Grace

Must convey unmerited favor apart from human merit, directly countering the karma-merit worldview common to Maithil Vaishnava and Shaiva devotional practice alike. कृपा may be used for ordinary compassion in non-salvific contexts only. Resist the pastoral instinct to illustrate grace through Sita’s self-sacrificial devotion (an exemplary-merit model of virtue) — that comparison quietly reframes grace as something modeled and earned rather than freely given.