This framing reminds me of Karen Armstrong's characterization (in her creatively biographical book Buddha, 2001).
Having depicted one of the Buddha's key insights as a correlation between the four Brahma-Viharas (notably "compassion") and four jhana-s *, and high-lighting the circumstances surrounding the Buddha's birth where prophets predicted he would become either a great "world-turning" political leader OR a great religious leader – when, after his awakening, the god Brahma convinced him to go out and teach his knowledge, Armstrong notes:
"He would spend the next forty-five years of his life tramping tirelessly through the cities and towns of the Ganges plain, bringing the Dhamma to gods, animals, men and women. There could be no limits to this compassionate offensive."
* Actually, such a correlation is found in the Bojjhanga-Samyutta, and it's between the four Brahma-Vihara-s and the four "immaterial bases" (arupa ayatana), not the more familiar four fine-material (rupa) jhana-s.
