Purusharthas

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In Indian religion, the purusharthas are the canonical four aims of human life. These goals are, in the traditional sequence: righteousness morality (Sanskrit: dharma), wealth (artha), pleasure and love (kama), and liberation from the cycle of reincarnation (moksha).

Historically, the first three goals, dharma, artha and kama, were articulated first (Sanskrit: trivarga), and the fourth goal, moksha, later (Skt.: caturvarga).

The commonly-repeated correlation between the four goals of human life and the four types or stages of life (Skt.: āśrama: studenthood, family life, retirement, renunciation) is not in fact mentioned in the primary sources of early Sanskrit literature.

[edit] References

• Anna Dallapiccola, Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1)

• Patrick Olivelle, The asrama system: the history and hermeneutics of a religious institution (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993) (ISBN 0-19-508327-X)