As per Hinduism, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are the four Purusharthas or purposes of human life. Purushartha is a composite Sanskrit word of Purusha and Artha. Purusha means person and artha means purpose. Dharma means righteousness, virtues, moral values; Artha, means prosperity, wealth, economic values; Kama in its narrow sense denotes to sexual desire, but in its broader sense it stands for all sensual pleasures and Moksha means self-realization. The doctrine of Purusharthas has its roots in Vedas and Upanishads.
The order of four Purusharthas viz. 1) Dharma, 2) Artha, 3) Kama and 4) Moksha; has special significance. It emphasizes that in every aspect of life Dharma is most important and the ultimate goal of human life is Moksha. Dharma: Dharma comes first. Artha and Kama are universal to all living beings. It is Dharma which differentiates human beings from rest of the living beings. Dharma is the rightful way of living. It prescribes the duties, rightful conduct & behavior of the person in various relationships, for society and for the universe. Dharma is responsible for order, regularity, harmony, control, predictability and accountability. If Dharma is ignored, Artha and Kama profit and pleasure respectively lead to social chaos. If Artha and Kama are consumed within parameters of Dharma, he shall not feel miseries. Artha: Artha comes next. Material wealth is essential for the physical safety, overall happiness and well-being of an individual. It includes career, skills, health, wealth, prosperity and means of fulfilling life. Artha is not only for security & material pleasure but also to uphold Dharma and help the members of his family and society achieve their goals. In Hindu scriptures, Artha has three types viz. Lakshmi, Mahalakshmi and Alakshmi.
Hinduism advocates austerity, simplicity and detachment. Wealth is not an impediment to self-realization, but attachment to wealth is. To earn Artha, five means are mentioned viz. blessings of parents, grace of Guru, hard-work (उद्धम), which has commenced (प्रारब्ध) and grace of almighty. Kama: Kama comes next to Artha. Kama often implies the short form of the word kamana (desire, appetition or appetite). According to the Bhagavad Gita, desire leads delusion and bondage to the cycle of births and deaths. The way out of suffering is to become detached from the sense objects through such practices as yoga and meditation and perform desire less actions as sacrificial offerings to God with a sense of duty, accepting God as the doer and without hankering after the fruit of one's actions. As per Hinduism, Kama resides in eleven locations viz. five organs of senses, five organs of actions and manas (मन). The Mahabharata claims Kama to be any agreeable and desirable experience i.e. "pleasure" generated by the interaction of one or more of the five senses with anything congenial to that sense and while the mind is concurrently in harmony with the other goals of human life dharma, Artha and moksha. Desires and longings of several lives have accumulated in manas (मन). These cannot be destroyed completely. Desires and longings move like abandoned horse. However, if used intelligently, sense organs will be healthy till death. Without patience and virtues, one cannot enjoy wealth. Kama does not troubles, who thinks and meditates Shri Krishna (almighty) continuously. When one is secluded (alone) and wins over Kama, he is victorious. If one follows the prescribed boundaries of dharma, wisdom appears. Sexual desire is the ultimate of all desires and unless it is overcome one is not free from the taints of Maya. Sin, first enters through eyes. Once eyes corrupt then manas (मन) corrupts and later life and name spoils. Hence, never allow kama to enter into eyes. Person commits more sin through manas and eyes. The root cause of sexual desire is resolve. Sexual desire increases anger. It appears in seclusion. So, one should do japa and bhajan in seclusion. By serving almighty, gradually differentiation of manhood and womanhood goes and gopika attitude sprouts. Moksha: Moksha comes last. Moksha means liberation, realization of the self and is the ultimate destination of this human birth. It refers to freedom from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Mahaprabhu says, one who triumphs over prakriti (nature), he gets moksha. Nature means temperament. Shukdev ji says, for moksha, enjoyments have to be left. Enjoyer cannot progress on the path of wisdom or divine love. Renunciation gives more pleasure than that of enjoyment. Enjoyment is momentary. But renunciation gives infinite happiness. Enjoyment is not peace giving. Renunciation is peace giving. Entire animal world including human beings enjoy similar sensual pleasure. Birth as human being is successful only when not second birth takes place. It is hell for fetus during pregnancy. Living beings are formed of three attributes viz. sattva, rajas and tamas. To become attribute less, one has to get separated from all the three attributes. Rajas attribute generates kama (sexual desire) and krodha (anger). By Rajas attribute eliminate tamas attribute. By sattva attribute eliminate rajas attribute. Sattva attribute is also binding. So in last, it is necessary renunciation of sattva attribute. When one gets connected with Jivatma and becomes attribute less, he attains Brahman.
1 Comment
heike Winkelmann Neddam
6/22/2022 07:46:25 am
Birth as human being is successful only when not second birth takes place. It is hell for fetus during pregnancy.
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