Who Is Benefited When You Compete?

After kama, krodha, lobha, moha and mada, the next force that corrupts the chitta, dirties the chitta, leaves impurity behind in the chitta — competition.
Matsara buddhi or matsarya.

Today — when I say today, it means, it has not always been like this — today, competition is the norm.
We cannot conceive a world where there is no competition.
Competition is being projected as a virtue. Competition brings about improvement in quality.

This is what we are told, this is what we believe today.
'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs' was a slogan that Karl Marx used.
Even today, about 25% of the world population is under communist rule.
In the 1950s, about one-third of humanity was under communist rule.

This keeps on changing. It may be something else 100 years later.
What I mean to say is that this importance given to competition, competitiveness given today is not permanent — it can change.
Sanatana dharma considers competition as a vice, not a virtue.

You becoming competitive can help in another person’s gain. Your employer would want to get the most out of you.
He would want to hold a competition between prospective candidates and select the best among them. That is for his gain.
He gets the most for the money he pays.

But where does that leave you? Have you ever thought?
Can competition ever happen without jealousy, without remorse, without aggression, without disappointment, without complaints of injustice?
Watch carefully — every competitive exam has all these coming with it.

Over and above — anxiety, depression when you fail.
When hundred people compete, the top few who emerge successful are the only winners.
In fact, they are not even the real winners — the real winners are those who hold these competitions, pick the winners, and put them to work for their own profit.
They are the real winners.

Except these top few, the rest — 90 out of 100 or 95 out of 100 — who have put themselves through this process of competition, end up in jealousy, remorse, disappointment, feeling of injustice being done to them, or depression.
This is the net result of competition.

There can be other ways to find talent.
Take CA exam for example — as it was originally — a certain cut-off is kept, you work hard, reach there, and you are through.
There are many exams like this — where you don’t have to compete, you don’t have a competitor.

You focus only on yourself — improving yourself, not in comparison to anyone else.
Where only quality matters, not comparative quality.
There are no percentiles, only percentages.

Exams have always been there. There is nothing wrong with exams.
But competition corrupts the minds.

In our prayers, there is no scope for competition.
There are lacs and crores of prayers — starting from Vedas to simple day-to-day prayers — asking for health, wealth, knowledge, children, marriage.
But you will not find a prayer that says:

Make me healthier than Rama.
Make me wealthier than Krishna.
Make me more knowledgeable than Govinda.
May I have a better son than Keshava's son.
May I have a more beautiful wife than Narayana’s wife.

You will never find this in our prayers.
Our dharma doesn’t tell us to compare.

Our dharmic practices — our simple dharmic practices — when followed, help you develop a simple mind.
Ask for what you want — no problem — but not in comparison with someone else.

Today’s child prays, make me the class topper. This is not our kind of prayer.
This is because the child doesn’t know how to pray, what to pray for, what not to pray for.
When the child is taught to pray for knowledge, as our tradition does, the child will not pray for becoming the class topper.
The child would learn to keep the mind clear. Clean.

This is how it helps.

• Competition is another inner force, like kama (desire) and krodha (anger), that pollutes the mind (chitta) and leaves behind impurity.

• In today’s world, competition is treated as a virtue, but this is a modern conditioning and not a permanent truth.

• Sanatana dharma sees competition (matsarya = envy-driven rivalry) as a vice that damages mental clarity rather than elevating it.

• Employers and institutions benefit most from competition, as they extract maximum value by pitting individuals against each other.

• For the participants, competition inevitably brings jealousy, disappointment, aggression, feelings of injustice, anxiety, and even depression.

• The majority lose in competitive systems, while the organizers and selectors become the real winners.

• There are alternative models of evaluation where focus is only on self-improvement and reaching a standard, without comparison to others.

• Examinations themselves are not wrong; what is corrupting is the element of rivalry and comparison built into competitive structures.

• In dharmic prayers, one never asks for superiority over another; prayers seek direct blessings like health, knowledge, or prosperity.

• Comparing with others corrupts the intention of prayer and clouds the mind, while asking simply for what one needs keeps the heart pure.

• Children taught to pray for knowledge develop clarity, but children conditioned by competition pray for being the topper, which is against the dharmic way.

• Simplicity in prayer and self-focused growth preserves purity of mind and avoids the traps of jealousy and rivalry.

What does Sanatana dharma say about competition?
Sanatana dharma treats competition as a vice, not as a virtue. It links competition with matsarya, meaning envy, which dirties the mind. A dharmic life encourages self-growth and purity of thought, without comparison to others.

Why has competition become the norm in modern life?
Because society has conditioned people to believe competition drives quality. Institutions and employers promote it for their gain. It’s projected as natural, but historically and philosophically, it hasn’t always been the dominant model.

If competition pushes people to improve, isn’t it useful?
The improvement is not genuine; it is born of fear, jealousy, and pressure. Such growth is unstable, producing stress and impurity of mind. Real improvement is when one strives to meet a standard, not when one is forced to outdo others.

Who actually benefits from competition?
Employers and organizers gain the most. They get to select the best for their use while discarding the rest. The system maximizes profit for those holding the competition, not for the majority who participate.

Why do most people suffer from competitive systems?
Because in any contest, only a small fraction is declared successful. The rest are left with jealousy, regret, feelings of injustice, or depression. Even those who succeed remain under constant fear of losing their position.

But aren’t winners proof that competition works?
They appear as winners, but the real winners are the organizers. The winners are only tools, placed in roles for someone else’s benefit. Their success comes at the cost of the suffering of many, which is not dharmically justifiable.

What is wrong with exams themselves?
Nothing. Exams, when used as benchmarks, are fair ways to measure knowledge. The corruption enters when exams become comparative contests, designed to rank people against one another.

How can exams be designed without competition?
By setting a clear standard or cut-off and letting everyone who meets it pass. The focus remains on self-effort and personal mastery, not on outperforming peers. This preserves fairness and avoids jealousy.

Don’t competitive exams ensure only the best survive?
They only ensure a ranking, not true ability. Many capable people get left out because of narrow seats. A standard-based system allows everyone competent to succeed, removing unnecessary rivalry.

Why don’t dharmic prayers ask for superiority over others?
Because true prayer is about seeking blessings for oneself without comparison. One asks for knowledge, health, prosperity, or clarity, but never for being better than someone else.

How do such prayers affect the mind?
They keep the mind clean and simple. Desire is directed towards growth, not rivalry. This prevents jealousy and cultivates inner peace.

But isn’t wanting to be the best natural?
It may feel natural today because society normalizes it. Yet dharma shows that comparison poisons the mind. A pure heart grows through self-focus, not through defeating others.

What happens when children are taught to pray competitively?
They ask to be toppers instead of asking for knowledge. Their focus shifts from learning to comparison. This breeds anxiety, jealousy, and confusion from a young age.

How should children be guided in prayer?
They should be taught to seek wisdom, clarity, and self-confidence. This ensures they grow with a clean and strong mind, unburdened by rivalry.

Isn’t topping the class a sign of real learning?
Not necessarily. A topper may simply outscore others, not truly gain knowledge. Real learning is measured by understanding and character, not by beating someone else’s marks.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi