Question: Śrīla Prabhupāda says that a devotee determines his advancement according to how free he is from envy, so how can we become free from enviousness?

Author: Devotee
Date: 2023-09-02
Jayapatākā Swami: There is the third verse in Lord Caitanya’s Śīkṣāṣṭakam,
one can apply that verse.
And there it says we have to be humble, tolerant and offer all praise to others
and don’t expect praise for yourself.
If you do this, then naturally you will be free of envy.
Category: [Emotions / Envy]

Related Questions

From this Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi līlā, we have to learn that even a little enviousness towards any Vaiṣṇava is very dangerous. I find it very difficult to overcome enviousness. Please help.
Questioner: Harihara Kṛṣṇa Caitanya dāsa
Date: 2022-09-17
Jayapatākā Swami: Well, we can try to learn from this līlā,
and it is like say in some countries, if you steal, they cut off your hands.
And people are afraid to steal because they will lose their hand.
So, if we understand how serious it is
to be envious against the devotees,
then you will avoid that like anything.
Category: [Aparādha (Offenses) / Vaiṣṇava-aparādha], [Emotions / Envy], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings / Etiquette / Sadācāra]
How can anyone be free from envy and jealousy in the spiritual life?
Questioner: Jisu Sen
Date: 2023-12-11
Jayapatākā Swami: That is the original sin,
why we are here in the material world.
For some reason we envied or were jealous of the Lord.
So that is the one thing we cannot dovetail.
We dovetail anger, you can dovetail greed, you can dovetail everything but not envy, mātsarya.
I can be greedy to get more mercy of Kṛṣṇa,
I can be angry of someone who offends Kṛṣṇa,
everything can be dovetailed,
but envy, no!
So we should give up envy.
But how do we do that?
You do that by Kṛṣṇa consciousness,
by being advanced in kṛṣṇa-bhakti,
you think that if I have any good quality it is due to the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa.
And if someone is doing better, we are inspired that oh, they have achieved success!
I will follow their example and get the mercy also.
Envy means, oh, that one is ahead, let me trip him up!
I will be ahead of him;
he will be in the dust! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hai!
I will be the king of the mountains!
You see that keeps us here in the material world!
It is a hellish mentality.
So, we want people to do better, we want to associate with them, we want their mercy,
we want to follow their good example,
we don’t want to envy them
that oh, they got the mercy.
Let me throw mud on them.
You see in Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa went out with Rādhārāṇī,
they left the rāsa dance.
So the other gopīs they thought, this gopī must have had special bhakti to take the Lord away,
and they were happy that at least one gopī had conquered Kṛṣṇa.
So, we want Kṛṣṇa to be happy.
And if we are envious, Kṛṣṇa will not be happy.
That is the worst thing we could do.
So, if one understands this, they can avoid envy
because it is counter-productive.
Thank you very much.
Category: [Emotions / Envy], [Sādhanā]
How do we avoid feeling envious of other devotees and their service ?
Questioner: Puja
Date: 2022-10-14
Jayapatākā Swami: You see, in the material world, people, they are competing with others in a race,
thinking I will be the first.
But in service to Kṛṣṇa, it is not that we are competing with others.
Rather, Kṛṣṇa is more pleased if they help others.
We shouldn’t be thinking that by somehow by impeding others,
or somehow if someone else excels,
somehow that is detrimental to us - it is not the case.
Everyone has a personal relationship with Kṛṣṇa,
rather the envy of others is a great impediment
- you will never be the number one!
When I said to Śrīla Prabhupāda, I am the most fallen,
he said you are not the most anything!
So that should be our mood.
There will always be some devotee who is better than us,
but we should not envy that person.
Rather we should associate and try to improve our own service.
Category: [Anarthās], [Emotions / Envy], [Sādhanā / Sevā], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings / Etiquette / Sadācāra], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings / Vaiṣṇava-qualities]
How to become non-envious and mature in Kṛṣṇa consciousness?
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2023-10-29
Jayapatākā Swami: Lord Caitanya wrote the Śikṣāṣṭaka.
In the third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭaka He said to be humble like a blade of grass and tolerant like a tree.
To offer all respect to others and not to expect any respect for ourselves.
Basically, to be non-envious.
In other words, if you always follow the instructions of Lord Caitanya, you will become non-envious.
Category: [Emotions / Envy], [Sādhanā]
How to deal with favouritism either in the spiritual or material platform ?
Questioner: Akhilabandhu Gopāla dāsa
Date: 2022-08-05
Jayapataka Swami: I don’t really understand how favoritism can affect.
Apparently if someone gets some favoritism, still Kṛṣṇa will analyze us as per our situation,
and so, that way we don’t have to worry.
But Kṛṣṇa is seeing all you do in His service
and so if someone gets favoritism how that could be good or not good.
It could be good in the sense if someone gets some facility to do devotional service.
It could be bad in the sense that he gets facilities without much effort.
So, that way he is deprived of certain mercy
from Lord Nitāi-Gaura.
So I wouldn’t worry about it.
You just try to please Nitāi-Gaura, please the Deities
and naturally someone may give you facilities.
You can approach the leaders saying you want more service.
Usually, people who approach like that, they get more service.
Śrīla Prabhupāda gave the example that in a nest, the baby bird that chirps the loudest gets the worm.
Category: [Emotions / Envy], [Sādhanā], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings / Cooperation]
I have too many negative thoughts about Vaiṣṇavas and I don’t seem to be making any progress in spiritual life. I feel like I will go crazy if this is how it continues. What should I do?
Questioner: Kinjal Lohia
Date: 2022-08-04
Jayapatākā Swami: Follow the third verse of the Śikṣāṣṭaka -
offer respect to all others
and don’t expect any respect for yourself.
Seems like you are not offering respect to other Vaiṣṇavas.
And this is something that we should do.
And when we neglect that, naturally we have to suffer.
So we should appreciate what other Vaiṣṇavas are doing.
And that is the secret of success.
Category: [Emotions / Envy], [Anarthās], [Emotions / Fault-finding], [Sādhanā]
Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a very blissful process. But some resentment owing to some bad interactions we had with devotees occupy so much of the mind that absorption and focus in Kṛṣṇa consciousness because difficult, and again and again same thoughts come when we see those devotees. How to overcome all this and absorb in service to our guru?
Questioner: Hemāṅga Haladhara dāsa
Date: 2022-08-05
Jayapatākā Swami: This is the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.
Not that you should be focused on bad experiences.
That would distract your Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Some bad behavior we may be committed that we would not like to do such bad behavior with others,
but other than that
we really don’t want to be focused on bad experiences,
other than thinking how to avoid such activities.
We see that Lord Nityānanda, He was merciful.
Even though He was hit on the head with a wine bottle,
He did not feel any anger or jealousy to that person.
He wanted to give mercy to that person.
So like that, everybody in the material world,
has some defect
and we try to avoid committing mistakes
having defects
in our spiritual life.
Category: [Anarthās], [Aparādha (Offenses) / Vaiṣṇava-aparādha], [Emotions / Envy], [Emotions / Sorrow], [Sādhanā / Sevā], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings / Cooperation]
Normally we tend to remain calm, but when provoked, our undesirable qualities manifest and we get implicated in offenses. How to avoid this?
Questioner: Tattvavit Nimāi das
Date: 2022-10-12
Jayapatākā Swami: A devotee can stay very calm in an undisturbed situation.
Kaṁsa was very calm and serene, driving the chariot of his sister on her wedding.
Then this voice came from the sky, your sister’s eight son will kill you.
Immediately he became disturbed, he grabbed his sister by the hair and wanted to kill her.
So, we should not be like Kaṁsa.
There will be some disturbing situations.
These are tests.
If we are like Kaṁsa, we will get disturbed.
If we are devotees, we control ourselves, like Vasudeva.
He tried to convince Kaṁsa, that it is not good to kill your sister on her wedding day.
It is said, you should take decisions when you have a cool head.
So that was a very disturbing situation, his wife is being killed!
But he tried to pacify Kaṁsa.
So like that we should try to control ourselves, if we are agitated.
Everything is calm, no trouble to be calm.
The test is when things get disturbed.
At that time if we can control our emotions and think very deeply,
and do things that are most pleasing to guru and Kṛṣṇa.
And pass the test.
Haribol!
Category: [Anarthās], [Aparādha (Offenses) / Vaiṣṇava-aparādha], [Emotions / Anger], [Emotions / Envy], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings], [Vaiṣṇava Dealings / Etiquette / Sadācāra]
Please guide us how to check our own envy and how to deal with envious people?
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2024-03-15
Jayapatākā Swami: You see, all the devotees of the Lord
are very dear to Kṛṣṇa
and even the wife she is very dear to Kṛṣṇa.
So if someone maltreats the wife
or feels envious against another devotee,
Kṛṣṇa will get pain by that.
So we don’t want to give Kṛṣṇa pain, we want to give Him pleasure.
So we should avoid envying anyone.
So you can say that is the only vice that cannot be dovetailed in Kṛṣṇa conscious.
We can dovetail greed,
we can be greedy to make more devotees for Kṛṣṇa! Ha!
We can be angry,
angry against those who offend guru and Kṛṣṇa.
Every vice can be somehow dovetailed, except envy.
So envy is such an evil and detrimental thing.
We should see the good qualities of others,
like Caitanya Mahāprabhu says in the third verse of His Śikṣāṣṭakaṁ,
amānīna mānadena,
offer all respect to others,
don’t expect any respect for yourself.
Category: [Aparādha (Offenses)], [Aparādha (Offenses) / Vaiṣṇava-aparādha], [Emotions / Envy]
To become a devotee means to have gone through all purification process such as knowledge of all the Vedas and such. But have to becoming a devotee means still one has a same suffering and problems as non-devotee. Even after taking of devotional service one still has the propensity to be envious and causing anxiety to others. There is nothing wrong in the process of devotional life why does devotees come under māyā’s attack?m
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2023-06-10
How to develop favourable devotional attitude?
we should accept everything for devotional service and give up everything which is unfavourable.
If we really understand what is our self interest?
What is helping us?
And we understand serving Kṛṣṇa and serving his devotees are our own self interest and then we know what is the favourable for that we accept the favourable things and we avoid the unfavourable automatically we can.
Start to get lined up.
Now what is very important is to develop that is by associating with the devotees already have their attitude.
Not that every devotees is equally developed in his favourable attitude such those who are especially ball pointless those who are in bitter mood they may be advancing but in a slow track.
Those who are seeing good qualities in others enthusiastic cheerful and they don’t hold any grudges on anyone they are in mode of fast track.
So we look for devotees that we can relate with a better situation we are and associating with them and in this way we can progress by the good association and this leads to the next question which is sādhu-saṅga which is one of most if not the most important limbs of devotional principles is offensive be six certain devotee association to avoid others,
So we select the associating just associating of any devotees so we can read the questions super souls.
Lord Caitanya said that there are three kinds of devotees those who are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa but they are not following the principles we can help them otherwise we don’t associate with them very intimately but those who are initiated and following very strictly we can accept them in a very we can respect them and offer respect to them and associate with them.
And those who are very advanced who are fully fixed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness who are in the level of guru we can take shelter from them.
Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura said that we can seek out association with the likely minded devotees.
Of course hopefully the like minded should be a good mind but its all right we may be more intimate with some than the others.
Question:
But have to becoming a devotee means still one has a same suffering and problems as non-devotee.
Even after taking of devotional service one still has the propensity to be envious and causing anxiety to others.
There is nothing wrong in the process of devotional life why does devotees come under māyā’s attack?
Answer:
There are so many process of purification.
You come to bhakti means this is the supreme process there is no other process after this.
And there is no need of doing any lower processes but still we have to learn how to do bhakti-yoga to do properly.
As we do bhakti-yoga we will find many dirt will come in our hearts.
It’s a cleaning process,
if we clean the house dust comes out.
We have to be very careful to move the dirt.
We have to be learned to be tolerant.
We have to learn to be humble.
These are part of the devotional process.
Now side by side by chanting and performing the activities we have to also do cleaning.
We have to be always analyzing and seeing wherever we have defects and systematically try to move that.
Then in this material world time is immemorial.
Millions of millions of birth even after few days,
months,
weeks or years of devotional service its not likely some of the contaminations are still there in our hearts.
But if we absorb ourselves fully in devotional service and we take the shelter of the spiritual master properly then we can burn out these accumulated contaminations very quickly.
So the reason why the process of devotional service is to get different attacks the contamination is there as I mentioned in the class we are getting devotional service very easy from Lord Caitanya we are making mmediately they are close on us.
They will take away the curve.
We have to make a proper we have to be patient we are not fully qualified for devotional service we are getting it on a special concession like the government sometimes give the poor people the low cost housing.
They don’t get afford to get a house but they can buy it by low credit just to get the people out of the slums.
So Lord Caitanya want us to get out from this horrible material world.
He is giving us a special credit plan.
Because we are not fully qualified we have to work it becoming qualified.
You are coming to this process very quickly.
But if we stick to it within a short period of time we can get rid out of this bad qualities and we become properly situated.
So we need the patience and determination and the conviction.
We need the associate properly with devotees.
We need to avoid the different kind of negative activities and we have to be very open hearted and straight forward.
These are the six things that Rūpa Gosvāmi recommends us and help us
 
to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
So in one sentence nothing wrong.
And people surely benefit something by hearing them.
But usually for the initiated devotees prefer to hear singing by someone more spiritually developed.
These are especially songs sung by attracting the new people by music aspect but not spiritual aspect.
In public programs we use these more but for personal purification it is recommended to hear Prabhupāda and some other pure devotee chanting.
But its nothing wrong but that is the guideline.
In Kali-yuga for different this is very funny the four varṇāśramas.
So four āśramas we don’t.
I understand its meaning.
Question is addressing the āśramas.
It’s a mistake to go through the varṇas.
So the āśramas it depends also so some people just go through marriage the only āśrama they have to go through.
For spiritual life someone joins the movement he is a gṛhastha we don’t say he has to go to brahmacārī.
But later on the gṛhasthas are good to taken vānaprastha husband and wife together.
It is not essential that people must take sannyāsa.
If they are initiated wife and husband prepare themselves for this also.
This all voluntarily.
One doesn’t have to go through different āśramas but its something that one has to consult with one’s own guru.
What is best for each individual?
To which āśrama that one should go through?
Some brahmacārīs go straight to sannyāsa and some brahmacārīs to gṛhastha and vānaprastha.
So this all different scenarios.
Category: [Anarthās], [Anarthās / Māyā], [Emotions / Envy], [Sādhanā / Philosophical questions]
What we should do when envious people blaspheme or complain or tell us to stop singing the holy names on the streets?
Questioner: Rukmiṇī Rāmana dāsa
Date: 2023-12-11
Jayapatākā Swami: Someone asked Prabhupāda once what to do when people cover their ears when they walked by the kīrtana,
Prabhupāda said, “Pull their hands away for hearing!!” Ha!
Of course, that may be not legal,
but the point is that we want people to hear.
Unless there is some law about chanting,
we shouldn’t have to listen to anybody.
We go on chanting!
If there is some law that is not permitted or something,
you need to get the permit.
Category: [Emotions / Envy], [Sādhanā / Preaching]
You said that if you do these things one naturally will be free from envy. How is it possible to inculcate so much love for guru and Gaurāṅga that we don’t even feel the need to feel offended, we are completely focused, or to feel envy? It is all powered by the love, as you show us every day for Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Lord Kṛṣṇa or Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Questioner: Devotee
Date: 2023-09-02
Jayapatākā Swami: Yes!
Śrīla Prabhupāda he was showing this aspect.
And although he was hoping to get some help
to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the West,
he did not receive any from his godbrothers.
So he humbly tried to proceed
and in this way Kṛṣṇa helped him.
If we think that we can do it, we are the doer then we will face a lot of problems.
But if we depend on the mercy of guru and Kṛṣṇa then we could do amazing things.
Category: [Emotions / Envy]
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