IN Vedic literature, there’s an instructive story about compassion and forgiveness involving Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who lived more than 500 years ago.
He declared that anyone could get closer to the Supreme Person by chanting His Names and singing His praises.
One day, he was invited by a devotee to eat at his home. But, the host’s son-in-law, Amogha, criticized Chaitanya for eating too much. His host was so upset that he chased his son-in-law out of the house!
The host thought, “The scripture states that when a person mistreats great souls, his life is consequently compromised, because the law of karma immediately takes effect.”
Soon after, the son-in-law fell ill with cholera. As soon as he heard about this, Chaitanya went to see Amogha and said to him compassionately, “The heart of a brahmana is very clean by nature—therefore, it’s a proper place for the Lord. Why did you allow jealousy to take shelter in it and contaminate a purified place?
“However, due to your association with a holy person like your father-in-law, your contaminated heart is now cleansed and the Supreme Person will bestow mercy upon you!”
Amogha begged for forgiveness from Chaitanya and was immediately healed. He gave up his fault finding attitude and curbed his tongue from being critical of others.