Mercy and How it is shown in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam - Ashwin Kannan (8th Grade)

Maharaja Prthu , the Ideal King

Mercy is often understood as simply showing kindness or leniency to someone who has done wrong. However, its deeper meaning is “compassion or forgiveness shown to someone who is within one’s power to punish or harm.” Let's break this up into parts and maneuver examples of how mercy is manifested in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

The first example comes from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fourth Canto, Chapter 16, Text 7. It describes King Prithu as exceptionally kind to his citizens. Even if a poor person disrespects or violates the rules, the king, out of his causeless mercy, forgives them. This example can be simplified to make more perception, as it says that even if a poor person disrespects the great King Prithu, he will forgive him due to his impeccable mercy.

Another example is also found in the Fourth Canto, Chapter 17, where King Prithu becomes angry with mother earth  for withholding natural resources from humans despite their respectful treatment of her. Furious, he picked up his bow and arrow, and chased mother earth  with it. To protect herself, mother earth  assumes the form of a cow, a sacred animal in Hindu culture. Despite his anger, King Prithu’s merciful nature prevails, and he chose to listen to her reasons instead of harming her. This is an example of mercy and self-control because King Prithu, instead of acting in immediate anger and shooting the mother earth with his bow and arrow, decided to listen to her reasons on why she did not provide the humans on earth with her natural resources.

Now, how can we apply mercy in our daily lives? The first step is to show compassion to yourself with care and mercy by making sure that you are in a good state mentally and physically. Once you do this, you can extend mercy to others. For instance, if someone makes a minor mistake, work on your self-control and try to not act out of anger and forgive them. Doing so not only benefits the person you forgive but also brings peace and happiness to yourself.

However while showing kindness is essential, it’s equally important to avoid allowing others to take advantage of your compassion.