Mercy – Compassion
Today our satsang topic is
Mercy (daya) and compassion (karuna)
Generally speaking everyone thinks
that daya and karuna are the same thing
There doesn’t seem like there is any difference between the two
Daya and karuna
But in spirituality (adhyatmik) there is a vast difference
[just like the difference between] the sky and the earth
There is that much of a difference [between the two]
The amount of difference there exists
between knowledge (gnan) and ignorance (agnan)
that is the amount of difference between daya and karuna
Daya occurs where there is ignorance [of the Self]
and after gnan there is karuna
Daya is considered an attribute of the Ego (ahamkar)
And karuna begins after the ahamkar leaves
Now people, generally find this astonishing
that daya is being considered egotistical
in the state of ignorance (agnan),
daya is considered to be the highest of virtues (sadguna)
And that is correct as well
daya is said to be the root of religion (dharma)
it is considered to be the root of religion (dharma)
it is not considered to be the root of spiritualism (adhyatma)
it is not considered to be the root to the path of moksha
it is not considered to be the root to attaining the Soul
It does help one start towards [the path of] religion
then by following this, after a long period of time
once the Self is attained
after that karuna [starts to flow]…..
so, the Self is not attainable through daya alone
[the route] to attain the Self is a whole different story
Of the infinite virtues, this [daya] is just one virtue
that is [beneficial]…
for one to progress in religion,
for one to become spiritually ready,
of all these right worldly interactions
daya actually falls under this category of right worldly interactions
a lot more [virtues] are needed along with that
but daya is one of the big things [needed]
But
Gnanis and Tirthankars don’t have daya
They have karuna
They do not have an iota of daya
Why?
Because they don’t have ahamkar
daya will only last if it is on the basement of ahamkar
if there is no ahamkar
then there is no daya there
then one cannot maintain daya
then in that case, there will only be karuna
where is the difference between the two [daya and karuna]?
Daya is considered to be an attribute with duality (dwandva guna)
An attribute with duality
and karuna does not have duality within it
What is an attribute with duality (dwandva guna)?
Where there is mercy (daya),
mercilessness (nirdayata) also exists in those cases
On one side there is mercy and
on the other side there is mercilessness
both are always together
dwandva means both [exist] together
Just like sukh (happiness) and dukh (suffering)
are called dwandva guna
Good and bad are dwandva guna
When two attributes exist together
they are called dwandva guna
Duality
‘dwandva’ means duality
Where there is daya there is mercilessness for sure
that is what is said
How?
As an example
Wherever daya exists
there is ahamkar there
One is not able to see [bear] the suffering (dukh) of others
One goes into suffering due to the suffering of others
That suffering that one feels,
the dukh one feels due to the suffering of others
what is the part that is feeling this dukh?
It is the ego (ahamkar)
However, the tirthankars don’t have ahamkar within
They don’t become pained due to others’ suffering
A person with daya will always be helping others
Why does he do this?
Because he can’t see the suffering of others
he can’t bear it
The suffering of others
makes him feel such unbearable suffering…
such immense pain
that to stop his own pain
he will verily help the other person
he has to help them
he can’t stay without getting involved
all these actions are taking place at a very subtle level
these processes of the mind (mun), intellect (budhi), chit and ego
are taking place at the subtle level
Whereas the Gnanis, the Atma Gnanis, the Tirthankars
don’t feel daya
They don’t even feel dukh either
They feel karuna
When a mouse passes by…
or when a small mouse passes by
and a cat is pouncing to kill the mouse
Then all these people who are full of daya
will begin to jump up and down right there and then
they get angry at the cat
To save the rat, they hit the cat
They throw the kitchen tongs [at the cat]
they break the cats' leg
and from within they feel happy that they saved the mouse
they taste the sweet juice of doership (garvaras)
that “I saved it [the mouse]”
“I saved the mouse”
And they feel contempt for the cat
So for both cases; for one they felt daya
and for the cat, they felt mercilessness
so it become duality (dwandva)
thus if daya exists then somewhere in some corner
there verily will lie mercilessness
it will be there…
so for all those who are full of daya,
it is always like this
They try to save one,
as a result
they do [the opposite] with the other one
Do you understand this?
This is true for people with daya
Whilst the Gnani’s don’t have daya
Dada said,
“We don’t have a cent of daya”
“We don’t feel suffering if others are suffering”
“We have compassion (karuna)”
Karuna means that they feel the same for both;
there is karuna for the mouse
and there is also karuna for the cat
There is no contempt
Nor does the thought to kill them arise
there are no feelings of any kind for either
For both [animals] the inner intent is that of karuna
now how can one have karuna for the mouse?
And now how can one also have karuna for the cat?
What must be the internal state of the Gnani?
What [understanding] is set within,
to actually have the same inner intent for both [animals]?
They can see in their gnan
What [do they see]?
They [Gnanis] can see for both [animals]
They can see it for the cat
and they can see it for the mouse as well
They see
‘that really the cat is not charging any new karmas
but right now
the discharge to kill [the mouse] that has come
[she will have to suffer] another discharge for this discharge
this karmic account (hisaab) won’t leave her,
during her discharge of the discharge’
So they [Gnanis] will have karuna for her
‘That what is this poor thing doing
she has no idea what the result of this [action] will be’
and on the other side
they [Gnanis] have karuna for the mouse
‘That this poor thing,
has got this hisaab to suffer right now,
although as a result,
he [the mouse] is progressing to a higher development
but he has this kind of a hisaab to die in this way’
and in this manner they feel karuna [for the two]
So, mercy and mercilessness doesn’t arise
it is the same for both
Gnani’s do not do any interference - reactions to interferences
Tirthankars don’t have any interfere or reactions to interferences
That is why
Tirthankars are called idols of compassion,
they are called oceans of compassion
They constantly have karuna
They have karuna towards all the living beings of this world
Besides that, they have nothing else,
They don’t want anything from anybody
They don’t have ahamkar there
They don’t have any inner intent to take or give
They don’t have any inner intent to save or to kill
To want to kill is verily ahamkar
And to want to save is also ahamkar
So ahamkar verily remains
whereas in their [Gnanis/Tirthankars] case,
there is no ahamkar
When you try to explain this, still one doesn’t understand
common people have a lot of inner intent to save,
and that [inner intent] should be there
because they are in the worldly life
and they are with ahamkar
therefore this is a positive ahamkar
we are not saying that it [the ahamkar] is wrong
but for those who want to attain the Self and go to Moksha
they will have to become free of ahamkar,
the direction they have chosen is different
their destination is different
this discussion is for them
it is not for the common person
for the common people,
doing this and having daya is correct for them
if that wasn’t there,
then they would walk in the wrong direction
because the Self has not been attained
and the ahamkar hasn’t left
if it [ahamkar] doesn’t fall into saving then
it [ahamkar] will fall into hurting
one or the other will be there
in duality
do you understand?
this is a very minute point
the demarcation is extremely minute
it is an extremely minute demarcation
between daya and karuna
Even in your business
this verily happens…
The opposite party [antagonist]
And our party versus
the opposite party
It happens in religion
It also happens in business
‘We’ are in none of this
Everyone is seen in the form of the Self
They are seen as if they were my own Self
If this vision exists
If this vision of the Self exists
only then will karuna begin to flow
Even if the slightest vision of the non-Self complex exists
then karuna will not flow there
and as a result mercy will come into existence
and mercilessness will occur inevitably over there
Experience this for yourself
And then it will verily affect you inside
The same [event] will be visible within
It doesn’t go out of one’s chit
The photo gets snapped there
Uneasiness occurs over there
You can’t bear the other person’s dukh
And you feel inner suffering inside
This is what is to be seen in todays’ samayik
That
How much of it is daya for us?
observe that
in the prakruti [mind-body complex] this part is daya
And we have to come out of that
And the ahamkar that is behind it
observe that ahamkar - wherever the daya has arisen
getting out of ahamkar, we have to move towards karuna
Jai Sat Chit Anand