Indian Knowledge System: Sympathy, Empathy, Compassion and Tolerance

A comprehensive framework of knowledge that incorporates ethics, spirituality, psychology, and social harmony is represented by the Indian Knowledge System (IKS). Values like sympathy (sahanubuti), empathy (samanubhuti), compassion (karuṇa), and tolerance (sahiṣhṇuta), which direct individual behaviour and communal life are fundamental to this ideology. This paper uses philosophical schools, cultural traditions, and ancient Indian texts to analyze these four moral virtues. By analyzing Vedic, Upanishadic, Buddhist, Jain, and Bhakti perspectives, the study highlights how these concepts contribute to social cohesion, ethical living and human well-being. The paper argues that Indian epistemology does not treat these virtues as isolated emotions but as disciplined practices essential for dharma, mokṣha, and peaceful coexistence.