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What is Compassion?
Defining compassion, the author, Ācārya Kunda Kunda, says that anyone who feels the pain and misery of others like those suffering due to hunger, thirst, and other maladies and acts favourably in order to mitigate their misery is said to be compassionate. The Vrhatkalpa Bhāsya also says that anyone who is not moved by the others' misery is said to be compassionless; because, compassion means 'to be shaken by seeing others shaken'." Another definition of compassion describes it as friendliness towards all the living beings,'2 and yet another one as mercifulness towards all static and moving beings.13 The Tattvārtha Bhāsya by Haribhadra also describes it as a feeling of mercy for the miserable. The Tattvārtha Bhāsya by Siddhasena Gani defines compassion as the feeling of a well meaning, charitable and merciful person by which he identifies with the others in pain and treats their misery as his own and acts in a manner so as to mitigate their pain and misery.'s According to Kunda Kundācārya, to be religious one has to be merciful.16 The Dhavală commentary to Şątkhandāgama says that compassion is natural to the living and to say that it is karmic activity is
10 "Tisidam bubhukkhidami vā duhidam datt, hūna jo du duhidamanao/
Padivajjadi tam kivayā tassesa hodi aņukampā //” -- Ibid, 137. " "Jo u parani kampantam datthūņa na kampae kadhiņa bhāvo/ Eso u ņiraņukampo aņu pacchā bhāva joenani //”
- Vrhatkalpabhāsya, 1320. 12 “Sarvaprānisu Maitrī anukampā /” - Tattvārthavārtika, 1, 2, 30. 13 “Trasasthāvareșu dayā anukampā /”- Tattvārthaślokavārtika,
1,2,12 14 “Anukampā duḥkhitesu kārunyam/"
- Tattvārthabhāsya, Haribhadrīya Vrtti, 1, 2. “Anugrahabuddhyārdrīkrtacetasaḥ parapīdāmātmasamisthāmiva kurvato 'nukampanamanukampā /”
- Tattvārtha Bhāsya, Siddhasena Gaộl Vrtti, 6, 13. 16 Bodhpāhuda, 25
76 : JAINISM: THE CREED FOR ALL TIMES
