Part 14 of 46
Hrt Ayam iti…tasmad Hrdayam…ahar ahar va evam vit svargam lokam eti
“He is in the heart… and so the heart is full of compassion, anyone who knows this evolves day by day and finds the kingdom within.”
Chandogya Upanishad 8-3-3
The Sanskrit word for the heart is Hridaya, which is a beautiful blend of two words — Hrt and Daya. Hrt means heart. Daya means compassion. Heart and compassion together make the true heart. The implication here is that unless compassion sits in your heart, it isn’t much of a heart. It is just a pump that moves blood around. It’s a physical organ with no great significance.
Why compassion, of all emotions? Why not courage, determination or love? Because of all the feelings that we express, compassion is the only one which is altruistic and unselfish. Compassion gives. All other emotions take. Even love doesn’t come close to it. Love celebrates itself, yes, love energizes the heart, but at the end of the day, plain everyday love is still a selfish emotion.
Unselfish love is compassion. It gives with no regard to getting anything in return. This isn’t an easy emotion to have. All our systems are geared to looking after just ourselves, our families and no one else. It’s the basic principle of life. In a hostile world compassion doesn’t have much place by design. Yet a time should come in our lives when we find place for a little bit of compassion. When we break the manic hold of life’s preprogrammed design to always think of I-me-mine and no one else.
Vedanta says a life full of compassion is a life truly worth living. Compassion opens the heart to its hidden potential. It spreads warmth and energy all around. A healing quality emerges. Such a person acquires a natural aura of being. Surprisingly another principle of life opens up, and we tend to get back whatever we give. It usually comes through another route, in most unexpected ways. Nature seems to be giving back a return gift for every act of kindness. As your heart opens up, everything about you, around you undergoes a magical change and you discern the hidden presence of your true self. Hrt Ayam iti.
Note the elegant play of words. Hrdayam is now expressed as a combination of Hrt and Ayam. Ayam means “He, or this one”. So Hridayam now means “He is in the heart.” When your heart brims with compassion, you begin to discern a truth, beauty and joy beyond description. You go on giving, go on emptying your heart, and find to your surprise that more and more is coming your way. You discover an endlessness — an ecstasy no words can express.
This is the way of the heart. 1500 BC or 2009 AD — hearts and humans have remained the same. It was the way of Jesus, the way of Ramana Maharshi, and the way of thousands of Indian masters — ancient and contemporary. It’s the easiest most accessible way — and wide open to you — right now !
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( Source: Mani Shankar/ Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad 12th April 2009 )
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