Purushartha Drshti (पुरुषार्थदृष्टिः)

Purushartha Drshti (Samskrit : पुरुषार्थदृष्टिः) refers to the perspectives of life based on the four Purusharthas (पुरुषार्थाः) namely, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. The modern perspectives of life, instead of focusing about integral growth, focus on escaping from the realities of life. These are the days of Dvivarga, people belonging to one of the extreme sets of Artha and Kama or Dharma and Moksha.

Purusharthas are the human values an essential distinct concept evolved only by Sanatana Dharmis.  The order is Dharma Artha Kama and Moksha. One can but clearly notice that Dharma at one end and Moksha (both are unlimited) at the other are like two wrappers of a book, boundaries within which are squeezed Artha and Kama (whose boundaries are defined).

Dharma on the ground level defines the limits in which a man leads his life, enjoying desires of Artha and Kama within these limits, and then evolves intellectually to get a release from narrowness, from ignorance leading to Moksha. Thus Vedas and shastras have set down ways for holistic living, a word which these days does not portray the implied meaning. All these purusharthas, the desires of men are ultimately satisfied, nothing is denied. These age old concepts of Purusharthas, the very foundations of Sanatana Dharmas, were long practiced and do not relate to theories propounded by Karl Marx or Sigmond Freud as acclaimed. Because both Dharma and Moksha are arthaika para and kamaika para. Today the world abounds with people who denied the other two namely Dharma and Moksha. This is exactly what we at Dharmawiki have recognized as the disease of the society and would like to take correctional steps by introducing the limits to thinking process and bring back Purushartha Drsthi.

Man has to be satisfied in physical bodily terms, so there is marriage, where a man requires a woman and a woman requires a man.  But Sanatana Dharma does not end here like modern practices. They laid dharmika principles for the man and woman to be householders and devote themselves evolution of Dharma. Then once satiated they move on to the higher plane, at the intellectual level something higher than all these things put together.

So, Kama and artha are required for your progress upto a certain stage. They are like steps in the ladder, unless Dharma is the goal, artha and kama will work out havoc. Dharma is the goal these three are called Trivarga (three vargas). These are the common minimum program in our life; Dharma, Artha and Kama, in the order together three constitutes for the progress of the world. In the fourth leg there is Moksha which is an individual path, government cannot meddle with it.

Rashtra Nirmana through Purusharthas

Purushartha concept is very unique about the Sanatana Dharma. Buddhism and Jainism abandoned Artha and Kama. They have abandoned the warrior's duty to protect the country which comes under Artha. Artha comes in rashtra as Kautilya  says that a land, filled with healthy people of various vocations (called vrtti), is called bhumi. That is called Rashtra, the duty of the king is to protect it of this is what was neglected by the Buddhist and Jains, because kshatriyas themselves became sannyasis. Buddha and Mahavira came from kshatriya families. After them once the protectors of rashtra declined as the Artha purushartha declined, people became easy prey to missionaries of Islam and Christianity. In the Sanatana Dharma scheme the whole class of people was cultivated for the protection of the country says Aurabindo. These special classes of people were cultivated for the particular vocations or groupings, like brahmins for spirituality, kshatriyas for the protection of the land and the rest of the people for commercial and other transactions. Therefore, it is this strata that is being attacked today, ridiculed during the colonial era as they do not understand this concept and used it to divide people.

Video Courtesy RG Media, Mumbai