Karuṇā
karuṇā (sct. karuṇā)
Compassion: the inner movement that wishes to see another’s suffering end. The second of the four “sublime abodes” (*brahmavihāra*). The *Dhammapada* uses the French word *Hû* in verse 270, which makes compassion for all beings the mark of the accomplished.
On n’est point un Arhat parce qu’on fait du mal aux êtres animés. Celui qui est plein de compassion pour tous les êtres, — voilà celui qu’on appelle « un Arhat ».
The Pali word karuṇā (identical in Sanskrit) derives from the root kṛ, to act: more than mere tenderness, it is the impulse that moves toward the suffering of others to see it end. It is the second of the four brahmavihāra, the “sublime abodes”: benevolence, compassion, altruistic joy, equanimity. While mettā wishes happiness for all, karuṇā turns toward those who suffer.
Here, a rare occurrence in the Dhammapada, the French word chosen by the translator aligns with the Pali concept. In verse 270, Fernand Hû writes: “He who is full of compassion for all beings—this is what one calls an Arhat.” The verse defines the accomplished one not by their powers but by this disposition: to “do no harm to living beings” and, beyond this restraint, to be “full of compassion.” Verse 225 draws the same line in negative: “the sages, who harm no one […] reach the unshakable abode.”
Compassion is thus the positive counterpart of non-violence: refraining from harm is its threshold, striving to relieve it is its fulfillment. It links ethics to liberation, for one who has shed hatred and craving has no reason to harm—non-harm is no longer a constraint but nature.
Karuṇā ≠ condescending pity. Pity looks down and keeps its distance; it may even take pleasure in another’s misfortune as if it were a spectacle. Buddhist compassion does not stand above: it recognizes a suffering shared by all beings. And its “near enemy” is sorrow that allows itself to be contaminated—hence its need to be tempered by equanimity: to feel with without drowning, to act without agitation.