Compassion refers to a universal value of empathy and kindness across world spiritual traditions. Various traditions converge on the importance of cultivating compassion towards all beings. They diverge in their approaches and emphases, offering unique perspectives on its practice and significance.
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nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger, renunciation, peace, freedom from slander, compassion for all beings, freedom from greed, gentleness, modesty, and steadiness;
अहिंसा सत्यमक्रोधस्त्यागः शान्तिरपैशुनम् | दया भूतेष्वलोलुप्त्वं मार्दवं ह्रीरचापलम् ||१६-२||
One who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate, free from possessiveness and egoism, the same in pain and pleasure, and patient,
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च | निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ||१२-१३||
One who, by comparison with oneself, sees the same everywhere, Arjuna — whether pleasure or pain — that yogi is regarded as the highest.
आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन | सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं स योगी परमो मतः ||६-३२||
Sanjaya said: To him thus overcome with compassion, his eyes filled with tears and troubled, sunk in despair, Krishna spoke these words:
सञ्जय उवाच | तं तथा कृपयाविष्टमश्रुपूर्णाकुलेक्षणम् | विषीदन्तमिदं वाक्यमुवाच मधुसूदनः ||२-१||
These I do not wish to kill, though they kill me, Krishna, not even for the sovereignty of the three worlds, let alone for the earth.
एतान्न हन्तुमिच्छामि घ्नतोऽपि मधुसूदन | अपि त्रैलोक्यराज्यस्य हेतोः किं नु महीकृते ||१-३५||
Therefore we ought not to kill Dhritarashtra's sons, our own kinsmen; for how could we be happy, Madhava, after killing our own people?
तस्मान्नार्हा वयं हन्तुं धार्तराष्ट्रान्स्वबान्धवान् | स्वजनं हि कथं हत्वा सुखिनः स्याम माधव ||१-३७||
overcome with deep compassion, said this in despair: Arjuna said: Seeing my own people, Krishna, gathered here eager to fight,
कृपया परयाविष्टो विषीदन्निदमब्रवीत् | अर्जुन उवाच | दृष्ट्वेमं स्वजनं कृष्ण युयुत्सुं समुपस्थितम् ||१-२८||
The psychic personality within us blossoms as the saint, the sage, or the seer. When it reaches its full potential, it directs the being toward self-awareness and the divine, toward the highest truth, goodness, beauty, love, and bliss, and the divine expanses, opening us to the experience of spiritual sympathy, universality, and oneness.
One who sees all beings in the Self alone, and the Self in all beings, feels no revulsion toward anything thereafter.
यस्तु सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मन्येवानुपश्यति । सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते
The gods, with Brahma at their head, worship your benevolent self, O sinless one. You are everything. You are the creator of the gods and it was you who caused them to be created. Through your grace, the gods pass their time in joy and perfect fearlessness.
Be merciful and don't let your anger destroy all living things. Through your mercy, let the entire universe, including the past, present, and future, continue to exist.
Lord Jesus says, "Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will receive mercy."
teachers, fathers, sons, and grandfathers too, uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen.
आचार्याः पितरः पुत्रास्तथैव च पितामहाः | मातुलाः श्वशुराः पौत्राः श्यालाः सम्बन्धिनस्तथा ||१-३४||
How can a person be a great religious man, if he causes suffering to others, hates them and feels jealous? It is very essential that in the first instance we should imbibe goodness and humanity. Without this, nobody is religious, nobody is good.
Then the demons said to him: 'Please tell us something.' To them he uttered that same syllable 'Da.' 'Did you understand?' — 'We understood,' they said; 'you told us, "Be compassionate (dayadhvam)."' — 'Yes,' he said, 'you understood.' This same thing the divine voice, the thunder, repeats: 'Da, Da, Da' — restrain, give, be compassionate. Therefore one should practice these three: self-restraint, giving, and compassion.
अथ हैनमसुरा ऊचुर्ब्रवीतु नो भवानिति । तेभ्यो हैतदेवाक्षरमुवाच द इति व्यज्ञासिष्टा३ इति । व्यज्ञासिष्मेति होचुर्दयध्वमिति न आत्थेत्योमिति होवाच व्यज्ञासिष्टेति । तदेतदेवैषा दैवी वागनुवदति स्तनयित्नुर्द द द इति दाम्यत दत्त दयध्वमिति । तदेतत्त्रयꣳ शिक्षेद् दमं दानं दयामिति ॥ ३॥
The [teacher's] wife said to him: "This student has practiced austerity and tended the fires well; do not let the fires reproach you—teach him." But without teaching him, [the teacher] went away on a journey.
तं जायोवाच तप्तो ब्रह्मचारी कुशलमग्नीन्परिचचारीन्मा त्वाग्नयः परिप्रवोचन्प्रब्रूह्यस्मा इति तस्मै हाप्रोच्यैव प्रवासांचक्रे
If we remove the foundation of kindness, we do not have sympathy for one another, we do not try to uplift others, we should forget that we are virtuous or we are followers of a true religion. Only a person having the sacred feeling of love keeps the religion glowing. It is he who glorifies the religion.
If one part of the body gets pain, the pain is not confined to that part; the entire body feels it. One part of the body cannot think of harming the other. The same becomes true of mankind, when they are unified through their relationship with God.
The qualities of humanity are compassion, broadmindedness, humility, the feeling of sharing another's sorrow, the feeling of giving joy to others, the urge to resettle the displaced, and the effort to make the weeping laugh. These are the very human qualities, endowed with which a vastness was seen in the lives of saints and great souls.
We claim that we believe in God, but pleasing God and bringing Him joy is only possible when we embrace all human beings. The joy of God can be attained only by lifting up the fallen and healing their wounds. O human, if your heart remains hard, if you keep making plans to make the laughing weep and to divide those who have come together, then you can never draw near to God, and the grace of God can never fall upon you. If you spread ruin under the cover of religion, that itself is irreligion.