Compassion and Bhakti-rasa, Part III
A Vaishnava guru is characterized by compassion: nigrahānugrahe śakto homa-mantra-parāyaṇaḥ | ūhāpoha-prakāra-jñaḥ śuddhātmā yaḥ kṛpālayaḥ | ity-ādi-lakṣaṇair yukto guruḥ syād garimā-nidhiḥ || The guru, the treasure-house of depth, has the following qualities: he is capable of both showing mercy and chastising, i.e., recognizing both the qualities and defaults of the disciple and either rewarding or punishing him; he is dedicated to ritual activity and mantra-japa; he knows the process of argumentation and establishing rightful conclusions. He is moreover a pure soul and the abode of compassion.(HBV 1.41) I suppose that depending on your world view, you will have a different concept of compassion. It starts with God or the state of perfection. In Vedanta, the state of perfection is bliss without any touch of illusion. Illusion means suffering. Therefore suffering is existentially not real. It is only subjective, due to ignorance, like the person who sees a rope and takes it for a s...