What the scriptures say about envy

What do the scriptures say about envy?

The texts call it mātsarya (मात्सर्य). The Manas calls burning at another's good an itch and a wasting disease. Vidura calls it an illness without end. They set self-knowledge and contentment against it.

61 verses
5 stories
Weighs on the mind

Read the verses Find it on the map

Krishna

यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः । समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥

yadṛcchālābhasantuṣṭo dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ | samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau ca kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate ||

Content with whatever comes unasked, beyond the pairs of opposites, free from envy, the same in success and failure, even when acting he is not bound.

Bhagavad Gita 4.22

Envy in the texts' own words

Someone in the verse is in it, or the text names it outright. Many readers find their own day here.

Gautama
ईर्ष्याजं व्यसनं प्राहुस्तेन चैवोर्ध्वरेतसः / ईर्ष्यया त्वहमाक्षिप्तो मग्नो दुष्कृतसागरे
īrṣyājaṃ vyasanaṃ prāhustena caivordhvaretasaḥ / īrṣyayā tvahamākṣipto magno duṣkṛtasāgare
They say ruin is born of jealousy; even ascetics fall to it. Jealousy threw me into a sea of wrongdoing.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Mokshadharma
Irshya named by the one it overcame. our reading
Vidura
य ईर्षुः परवित्तेषु रूपे वीर्ये कुलान्वये / सुखसौभाग्यसत्कारे तस्य व्याधिरनन्तकः
ya īrṣuḥ paravitteṣu rūpe vīrye kulānvaye / sukhasaubhāgyasatkāre tasya vyādhiranantakaḥ
One who envies others their wealth, looks, strength, family, happiness, good fortune or honours suffers from a disease without end.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti
Shows envy fixing on exactly what it lists. our reading
Krishna
यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः । समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥
yadṛcchālābhasantuṣṭo dvandvātīto vimatsaraḥ | samaḥ siddhāvasiddhau ca kṛtvāpi na nibadhyate ||
Content with whatever comes unasked, beyond the pairs of opposites, free from envy, the same in success and failure, even when acting he is not bound.
Bhagavad Gita 4.22
Vidura
य ईर्षुः परवित्तेषु रूपे वीर्ये कुलान्वये / सुखसौभाग्यसत्कारे तस्य व्याधिरनन्तकः
ya īrṣuḥ paravitteṣu rūpe vīrye kulānvaye / sukhasaubhāgyasatkāre tasya vyādhiranantakaḥ
One who envies others their wealth, looks, strength, family, happiness, good fortune or honours suffers from a disease without end.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti
Kakbhushundi
ममता दादु कंडु इरषाई। हरष बिषाद गरह बहुताई॥ पर सुख देखि जरनि सोइ छई। कुष्ट दुष्टता मन कुटिलई ॥
mamatā dādu kaṃḍu iraṣāī| haraṣ biṣād garah bahutāī|| par sukh dekhi jarani soi chaī| kuṣṭa duṣṭatā man kuṭilaī ||
Possessiveness is ringworm and envy is the itch; the swings of elation and dejection are throat ailments. The burning you feel at another's happiness is consumption, and malice and a crooked mind are leprosy.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand

What feeds it, step by step

Sequences the texts state outright, in their own order.

Six who are always unhappy

Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva 33

The envious, the scornful, the discontented, the quick to anger, the ever suspicious, and the one who lives on another's fortune are always in sorrow.

Vidura
ईर्षुर्धृणी नसन्तुष्टः क्रोधनो नित्यशङ्कितः / परभाग्योपजीवी च षडेते नित्यदुःखिताः
īrṣurdhṛṇī nasantuṣṭaḥ krodhano nityaśaṅkitaḥ / parabhāgyopajīvī ca ṣaḍete nityaduḥkhitāḥ
The envious, the scornful, the discontented, the short-tempered, the ever-suspicious, and one who lives off another's fortune: these six are always unhappy.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti

The illnesses of the mind

Ramcharitmanas, Uttar Kand 121-122 (Gita Press)

Kakbhushundi
मोह सकल ब्याधिन्ह कर मूला। तिन्ह ते पुनि उपजहिं बहु सूला॥ काम बात कफ लोभ अपारा। क्रोध पित्त नित छाती जारा ॥
moh sakal byādhinha kar mūlā| tinha te puni upajahiṃ bahu sūlā|| kām bāt kaph lobh apārā| krodh pitta nit chātī jārā ||
Delusion is the root of all diseases, and from it spring many pains. Desire is the wind, greed the endless phlegm, and anger the bile that keeps the chest burning.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand
Kakbhushundi
ममता दादु कंडु इरषाई। हरष बिषाद गरह बहुताई॥ पर सुख देखि जरनि सोइ छई। कुष्ट दुष्टता मन कुटिलई ॥
mamatā dādu kaṃḍu iraṣāī| haraṣ biṣād garah bahutāī|| par sukh dekhi jarani soi chaī| kuṣṭa duṣṭatā man kuṭilaī ||
Possessiveness is ringworm and envy is the itch; the swings of elation and dejection are throat ailments. The burning you feel at another's happiness is consumption, and malice and a crooked mind are leprosy.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand

Guard each thing from its thief

Mahabharata, Shanti Parva (Narada to Shuka, quoting Sanatkumara)

You should guard your discipline from anger, your fortune from envy, your learning from pride and slight, and yourself from heedlessness.

Sanatkumara (quoted by Narada)
नित्यं क्रोधात्तपो रक्षेच्छ्रियं रक्षेच्च मत्सरात् / विद्यां मानावमानाभ्यामात्मानं तु प्रमादतः
nityaṃ krodhāttapo rakṣecchriyaṃ rakṣecca matsarāt / vidyāṃ mānāvamānābhyāmātmānaṃ tu pramādataḥ
Always guard your discipline from anger and your good fortune from envy; guard your learning from both pride and insult, and guard yourself from carelessness.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma

What heals it

What the texts set against it, and the verses that give footing.

Own dutysvadharma
Better to follow one's own path imperfectly. stated in the text
Gita 3.35; 18.47
Sympathetic joymudita
The good are gladdened by others' joy. stated in the text
Manas Uttar 38; Yoga Vasishtha Bhushunda; Gita 12.13
Contentmentsantoṣa
Content with what comes, beyond envy. stated in the text
Gita 4.22; Bhartrihari Vairagya 53
Self-knowledgeātma-jñāna
Seeing oneself in every being. stated in the text
Gita 6.29; Isha 6

Krishna
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च । निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥
adveṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṃ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca | nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ samaduḥkhasukhaḥ kṣamī ||
One who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate, free from possessiveness and ego, even in pain and pleasure, and forgiving,
Bhagavad Gita 12.13
Krishna
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् । स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥
śreyānsvadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmātsvanuṣṭhitāt | svabhāvaniyataṃ karma kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam ||
Better is one's own duty, though imperfect, than the duty of another well performed. Doing the work born of one's own nature, one incurs no wrong.
Bhagavad Gita 18.47
Names one's own imperfect path outranking a perfect copy of someone else's. our reading
Krishna
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् । स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
śreyānsvadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmātsvanuṣṭhitāt | svadharme nidhanaṃ śreyaḥ paradharmo bhayāvahaḥ ||
Better is one's own duty, even done imperfectly, than the duty of another well done. Better is death in one's own duty; the duty of another is full of fear.
Bhagavad Gita 3.35
Names one's own imperfect path outranking a perfect copy of someone else's. our reading
Bhartrihari
वयमिह परितुष्टा वल्कलैस्त्वं दुकूलैः सम इव परितोषो निर्विशेषो विशेषः । स तु भवतु दरिद्रो यस्य तृष्णा विशाला मनसि च परितुष्टे कोऽर्थवान्को दरिद्रः ॥
vayamiha parituṣṭā valkalaistvaṃ dukūlaiḥ sama iva paritoṣo nirviśeṣo viśeṣaḥ | sa tu bhavatu daridro yasya tṛṣṇā viśālā manasi ca parituṣṭe ko’rthavānko daridraḥ ||
We are content here with bark garments, you with silk; the contentment is equal, and the difference makes no difference. He is poor whose craving is vast. When the mind is content, who is rich and who is poor?
Bhartrihari · Vairagya Shatakam
Shows silk and bark giving the same contentment. our reading
Ram
बिषय अलंपट सील गुनाकर। पर दुख दुख सुख सुख देखे पर॥ सम अभूतरिपु बिमद बिरागी। लोभामरष हरष भय त्यागी ॥
biṣay alaṃpaṭ sīl gunākar| par dukh dukh sukh sukh dekhe par|| sam abhūtaripu bimad birāgī| lobhāmaraṣ haraṣ bhay tyāgī ||
They are not greedy for pleasures; they are mines of good conduct and virtue; others' sorrow makes them sad and others' joy makes them glad. They are even-minded, see no one as an enemy, are free of pride and detached, and have let go of greed, rage, elation and fear.
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand
Another's joy is felt as one's own. our reading
Seer
यस्तु सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मन्येवानुपश्यति । सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते ॥
yastu sarvāṇi bhūtānyātmanyevānupaśyati | sarvabhūteṣu cātmānaṃ tato na vijugupsate ||
One who sees all beings in the self, and the self in all beings, no longer shrinks away from anyone.
Isha Upanishad 6
There is no second person to measure against. our reading
Bhushunda
सुखितोऽस्मि सुखापन्ने दुःखितो दुःखिते जने । सर्वस्य प्रियमित्रं च तेन जीवाम्यनामयः ॥
sukhito’smi sukhāpanne duḥkhito duḥkhite jane | sarvasya priyamitraṃ ca tena jīvāmyanāmayaḥ ||
I am happy when people are happy and sad when people are sad; I am a dear friend to all. So I live long, free of illness.
Yoga Vasishtha
Shows others' joy is shared, not compared. our reading
Hamsa (the golden swan)
अज्ञानेनावृतो लोको मात्सर्यान्न प्रकाशते । लोभात्त्यजति मित्राणि सङ्गात्स्वर्गं न गच्छति ॥
ajñānenāvṛto loko mātsaryānna prakāśate | lobhāttyajati mitrāṇi saṅgātsvargaṃ na gacchati ||
The world is covered by ignorance; it does not shine because of envy; people abandon friends out of greed, and miss heaven through attachment.
Hamsa Gita 40 (Mahabharata, Shanti 12.305.40 in our data)
Names envy as what dims us. our reading

Practices that grow contentment and self-knowledge

Verses that give something to do, today or in the hard moment.

Dattatreya
सखे मनः किं बहुजल्पितेन सखे मनः सर्वमिदं वितर्क्यम् । यत्सारभूतं कथितं मया ते त्वमेव तत्त्वं गगनोपमोऽसि ॥
sakhe manaḥ kiṃ bahujalpitena sakhe manaḥ sarvamidaṃ vitarkyam | yatsārabhūtaṃ kathitaṃ mayā te tvameva tattvaṃ gaganopamo’si ||
Friend mind, what is the use of so much chatter? Friend mind, all this is mere speculation. I have told you the heart of it: you are reality itself, vast as the sky.
Avadhuta Gita 1.68
Names you as tattva, sky-like. our reading
Bhartrihari
दानं भोगो नाशस्तिस्रो गतयो भवन्ति वित्तस्य । यो न ददाति न भुङ्क्ते तस्य तृतीया गतिर्भवति ॥
dānaṃ bhogo nāśastisro gatayo bhavanti vittasya | yo na dadāti na bhuṅkte tasya tṛtīyā gatirbhavati ||
Wealth has three destinies: giving, enjoying and loss. Whoever neither gives nor enjoys it meets the third.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Names enjoy what one has. our reading
Kalakavrikshiya
अवाप्यान्कामयन्नर्थान्नानवाप्यान्कदाचन / प्रत्युत्पन्नाननुभवन्मा शुचस्त्वमनागतान्
avāpyānkāmayannarthānnānavāpyānkadācana / pratyutpannānanubhavanmā śucastvamanāgatān
Wish for what can be had, never for what cannot. Enjoy what is in front of you now, and do not grieve over what has not yet come.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Rajadharma
Shows enjoying what is present is named as the practice. our reading
Gandhari
न लोभादर्थसंपत्तिर्नराणामिह दृश्यते / तदलं तात लोभेन प्रशाम्य भरतर्षभ ॥
na lobhādarthasaṃpattirnarāṇāmiha dṛśyate / tadalaṃ tāta lobhena praśāmya bharatarṣabha ||
No one in this world gains real wealth through greed. Enough of greed, my son. Be at peace.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Udyoga: Krishna's peace embassy
Enough. our reading
Ram
सातवँ सम मोहि मय जग देखा। मोतें संत अधिक करि लेखा॥ आठवँ जथालाभ संतोषा। सपनेहुँ नहिं देखइ परदोषा ॥
sātavaṁ sam mohi may jag dekhā| moteṃ saṃt adhik kari lekhā|| āṭhavaṁ jathālābh saṃtoṣā| sapanehuṁ nahiṃ dekhai paradoṣā ||
The seventh is to see the whole world as filled with me, and to regard good people as greater than me. The eighth is to be content with whatever comes, and never, even in a dream, to look for faults in others.
Ramcharitmanas · Aranya Kand
Shows contentment named as a form of devotion. our reading
Tulsidas
कबहुँक हौं यहि रहनि रहौंगो। श्रीरघुनाथ-कृपालु-कृपातें संत-सुभाव गहौंगो॥ ९॥ जथालाभसंतोष सदा, काहू सों कछु न चहांगो। पर-हित-निरत निरंतर, मन क्रम बचन नेम निबहौंगो॥ … परुष बचन अति दुसह श्रवन सुनि तेहि पावक न दहांगो। बिगत मान, सम सीतल मन, पर-गुन नहिं दोष कहाँगो॥ ३॥ परिहरि देह-जनित चिंता, दुख-सुख समबुद्धि सहोंगो।
kabahuṁk hauṃ yahi rahani rahauṃgo| śrīraghunāth-kṛpālu-kṛpāteṃ saṃt-subhāv gahauṃgo|| 9|| jathālābhasaṃtoṣ sadā, kāhū soṃ kachu na cahāṃgo| par-hit-nirat niraṃtar, man kram bacan nem nibahauṃgo|| … paruṣ bacan ati dusah śravan suni tehi pāvak na dahāṃgo| bigat mān, sam sītal man, par-gun nahiṃ doṣ kahāṁgo|| 3|| parihari deh-janit ciṃtā, dukh-sukh samabuddhi sahoṃgo|
Will I ever live like this? By the grace of kind Raghunath, will I take on the nature of a saint: always content with what comes, wanting nothing from anyone, always devoted to others' good, keeping my vow in mind, deed and word; hearing very harsh words and not burning in that fire; free of pride, even and cool of mind, speaking of others' virtues and not their faults; letting go of the body's worries, bearing joy and sorrow with an even mind?
Vinay Patrika, pada 172
Markandeya
स होवाच । वैराग्यतैलसम्पूर्णे भक्तिवर्तिसमन्विते । प्रबोधपूर्णपात्रे तु ज्ञप्तिदीपं विलोकयेत् ॥ मोहान्धकारे निःसारे उदेति स्वयमेव हि । वैराग्यमरणिं कृत्वा ज्ञानं कृत्वोत्तरारणिम् ॥
sa hovāca | vairāgyatailasampūrṇe bhaktivartisamanvite | prabodhapūrṇapātre tu jñaptidīpaṃ vilokayet || mohāndhakāre niḥsāre udeti svayameva hi | vairāgyamaraṇiṃ kṛtvā jñānaṃ kṛtvottarāraṇim ||
In a vessel full of awakening, filled with the oil of detachment and fitted with the wick of devotion, behold the lamp of knowing. In the hollow darkness of delusion it rises of itself. Make detachment the lower fire-stick and knowledge the upper.
Dakshinamurti Upanishad 26-27
Shows the light then rises of itself. our reading
Ribhu
मोक्षद्वारे द्वारपालश्चत्वारः परिकीर्तिताः । शमो विचारः सन्तोषश्चतुर्थः साधुसङ्गमः ॥ एकं वा सर्वयत्नेन सर्वमुत्सृज्य संश्रयेत् । एकस्मिन्वशगे यान्ति चत्वारोऽपि वशं गताः ॥
mokṣadvāre dvārapālaścatvāraḥ parikīrtitāḥ | śamo vicāraḥ santoṣaścaturthaḥ sādhusaṅgamaḥ || ekaṃ vā sarvayatnena sarvamutsṛjya saṃśrayet | ekasminvaśage yānti catvāro’pi vaśaṃ gatāḥ ||
Four gatekeepers are named at the door of freedom: calm, inquiry, contentment, and the company of good people. Take refuge in even one of them with full effort, setting all else aside; when one is won, all four come under your control.
Maha Upanishad 4.2-3
Contentment is named as a door, not a reward. our reading

People who lived it

Someone in the scriptures went through this, and the story shows what turned.

From the Poets and saints
Vairagyashatakam: Dialogue between the ascetic and the king
An ascetic tells a king who ignores him that learning equals wealth, that contentment in bark equals contentment in silk, and that pride over a few towns is a fever.
When the mind is content, nobody is richer than you.
From the Upanishads
The senses argue over who is greatest
Speech, sight, hearing and mind each claim to be the most important. Their father says the greatest is the one whose absence hurts the body most. Each leaves for a year and the body manages; when breath starts to leave, all the others are torn loose and beg it to stay.
The quiet one everyone relies on often matters most.
From the Ramayana
Brihaspati checks Indra's envy
Indra, king of the gods, fears that Bharat's devotion will bring Ram back and spoil the gods' plans, and wants to trick him. His teacher Brihaspati tells him that the world runs on action, that harming a good person backfires, and that his anxiety comes from his own self-interest, not from Bharat.
Your fear of someone else's goodness usually says more about your interests than theirs.
From the Gita
The great warriors of both armies are named
The blind king Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya what happened at Kurukshetra. Sanjaya describes Duryodhana going to Drona and nervously naming the great warriors on both sides.
Insecurity shows in how we size up rivals before anything has happened.

Is this where you are?

Write a line about today. Your words find their place on the map, with a verse for each.

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Questions people ask

What is the Sanskrit word for envy?

Mātsarya (मात्सर्य). Envy, comparison.

Which Bhagavad Gita verse speaks about envy?

Bhagavad Gita 4.22: Content with whatever comes unasked, beyond the pairs of opposites, free from envy, the same in success and failure, even when acting he is not bound.

How do the scriptures say to overcome envy?

They set self-knowledge and contentment against it. Better to follow one's own path imperfectly. (Gita 3.35; 18.47) The good are gladdened by others' joy. (Manas Uttar 38; Yoga Vasishtha Bhushunda; Gita 12.13)

Verses, translations and stories come from the Wisdom library, read with the traditional commentaries. A line marked stated in the text is a link the verse or a named commentator makes; our reading is Wisdom's own reading of the verse.