An overview : According to Śrī Caitanya Caritamṛta (Madhya līlā, 22.75-77), Parāt-para Akhileśvara Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu in course of establishing His aprākṛta śikṣā inside the heart of Śrī Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī Prabhu, is speaking about 26 different divine qualities of a Sat-jana or a Vaiṣṇava or a Sādhu. Gauḍīya Goṣṭīpati Śrī Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Paramahaṃsa Jagat-Guru has explained each one of these 26 divine qualities through 26 different articles. Here in this one Śrīla Prabhupāda is explaining the 1st divine quality which is ‘Kṛpālu’. The other 25 articles can be published gradually in the upcoming days.
Here in this article ‘Sajjana—is Kṛpālu [Merciful]’, Śrīla Prabhupāda has explained analytically the ‘amanda-udaya dayā’ of Śrīman Mahāprabhu as spoken by Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī Prabhu, which can distribute 9 different kinds of absolute blessings and the absolute gravity of preaching The Absolute Truth in The Absolute Way by the backing of The Absolute Acaraṇa. He also has exposed the kapaṭ-bhāva and all those malpractices of those prākṛta sahajiyās who all are completely against Śrīman Mahāprabhu in true sense.
Those bonded jīvas, having aversive mood towards Lord Hari, — they sometimes cannot realize the symptoms of those Sat-janas (Sādhus or Vaiṣṇava). They according to their respective darsanas— full of anarthas, try to misinterpret the word ‘Sat-jana’. But according to those teachings of Śrīman Mahāprabhu to Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, those symptoms of a Sat-jana are as follows,—
1) kṛpālu [absolutely merciful] 2) akṛta-droha [devoid of envy] 3) satya-sāra [having full faith in The Absolute Truth] 4) sama [having absolute equal vision] 5) nirdoṣa [absolutely flawless] 6) vadānya [absolutely magnanious] 7) mṛdu [absolutely softhearted] 8) śuci [absolutely pure] 9) akiñcana [having Bhagavān as the only property of life] 10) sarvopakāraka [having the mood to arrange absolute maṅgala for all jīvas] 11) śānta [free of material attachment] 12) kṛṣṇaikaśaraṇa [absolutely surrendered only unto the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa] 13) akāma [devoid of material kāma] 14) nirīha [absolutely engaged in Bhāgavata Dharma] 14) sthira [absolutely stable] 15) vijita ṣaḍa-guṇa [having control over those six urges] 16) 16) mita-bhuka [habituated in honouring only mahaprasāda without any greed for more or less] 17) apramatta [absolutely conscious about ātma-maṅgala or Kṛṣṇa sevā] 18) mānada [always ready to give honor to others] 19) amānī [no desire to get any honor or respect] 20) gambhīra [absolutely absorbed in own feeling beyond body-mind conception] 21) karuṇa [feeling pain by watching the suffering of other jīvas] 22) maitra [absolute friendship with all jīvas in relationship to Śrī Kṛṣṇa] 23) kavi [having perception power of past, present & future] 24) maunī [less interested to speak except topics relating to Bhagavān], dakṣa [Absolutely efficient to give satisfaction to Bhagavān].
The first symptom of a Vaiṣṇava is that, he is kṛpālu (or merciful). Śrī Gaura-Hari is the worshippable Lord of those Sat-janas and is the original source of all kṛpālus and is the original Puruṣa. Those who are averse to Lord Gaura — they can never become kṛpālu in true sense or cannot attain the rest of those twenty-five divine qualities.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (5.18.12) saying,—
yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavati akiñcana
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā
manorathenāsato dhāvato bahiḥ
He who is having aprakṛta Bhakti or sevā temperament unto the lotus feet of Bhagavān, he is the possessor of all divine qualities. He who is devoid of Hari-Sevā, how can he have any divine quality. The chariot like mind (heart) of such a person is always running towards all those unstable material enjoyments to give indulgence in sensual gratification other than the topics of Lord Hari so, if at all some such qualities [like those divine qualities found in those Vaiṣṇavas] are found in those avaiṣṇavas [those who are aversive to Śrī Hari], it seems that, those are divine qualities but not at all so because those qualities are unstable in nature and in the course those qualities even can get a turn into disqualifications.
Dayā-nidhi [The ocean of compassion] Gaura-Hari is the ocean of kṛpā (mercy). The symptom of kṛpālutā [mercifulness] can only be there within His pure sevakas [servitors] and there in other people though the shadow of kṛpālutā may be seen, but actually it is nothing other than heartlessness [or brutality] only, in true sense. Gaura-sundara being the ocean of dayā (compassion), have bestowed dayā upon those different jīvas in nine different ways. Upon receiving the dayā from the ocean of dayā [Śrīman Mahāprabhu], Śrī Dāmodara Svarūpa Gosvāmī has given a divine shape to those [nine fold dayās] in the form of a śloka. The kind of dayā shown by Gaura-Hari is the embodiment of aprākṛta– pūrṇa [absolutely complete] – nitya [eternal] – śuddha [absolutely pure] – mukta [absolutely liberated] — caitanya [cit-maya]-rasa, therefore such a kind of dayā cannot yield any evil effect [manda] for a jīva.
1. Bonded jīvas having the covering of anyābhilāṣas, karma & jñāna— being contaminated by these three types of dust, have forgotten the absolute way of maṅgala by ignoring the absolute shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Gaura-Hari so, they have become aversive to Him. But Śrī Gaura Hari — the ocean of dayā by bestowing absolute compassion upon them, has very easily blown away the dust like threefold miseries, namely ādidaivika, ādibhautika & ādhyātmika, and by doing so He has bestowed sevā of His own lotus feet which is the destroyer of those above burning miseries.
2. Those bonded jīvas are containing those three types of dirt, namely— anyābhilāṣas, karma & jñāna. Those who are externally dressed up as celebrated ‘Mahājanas’ (?) or ‘ideal personalities’ (?) in this material world — all of them are the carriers of those above mentioned three kinds of dirt ; they by being very much brutal to those bonded jīvas are throwing those three kinds of dirts on jīvas to put them into imminent danger. Under the leadership of such so called ‘celebrated personalities’ — all those śāstras (?) or teachers (?), who have successfully captured those bonded jīvas in their clutches, they out of their skill of critical judgement are making the hearts of those jīvas restless by injecting various contradictions within them, making their heart covered up with their respective conservative material conceptions. Dayā-nidhi Gaura Hari has declared the uselessness & insignificance of all those contradictions of all those sāṣtras & teachers related to those sāṣtras in the way of paramārtha. Being always engaged in those contradictory issues of those sāṣtras, a jīva can never show justice to herself regarding the question of dayā in true sense [ātma-maṅgala]. Only by realising this point that Śrī Gaura-Hari is ‘Dayanidhi’, all different kinds of contradictions relating to sastras can come to an end.
3. O bonded jīvas ! You all take shelter of śuddha Bhakti by which you can attain ātma-prasāda. Only Kṛṣṇa-sevā can give vimala-ānanda [absolutely pure bliss] to those jīvas. If the serving temperament is applied in the case of material objects, then it becomes jñāna, karma or anyābhilāṣas. The absolute advice to avoid all those unwanted things [karma, etc.] is— the only dayā of Śrī Gaura Hari. In order to attain paramārtha there is no other way except Bhakti, the complete effort of giving an absolute explanation of this fact is called ‘amanda-udaya-dayā’ (such kind of compassion without any negative outcome).
4. Only by doing Kṛṣṇa-sevā a jīvātmā becomes free from material mala (dirt) and can become nirmala (absolutely stainless).
5. When a jīva by avoiding the sevā of māyā, realizing it as asat-saṅga, can get engaged in the sevā of Kṛṣṇa along with those Sat-janas, then that jīva can easily get rid of material rasa and attain aprākṛta Rasa.
6. Material rasa is always running towards material enjoyment, when a bhakta (devotee) becomes devoid of such kind of rasa, then because of arising of the Kṛṣṇa-Bhakti-Rasa inside his heart, then his samadṛk (equal visioned) darsana can get satisfied within his heart.
7. The kheda-dhūli (or dust of sorrows) arising [or accumulating] out of the feeling of missing Kṛṣṇa [in life], when such kheda-dhūli is blown away, then that absolutely stainless pure sevaka [jīva] can go on attaining more & more aprākṛta ānanda [pleasure] by the mercy of Hlādinī Śakti.
8. In the life of a jīva when all those contradictions and altercations related to śāstras can get cooled down absolutely, then by the manifestation of Kṛṣṇa-Rasa by the kripa of Hlādinī Śakti that jīva can go mad out of that absolute ānanda.
9. In course of going on doing the aprākṛta sevā of Kṛṣṇa, that jīva can become devoid of envious mood and by watching each & everything in relation to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and can get established in the Kṛṣṇa-mādhurya maryāda [the absolute dignity of Śrī Kṛṣṇa mādhurya rasa].
Those dāsas (servitors) of Śrī Gaurāṅga are such kṛpāmaya only because they themselves have attained these nine types of dayās from their beloved Mahāprabhu — Who is the ocean of dayā, so those Bhaktas by nature they are kṛpālu. If they are at all devoid of any kṛpā, then Lord Gaura — the ocean of dayā can never accept them as His personal associates.
Now, some people out of their heartless mood may think that why Śrī Gaura-Hari without accepting those anyābhilāṣīs, karmīs or jñānīs as the topmost, has shown dayā only to those pure sevakas of Hari? Why did He never approved the misbehaviour of those people who all are devoid of Bhakti? Is it not so, that by such an attitude His ‘dayānidhi’ name is proven to be false [or not effective] ? Those prākṛta sahajiyās, who all are busy in protecting & propagating their material interest with selfish mood by the backing of their kapaṭ-bhāva, are projecting themselves as surrendered unto the lotus feet of dayānidhi-Gaura or dayāla-Nityananda, or daya-arnava-Thakura Narottama or Vaiṣṇava Thakura— the embodiment of dayā — Why are they not successful to receive those above mentioned nine fold dayās? In answer to all these above mentioned questions, this can be said that those who are putting such questions (purva-pakṣa) — all of them are not at all ready to confess [accept] that Bhagavān & His Bhaktas are Kṛpā-maya. By the word ‘dayā’, such people can only understand that those seemingly pleasant sense-gratificational interests are all in all in their life. According to their material feeling, those who are going to create even a little bit of disturbance in the way of their such sense gratificational interest, they are completely devoid of mercy, so cannot be accepted as Bhagavān or His Bhaktas. Their mentally concocted Gaura-Hari is not at all Bhagavān, but only is an instrument to grant their sensual gratification or in other words — a mere puppet doll. But those Sat-janas are kṛpālu. Those Sat-janas by avoiding asat-saṅga have been showing dayā towards themselves in true sense. Out of material conception, those who are feeling material compassion— they are busy in the gratification of their material sense organs and with the desire of material pratisṭhā , out of kapaṭ-bhāva— they are going to preach this material saṃsāra which is full of material enjoyment to be favorable for Hari-sevā infront of those foolish people— they are never kṛpālu. Those Sat-janas are kṛpālu in true sense. Those who are interested to strengthen the material attachment of those weak jīvas— having inclination towards sense gratification- by hiding the Satya-Dharma (Bhāgavata-Dharma) from them— they never want to become unsocial in front of anybody by speaking the seemingly unpleasant Absolute Truth and want to become hero in front of useless public, — such people, they can never become Sat-janas. In order to become dayālu [compassionate in true sense], one should never hide The Absolute Truth at any cost. By verbally claiming oneself as a śuddha-sevaka and by breaking the dignity of those Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākuras, to follow (apply in personal life) & preach evil siddhānta-vicāras, this can certainly prove to be lack of dayā. Those Sat-janas are always dayālu.