Karuṇā

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Translations of
karuṇā
Pali : karuṇā
Sanskrit : karuṇā
Tibetan : snying-rje
English : compassion, pity
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Karuṇā (Sanskrit; Pāli) is generally translated as "compassion" or "pity."[1] It is part of the spiritual path of both Buddhism and Jainism.

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Karuṇā is important in all schools of Buddhism. For Theravāda Buddhists, dwelling in karuṇā is a means for attaining a happy present life and heavenly rebirth. For Mahāyāna Buddhists, karuṇā is a co-requisite for becoming a bodhisattva.

[edit] Theravada Buddhism

In Theravāda Buddhism, karuṇā is one of the four "divine abodes" (brahmavihāra), along with lovingkindness (Pāli: mettā), sympathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha).[2] In the Pali canon, the Buddha recommends cultivating these four virtuous mental states to both householders and monastics.[3] When one develops these four states, the Buddha counsels radiating them in all directions, as in the following stock canonical phrase regarding karuṇā:

"He keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with compassion. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around, everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with compassion: abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will."[4]

Such a practice purifies one's mind, avoids evil-induced consequences, leads to happiness in one's present life and, if there is a future karmic rebirth, rebirth in a heavenly realm.[5]

The Pali commentaries distinguish between karuṇā and mettā in the following complementary manner: Karuna is the desire to remove harm and suffering (ahita-dukkha-apanaya-kāmatā) from others; while mettā is the desire to bring about the well-being and happiness (hita-sukha-upanaya-kāmatā) of others.[6]

[edit] Mahayana Buddhism

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, karuṇā is one of the two qualities, along with enlightened wisdom (Sanskrit: prajña), to be cultivated on the bodhisattva path. According to scholar Rupert Gethin, this elevation of karuṇā to the status of prajña is one of the distinguishing factors between the Theravāda arahant ideal and the Mahāyāna bodhisattva ideal:

For the Mahāyāna ... the path to arhatship appears tainted with a residual selfishess since it lacks the motivation of the great compassion (mahākaruṇā) of the bodhisattva, and ultimately the only legitimate way of Buddhist practice is the bodhisattva path.[7]

Throughout the Mahāyāna world, Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit; Chinese: Guan Yin; Japanese: Kanzeon; Tibetan: Chenrezig) is a bodhisattva who embodies karuṇā.

[edit] Jainism

Karuṇā is associated with the Jain practice of compassion. For instance, karuṇā is one of the four reflections of universal friendship — along with amity (Sanskrit: maitri), appreciation (pramoda) and equanimity (madhyastha) — used to stop (samvara) the influx of karma.[8]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Regarding the Sanskrit word, see Monier-Williams (1899), p. 255, entry for "karuṇā" (retrieved at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw0255-karaTa.pdf), where the nounal form of the word is defined as "pity, compassion". For the Pali word, see Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-5), p. 197, entry for "Karuṇā" (retrieved at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:356.pali), where it is defined as "pity, compassion."
  2. ^ Gethin (1998), pp.186-187; and, Rhys Davids & Stede, op. cit.
  3. ^ For instance, in the Kālāmā Sutta (AN 3.65), the Buddha speaks of all Noble Disciples (ariya-savaka) developing the brahmaviharas (Thanissaro, 1994).
  4. ^ Kālāmā Sutta (AN 3.65), trans. Thanissaro (1994). The "four directions" refer to east, south, west and north.
  5. ^ AN 3.65 (Thanissaro, 1994). In regards to in which heavenly realm a frequent karuṇā dweller will be reborn, AN 4.125 (Thanissaro, 2006) identifies it as the realm of radiant (abhassara) devas, whose lifespans last two eons.
  6. ^ SN-A 128 (Rhys Davids & Stede, 1921-5, op. cit.); see also, BDEA & BuddhaNet (n.d.).
  7. ^ Gethin (1999), p. 228.
  8. ^ Shah (n.d.). Regarding samvara, see "Release from karmas". From a comparative religion perspective, cf. Buddhism's four brahmavihara; for instance, maitri is often identified as a Sanskrit correlate of the Pali mettā (Rhys Davids & Stede, 1921-5, p. 540, entry for "Mettā," retrieved at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:177.pali).

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