Purusharthas

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In Hinduism, the purusharthas are the canonical four ends or aims of human life.^[1][2][3] These goals are, from lowest to highest:

• Kāma - sexual fulfillment, sensual pleasure or love
• Artha - wealth and prosperity
• Dharma - righteousness or morality - encompassing Ahimsa (non-violence), Sathya (truth) and other virtues
• Moksha - liberation from Samsara ( the cycle of reincarnation )

Historically, the first three goals, dharma, artha and kama, were articulated first (Sanskrit: trivarga), and the fourth goal, moksha, later (Skt.: chaturvarga). In living tradition, the notion of the four purusharthas represents an holistic approach to the satisfaction of man's physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

There is a popular correspondence between the four purusharthas, the four stages of life (Skt.: āśrama: Brahmacharya [student life], Grihastha [household life], Vanaprastha [retired life] and Sannyasa [renunciation]) and the four primary castes or strata of society (Skt.: varna: Brahmana [priest/teacher], Kshatriya [warrior/politician], Vaishya [landowner/entrepreneur] and Shudra [servant/manual labourer]). This, however, has not been traced to any primary source in early Sanskrit literature.

Contents 1 See also 2 Notes 3 References 4 Further reading

[edit] See also

• Varna in Hinduism

[edit] Notes

1. ^ For dharma, artha, and kama as "brahmanic householder values" see: Flood (1996), p. 17.
2. ^ For the Dharma Śāstras as discussing the "four main goals of life" (dharma, artha, kāma, and moksha) see: Hopkins, p. 78.
3. ^ For definition of the term पुरुष-अर्थ (puruṣa-artha) as "any of the four principal objects of human life, i.e. धर्म, अर्थ, काम, and मोक्ष" see: Apte, p. 626, middle column, compound #1.

[edit] References

• Apte, Vaman Shivram (1965). The Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-0567-4.  (fourth revised & enlarged edition).
• Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43878-0. 
• Hopkins, Thomas J. (1971). The Hindu Religious Tradition. Cambridge: Dickenson Publishing Company, Inc.. 

[edit] Further reading

• 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)