Puruṣārtha
Sign in to savePurushartha (; ) literally means "object(ive) of men". It is a key concept in Hinduism, and refers to the four proper goals or aims of a human life. The four puruṣārthas are Dharma (righteousness, moral values), Artha (prosperity, economic values), Kama (pleasure, love, psychological values) and Moksha (liberation, spiritual values, self-realization).
In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, Puruṣārtha is referenced by 1,273 other articles, and connects out to Upanishads, Kama Sutra and A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
It is catalogued under topics including Hindu ethics and Puruṣārthas.
Its subject is documented across 32 Wikipedia language editions.
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Encyclopedic overview
11 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Discussion
- Relative importance between four goals of life
- Tension between four goals of life
- Origins of puruṣārtha theory
- Purushartha-focused literature
- Ashrama
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Purushartha (; ) literally means "object(ive) of men". It is a key concept in Hinduism, and refers to the four proper goals or aims of a human life. The four puruṣārthas are Dharma (righteousness, moral values), Artha (prosperity, economic values), Kama (pleasure, love, psychological values) and Moksha (liberation, spiritual values, self-realization).
All four Purusharthas are important, but in cases of conflict, Dharma is considered more important than Artha or Kama in Hindu philosophy. Moksha is considered the ultimate goal of human life. At the same time, this is not a consensus among all Hindus, and many have different interpretations of the hierarchy, and even as to whether one should exist.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Puruṣārtha” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.