Chapter 1
Purusharthas

Uniqueness of human birth:
There is a Sanskrit Verse, which talks about the uniqueness of human beings when compared to all other living beings.

Aahaaranidraabhayamaithunam cha Saamaanyam etath pashubirnaraanam
Buddhirhi teshaam adhiko visheshaha buddhyaa vihinaha Pashubhihi Samaanaanah

There are several features common to human beings and other living beings. They are Aahara, Nidraa, Bhayam, and Maithunam. Ahaara means eating. Animals eat for their survival. Some even store their food for a rainy day. A human being also works for his or her food and preserves it. Next comes nidraa, sleep. After working for its livelihood, every being takes rest in its own way. Animal sleeps. Human being also sleeps. The third feature is bhayam – fear. Fear from other animals, fear from natural forces etc. Like food and rest, fear also is common to both animals and human beings. Both have their own methods of protecting themselves. A human being tries and provides for the protection of his/her life and property. All the security forces, police, guards, dogs etc., are maintained with the intention of protecting the life and property of human beings because there is an inherent sense of insecurity.

The next common feature is maithunam, love for the perpetuation of one’s own species, sanatatih. Not only do I want to live, but also want to propagate the species by begetting children, grandchildren etc., I want to survive through them. So I name the grandchildren after me. If I do not physically survive, at least I want to continue through the grandchild. Animals also instinctively and naturally propagate. Plants also do this. In this respect also, there is no difference between humans and living beings.

Now the question is, if animals and human beings are the same in all these respects, then, what is the unique characteristic of a human being? In what way can we claim superiority, say that a human being is the roof and crown of the creation?

Human being is superior for different reasons. To start with, there is the faculty of speech, which is unique to human beings. No animal can orally communicate except by making sounds. A human being on other hand can develop thousands of languages. He can have sophisticated methods of verbal communication, all because of the
superior faculty of speech.

There is yet another unique feature of human being. This is the superior intellect, i.e., the faculty of thinking, studying, analysing etc., As this Sanskrit verses says, ‘Buddhi tesam adhiko visheshaha’ For human beings, intellect (buddhi) is an extraordinary feature. This does not mean that animals do not have intellect. Animals also have intellect and many animals like the gorilla and dolphin are considered to be very intelligent. But, the intelligence in a human being is so far superior to that in any animals. This is the reason animals do not read newspapers or our great books of literature. If the intelligent is removed from a human being (buddhya vihinah), he /she will be as good as an animal or sometimes even worse than an animal. So intellect is unique faculty of a human being.

A human being is capable of seeing his life very clearly because of his unique thinking faculty. Animals may have some instinctive ability in storing some food, but they cannot think of their life far ahead. They don’t ask questions like “what will I do in my old age? Will I get pension? Should I have LIC coverage?” and so on. They do not bother about their children also. They do not think about saving money for the future. Such farsighted thinking, fixing specific goals and working for their fulfilment remain the most unique feature of human birth. In Sanskrit, these human goals are called Purushartha. Artha means a goal. Arthyathe iti arthaha – that which is sought after, that which is desired is called Artha. And there, the word Purushartha means ‘the end or goal which is desired or sought after by human beings (Purushartha)’.

How many such goals are possible? As many human beings are there, so many different goals are also possible. Each human being has got his Purusharthas. One person wants his name to appear in Guinness book of world record by eating chillies. This is his goal. Another wants to jump from the mountains without a parachute. He wants to open his parachute at a height of 100 feet only. He does that successfully and creates a record on that, isn’t he satisfied? No, he wants to break his own record and goes jumping till he dies when the parachute fails to open. Thus chilly-eating is a goal; free-fall is a goal; And there are some others who want to climb mount Everest, some who want to become a scientist, or politician and so on. In fact there are many goals as there are as human beings.

A human being has many goals; these goals keep on changing too. As a child I had certain goals. When I become a young man, my goals change. When I become a grand father, the goals may be different. Therefore, even for one human being there are many goals. But scriptures say that though the goals are innumerable, they can all be categorised into four types as Chaturvidha – Purusharthas.

Four types of Human Goals:

1. Artha (wealth)
The first type is called Artha, all types of wealth, moving or non-moving, i.e., all forms of wealth which are meant for one’s own security so that the person can safeguard himself from diseases, suffering and even death. So Artha can be translated as all types of security to free myself from troubles like hunger, thirst etc. This is security to free insecurity. In fact he can survive. That is why they call this goal the basic need – food, clothing and shelter. Food is for protection from the weather, dust or any external danger. Shelter once again is for protection. So every human being will first ask for freedom from pains and threats called duhkha – nivritti in Sanskrit. Duhkham means all kinds or pains and nivritti means freedom. This is the first goal. But the only difference is that an animal pursues that purely instinctively, but a human being does it thoughtfully.

If you analyse food, clothing shelter pursuit itself, you will see that animals eat the same food or similar type of food all the time whereas a human being relishes many types of dishes. He eats with spoon, fork etc. How many different types of vessels, tables and cups! So even though an animal also seeks food like a human being, there is sophistication about it in the case of the latter.

Similarly shelter - Animals build their own shelter basically in the same form – anthill, honeycomb, bird’s nest etc. A human being on the other hand builds newer and newer types of houses. This also comes under Artha.

A similar refinement and sophistication can be seen in clothing also. All these come under the first Purushartha namely Artha. Now, once I have security through food, clothing, and shelter, I no longer feel threatened. I have simple basic human life. So Duhkha- Nivritti is now over. There is no more pain, or threat, or fear coming from outside.

2.Kama (Entertainment)

My next interest is how to enjoy life, i.e., Sukha prapti. I listen to music, or see TV. When I do not like TV programs, I go to a VCR. Thus, recreation, or pleasure –hunting is the next pursuit of human being. But any entertainment or enjoyment comes only after Artha. In other words, I look for pleasure only after my security is taken care of. Therefore the second Purushartha is Kama, i.e., source of pleasure, entertainment, or recreation.

3.Punyam (The Invisible Favourable Factor)

The third Purushartha is called Dharma or Punyam. This is because there is a belief in rebirth in Indian culture. There is an acceptance of past birth, and there is a belief in future birth, even though one does not know the details. And a believer in future birth is interested in the well-being of the next birth also. I am providing for my post-retirement life, because I believe that I will survive until then. I also have an unconscious fear that my children may not take care of me. As this fear is on the increase nowadays, old-age homes are also on the increase. Therefore, even though I spend money on my children, I want to keep some money for my old age too. And, for the well-being of that life, whatever I have to acquire, I work for it. We are not considering the non-believer here. He may not bother about the next birth. We are talking about the believer. He has a third Purushartha – Dharma or Punyam that is meant for well-being of next Janma. Punyam is the invisible (adrista) result gained through noble activities prescribed in the scriptures.

Arthaa Grihe Nivarrtante Smasaane mitrabhandahvah
Sukrutam Dushkrutam Chaiva Gacchatam Anugacchathi

What happens at the time of death? Our scriptures say Arthaa Grihe Nivartante, that is the wealth I have acquired is left behind at home. Smasane Mitrabadhavah – friends and relatives are left behind at the cremation –ground. Then the question is who follows the Jiva (the individual) after death? Neither money nor relatives. Then what follows? Sukrutam and Dushkrutam Chaiva Gacchantam Anugacchati. Only the Punyam and Paapam, which one acquires during one’s life, follow one to determine the next Janma. Those who believe in these Punyam and Paapam naturally want to accumulate Sukrutam or Punyam. Therefore, Punyam becomes the third Purushartha.
If you analyse, almost all the people in the world are working for these three only. After pursuing these three for sometime, an intelligent and sensible human being who has learnt from experience, will find that human goals have certain innate limitations or doshas.

Limitations of the first three goals:

1.Pain
What are the limitations in the pursuit of Security, Pleasure and Punyam? All these pursuits in spite of being wonderful have certain limitations, just as a rose has thorns. They have both positive and negative consequences. What are these negative aspects? We are well aware of the positive aspect. If we are given money, married life, children, house, relations, travelling etc., we welcome these, as these are enjoyments. Since everybody is after these enjoyments, everybody is aware of the positive aspects here. The first negative aspect is that all these pleasures are mixed with an equal amount of pain or sorrow. They are no doubt pleasurable but they are mixed with an equal amount of pain too. How?

First, acquiring them involves a lot of pain, a lot of effort and a lot of competition. Supposing everyone wants to go to Kodaikanal, what happens? It will become crowded; there will be water problem, exorbitant rent and an exorbitant rate for everything. Hence, everyone enjoys all right. But when one counts the amount spent on this enjoyment, he/she feels disturbed. There was a person who had built a very big marble house. After seeing it, I said it was wonderful house. He said, “Swamiji, you say it is wonderful house, but do you know how much it costs?” So even though it is wonderful, his mind keeps on thinking about the expenses involved all the time. In other words, acquisition involves loss. There is no gain without the corresponding loss. The higher the gain, the higher the loss. Loss is in terms of money, energy and so on. Therefore, acquisition involves pain.

With acquisition is it over? No! Preservation involves an equal amount of pain. There will be some repair invariably. While repairing, the mechanic makes sure that something else will come under repair before long. Therefore maintenance involves pain.

In spite of maintenance, they are all going to be lost because none of the things is permanent. Therefore, Artha is lost, Kama is lost, and Dharma or Punyam is exhausted. If the acquisition is painful, maintenance is more painful and loss is going to be the most painful. Thus the limitation is that the pleasure we derive is always mixed with pain (Dukhamisritam)

2.Dissatisfaction

The second limitation is Atruptikaratvam. Any amount we acquire, we will not be satisfied with bank – balance of one lakh rupees. I feel in secure. With ten lakh rupees also insecurity continues. In fact, the higher you go, the greater the security. Just think of the expenses involved in the care of Prime Minister or Chief Minister. They have al the things to make their life comfortable and pleasurable. But they require more security. Thus, dissatisfaction or discontentment is second defect.

The story of Yayathi comes in Mahabharatha. After growing old, Yayathi wanted to enjoy the pleasures of youth. He was given a peculiar boon by which he could exchange his old age with anybody’s youth. Yayathi did so several times. At the end of it all he said, “ Even though I have gone through all of them, there is no satisfaction. “ So he threw away everything and went to the forest for penance. Thus in spite of repeated enjoyment, there is dissatisfaction.

As a child, I thought I would be satisfied when I become a young man. As a young man I thought everything would be fine once I get married, I feel that life with children will be wonderful. Afterwards we want the children to get settled in life. Thus, this goes on and on. The satisfaction I am waiting for never comes.

3.Dependence

The third dosha is Bandhakatvam. This is when one becomes addicted to things or dependent on them. For security I depend on external factors; for enjoyment or entertainment I depend on external objects. For enjoyment in the next Janma also I depend upon Punyam. Thus, I am always dependent on external factors. As Artha, Kama and Punyam are external factors, I will become addicted to them by depending on them. They are like some of the drugs or steroids, which make me dependent on them once I get addicted to them.

Now, when I become more and more dependent, am I becoming free or am I becoming bound? I am becoming more and more bound as I am pursuing these. Without them I cannot be comfortable, happy, secure or full. This limitation is Bandhakatvam having the nature of causing dependence.

Most people, shortsighted as they are, ignore these doshas and pursue them. However, there are a few intelligent people who realize that though these appear wonderful, they have these limitations. These people look for the fourth Purushartha, the fourth goal called Moksha.

Fourth Goal - Moksha (inner freedom)

Moksha means freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from all types dependence on external factors. In other words, I should not depend on any external factor for security. I should discover security in myself, and not in the people around me or on the money I possess. I should discover happiness in myself – Atmanyeva Atmanatustaha. I should not depend even on Punyam for the future security or pleasure.

Discovering happiness in myself, discovering security in myself is called Moksha. What will happen because of this self - discovery? I will no longer depend upon external factors. If I do not depend upon them I need not bother about acquiring them. If they come to me, let them come. If they do not, I don’t need them. I do not depend on anything, any person, or any situation, their arrival is fine; their departure is also fine. This inner freedom is called Moksha and this is the highest Purushartha, the Parama Purushartha. This is called Parama Purushartha, because there is no further pursuit once this is fulfilled.

The pursuit of Dharma - Artha -Kama is a permanent struggle. In Moksha, all the struggles end, because I discover security and joy in myself. The four Purusharthas can be thus reduced to two basic goals viz. Preyas (consisting of Dharma – Artha – Kama) and Sreyas (Moksha), the apparent and the real goals. We can choose anyone of these two as the primary goal of our life.

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