The Four Puruṣārthas
The Four Puruṣārthas
The previous four lessons ran dharma, karma, saṃsāra, mokṣa — a sequence that could easily leave the impression that Hindu thought is preoccupied with escape. This lesson corrects that, using the tradition's own framework for what a human life is for.
Puruṣārtha means, in the lexicon's words, "any object of human pursuit", and then specifically any one of the four aims of existence. The four are:
Dharma — right conduct, obligation, what upholds. Lesson 13. Artha — wealth, means, advantage, the material and political basis of a life. Kāma — desire, pleasure, aesthetic and sensual enjoyment. Mokṣa — liberation. Lesson 16.
Month 1
The Four Puruṣārthas
Month 1 · Lesson 17. Duty, prosperity, pleasure, liberation. A scheme that takes wealth and desire seriously as legitimate human aims — and an epic that argues at length about which of them comes first.
4 min
This lesson belongs to Membership. The first six lessons stay free, always. Membership covers Lesson 07 onward, and new lessons as they are published.
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Membership covers Lesson 07 onward, and new lessons as they are published.