yoga principles, which can elevate them to complete Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the highest yoga perfection. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.33.7), such disregard of Vedic rituals by the advanced transcendentalists is explained as follows:

aho bata śva-paco 'to garīyān

yaj-jihvāgre vartate nāma tubhyam

tepus tapas te juhuvuḥ sasnur āryā

brahmānūcur nāma gṛṇanti ye te

"O my Lord! Persons who chant the holy names of Your Lordship are far, far advanced in spiritual life, even if born in families of dog-eaters. Such chanters have undoubtedly performed all kinds of austerities and sacrifices, bathed in all sacred places, and finished all scriptural studies."

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 11.48, Purport:

It is not possible to decry Kṛṣṇa and at the same time have the divine vision. One cannot have the divine vision without becoming divine. In other words, those who have divine vision can also see like Arjuna.

The Bhagavad-gītā gives the description of the universal form. Although this description was unknown to everyone before Arjuna, now one can have some idea of the viśva-rūpa after this incident. Those who are actually divine can see the universal form of the Lord. But one cannot be divine without being a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. The devotees, however, who are actually in the divine nature and who have divine vision, are not very much interested in seeing the universal form of the Lord. As described in the previous verse, Arjuna desired to see the four-handed form of Lord Kṛṣṇa as Viṣṇu, and he was actually afraid of the universal form.

In this verse there are some significant words, just like veda-yajñādhyayanaiḥ, which refers to studying Vedic literature and the subject matter of sacrificial regulations. Veda refers to all kinds of Vedic literature, such as the four Vedas (Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva) and the eighteen Purāṇas, the Upaniṣads and the Vedānta-sūtra. One can study these at home or anywhere else. Similarly, there are sūtras-Kalpa-sūtras and Mīmāṁsā-sūtras—for studying the method of sacrifice. Dānaiḥ refers to charity which is offered to a suitable party, such as those who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord—the brāhmaṇas and the Vaiṣṇavas. Similarly, "pious activities" refers to the agni-hotra and the prescribed duties of the different castes. And the voluntary acceptance of some bodily pains is called tapasya. So one can perform all these—can accept bodily penances, give charity, study the Vedas, etc.—but unless he is a devotee like Arjuna, it is not possible to see that universal form. Those who are impersonalists are also imagining that they are seeing the universal form of the Lord, but from Bhagavad-gītā we understand that the impersonalists are not devotees. Therefore they are unable to see the universal form of the Lord.

SB Preface and Introduction

SB Introduction:

Five hundred years ago the condition of society was not as degraded as it is today. At that time people would show respects to a sannyāsī, and the sannyāsī was rigid in following the rules and regulations of the renounced order of life. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not very much in favor of the renounced order of life in this age of Kali, but that was only for the reason that very few sannyāsīs in this age are able to observe the rules and regulations of sannyāsa life. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu decided to accept the order and become an ideal sannyāsī so that the general populace would show Him respect. One is duty-bound to show respect to a sannyāsī, for a sannyāsī is considered to be the master of all varṇas and āśramas.

While He was contemplating accepting the sannyāsa order, it so happened that Keśava Bhāratī, a sannyāsī of the Māyāvādī school and resident of Katwa (in Bengal), visited Navadvīpa and was invited to dine with the Lord. When Keśava Bhāratī came to His house, the Lord asked him to award Him the sannyāsa order of life. This was a matter of formality. The sannyāsa order is to be accepted from another sannyāsī. Although the Lord was independent in all respects, still, to keep up the formalities of the śāstras, He accepted the sannyāsa order from Keśava Bhāratī, although Keśava Bhāratī was not in the Vaiṣṇava-sampradāya (school).

SB Canto 1

SB 1.7.11, Purport:

Practically he was thrown from the impersonal conception of the Absolute, thinking within himself that he had simply wasted so much time in devoting himself to the impersonal feature of the Supreme, or in other words, he realized more transcendental bliss with the personal feature than the impersonal. And from that time, not only did he himself become very dear to the viṣṇu-janas, or the devotees of the Lord, but also the viṣṇu-janas became very dear to him. The devotees of the Lord, who do not wish to kill the individuality of the living entities and who desire to become personal servitors of the Lord, do not very much like the impersonalists, and similarly the impersonalists, who desire to become one with the Supreme, are unable to evaluate the devotees of the Lord. Thus from time immemorial these two transcendental pilgrims have sometimes been competitors. In other words, each of them likes to keep separate from the other because of the ultimate personal and impersonal realizations. Therefore it appears that Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī also had no liking for the devotees. But since he himself became a saturated devotee, he desired always the transcendental association of the viṣṇu-janas, and the viṣṇu-janas also liked his association, since he became a personal Bhāgavata. Thus both the son and the father were completely cognizant of transcendental knowledge in Brahman, and afterwards both of them became absorbed in the personal features of the Supreme Lord. The question as to how Śukadeva Gosvāmī was attracted by the narration of the Bhāgavatam is thus completely answered by this śloka.

SB 1.19.8, Purport:

When Mahārāja Parīkṣit sat down on the bank of the Ganges, the news spread in all directions of the universe, and the great-minded sages, who could follow the importance of the occasion, all arrived there on the plea of pilgrimage. Actually they came to meet Mahārāja Parīkṣit and not to take a bath of pilgrimage because all of them were competent enough to sanctify the places of pilgrimage. Common men go to pilgrimage sites to get themselves purified of all sins. Thus the places of pilgrimage become overburdened with the sins of others. But when such sages visit overburdened places of pilgrimage, they sanctify the places by their presence. Therefore the sages who came to meet Mahārāja Parīkṣit were not very much interested in getting themselves purified like common men, but on the plea of taking a bath in that place they came to meet Mahārāja Parīkṣit because they could foresee that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam would be spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. All of them wanted to take advantage of the great occasion.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.4.16, Purport:

Pure devotees of the Lord are not very much concerned with philosophical speculation in regard to transcendental knowledge of the Lord. Nor is it possible to acquire complete knowledge of the Lord. Whatever little knowledge they have about the Lord is sufficient for them because devotees are simply satisfied in hearing and chanting about the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. This gives them all transcendental bliss. But some of the pastimes of the Lord appear contradictory, even to such pure devotees, and thus Uddhava asked the Lord about some of the contradictory incidents in His pastimes. The Lord is described as having nothing to do personally, and it is actually so because even in the creation and sustenance of the material world, the Lord has nothing to do. It seems contradictory, then, to hear that the Lord personally lifts the Govardhana Hill for the protection of His unalloyed devotees. The Lord is the Supreme Brahman, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead appearing like a man, but Uddhava had doubts whether He could have so many transcendental activities.

SB 3.9.12, Translation:

My Lord, You are not very much satisfied by the worship of the demigods, who arrange for Your worship very pompously, with various paraphernalia, but who are full of material hankerings. You are situated in everyone's heart as the Supersoul just to show Your causeless mercy, and You are the eternal well-wisher, but You are unavailable for the nondevotee.

SB 3.33.21, Purport:

A woman whose husband is away from home or has taken the renounced order of life should not be very sorry, because she still has the presence of her husband's representative, her son. It is said in the Vedic scriptures, ātmaiva putro jāyate: the husband's body is represented by the son. Strictly speaking, a woman is never widowed if she has a grown son. Devahūti was not very much affected while Kapila Muni was there, but upon His departure she was very afflicted. She grieved not because of her worldly relationship with Kardama Muni but because of her sincere love for the Personality of Godhead.

The example given here is that Devahūti became just like a cow who has lost her calf. A cow bereft of her calf cries day and night. Similarly, Devahūti was aggrieved, and she always cried and requested her friends and relatives, "Please bring my son home so that I may live. Otherwise, I shall die." This intense affection for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although manifested as affection for one's son, is spiritually beneficial. Attachment for a material son obliges one to remain in material existence, but the same attachment, when transferred to the Supreme Lord, brings one elevation to the spiritual world in the association of the Lord.

Every woman can qualify herself as much as Devahūti and then can also have the Supreme Godhead as her son. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead can appear as the son of Devahūti, He can also appear as the son of any other woman, provided that woman is qualified. If one gets the Supreme Lord as a son, one can have the benefit of bringing up a nice son in this world and at the same time get promotion to the spiritual world to become the face-to-face associate of the Personality of Godhead.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.1.66, Purport:

Lord Śiva, being the head of all mystic yogīs, never even constructed a home for his residence. Sati was the daughter of a great king, Dakṣa, and because his youngest daughter, Sati, selected as her husband Lord Śiva, King Dakṣa was not very much satisfied with her. Therefore whenever she met her father, he unnecessarily criticized her husband, although Lord Śiva was faultless. Because of this, before attaining a mature age Sati gave up the body given by her father, Dakṣa, and therefore she could not produce a child.

SB 4.2.8, Purport:

Lord Śiva, being the son-in-law of Dakṣa, was expected to show his father-in-law respect by standing with the others, but because Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are the principal demigods, their positions are greater than Dakṣa's. Dakṣa, however, could not tolerate this, and he took it as an insult by his son-in-law. Previously, also, he was not very much satisfied with Lord Śiva, for Śiva looked very poor and was niggardly in dress.

SB 4.2.20, Purport:

There is a long-standing dissension among some of the neophyte Vaiṣṇavas and Śaivites; they are always at loggerheads. When Dakṣa cursed Lord Śiva in harsh words, some of the brāhmaṇas present might have enjoyed it because some brāhmaṇas do not very much admire Lord Śiva. This is due to their ignorance of Lord Śiva's position. Nandīśvara was affected by the cursing, but he did not follow the example of Lord Śiva, who was also present there. Although Lord Śiva could also have cursed Dakṣa in a similar way, he was silent and tolerant; but Nandīśvara, his follower, was not tolerant. Of course, as a follower it was right for him not to tolerate an insult to his master, but he should not have cursed the brāhmaṇas who were present. The entire issue was so complicated that those who were not strong enough forgot their positions, and thus cursing and countercursing went on in that great assembly. In other words, the material field is so unsteady that even personalities like Nandīśvara, Dakṣa and many of the brāhmaṇas present were infected by the atmosphere of anger.

SB 4.3.11, Purport:

Dākṣāyaṇī, Sati, knew very well that her husband, Lord Śiva, was not very much interested in the glaring manifestation of the material world, which is caused by the interaction of the three modes of nature. Therefore she addressed her husband as aja, which refers to one who has transcended the bondage of birth and death, or one who has realized his eternal position. She stated, "The illusion of accepting the perverted reflection, the material or cosmic manifestation, to be real is not present in you, because you are self-realized. For you the attraction of social life and the consideration that someone is father, someone is mother and someone is sister, which are illusory relationships, is already over; but because I am a poor woman, I am not so advanced in transcendental realization. Therefore naturally these appear to me as real." Only less intelligent persons accept this perverted reflection of the spiritual world to be real. Those who are under the spell of the external energy accept this manifestation to be fact, whereas those who are advanced in spiritual realization know that it is illusion. Actual reality is elsewhere, in the spiritual world. "But as far as I am concerned," Sati said, "I do not have much knowledge about self-realization. I am poor because I do not know the actual facts. I am attracted by my birthplace, and I want to see it." One who has attraction for his birthplace, for his body, and for other such items mentioned in the Bhāgavatam is considered to be like an ass or a cow. Satī might have heard all this many times from her husband, Lord Śiva, but because she was a woman, yoṣit, she still hankered after the same material objects of affection. The word yoṣit means "one who is enjoyed."

SB 4.7.42, Purport:

Another significant point in this verse is that the demigods said, "We are all Your servants (bhṛtyān). Give us Your protection." The demigods depend on the protection of Viṣṇu; they are not independent. Bhagavad-gītā, therefore, condemns the worship of demigods because there is no need of it and clearly states that only those who have lost their sense go asking favors of the demigods. Generally, if anyone has material desires to be fulfilled, he can ask Viṣṇu instead of going to the demigods. Those who worship demigods are not very intelligent. Besides that, the demigods say, "We are Your eternal servants." So those who are servants, or devotees of the Lord, are not very much concerned with fruitive activities, the performance of the prescribed yajñas, or mental speculation. They simply serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead sincerely, with love and faith, performing everything with that loving service, and the Lord gives such devotees direct protection. In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa says, "Simply surrender unto Me, and I will give you protection from all the reactions of sinful activities." This material world is so created that one has to act sinfully, knowingly or unknowingly, and unless his life is dedicated to Viṣṇu, he has to suffer all the reactions of sinful activities. But one who surrenders and dedicates his life for the service of the Lord has direct protection from the Lord. He has no fear of suffering from sinful activities, nor does he desire, willingly or unwillingly, to do anything which is sinful.

SB 4.8.9, Translation:

Once upon a time, King Uttānapāda was patting the son of Suruci, Uttama, placing him on his lap. Dhruva Mahārāja was also trying to get on the King's lap, but the King did not very much welcome him.

SB 4.8.79, Purport:

The most significant expression in this verse is pārthivārbhakaḥ, son of the King. When Dhruva Mahārāja was at home, although he was a king's son, he was prevented from getting on the lap of his father. But when he became advanced in self-realization, or devotional service, by the pressure of his toe he could push down the whole earth. That is the difference between ordinary consciousness and Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In ordinary consciousness a king's son may be refused something even by his father, but when the same person becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious within his heart, he can push down the earth with the pressure of his toe.

One cannot argue, "How is it that Dhruva Mahārāja, who was prevented from getting up on the lap of his father, could press down the whole earth?" This argument is not very much appreciated by the learned, for it is an example of nagna-mātṛkā logic. By this logic one would think that because his mother in her childhood was naked, she should remain naked even when she is grown up. The stepmother of Dhruva Mahārāja might have been thinking in a similar way: since she had refused to allow him to get up on the lap of his father, how could Dhruva perform such wonderful activities as pressing down the whole earth? She must have been very surprised when she learned that Dhruva Mahārāja, by concentrating constantly on the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, could press down the entire earth, like an elephant who presses down the boat on which it is loaded.

SB 4.9.12, Purport:

A special advantage in devotional service is that devotees not only enjoy the transcendental pastimes of the Lord by hearing and chanting and glorifying them, but also are not very much attached to their bodies, unlike the yogīs, who are too attached to the body and who think that by performing bodily gymnastic exercises they will advance in spiritual consciousness. Yogīs are generally not very much interested in devotional service; they want to regulate the breathing process. This is simply a bodily concern. Here Dhruva Mahārāja plainly says that a devotee has no more bodily interest. He knows that he is not the body. From the very beginning, therefore, without wasting time in bodily exercises, a devotee searches out a pure devotee and simply by his association becomes more advanced in spiritual consciousness than any yogī. Because a devotee knows that he is not the body, he is never affected by bodily happiness or distress. He is not interested in bodily relationships with wife, children, home, bank balance, etc., or in the distress and happiness which come from these things. This is the special advantage of being a devotee. This status of life is possible only when a person is interested in associating with a pure devotee, who always enjoys the fragrance of the lotus feet of the Lord.

SB 4.9.27, Purport:

By worshiping the lotus feet of the Lord in devotional service as instructed by Nārada Muni, Dhruva Mahārāja achieved the desired result. His desire was to get a very exalted position, excelling that of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and although it was a somewhat childish determination because Dhruva Mahārāja was nothing but a small child, Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is so kind and merciful that He fulfilled Dhruva's desire. Dhruva Mahārāja wanted a residence more exalted than any ever occupied by anyone else in his family. Therefore he was offered the planet in which the Lord personally resides, and his determination was completely satisfied. Still, when Dhruva Mahārāja returned home he was not very much pleased, for although in pure devotional service there is no demand from the Lord, because of his childish nature he had demanded something. Thus although the Lord also fulfilled his desire, he was not very pleased. Rather, he was ashamed that he had demanded something from the Lord, for he should not have done this.

SB 4.23.27, Purport:

"When they have thus enjoyed heavenly sense pleasure, they return to this mortal planet again." Thus after exhausting the results of pious activities, one has to come again to the lower planetary systems and begin a new chapter of pious activities. It is therefore said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.5.12), naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitam: "The path of liberation is not at all secure unless one attains the devotional service of the Lord." Even if one is promoted to the impersonal brahma-jyotir, he runs every chance of falling down into this material world. If it is possible to fall down from the brahma-jyotir, which is beyond the higher planetary systems in this material world, then what can be said of the ordinary yogīs and karmīs who can only be elevated to the higher material planets? Thus the wives of the denizens of the higher planetary systems did not very much appreciate the results of karma, jñāna and yoga.

SB 4.27.12, Translation:

Thus King Purañjana, being attached to fruitive activities (karma-kāṇḍīya) as well as kith and kin, and being obsessed with polluted consciousness, eventually arrived at that point not very much liked by those who are overly attached to material things.

SB 4.27.12, Purport:

In this verse the words priya-yoṣitām and apriyaḥ are very significant. The word yoṣit means "woman," and priya means "dear" or "pleasing." Death is not very much welcome for those who are too much attached to material enjoyment, which culminates in sex. There is an instructive story in this connection. Once when a saintly person was passing on his way, he met a prince, the son of a king, and he blessed him, saying, "My dear prince, may you live forever." The sage next met a saintly person and said to him, "You may either live or die." Eventually the sage met a brahmacārī devotee, and he blessed him, saying, "My dear devotee, you may die immediately." Finally the sage met a hunter, and he blessed him, saying, "Neither live nor die." The point is that those who are very sensual and are engaged in sense gratification do not wish to die. Generally a prince has enough money to enjoy his senses; therefore the great sage said that he should live forever, for as long as he lived he could enjoy life, but after his death he would go to hell. Since the brahmacārī devotee was leading a life of severe austerities and penances in order to be promoted back to Godhead, the sage said that he should die immediately so that he need not continue to labor hard and could instead go back home, back to Godhead. A saintly person may either live or die, for during his life he is engaged in serving the Lord and after his death he also serves the Lord. Thus this life and the next are the same for a saintly devotee, for in both he serves the Lord. Since the hunter lives a very ghastly life due to killing animals, and since he will go to hell when he dies, he is advised to neither live nor die.

SB 4.29.57, Purport:

King Barhiṣmān was engaged in different types of sacrifice for elevation to the heavenly planets. People generally are attracted by these activities, and very rarely is a person attracted to devotional service, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu confirms. Unless one is very, very fortunate, he does not take to devotional service. Even the so-called learned Vedic scholars are bewildered by devotional service. They are generally attracted to the rituals for sense gratification. In devotional service there is no sense gratification, but only transcendental loving service to the Lord. Consequently, the so-called priests engaged in sense gratification do not very much like devotional service. The brāhmaṇas, the priests, have been against this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement since it began with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu started this movement, the priestly class lodged complaints to the Kazi, the magistrate of the Muhammadan government. Caitanya Mahāprabhu had to lead a civil disobedience movement against the propaganda of the so-called followers of Vedic principles. These people are described as karma jaḍa-smārtas, which indicates that they are priests engaged in ritualistic ceremonies. It is here stated that such people become bewildered (ṛṣayo 'pi hi muhyanti). To save oneself from the hands of these karma jaḍa-smārtas, one should strictly follow the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 4.29.82, Purport:

"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." (BG 7.14)

As soon as the living entity engages in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, he immediately attains freedom from all material conditions (sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate (BG 14.26)). In the material state the living entity is on the jīva-bhūta platform, but when he renders devotional service to the Lord, he is elevated to the brahma-bhūta platform (SB 4.30.20). On the brahma-bhūta platform the living entity is liberated from material bondage, and he engages in the service of the Lord. In this verse the word dhīra is sometimes read as vīra. Actually there is not very much difference. The word dhīra means "sober," and vīra means "hero." One who is struggling against māyā is a hero, and one who is sober enough to understand his position is a dhīra. Without becoming sober or heroic, one cannot attain spiritual salvation.

SB Canto 7

SB 7.4.5-7, Purport:

The word garuḍa in this verse indicates that there are planets of great birds like Garuḍa. Similarly, the word uraga indicates that there are planets of enormous serpents. Such a description of the various planets of the universe may challenge modern scientists who think that all planets but this earth are vacant. These scientists claim to have launched excursions to the moon, where they have found no living entities but only big craters full of dust and stone, although in fact the moon is so brilliant that it acts like the sun in illuminating the entire universe. Of course, it is not possible to convince modern scientists of the Vedic information about the universe. Nonetheless, we are not very much impressed by the words of scientists who say that all other planets are vacant and that only the earth is full of living entities.

SB 7.5.54, Purport:

In tiffin hours, the hours when the teachers were absent from the classroom, the students called Prahlāda Mahārāja, wanting to play with him. As will be seen from the following verses, however, Prahlāda Mahārāja was not very much interested in playing. Instead, he wanted to utilize every moment for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore, as indicated in this verse by the word kṛta-kṣaṇaiḥ, at the opportune moment when it was possible to preach about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, Prahlāda Mahārāja used the time as follows.

SB 7.8.26, Purport:

When Hiraṇyakaśipu was in the process of being killed by Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva, the Lord gave the demon a chance to slip from His clutches. This incident was not very much appreciated by the demigods, for they were greatly afraid of Hiraṇyakaśipu. They knew that if somehow or other Hiraṇyakaśipu escaped from Nṛsiṁha-deva's hands and saw that the demigods were looking forward to his death with great pleasure, he would take great revenge upon them. Therefore they were very much afraid.

SB 7.13.9, Purport:

This is because of their impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate (SB 1.2.11). The Absolute Truth is perceived in three stages, of which bhagavān, or realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is meant for the paramahaṁsas. Indeed, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself is meant for the paramahaṁsas (paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām (SB 1.1.2)). Unless one is in the paramahaṁsa stage, he is not eligible to understand the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. For paramahaṁsas, or sannyāsīs in the Vaiṣṇava order, preaching is the first duty. To preach, such sannyāsīs may accept the symbols of sannyāsa, such as the daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu, or sometimes they may not. Generally the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs, being paramahaṁsas, are automatically called bābājīs, and they do not carry a kamaṇḍalu or daṇḍa. Such a sannyāsī is free to accept or reject the marks of sannyāsa. His only thought is "Where is there an opportunity to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness?" Sometimes the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement sends its representative sannyāsīs to foreign countries where the daṇḍa and kamaṇḍalu are not very much appreciated. We send our preachers in ordinary dress to introduce our books and philosophy. Our only concern is to attract people to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. We may do this in the dress of sannyāsīs or in the regular dress of gentlemen. Our only concern is to spread interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB 7.14.1, Purport:

In the previous chapters the great sage Nārada has explained how a brahmacārī, a vānaprastha and a sannyāsī should act. He first explained the dealings of a brahmacārī, vānaprastha and sannyāsī because these three āśramas, or statuses of life, are extremely important for fulfillment of the goal of life. One should note that in the brahmacārī-āśrama, vānaprastha-āśrama and sannyāsa-āśrama there is no scope for sex life, whereas sex is allowed in gṛhastha life under regulations. Nārada Muni, therefore, first described brahmacarya, vānaprastha and sannyāsa because he wanted to stress that sex is not at all necessary, although one who absolutely requires it is allowed to enter gṛhastha life, or household life, which is also regulated by the śāstras and guru. Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja could understand all this. Therefore, as a gṛhastha, he presented himself as gṛha-mūḍha-dhīḥ, one who is completely ignorant of the goal of life. A person who remains a householder in family life is certainly ignorant of life's goal; he is not very much advanced in intelligence. As soon as possible, one should give up his so-called comfortable life at home and prepare to undergo austerity, or tapasya. Tapo divyaṁ putrakā (SB 5.5.1). According to the instructions given by Ṛṣabhadeva to His sons, we should not create a so-called comfortable situation, but must prepare to undergo austerity. This is how a human being should actually live to fulfill life's ultimate goal.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.15.25, Translation:

Kārtavīryārjuna thought that Jamadagni was more powerful and wealthy than himself because of possessing a jewel in the form of the kāmadhenu. Therefore he and his own men, the Haihayas, were not very much appreciative of Jamadagni's reception. On the contrary, they wanted to possess that kāmadhenu, which was useful for the execution of the agnihotra sacrifice.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.1.1, Purport:

Persons who desire to be freed from this material world are called mumukṣu. Such persons can understand the miseries of materialistic life, and by glorifying the activities of the Lord they can be released from all these miseries. The transcendental sound vibrations concerning the Lord's name, fame, form, qualities and paraphernalia are all nondifferent from the Lord. Therefore the very sound vibration of the Lord's glorification and name are pleasing to the ears, and by understanding the absolute nature of the Lord's name, form and qualities the devotee becomes joyful. Even those who are not devotees, however, enjoy the pleasing narrations of the Lord's transcendental activities. Even ordinary persons not very much advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness take pleasure in describing the narrations depicted in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. When a materialistic person is purified in this way, he engages in hearing and chanting the glories of the Lord. Because glorification of the Lord's pastimes is very pleasing to the ear and heart of the devotee, it is simultaneously his subject and object.

In this world there are three kinds of men: those who are liberated, those trying to be liberated, and those entangled in sense enjoyment. Of these three, those who are already liberated chant and hear the holy name of the Lord, knowing perfectly that to glorify the Lord is the only way to keep oneself in a transcendental position. Those who are trying to be liberated, the second class, may regard the chanting and hearing of the Lord's holy name as a process of liberation, and they too will feel the transcendental pleasure of this chanting. As for karmīs and persons engaged in sense gratification, they also may take pleasure in hearing the pastimes of the Lord, like His fighting on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra and His dancing in Vṛndāvana with the gopīs.

SB 10.2.18, Purport:

When Kṛṣṇa is there, it is to be understood that all His plenary expansions, such as Nārāyaṇa, and incarnations like Lord Nṛsiṁha and Varāha, are with Him, and they are not subject to the conditions of material existence. In this way, Devakī became the residence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is one without a second and the cause of all creation. Devakī became the residence of the Absolute Truth, but because she was within the house of Kaṁsa, she looked just like a suppressed fire, or like misused education. When fire is covered by the walls of a pot or is kept in a jug, the illuminating rays of the fire cannot be very much appreciated. Similarly, misused knowledge, which does not benefit the people in general, is not very much appreciated. So Devakī was kept within the prison walls of Kaṁsa's palace, and no one could see her transcendental beauty, which resulted from her conceiving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Commenting upon this verse, Śrī Vīrarāghava Ācārya writes, vasudeva-devakī jaṭharayor hṛdayayor bhagavataḥ sambandhaḥ. The Supreme Lord's entrance into the womb of Devakī from the heart of Vasudeva was a heart-to-heart relationship.

SB 10.3.40, Purport:

According to the Sanskrit dictionary Amara-kośa, sex life is also called grāmya-dharma, material desire, but in spiritual life this grāmya-dharma, the material desire for sex, is not very much appreciated. If one has a tinge of attachment for the material enjoyments of eating, sleeping, mating and defending, one is not niṣkiñcana. But one really should be niṣkiñcana. Therefore, one should be free from the desire to beget a child like Kṛṣṇa by sexual enjoyment. This is indirectly hinted at in this verse.

SB 10.7.37, Purport:

Because of her pure maternal love, mother Yaśodā thought that this wonderful child playing so many tricks must have had some disease. She did not appreciate the wonders shown by her child; rather, she wanted to close her eyes. She was expecting another danger, and therefore her eyes became restless like those of a deer cub. This was all the arrangement of yogamāyā. The relationship between mother Yaśodā and Kṛṣṇa is one of pure maternal love. In that love, mother Yaśodā did not very much appreciate the display of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's opulences.

At the beginning of this chapter, two extra verses sometimes appear:

evaṁ bahūni karmāṇi

gopānāṁ śaṁ sa-yoṣitām

nandasya gehe vavṛdhe

kurvan viṣṇu-janārdanaḥ

"In this way, to chastise and kill the demons, the child Kṛṣṇa demonstrated many activities in the house of Nanda Mahārāja, and the inhabitants of Vraja enjoyed these incidents."

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 8.22, Purport:

The prākṛta-sahajiyās who chant nitāi-gaura rādhe śyāma have very little knowledge of the Bhāgavata conclusion, and they hardly follow the Vaiṣṇava rules and regulations, and yet because they chant bhaja nitāi-gaura, their chanting immediately evokes tears and other signs of ecstasy. Although they do not know the principles of Vaiṣṇava philosophy and are not very much advanced in education, by these symptoms they attract many men to become their followers. Their ecstatic tears will of course help them in the long run, for as soon as they come in contact with a pure devotee their lives will become successful. Even in the beginning, however, because they are chanting the holy names of nitāi-gaura, their swift advancement on the path of love of Godhead is very prominently visible.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.82, Purport:

In his Anubhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura comments, "The gopīs are purely engaged in the service of the Lord without motive. They are not captivated by the opulence of Kṛṣṇa, nor by the understanding that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Naturally the gopīs were inclined to love Kṛṣṇa, for He was an attractive young boy of Vṛndāvana village. Being village girls, they were not very much attracted to the field of Kurukṣetra, where Kṛṣṇa was present with elephants, horses and royal dress. Indeed, they did not very much appreciate Kṛṣṇa in that atmosphere. Kṛṣṇa was not attracted by the opulence or personal beauty of the gopīs but by their pure devotional service. Similarly, the gopīs were attracted to Kṛṣṇa as a cowherd boy, not in sophisticated guise. Lord Kṛṣṇa is inconceivably powerful. To understand Him, great yogīs and saintly persons give up all material engagements and meditate upon Him. Similarly, those who are overly attracted to material enjoyment, to enhancement of material opulence, to family maintenance or to liberation from the entanglements of this material world take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But such activities and motivations are unknown to the gopīs; they are not at all expert in executing such auspicious activities. Already transcendentally enlightened, they simply engage their purified senses in the service of the Lord in the remote village of Vṛndāvana. The gopīs are not interested in dry speculation, in the arts, in music, or other conditions of material life. They are bereft of all understanding of material enjoyment and renunciation. Their only desire is to see Kṛṣṇa return and enjoy spiritual, transcendental pastimes with them. The gopīs want Him simply to stay in Vṛndāvana so that they can render service unto Him, for His pleasure. There is not even a tinge of personal sense gratification.

CC Madhya 1.259, Purport:

Actually Dāmodara Paṇḍita was the eternal servant of the Lord. He could not punish the Lord at any time, nor had he any desire to, but he did give some warning to the Lord so that others would not blaspheme Him. Of course, he should have known that the Lord is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is free to act in any way. There is no need to warn Him, and such an action is not very much appreciated by advanced devotees.

CC Madhya 3.212, Purport:

As Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains, the word nirapekṣa means not being affected by anything material and remaining fixed in the service of the Lord. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not very much care for the roaring tumult and cry at the house of Advaita Ācārya, which He heard when starting for Jagannātha Purī. Worldly moralists may criticize Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu for being very cruel, but the Lord did not care for such criticism. As the world teacher of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, He actually showed that a person seriously engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should not be affected by worldly affection. The best course is to engage in rendering service to the Lord and to become callous to material objectives. Externally everyone is attached to material things, but if one becomes entangled in such things, he cannot make progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore those who are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should not care for the so-called morality of the material world if that morality opposes the service of the Lord. As Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has personally shown, one cannot properly execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness without being neutral.

CC Madhya 8.90, Purport:

Impersonal realization of the Absolute Truth is certainly transcendental, but this does not mean that one who has attained this realization can understand the sac-cid-ānanda form of the Lord. Similarly, Paramātmā realization—realization of the plenary expansion of the Absolute Truth within everyone's heart—is also an incomplete understanding of the Absolute Truth. Even a devotee of the Personality of Godhead Nārāyaṇa cannot actually understand the transcendental attractive features of Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, a devotee of Kṛṣṇa who is attached to the sublime attractive features of the Lord does not consider Nārāyaṇa very important. When the gopīs sometimes saw Kṛṣṇa in the form of Nārāyaṇa, they were not very much attracted to Him. The gopīs never addressed Kṛṣṇa as Rukmiṇī-ramaṇa. Kṛṣṇa's devotees in Vṛndāvana address Him as Rādhāramaṇa, Nandanandana and Yaśodānandana, but not as Vasudeva-nandana or Devakī-nandana. Although according to the material conception Nārāyaṇa, Rukmiṇī-ramaṇa and Kṛṣṇa are one and the same, in the spiritual world one cannot use the name Rukmiṇī-ramaṇa or Nārāyaṇa in place of the name Kṛṣṇa. If one does so out of a poor fund of knowledge, his mellow with the Lord becomes spiritually faulty and is called rasābhāsa, an overlapping of transcendental mellows. The advanced devotee who has actually realized the transcendental features of the Lord will not commit the mistake of creating a rasābhāsa situation by using one name for another. Because of the influence of Kali-yuga, there is much rasābhāsa in the name of extravagance and liberal-mindedness. Such fanaticism is not very much appreciated by pure devotees.

CC Madhya 15.125, Translation:

“When the King asked Mukunda, "Where is it paining you?" Mukunda replied, "I am not very much pained."

CC Madhya 19.183-184, Purport:

When the Supreme Lord in His localized aspect is appreciated and a great devotee understands his subordinate position, not only does he surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but, due to his subordinate position, he wishes to render some service and thus become favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A devotee in śānta-rati is not very much willing to render service to the Lord, but a devotee in dāsya-rati voluntarily wants to render service. Due to this attitude, the devotee in dāsya-rati realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead more fully than a devotee in śānta-rati. He considers the Lord to be a worshipable object, and this means that his attachment for the Lord increases. Thus dāsya-rati is characterized as bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra ca. (SB 11.2.42) In other words, on the dāsya-rati platform a devotee is attached to rendering service to the Lord, and he is detached from material activities. Śānta-rati is neither material nor spiritual, but dāsya-rati is actually on the spiritual platform. There is no attachment for material things on the spiritual platform (viraktir anyatra ca). A devotee in dāsya-rati has no attachment for anything but Kṛṣṇa's service.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3 Summary:

A summary of the Third Chapter is given by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura as follows. A beautiful young brāhmaṇa girl in Jagannātha Purī had a very handsome son who was coming every day to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This was not very much to the liking of Dāmodara Paṇḍita, however, who therefore told Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, "If You display so much love for this boy, people will doubt Your character." Hearing these words from Dāmodara Paṇḍita, the Lord sent him to Navadvīpa to supervise the affairs of His mother, Śacīdevī. He also especially requested Dāmodara Paṇḍita to remind His mother that He was sometimes going to her home to accept the food she offered. Thus, following the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Dāmodara Paṇḍita went to Navadvīpa, taking with him all kinds of prasādam from Lord Jagannātha.

On another occasion, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu once inquired from Haridāsa Ṭhākura, who was known as Brahma Haridāsa, how the yavanas, or persons bereft of Vedic culture, would be delivered in Kali-yuga. Haridāsa Ṭhākura replied that their deliverance would be possible if they very loudly chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, for hearing the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra chanted loudly, even with but little realization, would help them.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 2:

Since Kṛṣṇa was there, it is to be understood that all His plenary expansions, such as Nārāyaṇa, and incarnations like Lord Nṛsiṁha and Varāha, were with Him, and They also were not subject to the conditions of material existence. In this way, Devakī became the residence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is one without a second and the cause of all creation. Devakī became the residence of the Absolute Truth, but because she was confined within the house of Kaṁsa, she looked just like a suppressed fire, or like misused education. When fire is kept in a jug, the illuminating rays of the fire cannot be very much appreciated. Similarly, misused knowledge, which does not benefit the people in general, is not very much appreciated. So Devakī was kept within the prison walls of Kaṁsa's palace, and no one could see her transcendental beauty, which resulted from her conceiving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Kaṁsa, however, saw the transcendental beauty of his sister Devakī, and he at once concluded that the Supreme Personality of Godhead had taken shelter in her womb. She had never before looked so wonderfully beautiful. He could distinctly understand that there was something wonderful within the womb of Devakī. In this way, Kaṁsa became perturbed because he was sure that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who would kill him in the future, had now come. Kaṁsa began to think, "What is to be done with Devakī? Surely she has Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa within her womb, so it is certain that Kṛṣṇa has come to execute the mission of the demigods. And even if I immediately kill Devakī, His mission cannot be frustrated." Kaṁsa knew very well that no one can frustrate the purpose of Viṣṇu. Any intelligent man can understand that the laws of God cannot be violated. His purpose will be served in spite of all impediments offered by the demons. Kaṁsa thought, "If I kill Devakī at the present moment, Viṣṇu will enforce His supreme will more vehemently. To kill Devakī just now would be a most abominable act. No one desires to kill his reputation, even in an awkward situation; if I kill Devakī now, my reputation will be spoiled. Devakī is a woman, and she is under my shelter; she is pregnant, and if I kill her, immediately my reputation, the results of my pious activities and my duration of life will all be finished."

Krsna Book 4:

Vasudeva took the opportunity of Kaṁsa's benevolence and informed him that his atheistic activities were also due to this misconception of life—namely taking the material body to be the self. When Vasudeva talked with Kaṁsa in such an illuminating way, Kaṁsa became very much pleased, and his guilt for killing his nephews subsided. With the permission of his sister Devakī and brother-in-law Vasudeva, he returned to his home with a relieved mind.

But the next day Kaṁsa called all his counselors together and narrated to them all the incidents that had happened the night before. All the counselors of Kaṁsa were demons and eternal enemies of the demigods, so they became depressed upon hearing their master speak of the night's events. And although they were not very much experienced or learned, they began to give instructions to Kaṁsa as follows: “Dear sir, let us now make arrangements to kill all children who were born within the last ten days in all towns, counties, villages and pasturing grounds. Let us execute this plan indiscriminately. We think that the demigods cannot do anything against us if we perform these atrocities. They are always afraid of fighting with us, and even if they wish to check our activities, they will not dare to do so. Because of your immeasurable strength, they fear your bow. Indeed, we have practical experience that whenever you stood to fight with them and began to shower your arrows on them, they immediately fled in all directions just to save their lives. Many of the demigods were unable to fight with you, and they immediately surrendered themselves unto you by loosening their turbans and the tufts of hair on their heads. With folded hands they begged you to spare them and said, ‘My lord, we are all afraid of your strength.

Krsna Book 18:

After extinguishing the devastating fire, Kṛṣṇa, surrounded by His relatives, friends, cows, calves and bulls and glorified by His friends' singing, again entered Vṛndāvana, which is always full of cows. While Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were enjoying life in Vṛndāvana in the midst of the cowherd boys and girls, the season gradually changed to summer. The summer season in India is not very much welcomed because of the excessive heat, but in Vṛndāvana everyone was pleased because summer there appeared just like spring. This was possible only because Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, who are the controllers even of Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, were residing there. In Vṛndāvana there are many falls which are always pouring water, and the sound is so sweet that it covers the sound of the crickets. And because water flows all over, the forest always looks very green and beautiful.

The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were never disturbed by the scorching heat of the sun or the high summer temperatures. The lakes of Vṛndāvana are surrounded by green grasses, and various kinds of lotus flowers bloom there, such as the kahlāra, kañja and utpala, and the air blowing in Vṛndāvana carries the aromatic pollen of those lotus flowers. When the particles of water from the waves of the Yamunā, the lakes and the waterfalls touched the bodies of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, they automatically felt a cooling effect. Therefore they were practically undisturbed by the summer season.

Krsna Book 20:

Before becoming students, they were dirty-looking, although they had naturally beautiful personal features; due to having no information of Kṛṣṇa consciousness they appeared very dirty and wretched. Since they have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, their health has improved, and by their following the rules and regulations, their bodily luster has increased. When they are dressed with saffron-colored cloth, with tilaka on their foreheads and beads in their hands and on their necks, they look exactly as if they have come directly from Vaikuṇṭha.

In the rainy season, when the rivers swell and rush to the oceans and seas, they appear to agitate the ocean. Similarly, if a person who is engaged in the mystic yoga process is not very much advanced in spiritual life, he can become agitated by the sex impulse. Although during the rainy season the high mountains are splashed by torrents of rain, they do not change; similarly, a person who is advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, even if put into difficulties, is not embarrassed. A person who is spiritually advanced accepts any adverse condition of life as the mercy of the Lord, and thus he is completely eligible to enter into the spiritual kingdom.

In the rainy season some of the roads are not frequently used, and they become covered with long grasses. These roads are exactly like a brāhmaṇa who is not accustomed to studying and practicing the reformatory methods of the Vedic injunctions—he becomes covered with the long grasses of māyā. In that condition, forgetful of his constitutional nature, he forgets his position of eternal servitorship to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By being deviated by the seasonal overgrowth of long grasses created by māyā, a person identifies himself with the māyic production and succumbs to illusion, forgetting his spiritual life.

Krsna Book 20:

Therefore the clean heart of a devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be compared to the clean sky of the autumn season. During autumn, the moon looks very bright along with the stars in the clear sky. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appeared in the sky of the Yadu dynasty, and He was exactly like the moon surrounded by the stars, or the members of the Yadu dynasty. When there are ample blooming flowers in the gardens in the forest, the fresh, aromatic breeze gives great relief to the persons who have suffered during the summer and rainy seasons. Unfortunately, such breezes could not give any relief to the gopīs because of their hearts' dedication to Kṛṣṇa. People in general might have taken pleasure in that nice autumn breeze, but the gopīs, not being embraced by Kṛṣṇa, were not very much satisfied.

On the arrival of the autumn season, all the cows, deer, birds and females in general become pregnant, because in that season all the husbands generally become impelled by sex desire. Such pregnant females are exactly like the transcendentalists who, by the grace of the Supreme Lord, are bestowed with the benediction of their destinations in life. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has instructed in his Upadeśāmṛta that one should execute devotional service with great enthusiasm, patience and conviction and should follow the rules and regulations, keep oneself clean from material contamination and stay in the association of devotees. By following these six principles, one is sure to achieve the desired result of devotional service. For one who patiently follows the regulative principles of devotional service, the time will undoubtedly come when he will achieve the desired result, just as the females reap results by becoming pregnant.

Krsna Book 21:

The scorching heat of the autumn sunshine was sometimes intolerable, and therefore the clouds in the sky appeared in sympathy above Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma and Their boyfriends while They engaged in blowing Their flutes. The clouds served as a soothing umbrella over Their heads just to make friendship with Kṛṣṇa.

The aborigine girls became fully satisfied when they smeared their faces and breasts with the dust of Vṛndāvana, which was reddish from the touch of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. The aborigine girls had very full breasts, and they were also very lusty, but when their lovers touched their breasts, the girls were not very much satisfied. When they came out into the midst of the forest, they saw that while Kṛṣṇa was walking some of the leaves and creepers of Vṛndāvana had turned reddish from the kuṅkuma powder which fell from His lotus feet. His lotus feet are held by the gopīs on their breasts, which are smeared with kuṅkuma powder, but when Kṛṣṇa travels in the Vṛndāvana forest with Balarāma and His boyfriends, the reddish powder falls on the ground. So the lusty aborigine girls, while looking toward Kṛṣṇa playing His flute, saw the reddish kuṅkuma on the ground and immediately took it and smeared it over their faces and breasts. In this way they became fully satisfied, although they were not satisfied when their lovers touched their breasts. All material lusty desires can be immediately satisfied if one comes in contact with Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Krsna Book 44:

One captured the other and threw him down on the ground, and another rushed from the back to the front of another and tried to overcome him with a hold. The fighting increased step by step. There was picking up, dragging and pushing, and then the legs and hands were locked together. All the arts of wrestling were perfectly exhibited by the parties as each tried his best to defeat his opponent.

But the audience in the wrestling arena was not very much satisfied because the combatants did not appear to be equally matched. They considered Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to be mere boys before Cāṇūra and Muṣṭika, who were the strongest wrestlers, as solid as stone. Being compassionate and favoring Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, the many ladies in the audience began to talk as follows: "Dear friends, there is injustice here." Another said, "Even in front of the King this wrestling is going on between incompatible sides." The ladies had lost their sense of enjoyment. They could not encourage the fighting between the strong and the weak. "Muṣṭika and Cāṇūra are just like thunderbolts, as strong as great mountains, and Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are two delicate boys of very tender age. The principle of justice has already left this assembly. Persons who are aware of the civilized principles of justice will not remain to watch this unfair match. Those taking part in watching this wrestling match are not very much enlightened; therefore whether they speak or remain silent, they are being subjected to the reactions of sinful activities."

Krsna Book 46:

While the gopīs were thus engaged, the lamps reflected on their ornaments made the ornaments still brighter. Their churning rods, their arms, their earrings, their bangles, their breasts—everything moved, and kuṅkuma powder gave their faces a saffron luster comparable to the rising sun. While making sounds by churning, they also sang the glories of Kṛṣṇa. The two sound vibrations mixed together, ascended to the sky and sanctified the whole atmosphere.

After sunrise the gopīs came as usual to offer their respects to Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, but when they saw the golden chariot of Uddhava at the door, they began to inquire among themselves: What was that chariot, and to whom did it belong? Some of them inquired whether Akrūra, who had taken away Kṛṣṇa, had returned. They were not very much pleased with Akrūra because, being engaged in the service of Kaṁsa, he had taken lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa away to the city of Mathurā. All the gopīs conjectured that Akrūra might have come again to fulfill another cruel plan. But they thought, "We are now dead bodies without our supreme master, Kṛṣṇa. What further act can Akrūra perpetrate against these dead bodies?" While they were talking in this way, Uddhava finished his morning ablutions, prayers and chanting and came before them.

Krsna Book 47:

It is a great boon for you that you have fixed your minds upon Kṛṣṇa and have decided to have Kṛṣṇa only, giving up your families, homes, relatives, husbands and children for the sake of the Supreme Personality. Because your minds are now fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Soul, universal love has automatically developed in you. I think myself very fortunate that I have been favored, by your grace, to see you in this situation.”

When Uddhava said that he had a message from Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs were more interested in hearing the message than in hearing about their exalted position. They did not very much like being praised for their high position. They showed their anxiety to hear the message Uddhava had brought from Kṛṣṇa. Uddhava said, "My dear gopīs, I am especially deputed to carry this message to you, who are such great and gentle devotees. Kṛṣṇa has specifically sent me to you because I am His most confidential servitor."

Uddhava did not deliver to the gopīs the written message brought from Kṛṣṇa, but he personally read it to them. The message was very gravely written, so that not only the gopīs but all empiric philosophers might understand how pure love of God is intrinsically integrated with all the different energies of the Supreme Lord. From Vedic information it is understood that the Supreme Lord has multi-energies: parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport). Also, the gopīs were such intimate personal friends of Kṛṣṇa that while He was writing the message for them He was so moved that He could not write distinctly. Uddhava, as a student of Bṛhaspati, had very sharp intelligence, so instead of handing over the written message, he thought it wise to read it personally and explain it to them.

Krsna Book 59:

Indra, along with other demigods, offered opposition to Kṛṣṇa and Satyabhāmā for taking away the tree, but in order to please His favorite wife Satyabhāmā, Kṛṣṇa became determined and adamant, so there was a fight between the demigods and Kṛṣṇa. As usual, Kṛṣṇa came out victorious, and He triumphantly brought the pārijāta tree chosen by His wife to this earth planet, to Dvārakā. After this, the tree was installed in the palace garden of Satyabhāmā. On account of this extraordinary tree, the garden house of Satyabhāmā became extraordinarily beautiful. As the pārijāta tree came down to the earthly planet, the fragrance of its flowers also came down, and the celestial drones migrated to this earth in search of their fragrance and honey.

King Indra's behavior toward Kṛṣṇa was not very much appreciated by great sages like Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Out of His causeless mercy, Kṛṣṇa had gone to the heavenly kingdom, Amarāvatī, to present King Indra with his mother's earrings, which had been lost to Bhaumāsura, and Indra had been very glad to receive them. But when a pārijāta tree from the heavenly kingdom was taken by Kṛṣṇa, Indra had fought with Him. This was self-interest on the part of Indra. He had offered his prayer, tipping down his head to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, but as soon as his purpose had been served, he became a different creature. That is the way of the dealings of materialistic men. Materialistic men are always interested in their own profit. For this purpose they can offer any kind of respect to anyone, but when their personal interest is over, they are no longer friends. This selfish nature is found not only among the richer class of men on this planet but even in personalities like Indra and other demigods. Too much wealth makes a man selfish. A selfish man is not prepared to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is condemned by great devotees like Śukadeva Gosvāmī. In other words, possession of too many worldly riches is a disqualification for advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Krsna Book 60:

People expected that I would follow in the footsteps of My foster father, Nanda Mahārāja, and be faithful to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and all Her friends in the village of Vṛndāvana. But all of a sudden I left them. I wanted to become a famous prince. Still I could not have any kingdom, nor could I rule as a prince. People are bewildered about My ultimate goal of life; they do not know whether I am a cowherd boy or a prince, whether I am the son of Nanda Mahārāja or the son of Vasudeva. Because I have no fixed aim in life, people may call Me a vagabond. Therefore, I am surprised that you could select such a vagabond husband.

“Besides this, I am not very much polished, even in social etiquette. A person should be satisfied with one wife, but you see that I have married many times, and I have more than sixteen thousand wives. I cannot please all of them as a polished husband. My behavior with them is not very nice, and I know that you are very conscious of it. I sometimes create a situation with My wives which is not very happy. Because I was trained in a village in My childhood, I am not well acquainted with the etiquette of urban life. I do not know the way to please a wife with nice words and behavior. And from practical experience it is found that any woman who follows My way or becomes attracted to Me is ultimately left to cry for the rest of her life. In Vṛndāvana, many gopīs were attracted to Me, and now I have left them, and they are living but are simply crying for Me in separation. I have heard from Akrūra and Uddhava that since I left Vṛndāvana all My cowherd boyfriends, the gopīs and Rādhārāṇī, and My foster father, Nanda Mahārāja, are simply crying constantly for Me. I have left Vṛndāvana for good and am now engaged with the queens in Dvārakā, but I am not well behaved with any of you. So you can very easily understand that I have no steadiness of character; I am not a very reliable husband. The net result of being attracted to Me is to acquire a life of bereavement only.

Krsna Book 60:

My dear beautiful princess, you know that all the members of the princely order, including Śiśupāla, Śālva, Jarāsandha, Dantavakra and even your elder brother Rukmī, are My enemies; they do not like Me at all. They hate Me from the cores of their hearts. All these princes were very much puffed up with their worldly possessions and did not care a fig for anyone who came before them. In order to teach them some lessons, I agreed to kidnap you according to your desire; otherwise I actually have no love for you, although you loved Me even before the marriage.

"As I have already explained, I am not very much interested in family life or love between husband and wife. By nature, I am not very fond of family life, wife, children, home and opulences. As My devotees are always neglectful of all these worldly possessions, I am also like that. Actually, I am interested in self-realization; that gives Me pleasure, and not this family life." After submitting His statement, Lord Kṛṣṇa suddenly stopped.

The great authority Śukadeva Gosvāmī remarks that Kṛṣṇa almost always passed His time with Rukmiṇī, and Rukmiṇī was a bit proud to be so fortunate that Kṛṣṇa never left her even for a moment. Kṛṣṇa, however, does not like any of His devotees to be proud. As soon as a devotee becomes so, by some tactic He cuts down that pride. In this case also, Kṛṣṇa said many things which were hard for Rukmiṇī to hear. She could only conclude that although she was proud of her position, Kṛṣṇa could be separated from her at any moment.

Krsna Book 61:

Although Rukmī was a veritable enemy of Kṛṣṇa, he had great affection for his sister, Rukmiṇī, and wanted to please her in all respects. On this account, when Rukmiṇī’s grandson Aniruddha was to be married, Rukmī offered his granddaughter Rocanā to Aniruddha. Such a marriage between immediate cousins is not very much sanctioned by the Vedic culture, but in order to please Rukmiṇī, Rukmī offered his daughter and granddaughter to the son and grandson of Kṛṣṇa, respectively. In this way, when the negotiation of the marriage of Aniruddha with Rocanā was complete, a big marriage party accompanied Aniruddha and started from Dvārakā. They traveled until they reached Bhojakaṭa, which Rukmī had colonized after his sister had been kidnapped by Kṛṣṇa. This marriage party was led by the grandfather, namely Lord Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by Lord Balarāma, and it included Kṛṣṇa's first wife, Rukmiṇī, His son Pradyumna, Jāmbavatī’s son Sāmba and many other relatives and family members. They reached the town of Bhojakaṭa, and the marriage ceremony was peacefully performed.

The King of Kaliṅga was a friend of Rukmī's and gave him the ill advice to play chess with Balarāma and thus defeat Him in a bet. Among kṣatriya kings, gambling on chess was not uncommon. If someone challenged a kṣatriya to play on the chessboard, the kṣatriya could not refuse the challenge. Śrī Balarāmajī was not a very expert chess player, and this was known to the King of Kaliṅga. So Rukmī was advised to retaliate against the family members of Kṛṣṇa by challenging Balarāma to play chess. Although not an expert chess player, Śrī Balarāmajī was very enthusiastic in sporting activities. He accepted Rukmī’s challenge and sat down to play. Betting was with gold coins, and Balarāma first of all challenged with one hundred coins, then one thousand coins, then ten thousand coins. Each time, Balarāma lost, and Rukmī was victorious.

Krsna Book 68:

They all exchanged words of reception by asking one another about their welfare, and when such formalities were finished, Lord Balarāma, in a great voice and very patiently, submitted before them the following words for their consideration: "My dear friends, this time I have come to you as a messenger with the order of the all-powerful King Ugrasena. Please, therefore, hear the order with attention and great care. Without wasting a single moment, please try to carry out the order. King Ugrasena knows very well that you warriors of the Kuru dynasty improperly fought with the pious Sāmba, who was alone, and that with great difficulty and unrighteous tactics you have arrested him. We have all heard this news, but we are not very much agitated because we are most intimately related to one another. I do not think we should disturb our good relationship; we should continue our friendship without any unnecessary fighting. Please, therefore, immediately release Sāmba and bring him, along with his wife, Lakṣmaṇā, before Me."

When Lord Balarāma spoke in a commanding tone full of heroic assertion, supremacy and chivalry, the leaders of the Kuru dynasty did not appreciate His statements. Rather, all of them became agitated, and with great anger they said, “Oh! These words are very astonishing but quite befitting the Age of Kali; otherwise how could Balarāma speak so vituperatively? The language and tone used by Balarāma are simply abusive, and due to the influence of this age it appears that the shoes befitting the feet want to rise to the top of the head, where the helmet is worn. We are connected with the Yadu dynasty by marriage, and because of this they have been given the chance to come live with us, dine with us and sleep with us; now they are taking advantage of these privileges. They had practically no position before we gave them a portion of our kingdom to rule, and now they are trying to command us. We have allowed the Yadu dynasty to use the royal insignias like the whisk, fan, conchshell, white umbrella, crown, royal throne, sitting place and bedstead, along with everything else befitting the royal order.

Krsna Book 70:

We can follow Lord Kṛṣṇa's dealings with His wives as an ordinary human being, but His dealings with more than sixteen thousand wives at one time cannot be imitated. The conclusion is that to become ideal householders we should follow in the footsteps of Lord Kṛṣṇa as He displayed His daily activities, but we cannot imitate Him at any stage of our life.

Lord Kṛṣṇa used to lie down with His sixteen thousand wives, but He would also rise from bed very early in the morning, three hours before sunrise. By nature's arrangement the crowing of the cocks warns of the brāhma-muhūrta hour. There is no need of alarm clocks: as soon as the cocks crow early in the morning, it is to be understood that it is time to rise from bed. Hearing that sound, Kṛṣṇa would get up from bed, but His rising early was not very much to the liking of His wives. The wives of Kṛṣṇa were so much attached to Him that they would lie in bed embracing Him, and as soon as the cocks crowed, Kṛṣṇa's wives would be very sorry and would immediately condemn the crowing.

In the garden within the compound of each palace there were pārijāta flowers. The pārijāta is not an artificial flower. We remember that Kṛṣṇa brought the pārijāta trees from heaven and planted them in all His palaces. Early in the morning, a mild breeze would carry the aroma of the pārijāta flower, and Kṛṣṇa would smell it just after rising from bed. Due to this aroma, the honeybees would begin their humming vibration, and the birds also would begin their sweet chirping sounds. All together it would sound like the singing of professional chanters engaged in offering prayers to Kṛṣṇa. Although Śrīmatī Rukmiṇīdevī, the first queen of Lord Kṛṣṇa, knew that brāhma-muhūrta is the most auspicious time in the entire day, she would feel disgusted at the appearance of brāhma-muhūrta because she was not very happy to have Kṛṣṇa leave her side in bed. Despite Śrīmatī Rukmiṇīdevī’s disgust, Lord Kṛṣṇa would immediately get up from bed exactly on the appearance of brāhma-muhūrta. An ideal householder should learn from the behavior of Lord Kṛṣṇa how to rise early in the morning, however comfortably he may be lying in bed embraced by his wife.

Krsna Book 80:

You are a householder; therefore without money you are in distress. But as soon as He understands your position, He will certainly give you sufficient riches so that you can live very comfortably. Lord Kṛṣṇa is now the King of the Bhoja, Vṛṣṇi and Andhaka dynasties, and I have heard that He never leaves His capital city, Dvārakā. He is living there without outside engagements. He is so kind and liberal that He immediately gives everything, even His personal self, to any person who surrenders unto Him. Since He is prepared to give Himself personally to His devotee, there is nothing wonderful in giving some material riches. Of course, He does not give much material wealth to His devotee if the devotee is not very much fixed, but I think that in your case He knows perfectly well how much you are fixed in devotional service. Therefore He will not hesitate to award you some material benefit for the bare necessities of life.”

In this way, the wife of the brāhmaṇa again and again requested, in great humility and submission, that he go to Lord Kṛṣṇa. The brāhmaṇa thought that there was no need to ask any material benefit from Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but he was induced by the repeated requests of his wife. Moreover, he thought, “If I go there I shall be able to see the Lord personally. That will be a great opportunity, even if I don’t ask any material benefit from Him.” When he had decided to go to Kṛṣṇa, he asked his wife if she had anything in the home that he could offer to Kṛṣṇa, because he must take some presentation for his friend. The wife immediately collected four palmfuls of chipped rice from her neighborhood friends and tied it in a small cloth, like a handkerchief, and gave it to her husband to present to Kṛṣṇa. Without waiting any longer, the brāhmaṇa took the presentation and proceeded toward Dvārakā to see his Lord. He was absorbed in the thought of how he would be able to see Lord Kṛṣṇa. He had no thought within his heart other than Kṛṣṇa.

Krsna Book 89:

Devotees are therefore akiñcana: in any condition of life a devotee is satisfied. It is said that a devotee is even-minded whether he is in hell or in heaven. A devotee is callous to all subjects other than his engagement in devotional service. This mode of life is the highest perfectional stage, from which one can be elevated to the spiritual world, back home, back to Godhead. The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are especially attracted by the highest material quality, goodness, and the qualified brāhmaṇa is the symbolic representation of this goodness. Therefore, a devotee is attached to the brahminical stage of life. He is not very much interested in passion or ignorance, although these qualities also emanate from the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the devotees are described as nipuṇa-buddhayaḥ, which means that they are the most intelligent class of men. Uninfluenced by attachment or hatred, the devotee lives very peacefully and is not agitated by the influence of passion and ignorance.

It may be questioned here why a devotee should be attached to the quality of goodness in the material world if he is transcendental to all material qualities. The answer is that there are different kinds of people existing in the modes of material nature. Those in the mode of ignorance are called Rākṣasas, those in the mode of passion are called asuras, and those in the mode of goodness are called suras, or demigods. Under the direction of the Supreme Lord, these three classes of men are created by material nature, but those in the mode of goodness have a greater chance to be elevated to the spiritual world, back home, back to Godhead.