25.1 Compassion

 25.1 Compassion 

Question:

What is compassion? 

Answer:

Compassion is the most significant wealth. Even the meanest men may

possess material wealth.                                                                            (Couplet – 241) 

அருட்செல்வம் செல்வத்துள் செல்வம் பொருட்செல்வம்

பூரியார் கண்ணும் உள.                                       (குறள் – 241)

 

Explanation:

Compassion literally means "to suffer together." It is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with others' suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering. In the context of Thirukkural, the term love implies the affection and concern one shows towards his family members. It is called compassion when love extends towards other people and other living beings. In fact, Valluvar refers to compassion as the offspring of love. Valluvar considers compassion to be the greatest asset one may possess. Even the meanest human beings may accumulate material wealth. But the real wealth is the wealth of compassion.

In ancient Tamil literature, we come across excellent examples of compassion. There was a king by the name of Paari. Once Paari was going in his chariot through a forest. There he saw a jasmine creeper lying on the ground. He felt that the jasmine creeper was in danger of being run over by chariots or trampled by animals. He felt so much compassion for the jasmine creeper that he lifted it and let it creep around his chariot, and he went to his palace on his horse. There was another king named Pehan, who was also a very compassionate person. One day, Pehan was going through a forest where he saw a peacock shivering in the cold weather. He immediately covered the peacock with his garment on his shoulders. Later, in the nineteenth century, there was a poet and a saint named Ramalinga Swamigal. In one of his poems, he vividly describes his compassion for the plants that were withering away without water and the poor people who did not get anything to eat, and so on. He says that when he saw the withering plant, he withered like it and shuddered at the very sight of seeing the poor people who did not get anything to eat even after spending the whole day begging for food.

According to Tholkaappiyam, a Tamil classic written during the third century B. C., compassion is the ability to feel the sufferings of another living being as our own (Tholkaappiyam, porulathikaaram: 75). It should be the goal of everyone to develop compassion and help relieve the sufferings of other living beings.