Protective spirit is there in karuna. It does not necessarily mean the person has commited a mistake. A person to whom such protection is given need have committed any mistake. The helplessness of the person brings in the feeling of karuna in the guru. A superior state to love is karuna i.e. accepting the helplessness of the person in the path. The divine is willing to take care of you tenderly, tenderness is there. Stiffness is not ruled out in love, kindness is what is established in daya

These are the three shades that we have got to develop. We must be kind to people, we must love them, we must also be able to tender. We must be capable of all these things.

For daya, the element of commiting a mistake is there, where as for karuna, you don't have to commit any mistake. There is an element of helplessness present. When we look at it symbolically, we show lambs for depicting karuna. They do not commit any mistake, they are poor creatures, helpless and likely to be killed by something else, so you show them karuna.

The picture of Shibi Chakravarthi in the game of life, trying to protect the dove (prey) from the eagle (Predator), shows the protective spirit of Shibi towards the helpless dove was such that he offered his flesh as an alternative food to the eagle exhibiting the quality of compassion.