Much has been said and written about what has come to be known in some circles as the four “goals” (puruṣārtha) in the Hindu tradition—moral living (dharma), wealth (artha), pleasure (kāma), and freedom (mokṣa). Some stack these four in a hierarchical order, and treat mokṣa as the ultimate goal. Sometimes the four goals are identified with the different stages in life and mokṣa is associated with the last stage. It is also sometimes suggested that life wouldn’t be complete unless all of these four goals have played their part. There is talk of “balancing” the four goals. Is everyone really expected to have these four goals in life?
What if we begin by questioning the assumption that these puruṣārthas are “goals”? Is it possible to approach the puruṣārthas and their significance in a different way?
Goals don’t mean much if they are mandated from the outside. They lack force and are not effective. You can take a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink. If the horse is thirsty, he won’t wait for you to lead him to the water. He will go there himself. If I lack something acutely, my goal will be to get it. If I am not thirsty, quenching my thirst won’t be my goal. My goals are determined by what I lack and what I value, not by what someone tells me my goal should be.
That is why Vedanta texts seldom define what the goal is. Sometimes they may—like the Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.3.9—point out the “ultimate state” (parā gati), but whether that should be made our “goal” is entirely up to us. The Upaniṣads state what the truth is, they describe the different ways of knowing it, they point out the benefits of experiencing the truth and the perils of ignoring it. Whether we should focus our attention there, or on something else, is a matter of choice. The hope is that we will choose the best course of action. If we choose wisely, we get to celebrate. If we make the wrong choice, we continue to suffer until we decide to reconsider our choices. There is infinite time if we are not in a hurry.
If the four puruṣārthas are not goals, what are they? They are values that make life meaningful. Interestingly, the Sanskrit artha, denotes not only “wealth” but also “want” (or “desire”) and “meaning” Thus puruṣārtha is what we the people (puruṣa) want (artha) because it adds meaning (artha) to our lives. We might get different answers when people are asked what they want or what their goal in life is. Most people have several goals before them, so we might get a list of goals instead of just one. No matter what the goals are, what everyone shares in common is this: the desire to be happy and to be free from suffering. If we must speak of a goal, that is the goal before every living being—unending happiness uninterrupted by suffering.
Where people differ is in their ideas regarding what will make them happy. So they pursue different ways and try different things. All of these ways can be grouped into four broad categories.
The first group is of those who feel that it is wealth that can procure for them the resources necessary for happiness. Wealth may also help eliminate the hurdles in their lives. This kind of thinking makes sense, since we do see that the wealthy are able to easily get what they want. So wealth becomes a value—and pursuing wealth becomes meaningful in life. It becomes a puruṣārtha. Wealth is not the goal, but is seen as the means to getting whatever makes us happy.
Then there are those who feel that happiness comes through sensual enjoyment. This again is a no-brainer, because the connection between pleasure and happiness is obvious. This bestows a value to pleasure—and pursuing it becomes a meaningful activity, making it another puruṣārtha—not a goal in itself, but a means to happiness.
Those who are thoughtful realize that a reckless, amoral pursuit of wealth and pleasure can eventually lead to disaster. Even a cursory glance at history is enough to recognize this. What is needed is a life of restraint, rooted in goodness and morality. With honesty and responsibility as the guiding principles, the pursuit of wealth and pleasure may lead to a better outcome. The immense power of moral life is obvious to those who have tried to live according to dharma. That is how dharma becomes a puruṣārtha. It is what people seek, since it adds value and meaning to life.
Finally, there are the spiritually awakened, whose clarity of perception reveals to them the subtle bondage undergirding the human experience. To them nothing in this ever-changing world has a lasting value, nothing here is really meaningful, to them nothing in life makes much sense. They long to get out and be free. That is how seeking freedom (mokṣa) becomes the most meaningful activity for them. Nothing to them is more valuable, since they see that freedom is the only way they can attain unending and irrevocable happiness.
So, then, it is possible to say that living beings have only one goal, not four. And that one goal is to be happy. Whatever they do is done with the hope that it will bring them happiness. The Chāndogya Upaniṣad (7.23.1, 7.24.1) says:
यो वै भूमा तत्सुखम्, नाल्पे सुखमस्ति । भूमैव सुखम् । … यदल्पं तन्मर्त्यम् ।
Yo vai bhūmā tat sukham, na alpe sukham asti. Bhūmaiva sūkham. … Yad alpaṁ tat martyam.
“The infinite is bliss. There is no bliss in anything finite. Only the infinite is bliss. … The finite is mortal.”
But it takes time to learn this lesson. Until then, we will continue to seek happiness in the limited and perishable things of the world and we will continue to lament that the happiness doesn’t last. It’s an unending, exhausting struggle to conquer monotony by continually inventing ways to overcome the ordinariness and boredom of life. In this dismal situation, it is no wonder that wealth and sensual pleasures appear to be natural means to happiness.
When we begin to find moral and ethical life—the life of dharma—meaningful and a better way to be happy, it is a sign that the mind is learning to see things clearly. “Dharma protects those who protect dharma” (dharmo rakṣati rakṣitaḥ), says the Mahābhārata. When the heart is purified by the power of dharma and the mind is cleansed of all material desires, it may be possible to reach the truth that transcends both dharma and its opposite, adharma (see Kaṭha Upaniṣad, 1.2.14).
It is in that transcendent realm that the infinite is reached and where unending happiness can be found. That happiness doesn’t come from outside. It comes from the self—and no one can ever take my self away from myself.