With purushartha, Hinduism gives a clear answer to the question "What's the purpose of life?". Artha means purpose or meaning, and purusha means god or man, the former in the sense of an unmanifested absolute being beyond name and form for which the translation 'god' may be used for lack of better choice.
These two meanings of purusha are not contradictory at all given the fact that man can enter the rank of god by going beyond the phenomenal realm of time-space-causality and entering the noumenal realm of meta-physical reality as demonstrated by those "self-realized" ones such as Jesus, Buddha, and mystic adepts of past and present. It's not a matter of two different entities or identities, but the level of awareness of self. When a man (purusha) enters the state of pure consciousness, he is in god (Purusha) consciousness. The ultimate goal of man is indeed becoming what he really is: god.
Purushartha takes account of the four different stages of life (ashrama) and gives a main significance (artha) to each stage. Each previous stage forms a sound basis for the next one, all culminating into the fourth and last purpose of human life, Moksha, the ultimate Liberation of the individual soul from the wheel of everlasting captivity in physical existence (purusha) to return to its origin, the universal soul (Purusha).
Dharma (virtue) is the purpose of the first stage (brahmacharya: celibacy), the sowing stage of life. Dharma has a variety of meaning. Most dictionaries give it over a dozen definitions: religion, law, righteousness, duty, justice, piety, morality, nature, essential quality, practice, mode, good company, devotion... In our formative years, we have to gain a right understanding of nature and society to equip ourselves with righteous conducts and just judgments to be able to exercise our rights and duties in the next stage.
Artha (wealth) is the purpose of the second stage (grihasta: householder), the flourishing stage of life. We work, have our own families, raise children. Worldly prosperity may be acquired by dharmic means and used for the benefit of ourselves and our surroundings. Our material, mental and spiritual wealth should grow as a contribution to societal values and common welfare as well as as the basis for the next stage.
Kama (enjoyment) is the purpose of the third stage (vanaprastha: retreat), the reaping stage of life. After doing our part for society and next generation, we may retire and pursue our kama reaping the fruit of our work in the grihasta stage. Kama means wish, desire, carnal gratification and sensual enjoyment. It is also the name of the Indian version of Cupid. But kama based on dharma and artha is not Hedonistic gratification of sensual desires, but Epicurean pursuit of moral, cultural and intellectual pleasures.
Moksha (emancipation) is the purpose of the fourth stage (sanyasa: renunciation), the detaching stage of life. At the end of an accomplished worldly life, now is the time to renounce all the objects of material and spiritual attachment and free ourselves from physical confinements and to find our real selves. Moksha is being one with the unlimited being transcending the time-space continuum, returning to our source, the infinite.
The first three belong to the realm of the physical values of material world, one value serving as the basis for the next. These three values should be achieved and exercised along the ideal human development, but should be then renounced for the ultimate goal of human life. If our youngsters are educated according to dharma principles in their formative years, they will be blessings of themselves and the whole humanity. Shankara said: "Dharma is the law of conduct by means of which man attains worldly prosperity as well as final beatitude or Moksha".
These two meanings of purusha are not contradictory at all given the fact that man can enter the rank of god by going beyond the phenomenal realm of time-space-causality and entering the noumenal realm of meta-physical reality as demonstrated by those "self-realized" ones such as Jesus, Buddha, and mystic adepts of past and present. It's not a matter of two different entities or identities, but the level of awareness of self. When a man (purusha) enters the state of pure consciousness, he is in god (Purusha) consciousness. The ultimate goal of man is indeed becoming what he really is: god.
Purushartha takes account of the four different stages of life (ashrama) and gives a main significance (artha) to each stage. Each previous stage forms a sound basis for the next one, all culminating into the fourth and last purpose of human life, Moksha, the ultimate Liberation of the individual soul from the wheel of everlasting captivity in physical existence (purusha) to return to its origin, the universal soul (Purusha).
Dharma (virtue) is the purpose of the first stage (brahmacharya: celibacy), the sowing stage of life. Dharma has a variety of meaning. Most dictionaries give it over a dozen definitions: religion, law, righteousness, duty, justice, piety, morality, nature, essential quality, practice, mode, good company, devotion... In our formative years, we have to gain a right understanding of nature and society to equip ourselves with righteous conducts and just judgments to be able to exercise our rights and duties in the next stage.
Artha (wealth) is the purpose of the second stage (grihasta: householder), the flourishing stage of life. We work, have our own families, raise children. Worldly prosperity may be acquired by dharmic means and used for the benefit of ourselves and our surroundings. Our material, mental and spiritual wealth should grow as a contribution to societal values and common welfare as well as as the basis for the next stage.
Kama (enjoyment) is the purpose of the third stage (vanaprastha: retreat), the reaping stage of life. After doing our part for society and next generation, we may retire and pursue our kama reaping the fruit of our work in the grihasta stage. Kama means wish, desire, carnal gratification and sensual enjoyment. It is also the name of the Indian version of Cupid. But kama based on dharma and artha is not Hedonistic gratification of sensual desires, but Epicurean pursuit of moral, cultural and intellectual pleasures.
Moksha (emancipation) is the purpose of the fourth stage (sanyasa: renunciation), the detaching stage of life. At the end of an accomplished worldly life, now is the time to renounce all the objects of material and spiritual attachment and free ourselves from physical confinements and to find our real selves. Moksha is being one with the unlimited being transcending the time-space continuum, returning to our source, the infinite.
The first three belong to the realm of the physical values of material world, one value serving as the basis for the next. These three values should be achieved and exercised along the ideal human development, but should be then renounced for the ultimate goal of human life. If our youngsters are educated according to dharma principles in their formative years, they will be blessings of themselves and the whole humanity. Shankara said: "Dharma is the law of conduct by means of which man attains worldly prosperity as well as final beatitude or Moksha".
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