What Sikhism says about compassion
Compassion in Sikhism is called daya, and it is listed as a virtue to be built rather than a mood to be felt. The concepts below start inside the person and work outward: the virtue, then love, then who it is supposed to reach, then what it does about causes rather than cases. Each links to its full entry in the library. Some sources are precise verses and some are general references to the Guru Granth Sahib, and both are given as the library has them.
Daya - Compassion
One of the five virtues. The library describes it as compassion that responds and acts, not sympathy that watches.
Guru Granth Sahib
Pyaar - Divine Love
Love that comes from seeing the Divine in everything. It is distinguished from attachment, which narrows as this kind of love widens.
Guru Granth Sahib
Compassion for All Life
Compassion is not limited to people. Sikhism does not require vegetarianism, and the library still counts unnecessary harm to animals and nature as a failure of respect.
Guru Granth Sahib
Sarbat da Bhala - Welfare of All
Sikh prayer closes by wishing well to everyone rather than to Sikhs. The phrase means the welfare of all.
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 15
Universal Brotherhood
Divisions of caste, race, nation and religion are treated as human constructions laid over one family.
Akal Ustat
Caring for the Vulnerable
Widows, orphans and the disabled are named specifically. Compassion is expected to reach the people least able to ask for it.
Sikh Tradition
Sharing Joy and Sorrow
Being at the wedding and at the funeral. Presence in grief is counted alongside the sharing of food and money.
Guru Granth Sahib
Justice Over Charity
Charity relieves a case, justice removes a cause. The library credits the Gurus with going after caste, religious persecution and tyrannical rule, not only their effects.
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 1412
The Liberated Life
A picture of the far end of the path. Someone who acts without ego, serves without being asked, and is easier to be near.
Guru Granth Sahib
What stands out is how practical this tradition keeps its compassion. It is expected to end at a particular widow, a particular meal, a particular unjust arrangement. Feeling is not treated as the achievement.