Bhagavad-Gita: Chapter 2: Contents of Gita Summarized: Verse 14

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ’nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

Synonyms

mātrā–sparśāḥ — sensory perception; tu — only; kaunteya — O son of Kuntī; śīta — winter; uṣṇa — summer; sukha — happiness; duḥkha — and pain; dāḥ — giving; āgama — appearing; apāyinaḥ — disappearing; anityāḥ — nonpermanent; tān — all of them; titikṣasva — just try to tolerate; bhārata — O descendant of the Bharata dynasty.

Translation

O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.

In this verse Krishna talks about “Tolerance. Krishna is telling Arjuna  learn to  tolerate the ups and downs of life. The ups and downs in life will come and go like how seasons come and go. One has to learn to tolerate. So, tolerance is important quality and is more relevant to all of us. Without having the quality of tolerance, we cannot achieve anything worthwhile in life especially in Krishna consciousness.

So, why does Krishna  talk about tolerance in the beginning of the chapter of Bhagavad Gita. Krishna is making clear to Arjuna right in the beginning itself that he is the Supreme personality of God head. I have the powers but Arjuna you are my friend and a devotee. Do not expect me to change the nature of this world. All I can do I can give you the tools, techniques, process by which you can effectively manage the ups and downs of life or different situations of life effectively. And by following my instruction guaranteed you will be happy in this life and in next life also.

Generally, we have a conception that when we become a devotee, Krishna is going to take away all our sufferings  and everything in our life so that we can be happy. That is not going to happen, we have to deal with it. But God definitely comes ,  he assists us by sending  his people as his representative  to help and guide  us. Krishna  clearly  says  multiple times in Bhagavad Gita that this material world  is a place of struggle by using different phrases. Example  duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam(BG 8:15), anityam asukhaṁ lokam (Bg 9:33).Material world is not  “nityam” or permanent. Everything  here is  temporary only. There is  “asukham” means no sukham. This world is not rosy as we think. This does not mean that we should develop a pessimistic attitude towards life. We should become intelligently realistic. Krishna clears all the misconceptions in Bhagavad Gita  and make us clearly understand the reality of this world. There will be suffering, there will be happiness that will come and go, but we need to learn to tolerate and focus on our goals so that smaller things do not disturb us to achieve bigger goals in our  life. If you don’t have the quality of tolerance it will be difficult to deal with situations effectively .  We cannot do the service if we do not have this tolerance. All the services we do in temple we have to work with different people, with different personalities, in different situations and will face different issues. If you don’t have tolerance you will give up everything,  so it is very important for devotees to have tolerance. This is the reason why Krishna is teaching  Arjuna  right in the beginning itself the need to have the quality of tolerance.

It is said in SB 1.18.48

tiraskṛtā vipralabdhāḥśaptāḥ kṣiptā hatā apināsya tat pratikurvantitad-bhaktāḥ prabhavo ’pi hi

Synonyms

 Tiraskritah—being defamed, Vipralabdhah—being cheated, Saptah—being cursed, Kshiptah—disturbed by negligence, Hata—or even being killed, neglected, Api—also, Na—never, Asya—for all these acts, Tat—them, Pratikurvanti—counter act, Tad—the Lord’s, Bhakta—devotees, Prabhavo—powerful, Api—although, Hi—certainly. 

TRANSLATION

The devotees of the Lord are so much forbearing that even they are defamed, cheated, cursed, disturbed by negligence or even they are killed they are never inclined to counter act such reverses. 

So, this shows that devotees of the Lord are so forbearing that even though they are defamed, cursed, disturbed, neglected they never inclined to avenge themselves or  never take revenge but tolerate. Because devotes sees Krishna in  everything and think that everything happens for our purification. If tough situations happen in life instead of blaming other person, we will look in to ourself and see Krishna is creating this situation for me so that  I can get purified in that way we tolerate it. Krishna says if my devotees tolerate the disrespect, the curse, disturbances they see me in everything. Krishna  reassures in BG:6.30

yo mam pasyati sarvatra
sarvam ca mayi pasyati
tasyaham na pranasyami
sa ca me na pranasyati

Translation:

For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.

Sometimes in our life  unreasonably people blame you, criticize you but  whatever they do we have to tolerate it and look in to ourself an see what mistakes we are making and correct ourself and focus on Krishna and everything will be taken care off. If Krishna is present there is no reason to be disturbed in our life.

Srila Prabhupada  says tolerance has to be practiced with forgiveness. You cannot have the quality of forgiveness unless you have the quality of tolerance. You cannot tolerate unless you have humility. If you have no humility you cannot tolerate people’s issue  even if it causes you a small discomfort. So, the important thing is we need to be humble, be tolerant then we can forgive.  If you don’t have the quality of forgiveness and tolerance there is no question of relationship. It is important for devotees. We are personalist ,we need to have association with devotees, if you don’t  have relationship with devotees there is no advancement in Krishna consciousness. You cannot have relationship with Krishna if you don’t have association with devotees.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said in Sri Shikshashtakam, verse 3

tṛṇād api sunīcena

taror api sahiṣṇunā

amāninā mānadena

kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

Translation

“One can chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking himself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than the tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and ready to offer all respects to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.” (Śikṣāṣṭaka 3)

Here Humility is the first one. Thinking  I am lower than everybody. I do have faults. Before finding fault in others, let me look in to myself. Humility is important to become tolerant. Then you can give respect to others, forgive others etc. If you don’t have this attitude it is very difficult to practice Bhakti. We won’t be able to chant properly. Only on the platform of Bhakti we can tolerate. If you are not fixed in Bhakti you will find dualities in life. Duality means we see things as good or bad based on our mind. Scripturally good or bad we don’t care. The only way to transcend such mental condition is to think Krishna is present everywhere and everything is happening for a reason and it is by Krishna’s  sanction only. If we think like that, we can tolerate any condition of our life, deal with any issues, any situations of life. That unflinching faith has to be in  the Supreme Personality of God Head. The goal of the Sadhakas is to please the Supreme Lord and the Guru parampara by our thought, words and actions.

Srimad Bhagavatam says the most illuminating quality of a devotee is forgiveness. Lord Hari is pleased with those who are  forgiving. These instructions are in the scriptures for our own benefit for cultivation for bhakti. Tolerance gives us the maturity to calmly decide which battles to fight and which to pass. Most of the time we are impulsive or reflexive. Whatever mind says we go and do it. We don’t care about how it is affecting others. By tolerating the situation, we get a breathing space, time to think and act. It helps us so that the small things won’t come in the way of big things in our life.

In Srimad Bhagvatam 9.15.40 it is said that 

kṣamayā rocate lakṣmīrbrāhmī saurī yathā prabhākṣamiṇām āśu bhagavāṁstuṣyate harir īśvaraḥ

Translation:

 The duty of a brāhmaṇa is to culture the quality of forgiveness, which is illuminating like the sun. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is pleased with those who are forgiving.

According to scriptures there are 4 types of tolerance one has to cultivate in this world if one want to progress in spiritual life and in material life. These are

1.Vega sahisnuta : 

2. Dvandha sahisnuta

3. Paramatha sahisnuta

4. Paroth- karsha sahis-nuta

1)Vega sahisnuta:Tolerating the urges: There are 3 urges  that every human suffers. Kama, Krodha, Lobha

Kama means lust,  ungodly desires to satisfy senses. And if these desires are not satisfied it turns to Anger.

In BG: 2. 62 Krishna says

dhyāyato viṣayān puṁsaḥ
saṅgas teṣūpajāyate
saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ
kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate

Translation: 

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.

 If we are self-honest and introspect  then we can find there is lust within our heart  which is unfulfilled. When lust is satisfied, we need more of it then it called as Lobha or greed. Every saint man and women should give up because it will lead to the degradation of the soul,  our consciousness, the  quality of life. Everything goes down because of these urges. These urges have more powerful  influence and not easy to  overcome and we experience great suffering due to their influence and attacks in our life. We have to tolerate it and  that is called as Vega Sahisnuta. Lusty desires do not mean it is  only for opposite sex but it is for material objects too like position, power,  prestige, attention etc. The protection to tolerate these urges can come by practicing Bhakti so Krishna consciousness is not optional but necessity.

In BG:3: 39 Krishna says 

āvṛitaṁ jñānam etena jñānino nitya-vairiṇā
kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣhpūreṇānalena ca

Translation: 

Thus, the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.

So, Lust is like a blazing fire. It turns all good qualities in ashes. The more we satisfy lust the more it grows. Classic example is Ravana, who is symbol of lust. Ravana’s chamber was  full of beautifully women. He used to capture women wherever he goes. Yet  his lusty desire was not satisfied. 

Another example is demoness Shurpanakha. She wanted to enjoy Lord Ram She had a boom from Lord Brahma that she can change in to a beautiful woman. And when she approached Lord Ram with the intension of marrying him Lord Ram said that he is already married. He had taken a vow of Ekapatni Vrat, meaning he will be married to only one wife and told her he is committed to his vow and so he cannot fulfill her desire and asked her to approach his brother Lakshman.  Then she went to Lakshman who is a servant of Lord Ram. Lakshman also rejected her proposal telling his duty is to serve his Master Ram. So Shurpanakha thought that the  big hindrance on the way to fulfill her  lusty desire is Mother Sita and  want to get rid of her. So, she approached Mother Sita so Lord Ram stopped her and asked Lakshmana to cut her nose. Shurpanakha got disfigured she was very angry then she goes to her elder brother Ravana. She was so malicious, she provoked Ravana by describing Mother Sita’s beauty explicitly and provocatively. Ravana lost all his  senses and wanted to have Mother Sita. Shurpanakha had her own scores to settle so she used Ravana as a pawn by infuriating  him. In our life also we encounter Shurpanakha aspects or factors or phenomena or concepts in some situations or people that will provoke or invoke the ugliness or bad qualities and make us  act like Ravana. So, we have to be very careful with these kinds of people. 

Example of Concepts here is in Advertising industry shows women in a very provocative manner to sell the product. Another example is  Pornography industry 95 percent of the teens regardless of gender watch pornography. So that is a Shurpanakha factor. In the example of Ravana even though he had many queens still he wanted to have Mother Sita and at last he himself got destroyed. So, the lust is a bad enemy.

In BG: 3.37 Krishna says,

kāma eṣha krodha eṣha rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ
mahāśhano mahā-pāpmā viddhyenam iha vairiṇam

Translation: 

The Supreme Lord said: It is lust alone, which is born of contact with the mode of passion, and later transformed into anger. Know this as the sinful, all-devouring enemy in the world. 

So, Lust is worst enemy. We have to tolerate the urges of lust by practice of Krishna consciousness. When lust is not satisfied it comes out as anger. Anger is the younger brother of lust hence it is called “kamanuch”. They both go together. When a person is angry, disrespectful  then they have lust in their hurt. If they are lusty anger is also there. Anger is the second urge which we need to overcome

Now Arjuna is asking how long  we have to tolerate these urges. Krishna says in BG: 5.23  until we leave this body, we have to tolerate these urges.

śhaknotīhaiva yaḥ soḍhuṁ prāk śharīra-vimokṣhaṇāt
kāma-krodhodbhavaṁ vegaṁ sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ

Translation:

Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world.

Initially it  will be very difficult but with practice, under the guidance of senior devotees it can be overcome. If it was too much difficulty Krishna would not have told us but it is doable.  If we control the urges, we will be happy in this life this is called as sa yuktaḥ sa sukhī naraḥ. So, we have to control the anger.

3^rd one is called greed or Lobha. Srimad Bhagavatam says it is most powerful. For example)  You are fasting on Ekadashi  by doing Nirjala (without food or water). On Dwadasi day you wake up in the bed.  You do your  morning chores and the first thing you want to do for  breaking the fast is drink some water. At that time,  you don’t care for money. With this we can understand that we  can control the lust by our sense control. Lust can be also controlled depending on situation. When you are angry with someone you shout at them, yell at them and after chastising them you feel sad, apologize to them then anger subsides. Anger can be controlled. But Greed never comes down in any condition it will increase only. Even though you know the principles of Krishna consciousness, principles of Bhakti , even if you practice spirituality for many years even then you will be growing greed in your heart. There is no way you control. Desire for wealth, attention, opulence’s, respect make people go mad or crazy in this world causing bewilderment.

In BG: 2.44 Krishna says

bhogaiśvarya-prasaktānāṁ
tayāpahṛta-cetasām
vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ
samādhau na vidhīyate

Translation

In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.

Whatever we need to live comfortably in this life is a need not greed. Overdoing for selfish need is called greed. Srila Prabupada gives a beautiful analogy.  If a bag of rice is kept on the road. The birds will come and collect what they need and go but when human when they see a bag of rice, they grab everything and go home. It is not that they don’t  have food to eat tomorrow, but still take the entire bag. If they really do not have rice to eat for tomorrow and taking that bag of rice in this case it is totally justifiable. But if that is not the case then we have the grabbing mentality. Humans have the grabbing mentality to grab as much as possible be it  money, food,  prestige etc.

Scriptures make it clear that  we have the tendency to accumulate more and more independent of consideration for saving for future because of greed for possessing more and more. Greed creates an illusion that what we do not have is what we need to become happy in life. This is a mental condition or disease. No matter how much we get if we have greed it forcibly fix our attention to all that we do not have. We forget to be  grateful for what  all we have and focus our attention on what we do not have. That is why it is said  greed makes the wealthy to be wealthier , the wealthier to be wealthiest and  wealthiest to be wealthiest  in all of history and in all of creation.  We can see the influence of greed in such that they don’t mind to kill people for greed. Classic example is Duryodhana. His greed for attaining kingdom from Pandavas  who are his own cousins. His greed was such that he did not consider anything regarding this matter. He made his cousin penniless, homeless, go to forest for 13 years, dishonored their  wife,  tried to kill them and  did not give a basic level of respect. This is what happens when you have greed, you cannot respect seniors, spiritually elevated persons, anyone around us. When we are captured by greed you are blinded to everything else. Kama, Krodha, Lobha are more powerful influences that is what Krishna says we need to tolerate the influence of three. 

 2. Dvandha sahisnuta

This means tolerate the dualities like  happiness/ distress, pain/ pleasure, insult/ glorification, fame/ infamy. We cannot avoid them but tolerate them. For practicing sadhaka  it is extremely important to tolerate the dualities. The very prominent one is honor and dishonor. When we say something, which supports a person hidden agenda they are happy. They will honor you, praise you, glorify you but the moment you say something good for them but does not meet their special or hidden agenda they will dishonor you that is the world which we live in whether it is in work, or social setting, or in temple wherever you go you have to face it.

For practicing devotees as soon as we start to preach Krishna Consciousness  then there  will be disturbances. People will be threatened by our teachings, will feel envious, criticize you, blame you, disrespect you , be offensive to you, sometimes people will take you for granted. Tolerate them and go on with Srila Prabupad’s mission that is the glory. Because we are here to please the Guru parampara and the Supreme Lord. That is our higher goal.

Even Srila Prabupad faced many issues. His own God brother’ criticized him, ridiculed him, his own disciples troubled him, so many reporters bothered him with so many questions which was hurting and insulting as well but Srila Prabupada tolerated them because he wanted to give Krishna to each one of us. He wanted to fulfill the order of Mahaprabhu by giving Krishna to  all of us. 

Even when Lord Krishna and Lord Ram came how many problems they have been gone through. When Krishna was a small baby, Kamsa used to send demons to kill him. Krishna got ridiculed, criticized and blamed for. Lord Ram he underwent  so much troubles even though he was as Maryadha Purushottama following all religious  principles fairly . So, the biggest lesson is even if God appears in this world, he does not change the nature of this world. So, we cannot avoid dualities, they exist, they come and go but we should learn to tolerate it and learn to manage them effectively. 

Sometimes our life is very peaceful, we may do something we think everything is going smooth , and  all of a sudden there  will be a turmoil so scriptures say when such things happens it is said that one is caught in the middle  of the forest fire. How to tolerate it scriptures gives an analogy. We need to tolerate like an elephant. Elephant knows forest fires will destroy the forest and themselves. So, it turns to the reservoir of water. Krishna have given them the intelligence. They know the forest fire will spread in all directions but fire cannot enter the lake or pond or whatever water body it is  so they go to the water body and take shelter. So, when we are also caught in the forest fire of dualities, we should take the cooling water of Krishna consciousness, practice it with unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord and have the unflinching faith in the process given by Srila Prabhupada and follow the instructions sincerely. That will protect us and we can maintain our sanity. When we steadily connected with Krishna in Krishna conscious, we access the inner strength and that  satisfaction will make us less affected by the worldly pleasures or pain by  making us internally balanced. We keep contributing and growing in spiritual life and we will not be worried about this because  our goal is to please the Supreme Lord. By focusing on the spiritual purpose, we develop the resilience to bounce up from life issues. Krishna  reassures that in Bhagavad Gita: BG: 18.58 in Srila Prabhupad’s purport  because it gives us inspiration to tolerate all kinds of sufferings especially dualities of our life and gives us hope.

mac-cittah sarva-durgani
mat-prasadat tarisyasi
atha cet tvam ahankaran
na srosyasi vinanksyasi

Translation:

If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost.

1. Paramatha sahisnuta

    It means tolerating other’s opinion. It is biggest challenge in this age of  Kali yuga. In Kaliyuga everyone is convinced that my point of view is perfect. Everyone feels that because of our  false ego. False ego covers our vision. It is like wearing different color of glass and looking at a white color wall. Each person comes up with different color of wall based on what color of glasses they wear ( Red, Blue, Yellow…etc.) . Due to false ego, each one will give their  own vision and different opinions. So naturally each one won’t agree with other person’s opinion. That is why Kaliyuga is called as the yuga of hypocrisy and quarrel. So,  the solution is we need to remove our glasses and for that we need to have spiritual knowledge, practice our spiritual sadhana there by our ignorance will be removed and so we can see the white wall as white wall. This  takes times. In the society of people, due to the condition of false ego, people will have different opinion so we should be open for suggestions, open to idea that we may be wrong sometime and the other person will have better understanding of the issue. We should be flexible. 

Example) In a family different member will have different opinions. It is natural. The difference of opinion means it proves the philosophical point that we are individual, we are spirit soul but different conditions are there and we are not the same.  We should listen to others and see what is the best solution for the given situation and do that. There will some conflict but that should not be big in order to destroy the peace of the family and prevent us from doing service to the Lord. We need to tolerate and co-operate with others so if we have this tolerance, we can successful at work, social settings, in doing service to the Supreme Lord,  in doing service to the family members. But the word of caution is we may sometimes  succumb to the bad opinion of people. They are the people who have bad envy in their heart, like kama, krodha. They give feedback based on bad things driven by their own selfish agenda. We need to filter these things. If we operate our life based on spiritual principles then we are protected. If someone  has a bad agenda or intension, we can look at the principles and say that it does not match the principle and ignore them. But we have to open to other’s opinion. 

Classic example from shastra are the Pandavas they are 5 different personalities but they are able to work together and resolve issue due to their quality of  tolerance and making decisions based on spiritual principles. Here if we see Nakula and Sahadeva are the children of Madri. But still Yudhishtira treated everyone equally and considers everyone’s opinion while making  a decision and his final decision  is based on spiritual  principles of Bhakti and Dharma, that is why Krishna liked them and supported them by all means. So, this is the kind of leadership displayed to be successful in our family life, work life and spiritual life. We have to come out of all the bodily designations and keep away from people who are offensive. We need to think about a better perceptive of Srila Prabupada’s family and not be narrow minded. So, we have to accommodate, accept different kinds of opinions and point of view that is called  as Paramatha Sahisnuta.

Everyone’s life situations are different. Sometimes there are different opinions within the family. We should cultivate Spiritual  knowledge and association with people who demonstrate that  quality of tolerance. That is  when we get inspiration living by that knowledge. When we have the conviction about why I am doing , what  am I doing to  tolerate   the disturbances in this  particular situation then we cannot avoid or run away or change. We need to have that  unflinching faith in the Lord. We will automatically learn that Krishna put me in that situation because he wanted me to learn something . We need to understand the why part  We should pray for strength. For example) Gajendra  prayers. SB 8.3.15

namo namas te ’khila-kāraṇāya

niṣkāraṇāyādbhuta-kāraṇāya

sarvāgamāmnāya-mahārṇavāya

namo ’pavargāya parāyaṇāya

Translation:

My Lord, you are the cause of all causes, but You Yourself have no cause. Therefore, you are the wonderful cause of everything. I offer my respectful obeisance unto You, who are the shelter of the Vedic knowledge contained in the śāstras like the Pañcarātras and Vedānta–sūtra, which are Your representations, and who are the source of the paramparā system. Because it is You who can give liberation, you are the only shelter for all transcendentalists. Let me offer my respectful obeisance unto You

We can pray to the Lord that everything happens under your supervision and I am more incompetent and powerless to manage this but I surrender to you. I tried a lot to control the situation  but it is out of control of me. I am relying on your power. You are wonderful cause of everything .When we pray like that Krishna will protect those who seek his protection

In BG: 9.13 Krishna says  

mahatmanas tu mam partha
daivim prakrtim asritah
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jnatva bhutadim avyayam

Translation:

O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.

Dairyam prakti. When there is Divine intervene in our life, it melts the hearts of people. It gives the perceptive to deal with the problem .  So that is the prayer. We need to prepared also, this is the situation I am in, this is  provoking me and  I need to tolerate it, I need to understand what is provoking the other person and  then we can be prepared also. You can also mediate on the consequences of not tolerating those situations. What I am going to lose, am I  going to jeopardize the higher goal which I want to achieve in my life, we need to evaluate those consequences and act accordingly. We should net let our mind drive this we need to have a validation. The inner guidance comes when we  practice bhakti with purity and sincerity . If you are not there then  seeking out help from senior devotees as well.

1. Paroth- karsha sahis-nuta :

This means tolerating other’s success.  Tolerating other’s success is the biggest problem for people. For practicing devotees if someone is advancing, if someone gets attention, more service they are envious they won’t show explicitly outside but it will be fuming inside. Even in our  material life if someone has a bigger house, job, car, we feel envious. Tolerating others progress, tolerating how others are doing so well, not being influenced or over powered by envy , trying to stop others achievements all these comes under this category.

In this world when we see other progress scriptures say instead of being envious, we need to feel happy. Another  reason for envy is  if someone gets what we want first that creates disturbances in mind. When we are disturbed, we tend to grab the person down, we gossip about them, tell others about them, we feel insecure. Gossip is sin. We need to tolerate these feelings

If you are envious it causes 3 harmful effects.

1) You lose your intelligence

2) You become stone hearted-compassion; kindness dries up

3) You do destructive action.

Classic example Kaikeyi — She loved Lord Ram more than her son Bharata. She was so pure, so loving,  because of bad association with her maid Mantara’s cunning speech she became more envious of Kausalya and to Lord Ram. And Lord Ram had to go to forest. Manthara was able to transfer to Kaikeyi her envy for Kausalya and Lord Ram. So, this shows that when we associate with people who are not in Krishna conscious,  they can transfer their bad qualities to us. 

Envy manifest different ways according to our condition and  conditioning. First thing we need to understand is we are in this material world in the first place because we were envious of Krishna. The condition is based on our Karma. Conditioning is also based on karma but other factors influence conditioning  like the environmental situations, the culture we are exposed to. We do not choose our own parents. Conditioning is mental.

Kaikeyi had seed of envy in her heart and also there is seed of envy in everyone’s hearts. Manthara watered it and it grew. Scriptures  says that there is divine ( an angel) within us and demon within us. The point of practicing Krishna consciousness is to make the angel  stronger and weaker the demon within us. How to make angel stronger is by means of  good qualities of sattva to start with ,then Bhakti, cultivating spiritual knowledge in proper association, sadhana practice  and apply spiritual knowledge in our life by being spiritual, eating Krishna  prasadam ,follow regulative principles. This makes the angel stronger and demon go away. Here if we see Kaikeyi had lots of love for Rama and the  angel was stronger. When she was associated with Manthara the evil tendency came up. The devil became stronger and the  angel became weaker. That is  why bad association should be stopped . Kaikeyi listened only to Manthara. She did not consult with spiritually elevated person.  Everything was in her mental level only. That is  why bad association should be stopped.

We all have different needs to fulfill. Physical need, emotional needs , spiritual needs. After all our needs are fulfilled still, we anchor for more than it is called greed. Then how do you know your need. It is based on what  quality of life you want to have for you and your family. That need to defined. It depends on the person nature , varna and ashram they belong to that need is  prescribed for a person. Example if you live in  America you cannot travel in bicycle, you need a car. So, what type of car you need based on your capacity. Then you define a need for yourself, then you have physical need, emotional need, spiritual need. Once these needs are fulfilled you will be happy but if you anchor for more for those needs  then we are entering  the territory of greed. Greed brings out our lower side. Greed makes the devil within us stronger and stronger. Something within us which impulse us to be selfish , short sighted, exploitative, disrespectful, because there is greed growing within us in our endeavor. If we focus on our need it make us the angel stronger. 

We should understand that other person progress in life has nothing to do with you but it is between You and Krishna. The feeling of envy comes when you don’t get it. Everyone  has their own capacity, own talents with that they can please the Lord. Someone progress should not stop us from progressing. Other aspect is we cannot hear other’s glories  because of envy in our heart. Scriptures says we should appreciate others openly not indirectly because  indirect envy burns you when we appreciate others openly it dissolves envy. We need to follow the principle of tolerating other’s success . So, practicing tolerance is very essential to be successful in our life so we should practice our Bhakti properly and purely. So, when we practice these tolerances, we will get Krishna’s blessings.

Sometimes it is seen that Inspiration turn to envy. It is  due to lack of Sadhana and spiritual knowledge .If one is lacking this then it is a mundane practice.

Initially when we come to Krishna consciousness, we get inspiration quickly . You get to do service . Krishna also allows that. It is like free samples when we buy something. We experience spirituality in the retail level contest . After sometime free sample is always free but in order to buy we need money. That is doing sadhana sincerely and practicing spiritual knowledge in proper association that is the money we are paying to get the product of purification, and Krishna bhakti and Krishna love. Sometime people make fast progress and sometimes get stuck that time effort is needed with pure devotion and effort comes from pure practice and the knowledge and inspiration can sustain. Otherwise we lose inspiration and we lose faith also. So Sadhana and knowledge in right association is very important.

How to address the sense perception mentioned  in the purport. We are conditioned due to Vritis and Vasanas, propensity and samskaras. What we have done in the past, what we have done in the childhood and what we are exposed too that impression are stored. Then what happens is we apply mind filters that way it is perception.  This satisfy my ego so I accept it or reject. It is due perception of mind that we determine what is good or bad.  When there is pleasure to the body and mind the  soul imagines that he is having fun or pain. But the real pleasure come only when one performs  one’s constitutional duties which is love and serve the God  but we are conditioned to material pleasures. Someone praises us we are happy because it satisfies the mind. We perceive everything due to body and mind. It is false perception.

So tolerance is the best way to be successful in material and spiritual life.