However, in 1975 Srila Prabhupada warned us, about these disobedient leaders, in his Purport to Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 1.218:
“Vaisnavas are not envious. If a Vaisnava, by the mercy of the Lord, is empowered by Him to distribute the Lord’s holy name all over the world, other Vaisnavas become very joyful—that is, if they are truly Vaisnavas. One who is envious of the success of a Vaisnava, is certainly not a Vaisnava himself but is an ordinary, mundane man. Envy and jealousy are manifested by mundane people, not by Vaisnavas. Why should a Vaisnava be envious of another Vaisnava who is successful in spreading the holy name of the Lord? An actual Vaisnava is very pleased to accept another Vaisnava who is bestowing the Lord’s mercy. A mundane person in the dress of a Vaisnava should not be respected but rejected. This is enjoined in the sastra (upeksa). The word upeksa means neglect. One should neglect an envious person. A preacher’s duty is to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead, make friendships with Vaisnavas, show mercy to the innocent and reject or neglect those who are envious or jealous. There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaisnavas in this Krishna consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected. There is no need to serve a jealous person who is in the dress of a Vaisnava. When Naratama dasa Thakura says ‘chadiya vaisnava seva nistara peyeche keba’, he is indicating an actual Vaisnava, not an envious or jealous person in the dress of a Vaisnava.”
This purport is very significant, and thus requires a careful study and some decipherment, if you will.
Srila Prabhupada first says, “Vaisnavas are not envious.” Therefore, from this phrase we can understand that if someone is “envious”, then they are not a Vaisnava.
Then Srila Prabhupada says,
“If a Vaisnava, by the mercy of the Lord, is empowered by Him to distribute the Lord’s holy name all over the world.”
It is a no-brainer, that the Vaisnava being referred to here, is Srila Prabhupada himself, or someone like him.
Then he writes,
“There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaisnavas in this Krishna consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected.”
Here in 1976, he directly states, that in his Krishna-consciousness movement, there are many jealous people in the dress of Vaisnavas. He is specifying that they are jealous of him. So, who are these jealous people in the dress of Vaisnavas who he says “there are many”?
Prabhupada has written this to guide us. He expects us to discriminate on the basis of his instructions, and to follow his advice and practice upeksa. He expects us to neglect those persons who display the symptoms of being jealous or envious, even though in the dress of Vaisnava, in the Krishna consciousness movement.
These “jealous people, in the dress of Vaisnavas, in this Krishna consciousness movement”, cannot be the “pot washers”, in other words, “rank-and-file” devotees.
The only reason to be a jealous person, and remain in the Krishna consciousness movement, is because one has vested interests in keeping their position.
An envious non-Vaisnava, who is not exploiting their role, has no motive to remain in the Krishna consciousness movement.
To remain, he must have a vested interest. Naturally, such a person will be very careful to do his utmost to maintain his guise of being a Vaisnava. He will protect it at all costs. After all, it is his means of livelihood. Nevertheless, try as he might, he will not be able to hide his envy. When his character is studied, one will find that this person, instead of being non-envious, has a proclivity for controlling things. He will be unable to cooperate with anyone; rather others must cooperate with him. For him, cooperation is not a two-way street. He will be like a childishly sulky or bad-tempered. child, needing to have his way, or be miserable. He will be unabashed about making politics, diplomacy, and intrigue, in his attempt to sway the universe to his fancy. All of these are non-Vaisnava symptoms. They are symptoms of envy and jealousy.