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Purusharthas

See also: Initiation, Dharma, Artha, Kāma, and Mokṣa

Purusharthas refers to the objectives of human life. Classical Hindu thought accepts four proper goals or aims of human life, known as Puruṣārthas:[15][16]

Dharma,
Artha,
Kama, and
Moksha.

Dharma (righteousness, ethics)

Main article: Dharma

Dharma is considered the foremost goal of a human being in Hinduism.[153] The concept of dharma includes behaviors that are considered to be in accord with rta, the order that makes life and universe possible,[154] and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living".[155] Hindu dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of each individual, as well as behaviors that enable social order, right conduct, and those that are virtuous.[155] Dharma, according to Van Buitenen,[156] is that which all existing beings must accept and respect to sustain harmony and order in the world. It is, states Van Buitenen, the pursuit and execution of one's nature and true calling, thus playing one's role in cosmic concert.[156] The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states it as:

Nothing is higher than Dharma. The weak overcomes the stronger by Dharma, as over a king. Truly that Dharma is the Truth (Satya); Therefore, when a man speaks the Truth, they say, "He speaks the Dharma"; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, "He speaks the Truth!" For both are one. — Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 1.4.xiv[157][158]

In the Mahabharata, Krishna defines dharma as upholding both this-worldly and other-worldly affairs. (Mbh 12.110.11). The word Sanātana means eternal, perennial, or forever; thus, Sanātana Dharma signifies that it is the dharma that has neither beginning nor end.[159]

Artha (livelihood, wealth)

Main article: Artha

Artha is objective and virtuous pursuit of wealth for livelihood, obligations, and economic prosperity. It is inclusive of political life, diplomacy, and material well-being. The artha concept includes all "means of life", activities and resources that enables one to be in a state one wants to be in, wealth, career and financial security.[160] The proper pursuit of artha is considered an important aim of human life in Hinduism.[161][162]

Kāma (sensual pleasure)

Main article: Kama

Kāma (Sanskrit, Pali: काम) means desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations.[163][164] In Hinduism, kama is considered an essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued without sacrificing dharma, artha and moksha.[165]

Mokṣa (liberation, freedom from saṃsāra)

Main article: Moksha

Moksha (Sanskrit: मोक्ष, romanized: mokṣa) or mukti (Sanskrit: मुक्ति) is the ultimate, most important goal in Hinduism. In one sense, moksha is a concept associated with liberation from sorrow, suffering and saṃsāra (birth-rebirth cycle). A release from this eschatological cycle, in after life, particularly in theistic schools of Hinduism is called moksha.[156][166][167] Due to belief in the indestructibility of Atman c.q. purusha,[168] death is deemed insignificant with respect to the cosmic Self.[169]

The meaning of moksha differs among the various Hindu schools of thought. For example, Advaita Vedanta holds that after attaining moksha a person knows their essence, Self as pure consciousness or the witness-consciousness and identifies it as identical to Brahman.[170][171] The followers of Dvaita (dualistic) schools, in moksha state, identify individual essence as distinct from Brahman but infinitesimally close, and after attaining moksha expect to spend eternity in a loka (heaven). To theistic schools of Hinduism, moksha is liberation from saṃsāra, while for other schools such as the monistic school, moksha is possible in current life and is a psychological concept.[172][170][173][174][171] According to Deutsch, moksha is transcendental consciousness to the latter, the perfect state of being, of self-realization, of freedom and of "realizing the whole universe as the Self".[172][170][174] Moksha in these schools of Hinduism, suggests Klaus Klostermaier,[171] implies a setting free of hitherto fettered faculties, a removing of obstacles to an unrestricted life, permitting a person to be more truly a person in the full sense; the concept presumes an unused human potential of creativity, compassion and understanding which had been blocked and shut out. Moksha is more than liberation from life-rebirth cycle of suffering (saṃsāra); Vedantic school separates this into two:Jivanmukti (liberation in this life) and Videhamukti (liberation after death).[171][175][176]

Karma and saṃsāra

Main article: Karma

Karma translates literally as action, work, or deed,[177] and also refers to a Vedic theory of "moral law of cause and effect".[178][179] The theory is a combination of (1) causality that may be ethical or non-ethical; (2) ethicization, that is good or bad actions have consequences; and (3) rebirth.[180] Karma theory is interpreted as explaining the present circumstances of an individual with reference to his or her actions in the past. These actions and their consequences may be in a person's current life, or, according to some schools of Hinduism, in past lives.[180][181] This cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth is called saṃsāra. Liberation from saṃsāra through moksha is believed to ensure lasting happiness and peace.[182][183] Hindu scriptures teach that the future is both a function of current human effort derived from free will and past human actions that set the circumstances.[184]