How to overcome envy?

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 9.11.23:


Here in this material world, everyone is envious of someone else. Even in religious life, it is sometimes found that if one devotee has advanced in spiritual activities, other devotees are envious of him. Such envious devotees are not completely freed from the bondage of birth and death. As long as one is not completely free from the cause of birth and death, one cannot enter the sanātana-dhāma or the eternal pastimes of the Lord. One becomes envious because of being influenced by the designations of the body, but the liberated devotee has nothing to do with the body, and therefore he is completely on the transcendental platform. A devotee is never envious of anyone, even his enemy. Because the devotee knows that the Lord is his supreme protector, he thinks, "What harm can the so-called enemy do?" Thus a devotee is confident about his protection. The Lord says, ye yathā māḿ prapadyante tāḿs tathaiva bhajāmy aham: [Bg. 4.11] "According to the proportion of one's surrender unto Me, I respond accordingly." A devotee must therefore be completely free from envy, especially of other devotees. To envy other devotees is a great offense, a vaiṣṇava-aparādha. A devotee who constantly engages in hearing and chanting (śravaṇa-kīrtana) is certainly freed from the disease of envy, and thus he becomes eligible to go back home, back to Godhead.

Qualities of Sita Devi

SB 9.10.55: Mother Sītā was very submissive, faithful, shy and chaste, always understanding the attitude of her husband. Thus by her character and her love and service she completely attracted the mind of the Lord.

Ambarisa Maharaj overlooks offenses by Durvasa Muni and forgives him

Ambarisa Maharaj prays to the Sudarshan Chakra to offer shelter and protection to Durvasa Muni - and because of his prayers the Sudarshan Chakra becomes peaceful and stops burning Durvasa Muni.

On seeing this attitude of Ambarisa Maharaj wherein he protects Durvasa Muni from the Chakra even when Durvasa Muni had created a fiery demon to kill him, Durvasa Muni si amazed and thus able to fathom the greatness of the devotees of the Lord.

He says:


SB 9.5.14: Durvāsā Muni said: My dear King, today I have experienced the greatness of devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for although I have committed an offense, you have prayed for my good fortune.

SB 9.5.15: For those who have achieved the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the pure devotees, what is impossible to do, and what is impossible to give up?

SB 9.5.16: What is impossible for the servants of the Lord? By the very hearing of His holy name one is purified.

SB 9.5.17: O King, overlooking my offenses, you have saved my life. Thus I am very much obliged to you because you are so merciful.

SB 9.5.20: Durvāsā Muni said: I am very pleased with you, my dear King. At first I thought of you as an ordinary human being and accepted your hospitality, but later I could understand, by my own intelligence, that you are the most exalted devotee of the Lord. Therefore, simply by seeing you, touching your feet and talking with you, I have been pleased and have become obliged to you.

Forgiveness is one of the greatest quality of a devotee. Ambarisa Maharaj did not take offense even when Durvasa Muni created a fiery demon to kill him, then do I even have any right to feel offended in anmy situation.
 
If I can see everything as a mercy of the Lord and maintain the mood of service towards the Vaishnavas I would be protected from committing offenses to Vaishnavas and also never feel offended.

Devotees are special - The Lord is purchased by His devotees

In the pastime of Maharaj Ambarisha and Durvasa Muni - Durvasa Muni gets angry on Maharaj ambarisha for taking water to break his fast before offering Durvasa Muni any prasad to eat. He creates fiery demon to mill Ambarish Maharaj. However Ambarish Maharaj being an unalloyed devotee of the Lord does not get distrubed by the demon and the Lord's Sudarshana Chakra kills the fiery demon and then attacks Durvasa Muni.

To protect himself, Durvasa Muni starts running with the Sudarshan Chakra following him. He goes to Lord BRahma and Lord Shiva for protection but they say that they are also completely dependent upon Lord Vishnu and cannot do anything to stop the attack of the Sudarshan Chakra on him and they ask him to go to Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu also says that he cannot help him as nothing in the world is greater to Him than his devotee.In the verses SB 9.4.63-9.4.71 Lord Vishnu speaks very highly of the surrendered devotees and also about His love for them. Since the devotees are so selflessly engaged in loving service to the Lord , the Lord is purchased by them and offers complete protection to them. Since Durvasa Muni acted out of consideration for himself and pride the Lord did not offer him the same level of protection as He offers to Ambarisha Maharaj

1. I am under the control of My devotees SB 9.4.63  the Lord says :"I am completely under the control of My devotees. Indeed, I am not at all independent. Because My devotees are completely devoid of material desires, I sit only within the cores of their hearts. What to speak of My devotee, even those who are devotees of My devotee are very dear to Me." - the Lord indicates to Durvasa Muni that Ambarisha Maharaj is a devotee and one who becomes a devotee of a devotee is also very special to him- the right thing for Durvasa Muni to do would be to honor and respect Ambarish Maharaj. Also Srila Prabhupada says in the purport "** if one very sincerely serves the spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa certainly becomes favorable to such a devotee. Following the instructions of a devotee is more valuable than following the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly." So we must first learn to surrender to devotees if we can do that then we can surrender to the Spiritual Master and then Krishna.
2. I wish to be surrounded by saintly persons always SB 9.4.64 : "O best of the brāhmaṇas, without saintly persons for whom I am the only destination, I do not desire to enjoy My transcendental bliss and My supreme opulences." Krishna is so personal!
3. Since they are selflessly working for My pleasure- I must be with them SB 9.4.65: "Since pure devotees give up their homes, wives, children, relatives, riches and even their lives simply to serve Me, without any desire for material improvement in this life or in the next, how can I give up such devotees at any time?" The Lord gives all protection to the devotees because they are trying to serve Him incessantly.How can the Lord then not give Ambarisa Maharaj protection?
4. I am in control of My devotees SB 9.4.66 : "As chaste women bring their gentle husbands under control by service, the pure devotees, who are equal to everyone and completely attached to Me in the core of the heart, bring Me under their full control."
5. Do not hurt My devotees - it pains Me :SB 9.4.68: "The pure devotee is always within the core of My heart, and I am always in the heart of the pure devotee. My devotees do not know anything else but Me, and I do not know anyone else but them." - Srila Prabhupada says " The Lord's feelings are like those of a father, who feels pain when his child is in pain. Therefore, offenses at the lotus feet of a devotee are serious. Caitanya Mahāprabhu has very strongly recommended that one not commit any offense at the lotus feet of a devotee. "
6. I will forgive you, if you ask for forgiveness from Ambarisa Maharaj SB 9.4.69 : "O brāhmaṇa, let Me now advise you for your own protection. Please hear from Me. By offending Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, you have acted with self-envy. Therefore you should go to him immediately, without a moment's delay. One's so-called prowess, when employed against the devotee, certainly harms he who employs it. Thus it is the subject, not the object, who is harmed." Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport :"harmful activities directed against the devotee gradually become the ultimate cause of the performer's falldown. Even such a great brāhmaṇa and mystic yogī as Durvāsā was in a most dangerous situation because of his offense at the lotus feet of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, a pure devotee"

Devotional service includes Austerity

In the SB 9.4 Maharaj Ambarishes Qualities are described.In SB 9.4.27 it is described how by the performance of devotional service Maharaaj Ambarish thus also practiced severe austerities.

Srila Prabhupada's purport to this verse is very wondeful

SB 9.4.26: The king of this planet, Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, thus performed devotional service to the Lord and in this endeavor practiced severe austerity. Always satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his constitutional activities, he gradually gave up all material desires."

Srila Prabhupada's purport:

"Severe austerities in the practice of devotional service are of many varieties. For example, in worshiping the Deity in the temple there are certainly laborious activities. Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā śṛńgāra-tan-mandira-mārjanādau **. One must decorate the Deity, cleanse the temple, bring water from the Ganges and Yamunā, continue the routine work, perform ārati many times, prepare first-class food for the Deity, prepare dresses and so on. In this way, one must constantly be engaged in various activities, and the hard labor involved is certainly an austerity. Similarly, the hard labor involved in preaching, preparing literature, preaching to atheistic men and distributing literature door to door is of course an austerity (tapo-yuktena). Tapo divyaḿ putrakā. Such austerity is necessary. Yena sattvaḿ śuddhyet. By such austerity in devotional service, one is purified of material existence (kāmān śanair jahau). Indeed, such austerity leads one to the constitutional position of devotional service. In this way one can give up material desires, and as soon as one is freed from material desires, he is free from the repetition of birth and death, old age and disease."

Devotional service is about pleasing Lord Krishna.Performance of devotional service involves austeirities. If on just performs devotional service properly then he would also be performing austerities - activities which are pleasing to Krishna. Thus a devotee engaged nicely in devotional service does not have to separately perform austerities.

The Lord's favor to His devotees

Prahlada Maharaj tells Lord Vamana Dev in SB 8.23.8:

" O my Lord, Your pastimes are all wonderfully performed by Your inconceivable spiritual energy; and by her perverted reflection, the material energy, You have created all the universes. As the Supersoul of all living entities, You are aware of everything, and therefore You are certainly equal toward everyone. Nonetheless, You favor Your devotees. This is not partiality, however, for Your characteristic is just like that of a desire tree, which yields everything according to one's desire."

Srila Prabhupada writes in His purport:

There are two classes of men — the demons and the demigods. The demigods are fully aware of the Supreme Lord's position, and therefore they are obedient to Him, but even if demons know about the supremacy of the Lord they purposely defy His authority. Therefore, the Lord makes distinctions according to the mentality of the living being, but otherwise He is equal to everyone. Like a desire tree, the Lord fulfills the desires of one who takes shelter of Him, but one who does not take such shelter is distinct from the surrendered soul. One who takes shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord is favored by the Lord, regardless of whether such a person is a demon or a demigod.

Principle of happiness: Satisfaction in being Krishna's servant

When Bali Maharaj requests Vamana Dev to ask for anything in charity Vamana Dev asks for only three steps of land. Bali Maharaj requests Vamana Dev to ask from him as much land as will suffice to maintain Him according to His needs.

Vamana Dev beautifully responds to Bali Maharaj saying that :
SB 8.19.21 śrī-bhagavān uvāca

yāvanto viṣayāḥ preṣṭhās tri-lokyām ajitendriyam
na śaknuvanti te sarve pratipūrayituḿ nṛpa

The Personality of Godhead said: O my dear King, even the entirety of whatever there may be within the three worlds to satisfy one's senses cannot satisfy a person whose senses are uncontrolled.

Uncontrolled senses is the reason for one's implication in the uneneding cycle of birth and death. The cycle is uneneding because one is not happy with what one has in this life.Happiness is based power, sense enjoyment, family and friends in the materialistic sense The unstatisfied desires create different bodies for fulfillment. Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport:

"Thus according to Ṛṣabhadeva the human beings in this material world are just like madmen engaged in activities which they should not perform but which they do perform only for sense gratification. Such activities are not good because in this way one creates another body for his next life, as punishment for his nefarious activities. And as soon as he gets another material body, he is put into repeated suffering in material existence. Therefore the Vedic culture or brahminical culture teaches one how to be satisfied with possessing the minimum necessities in life."

Satisfaction as the principle of happiness in Vedic Culture
Reading the last line of the above excerpt reminded me of an entire lecture by HG Bhurijana Prabhu on this very principle. The lecture which is a summary of  SB 7.15 : Instructions for Civilized Human Beings is like a purport to Srila Prabhupada's statement in bold above.

He states that the householders generally have a tendency to expand and therefore the principle of satisfaction was explained in SB 7.15. He says:"In contemporary society everyone looks for happiness naturally but how one looks depends upon the culture one is in.In western materialistic culture people search for happiness - not even in family and friends but in power and sense - enjoyment and even isvaro aham aham bhogi- When one can control with money and power the result of that is sense gratification as well.
Previously family was considered happiness even in a materialistic way, eating luxuriantly, having land was considered security. But now when people buy their land 300 sq mts and their house is on it - this makes them deal with water and earth and other natural things - they would rather deal with supermarkets and other unnatural things. This complete separation from what is natural causes difficulties in the consciousness of every human being. Rather than becoming happy in this standard of civilization - instantaneous sense gratification people become full of anxiety and practically become mad.
The Vedic system has something that is quite incredible as the cause of happiness which is quite unimaginable and unlikely today - that is satisfaction. If one is satisfied with what one has - this is my fate in life, this is God's grace - if one has this simple mentality then whatever one has one is happy.If one doesn't have that mentality one is unhappy and dissatisfied. Satisfaction is the cause of happiness and dissatisfaction is the cause of misery. "

As stated by Narada Muni to Yudhishtira Maharaj in the verse SB 7.15.17

sadā santuṣṭa-manasaḥ sarvāḥ śivamayā diśaḥ
śarkarā-kaṇṭakādibhyo yathopānat-padaḥ śivam

For a person who has suitable shoes on his feet, there is no danger even when he walks on pebbles and thorns. For him, everything is auspicious. Similarly, for one who is always self-satisfied there is no distress; indeed, he feels happiness everywhere.

Why does Vedic Culture value satisfaction as the basis of happiness?
HG Bhurijana Prabhu states in his lecture :"Culture is a medium in which particular entiites grow. What grows in the the vedic culture in each human being is some advancement in spiritual life, understanding the eternal. Vedic culture valued eternal life and although understanding every person in the world was not a great transcendentalist - but how to satisfy those desires within the culture in such way so that eternal life is not neglected rather it is cultivated - slow or fast depending on the individual and their advancement but everyone will move forward.

The wise person does not use his time and energy to be materially ambitious - becuse if consciousness is involved in advancement in the material world there will be no consciousness to advance spiritually.

The externals are not the causes of satisfaction anyway - they lead to disturbance. Real happiness comes from internal state of mind. Thats what Vedic culture cultivates. "

Removing impediments to applying the principle of satisfaction:
 HG Bhurijana Prabhu states: "One may apply the principle of satisfaction and not over endeavor for material things. However being satified with what one has can mean one is very attached to what one has. If those are things of those material world it will cause great difficulty at the time of death."

So what is the key to the successful application of the principle of satisfaction in our lives?
HG Bhurijana Prabhu states "Thus one must be detached and one's satisfaction must come from inside and in one's relationship with Krsna."

• Satisfaction when correctly applied is being satisfied in becoming a servant of Krsna and satisfying Krsna through the service .When the principle of satisfaction is thus positioned one is raised to the spiriutual conception where happiness is boundless in serving Krsna in the true mood of a servant and not for position, fame, prestige of one's great abilities being showcased or used.
• When thus situated one becomes free from anxiety of safeguarding one's position in terms of riches, prestige, position and one's subtle sense gratification through the mind.One is only bothered about being a servant of Krsna and not about becoming a preacher or a congregation leader or being seen as a senior devotee and thus one gradually becomes non-envious. The agenda to perform service thus becomes only spiritual.
• The mindset truly becomes Krsna Consciousness: " I am completely satisfied being a servant of Krsna and doing whatever service that comes my way through the mercy of the devotees. I don't care about being seen as a rich person, as a beautiful person, as a famous person, as a nama hatta leader, as a congregation leader, or being seen as an advanced devotee. Those things do not fall in the scheme of my relationship with Krishna. They are not even a part of the color palette of my relationship with Krsna as his eternal servant"
• Another outcome of such a mindset is that since one feels so complete in the identity of being a servant of Krsna and His devotees that one doesn't try to fill the emptiness in the heart with deriving pleasure from one's job, one's children, one's spouse, etc. One relates with those relationships also through one's relationship with Krsna and develops a mood of service towards them and not one of enjoyment.One doesn't get as affected by any pains and tribulations that come through those relationships as one sees them as a part of Krsna's plan

Depending upon how much of this mood I carry I will be able to understand only so much of the Krsna Consciousness philosophy churned for our benefit by the various acaryas.I pray to Lord Krsna and the acaryas that I can develop such a mood of becoming Krsna's servant and doing services in that mood and not for personal aggrandizement. Real Peace, happiness and freedom from anxiety are present in the mood of becoming Krsna's servant and thus the servant of His devotees.