(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 May 2012, Melbourne, Australia, Seminar: Mahajans Part 2)
Originally, the living being was with Krsna in the spiritual world and the living being, upon eternity, came to understand that he also had independence, that he did not have to serve Krsna and that rather he could be served too! At this point, he was not yet envious but when he made the choice to be served, then envy came.
It is said that this state of consciousness where one is contemplating the possibility of not being engaged in the service of Krsna is a neutral state – one is neither absorbed in the service of Krsna nor is one absorbed in the material energy. Therefore, it is a neutral state or a marginal state of being in between, called taṭasthā. Therefore in this taṭasthā consciousness, the living being can choose to come down or to go back to Krsna. When he comes down, then envy in competition with Krsna begins immediately.
Like now, we are living in this world of competition where we are competing with each other and ultimately competing with God. Ultimately, we want to be God! We want to be worshiped… we want to be recognized… we want to be famous… we want to be rich… we want to be powerful and the whole world is filled with people who are competing with each other and all these things.