Empathy
vaśam alpikayāpi sevayāmuṁ
vaśam alpikayāpi sevayāmuṁ
vihite’py āgasi duḥsahe smitāsyam |
para-duḥkha-lave’pi kātaraṁ me
harim udvīkṣya manas tanoti tṛṣṇām ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 10.4)
“Observing Hari captivated by even a little service, with a smiling face even when an intolerable offense is committed [against him], and distressed by even very slight suffering in another, my mind thirsts [for him].”
tvam eva cātakādhāro’stīti keṣāṁ na gocaraḥ
tvam eva cātakādhāro’stīti keṣāṁ na gocaraḥ |
kim ambhoda-varāsmākaṁ kārpaṇyoktiṁ pratīkṣase ||
(Nīti-śatakam: 50)
“To whom is it not known that you alone are the support [“reservoir”] of the cātakas? So why, O dear cloud, do you wait for our expressions of deprivation [before showering rain upon us]?”
ātmanaś ca parasyāpi yaḥ karoty antarodaram
ātmanaś ca parasyāpi yaḥ karoty antarodaram |
tasya bhinna-dṛśo mṛtyur vidadhe bhayam ulbaṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.26; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 106)
[Kapiladeva:] “I, Death, cause tremendous fear for [i.e., subject to saṁsāra] one of disunited vision who differentiates between one’s own belly and another’s.”