Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Matajis,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva.
Of all the types of anarthas we possess, envy upon other living entities and the Supreme Being is the most dangerous because it is the only anartha which cannot be engaged in Lord's service and it is the root cause of our separation from the Supreme Being. One worst dimension of this anartha is that a person possessing envy rarely accepts the fact that he is envious.So the chances of correcting himself becomes very rare. Due to this envious propensity, we lament when others get opulences and become happy when they lose their opulences. In Mahabharata, Duryodhana was the symbol of envy towards Pandavas(devotees). He was always morose at the success of the Pandavas. By political manipulation, he divided the kingdom into two halves and gave a forest which is good for nothing to Pandavas . However they made a beautiful palace there with the help of the Devatas and they performed a great yajna where all kings of the world were invited including Duryodhana. When Duryodhana was walking through the palace, his whole body was agitated by seeing the opulence of the palace and he uttered the following words.
shriyam tathaa vidhaam drishtva jvalantim iva paandave
amarsha vashamaapanno dahye ahamathochitah
vahnimeva pravekshyaami bhakshayishyaami vaa vishamh
apo vaapi pravekshyaami na hi shakyaami jivitumh
Having seen the wealth and goods of the Pandavas, I burn, as it were; coming under the influence of the burning sadness, I think this is fair. I will immolate myself in fire, or else I will consume poison; or else I will drown in water, for I indeed see no purpose in living.
We see in the above words of Duryodhana that he feels he is correct in his envy towards the Pandavas and felt very insecure and found no purpose in living. People like me exactly possess the same mentality and the result is we lose sight of the opulences we are having. Actually Duryodhana was having better opulence than the Pandavas and more military power due to the presence of great generals like Bhishma, Drona, Karna and Vidura. However he forgot all these things and was agitated by the opulence of the Pandavas. He wanted them to lose all those opulences and suffer and hence he invited them for the game of dice. Maharaj beautifully says, "When we're envious of somebody we want that person to suffer different kinds of tension though we don't gain anything by that person's suffering".
In spiritual life also, when some people advance very fast and they also get lot of material opulences, we start feeling insecure due to our envy for them and start doubting the Lord's mercy and sometimes feel no purpose in continuing spiritual life. In a subtle way, we want them to face lot of obstacles in material and spiritual life and when it happens we feel very happy. However the reality is the Lord is unlimited and he can nourish the spiritual lives of any number of living entities provided they are sincere. So on our part, it is just required to become sincere in our spiritual endeavours without looking at other's plates and the Lord is there to take us to His lotus feet without fail.
As Maharaj always says, "Krishna Consciousness is not competition. It is all about how nicely we serve Krishna to the best of our ability and remain satisfied in His service".
I humbly pray the lotus feet of Maharaj, Srila Prabhupada and all the devotees so that I'll become sincere in my spiritual endeavors and stop envying the opulences of others and stop praying for their downfall.
Thank you very much.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Narahari Krishna das
Chennai.
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