The Lord's Compassion

[Guest guest]

Mr. Sudarshan writes:

 

It appears to me then that "anukampa" simply outshadows the other

synonyms

on the basis of the degree of superlativeness invoked.

 

Such extreme distress caused by compassion seems to have been

exhibited by

the Lord, in my opinion, only in the events related to Gajendra and

Prahlada

where the most dramatic appearances of Sriman Narayana in Hindu faith

were

made, in my opinion.The Lord LakshmiNrusumhan was driven to paroxysms

of

divine rage and yet,can you imagine? how ironic it was caused by an

emotion

that was the very antithesis of "rage" i.e. compassion to the "n-th"

degree

that Prahalada could command !

 

On a ten point scale thus I would give "anukampa" a score of perfect

10.

 

The other synonyms in my opinion like daya,karuna or krupa or even

kshama

seem wooden in comparison to anukampa. These would befit the emotions,

 

perhaps, the Lord felt when granting asylum to Vibheeshana or

forgiving

Kakasuran or blessing Ahalya or protecting the Pandavas or bestowing

favours

on His "buddy" (you Americans have nice expressions, indeed!) Sri

Kuchela.

Anyone disagrees?

----------end quote

 

I am not versed enough in Sanskrit to examine the meanings of the

above mentioned words in detail. However, I would like to comment on

the intent of this discussion to compare or rank the various levels

of Compassion of the Lord. From my limited understanding,, the

Lord's Compassion is on the "scale of 10" for all souls, from such

notable Prapannas as mentioned above to even the asuras (remember the

Lord's statement to Sugriva that He would even bestow His Grace on

Ravana himself?). While it is obvious that the Lord's expression of

such is varied in each of the situations described above, I think

this would be based more on the specific circumstances rather than on

presumed partialities.

 

This does raise the question: if the Lord feels such a level of

Compassion, why are not all souls saved? As is suggested by the

Srirangam School, it is because of the ego, which deludes the cetanas

into being unaware of or even rejecting His Grace.

 

Daasanu Daasan,

 

Mohan