The Saint-Scientist Vallalar has a precise answer for what you came here for, which is how to show more compassion. I know that question often comes from a place of feeling stuck, wanting to connect but not knowing where to begin. This article will explain his core teaching of Jeeva Karunyamβcompassion as an active practice, not just a feelingβand how it becomes the very mechanism for divine grace to enter your life. Much writing about compassion stays at the level of concept, a virtue to aspire to. Vallalar taught it as a science with a clear starting point. To understand his method, we need to look at the man who lived it.
The Life and Teachings of Vallalar
Ramalinga Swamigal, known as Vallalar, was a 19th-century Tamil mystic whose collected writings, the Thiru Arutpa, remain one of the most extraordinary spiritual records ever produced. His life was filled with remarkable featsβthough he dismissed anything supernatural, insisting that everything he did was a science. He established a center for feeding the poor that operates to this day, its flame never having been extinguished since he first lit it in 1867. On January 30, 1874, accounts from those present record that he locked himself in a room in Mettukuppam and was never seen againβhis body never found. This event is documented by government records and by British Collector John Henry Garstin.
Compassion Is Not a Feeling β It Is a Practice
For Vallalar, compassion was not an internal state of sympathy or a feeling of pity. He gave it a specific name: Jeeva Karunyam, which translates to compassion for all living souls. He defined it as the active, practical relief of suffering wherever one encounters it. This is a critical distinction.
Most spiritual traditions treat compassion as a noble quality to be cultivated, an emotional goal to reach. Vallalar saw it differently. He taught that feeling sad for anotherβs pain is a starting point, but it achieves nothing for the one who is suffering. True compassion is an action. It is feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, and protecting those in fear.
This practice is not about making you feel better or more virtuous. It is a direct, scientific method for changing your own spiritual chemistry. By taking action to end suffering outside of yourself, you fundamentally alter what happens inside of yourself.
The First Step in How to Show More Compassion: The Plate
Vallalarβs teaching on Jeeva Karunyam begins with the most immediate and controllable act in our daily lives: what we choose to eat. He taught that the practice of compassion is impossible to sustain if oneβs own body is built from the suffering of other creatures.
The logic is simple and direct. To consume meat is to participate in the fear, pain, and death of another living being. This act, he explained, hardens the heart and clouds the soul, making it less sensitive to the divine grace-light that is always available. Choosing a plant-based diet is not taught as a matter of personal purity or health, though those may be side effects. It is the first, non-negotiable step in ceasing to be a source of suffering in the world.
From this foundation, compassion expands. Once you have stopped causing suffering with your plate, you become more sensitive to the suffering of beings around you. The practice grows from diet to every interaction with every living soul, human and non-human.
The Mechanism for Divine Grace-Light
Here we arrive at the core of Vallalarβs teaching. He did not teach compassion as a virtue to aspire to simply to be a good person. He taught it as the specific mechanism by which divine grace-light, or Arut Perum Jothi, enters the soul.
He described a universe filled with this benevolent, intelligent light. It is always present, always available. But the human soul, clouded by selfishness and hardened by acts that cause suffering, cannot receive it. It is like a shuttered window in a sun-drenched room.
Acts of Jeeva Karunyam are what open the shutters. When you feed someone who is hungry, you are not just giving them food. You are performing an act that momentarily dissolves your self-concern. In that selfless space, the grace-light can finally enter. Imagine seeing a thirsty animal and giving it water. In that moment, Vallalar taught, the focus on your own troubles briefly dissolves. That small, selfless space you create is where the grace-light can enter. Compassion is the key that unlocks the door.
The Daily Prayer for Compassion
To keep the mind and soul aligned with this principle, Vallalar gave a simple but powerful mantra. Reciting it attunes the practitioner to the two central forces of his teaching: the Vast Grace-Light and the Great Compassion that allows access to it. It serves as a constant reminder of the connection between action and grace.
The Mahamantra is:
AruαΉ Perum JΕti β AruαΉ Perum JΕti β
TaαΉi Perum KaruαΉai β AruαΉ Perum JΕti
The translation is:
The Vast Grace-Light. The Vast Grace-Light.
The Incomparable Great Compassion. The Vast Grace-Light.
Repeating this mantra, even for a few minutes each day, helps orient the entire being toward the practice of Jeeva Karunyam. It is not a request for compassion, but an affirmation of the reality that compassion is the way to the light.
One Concrete Action to Start Today
You do not need to change your entire life overnight. The practice of Jeeva Karunyam begins with a single, simple act of awareness.
Before your next meal, pause. Look at the food on your plate and ask a simple, silent question: βDid this cause suffering to another living being?β Do not judge the answer. Do not feel guilt. Just ask the question and be present with whatever the honest answer is. This one act of awareness is the first step in the practical science of compassion.
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