Purusharthas: The human desires

Sanatana Dharma and numbers have a great relation. Below are miniscule few of them,

0. Sunya state of meditator

1. Brahman

2. Shiva and Shakthi

3. Trimurti

4. Purushartas (The topic of discussion here)

5. Pancha prana. Pancha kosha

6. Arishadvargas

7. Saptha rishis

8. Astalakshmi

9. Navagrahas

10. Dashavataras

11. 11 Chakras ( As taught by my guru Master Choa kok sui)

12. 12 Chakra ( Seat of Incarnated Soul/Jivatma, as As taught by my guru Master Choa kok sui)

I always get marvelled by Sanatana Dharma, Its details on topic of the purpose of our existence is astounding. Today we will learn about purusharthas. One of the term least understood. Earlier reference to this word can be found 

1. Suryopanishad 

aum atha sūryātharvāṅgirasam vyā̎khyāsyā̱maḥ | brahmā ṟṣih | gāya̍trī chha̱ndaḥ | ādi̍tyo de̱vatā | haṁsa̍ḥ so̱’ham agni nārāyana yu̍ktam bī̱jam | hrille̍khā śa̱ktiḥ | viyadādi sarga saṁyu̍ktaṁ kī̱lakam | catur-vidha puruṣārtha siddhyarthe jape vi̍niyo̱gaḥ ||

2. Ganapty Atharvashrisha Upanishad

सायमधीयानो दिवसकृतं पापं नाशयति । प्रातरधीयानो रात्रिकृतं पापं नाशयति । सायं प्रातः प्रयुञ्जानो पापोऽपापो भवति । सर्वत्राधीयानोऽपविघ्नो भवति । धर्मार्थकाममोक्षं च विन्दति ॥१३॥

Purushartha is compound word formed by Purusha + Artha. Purusha in sanatana dharms stands for the soul. Artha has many meanings,

1. Goal

2. That which is acquired

3. Prosperity

Traditionally Purushartha means human goals. Its very difficult to understand purushartha as goals. For discussion we will go with much easier explanation which is "Desires". Purushartha stands for 4 kinds of desires which drive human evolution, without which the world is stagnant.

1. Dharma: The desire to be right. Dharma is the one which makes Scientists,Mathematicians,Physicists,Chemists to experiment and verify their understanding. Dharma is the one which makes people standup for their beliefs. Dharma is the one which make kid argue 1 + 1 = 2 and not 1 + 1 = 10, But 10th Standard student will argue that both are true in its own sense, one is base 2, one in base 10. Dharma is the ultimate desire to be right. For humans, we have limitations of the understanding of universe, But we try to be right within our own little understanding. As we expand our knowledge and understanding, our Actions also change. This is because of desire to be right, Which we call as Dharma.

Satya yuga has many incidents where divinity trumps the bad. All of these stories are centered around Ego. Take for example of Hayagriva avatar or Narasimha avatar, The villains in both the stories were destroyed because of their Ego. They thought they are the one who is right. They thought themselves as ultimate knower of the truth.

All these stories hints us one common thing. Humans in Satya yuga had capabilities of only Dharma, Or could desire to be right only. They were incapable of any other desires like Artha, Kaama or Moksha. All their actions were because of desire to be right, Whether its to acquire wealth, Procreation, or any other actions. All were cause of desire to be right. They thought its right thing to do to acquire wealth, its right thing to procreate.

Humans are evolved enough to fulfill dharma, Desire to be right.

2. Artha: Desire to possess. Artha is the one which makes humans put effort to acquire. Be it Wealth. Be it name or fame. Be it beautiful house, car, kingdom, desire for any form of possession is because of Artha. 

Humans in Treta yuga had capabilities of both kinds of desires, Dharma and Artha. All of tretha yuga incidence are mostly centered  around acquiring. But both Dharma and Artha are responsible for happenings in Treta yuga. Bali chakravarthi wanted to acquire all lokas and liberated by Vaamana avatar, Vali wanted Sugrivas wife, Sita wanted golden deer, Raavana wanted Sita. Kaikeyi wanted kingdom to her son. All were cause of desire to acquire. They were primarly motivated by Artha. 

Humans are evolved enough to fulfill both dharma and artha

3. Kaama: Desire to experience. Kaama is the one which makes humans want to experience. Humans jump from flight to experience the thrill, Go for scuba diving, Have Sex, Get angry, Show empathy, Eat delicious food, Drink what they enjoy, All because of Kaama, Desire to experience.

Humans in Dwapara yuga additionaly had capabilities of kaama, i.e desire to experience. The mahabharata was result of kaama, Duryodhanas hate towards his brothers. He enjoyed hating. This is possible only because humans now could experience and desire for it. However all three, Dharma, Artha and Kaama are responsible for happenings in Dwaapara yuga. Kaama being most prominent.

Humans are evolved enough to fulfill Dharma, Artha and Kaama by now

4. Moksha: Desire to unite with the one. Moksha is the one which makes humans want to unite with the Brahman. We worship, We meditate, We want to be spiritual, We want to be religious, We want to die in the name of god, We want to kill in the name of god, We want to convert and destroy society in the name of god. All these are fuelled due to desire to unite with God. However humans are now balancing all four purusharthas. All four kinds of desires. 

Humans are evolved enough to fulfill Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha by now.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and have fair understanding of purusharthas, You can now analyse your actions and see what motivates them, Dharma, artha, kaama or moksha