In the Samvat year 1876, on the seventh day of the bright half of the month of Margashirsh, Shreeji Maharaj was seated in the Durbar of Dada Khachar in Gadhada. He had put on all white garments. Saints and devotees from various places had gathered before him in an assembly.
Then Shreeji Maharaj started His talks with an advice, “Devotees of God should not be jealous of one another.” There upon Anandanand Swami said, “But Maharaj, jealousy still persists.”
Shreeji Maharaj said, “If at all you feel jealous you should follow the example of Narad” With these words, He narrated the following episode. “Once upon a time, Narad and Tumbaru went to Vaikunth to pay their homage to Lakshmi Narayan. There Tumbaru sang before Lakshmi and Narayan. They were so pleased with his music that they gave rich garments and ornaments as present to him. This made Narad Jealous of Tumbaru. So he decided that he should also learn the art of singing and please the Lord with his art. He then learned music and sang before the Lord. But the Lord said. ‘0 Narad, your singing is not so sweet as that of Tumbaru.’ There upon Narad went through a severe penance to please Lord Shiv, and with His blessings again learned the art of singing. Again he sang before Lakshmi Narayan, but at last they were not pleased this time also. Thus Narad learned music for seven Manvantar [life span of one Manu i.e. One Manvantar is 30,85,71,428 years. For seven Manvantar it will be about 2160 Million years.] and sang before the Lord often and often, but the Lord was not pleased at all. Ultimately Narad learned the art. of singing from Tumbaru himself and sang before Lord Shree Krishna in Dwarika. This time the Lord was pleased with his singing and gave him His own garments and ornaments as present. This is how Narad became free from jealousy for Tumbaru.”
After narrating this episode Shreeji Maharaj Said, “If at all you are jealous of anyone you should imbibe his virtues and should give up your own defects. 1f you cannot do this, you should try in every way to be free from such jealousy that would hurt a devotee of God.”
