Topic

Envy

4 verses from the Bhagavad Gita on envy. Explore teachings across 3 chapters.

All Verses

Chapter 3 • Verse 32 →The Yoga of Action
Ye tv etad abhyasuyanto nanutishthanti me matam, sarva-jnana-vimudhams tan viddhi nashtan acetasah

But those who, out of envy, disregard and do not follow these teachings — know them to be deluded in all knowledge, mindless, and lost.

  • •Envy and ego block the reception of wisdom
  • •Rejecting sacred teaching leads to spiritual delusion
  • •Receptivity and humility are essential for growth
delusionrejectionegoobstruction
Chapter 4 • Verse 22 →The Yoga of Knowledge and Renunciation
Yadriccha-labha-santushtho dvandvatito vimatsarah, samah siddhav asiddhau ca kritvapi na nibadhyate

Content with whatever comes of its own accord, free from duality, without envy, equal in success and failure — even while acting, such a person is not bound.

  • •Equanimity toward all outcomes is the hallmark of the liberated
  • •Contentment with what arrives naturally is the highest abundance
  • •Freedom from the pairs of opposites dissolves karmic bondage
equanimitycontentmentdualitynon-bondage
Chapter 16 • Verse 18 →The Yoga of the Divine and Demoniac Natures
Ahankaram balam darpam kamam krodham ca samshritah, mam atma-para-dehashu pradvisanto 'bhyasuyakah

Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust, and anger, the demoniac become envious of the Supreme Lord, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme the true religion. The demoniac's hatred of God is ultimately a hatred of the divine presence within themselves and within all beings.

  • •False ego, strength, pride, lust, and anger are the five pillars of the demoniac character
  • •Envy of the Supreme Lord — present within all beings — is the ultimate demoniac offense
  • •Blaspheming true religion flows from the demoniac's envy and false pride
false egoblasphemydemoniac characteranger
Chapter 16 • Verse 19 →The Yoga of the Divine and Demoniac Natures
Tan aham dvishatah kruran samsareshu naradhaman, kshipamy ajasram ashubhan asurishv eva yonishu

Those who are envious and mischievous — the lowest among mankind — I perpetually cast into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life. Krishna declares that the demoniac who persist in hatred and cruelty are cast by divine law into ever-lower births that match the quality of their consciousness.

  • •Divine justice ensures that the persistently demoniac are born into forms matching their nature
  • •Envy and cruelty are the defining acts that invite the lowest of births
  • •The cycle of rebirth is shaped by the quality and direction of consciousness at death
divine justicerebirthdemoniac birthkarma