Discussions on Daya

From the Bhakti List Archives

• November 4, 1996


Dear Prapatti Group Members:

The discussions were indeed stimulating.  What I mentioned by way of a small 
comment generated a whole lot of interesting discussions on the supreme quality 
of Daya in the Lord, without the combination of which the others principal 
gunas of the Lord (like shakti etc) can be considered as a Dosham (Vide Daya 
Sathakam).  Thanks to Sudharshan who took a deep dive into the ocean of Daya 
and indeed brought back some wonderful pearls for us to enjoy.  

On the Vishnu Sahasranama, how would one translate "Bhakta-Vatsala".  Could it 
be considered as a synonym of Daya.  The exercise of searching for Daya in 
Vishnu Sahasranamam (which is definitely pre-christian) was in reaction to a 
statement that was made by one of the christian authors who thinks that 
Hinduism has borrowed the concept of mercy from christianity.

Vijayaraghavan Srinivasan