Not so much (Books)

Expressions researched:
"not so much"

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 7.20, Purport:

Those who are freed from all material contaminations surrender unto the Supreme Lord and engage in His devotional service. As long as the material contamination is not completely washed off, they are by nature nondevotees. But even those who have material desires and who resort to the Supreme Lord are not so much attracted by external nature; because of approaching the right goal, they soon become free from all material lust. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is recommended that whether one is a pure devotee and is free from all material desires, or is full of material desires, or desires liberation from material contamination, he should in all cases surrender to Vāsudeva and worship Him. As stated in the Bhāgavatam (2.3.10):

akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā

mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ

tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena

yajeta puruṣaṁ param

Less intelligent people who have lost their spiritual sense take shelter of demigods for immediate fulfillment of material desires. Generally, such people do not go to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because they are in the lower modes of nature (ignorance and passion) and therefore worship various demigods. Following the rules and regulations of worship, they are satisfied. The worshipers of demigods are motivated by small desires and do not know how to reach the supreme goal, but a devotee of the Supreme Lord is not misguided.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 14.6, Purport:

The living entities conditioned by material nature are of various types. One is happy, another is very active, and another is helpless. All these types of psychological manifestations are causes of the entities' conditioned status in nature. How they are differently conditioned is explained in this section of Bhagavad-gītā. The mode of goodness is first considered. The effect of developing the mode of goodness in the material world is that one becomes wiser than those otherwise conditioned. A man in the mode of goodness is not so much affected by material miseries, and he has a sense of advancement in material knowledge. The representative type is the brāhmaṇa, who is supposed to be situated in the mode of goodness. This sense of happiness is due to understanding that, in the mode of goodness, one is more or less free from sinful reactions. Actually, in the Vedic literature it is said that the mode of goodness means greater knowledge and a greater sense of happiness.

The difficulty here is that when a living entity is situated in the mode of goodness he becomes conditioned to feel that he is advanced in knowledge and is better than others. In this way he becomes conditioned. The best examples are the scientist and the philosopher. Each is very proud of his knowledge, and because they generally improve their living conditions, they feel a sort of material happiness. This sense of advanced happiness in conditioned life makes them bound by the mode of goodness of material nature. As such, they are attracted toward working in the mode of goodness, and, as long as they have an attraction for working in that way, they have to take some type of body in the modes of nature. Thus there is no likelihood of liberation, or of being transferred to the spiritual world. Repeatedly one may become a philosopher, a scientist or a poet, and repeatedly become entangled in the same disadvantages of birth and death. But, due to the illusion of the material energy, one thinks that that sort of life is pleasant.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.1.10, Purport:

The devotees of the Lord are always anxious for the spiritual improvement of the general public. When the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya analyzed the state of affairs of the people in this age of Kali, they foresaw that men would live short lives. In Kali-yuga, the duration of life is shortened not so much because of insufficient food but because of irregular habits. By keeping regular habits and eating simple food, any man can maintain his health. Overeating, over-sense gratification, overdependence on another's mercy, and artificial standards of living sap the very vitality of human energy. Therefore the duration of life is shortened.

The people of this age are also very lazy, not only materially but in the matter of self-realization. The human life is especially meant for self-realization. That is to say, man should come to know what he is, what the world is, and what the supreme truth is. Human life is a means by which the living entity can end all the miseries of the hard struggle for life in material existence and by which he can return to Godhead, his eternal home. But, due to a bad system of education, men have no desire for self-realization. Even if they come to know about it, they unfortunately become victims of misguided teachers.

SB 1.4.17-18, Purport:

The unmanifested forces of time are so powerful that they decay all matter in due course. In Kali-yuga, the last millennium of a round of four millenniums, the power of all material objects deteriorates by the influence of time. In this age the duration of the material body of the people in general is much reduced, and so is the memory. The action of matter has also not so much incentive. The land does not produce food grains in the same proportions as it did in other ages. The cow does not give as much milk as it used to give formerly. The production of vegetables and fruits is less than before. As such, all living beings, both men and animals, do not have sumptuous, nourishing food. Due to want of so many necessities of life, naturally the duration of life is reduced, the memory is short, intelligence is meager, mutual dealings are full of hypocrisy and so on.

Being a liberated soul, the great sage Vyāsadeva could see this by his transcendental vision. As an astrologer can see the future fate of a man, or an astronomer can foretell the solar and lunar eclipses, liberated souls can foretell the future of all mankind by seeing through the scriptures. They can see this due to their sharp vision of spiritual attainment.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.6.22, Purport:

The supreme truth has been ascertained in the previous verse as puruṣa or the puruṣottama, the Supreme person. The Absolute person is the īśvara, or the supreme controller, by His different energies. The ekapād-vibhūti manifestation of the material energy of the Lord is just like one of the many mistresses of the Lord, by whom the Lord is not so much attracted, as indicated in the language of the Gītā (bhinnā prakṛtiḥ). But the region of the tripād-vibhūti, being a pure spiritual manifestation of the energy of the Lord, is, so to speak, more attractive to Him. The Lord, therefore, generates the material manifestations by impregnating the material energy, and then, within the manifestation, He expands Himself as the gigantic form of the viśva-rūpa. The viśva-rūpa, as it was shown to Arjuna, is not the original form of the Lord. The original form of the Lord is the transcendental form of Puruṣottama, or Kṛṣṇa Himself. It is very nicely explained herein that He expands Himself just like the sun. The sun expands itself by its terrible heat and rays, yet the sun is always aloof from such rays and heat. The impersonalist takes into consideration the rays of the Lord without any information of the tangible, transcendental, eternal form of the Lord, known as Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, in His supreme personal form, with two hands and flute, is bewildering for the impersonalists who can accommodate only the gigantic viśva-rūpa of the Lord. They should know that the rays of the sun are secondary to the sun, and similarly the impersonal gigantic form of the Lord is also secondary to the personal form as Puruṣottama. The Brahma-saṁhitā (5.37) confirms this statement as follows:

SB Canto 3

SB 3.5.10, Purport:

Because people are very much interested in hearing social and historical presentations, Śrīla Vyāsadeva has compiled many books such as the Purāṇas and Mahābhārata. These books are reading matter for the mass of people, and they were compiled with a view to reviving their God consciousness, now forgotten in the conditional life of material existence. The real purpose of such literatures is not so much to present topics of historical references, but to revive the people's sense of God consciousness. For example, Mahābhārata is the history of the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and common people read it because it is full of topics regarding the social, political and economic problems of human society. But factually the most important part of Mahābhārata is Bhagavad-gītā, which is automatically taught to readers along with the historical narrations of the Battle of Kurukṣetra.

Vidura explained to Maitreya his position of being fully satiated with the knowledge of mundane social and political topics and having no more interest in them. He was anxious to hear transcendental topics regarding Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Because there were insufficient topics directly concerning Kṛṣṇa in the Purāṇas, Mahābhārata, etc., he was not satisfied and wanted to know more about Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-kathā, or topics regarding Kṛṣṇa, are transcendental, and there is no satiation in hearing such topics. Bhagavad-gītā is important on account of its being kṛṣṇa-kathā, or speeches delivered by Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 30:

When Lord Caitanya heard Rāmānanda Rāya speak of the loving affairs between Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī, He said, "Please go further. Go on and on." The Lord also said that He was enjoying with great relish the descriptions of the loving affairs between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. "It is as if a river of nectar is flowing from your lips," He said. Rāmānanda Rāya continued by saying that when Kṛṣṇa danced among the gopīs He thought, "I am not giving any special attention to Rādhārāṇī." Because among the other gopīs Rādhārāṇī was not so much an object of special love, Kṛṣṇa stole Her away from the arena of the rāsa dance and showed Her special favor.

After explaining this to Lord Caitanya, Rāmānanda Rāya said, "Now let us relish the transcendental loving affairs between Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā. These have no comparison in this material world." Thus Rāmānanda Rāya continued by saying that during the rāsa dance Rādhārāṇī suddenly left the arena, as if She were angry that no special favor was being shown Her. Kṛṣṇa was desirous of seeing Rādhārāṇī in order to fulfill the purpose of the rāsa dance, but not seeing Rādhārāṇī there, He became very sorrowful and went to search Her out. In the Gīta-govinda there is a nice verse which states that Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Kaṁsa, wanted to be entangled in loving affairs with women and thus simply took Rādhārāṇīinto His heart and left the company of the other damsels of Vraja. The next verse describes how Kṛṣṇa was very much afflicted by Rādhārāṇī’s absence and, being thus distressed in mind, began to search Her out along the banks of the Yamunā. Failing to find Her, He entered the bushes of Vṛndāvana and began to lament. Rāmānanda Rāya pointed out that one who discusses the purport of these two special verses of the Gīta-govinda (3.1–2) can relish the highest nectar of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa's loving affairs.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 10:

There they drank much and engaged in hearing the sweet singing of the beautiful women who accompanied them in that garden of fragrant flowers. In an intoxicated condition, the two demigods entered the water of the Ganges, which was filled with lotus flowers, and there they began to enjoy the company of the young girls exactly as a male elephant enjoys female elephants within the water.

While they were thus enjoying themselves in the water, all of a sudden Nārada, the great sage, happened to pass that way. He could understand that the demigods Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva were too much intoxicated and could not even see that he was passing. The young girls, however, were not so much intoxicated as the demigods, and they at once became ashamed at being naked before the great sage Nārada. They began to cover themselves with all haste. The two demigod sons of Kuvera were so much intoxicated that they could not appreciate the presence of the sage Nārada and therefore did not cover their bodies. On seeing the two demigods so degraded by intoxication, Nārada desired their welfare, and therefore he exhibited his causeless mercy upon them by cursing them.

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead Introduction:

Thus intelligent persons or leaders of men should not devote their energies only for worldly betterment in the matter of eating, sleeping, defending, and gratifying the material senses. Leaders who think a hungry man or woman has no use for God and religion should be told emphatically that no man or woman in the world is not hungry—and that it is precisely the hungry man or woman who has to understand the meaning of God and religion now, more than ever.

In this connection, we would like to quote the substance of a speech delivered by Śrī Radhakrishnan (former president of India) at a recent meeting of UNESCO in Paris. He said that when a nation proudly turns away from God and concentrates on worldly success and prosperity, it meets its doom. What is essential today is not so much the rehabilitation of schools and libraries or shops and factories but the rehabilitation of man; we must re-create man if we are to create a new world community.

It is therefore more necessary than ever to realize the all-important relationship of man with God if we want at all to rehabilitate the human race, which is already shattered more than ever.