Introduction
Hindus believe that Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha combined together form Purusharthas. In it Dharma is the highest and arbitrator in the dispute between Artha and Kama.
Dharma
Dharma stands for right action or righteousness. It is law of every being and as such every living society has its own Dharma. No society can live and work without Dharma. It regulates human life and determines as to what is right and what is wrong. Dharma is the determining factor about future conduct and course of all human beings. According to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. “It stands both for the Satya or the truth of things as well as the Dharma or the law of evolution.”
Artha
Artha is another Purushartha which stands to express human prosperity. It implies that a person should earn wealth for the maintenance of his family as also for giving that in charity. Yajna and sacrifices can also be possible only with the help of wealth. Upanishads make it clear, that those who only care for the other world and do not care for this world or for earning the wealth are in absolute darkness. Wealth is also needed for attaining knowledge and immortality. Artha is thus needed for the maintenance of life as well as happy life. What, however, in Hindu philosophy is stressed is, that wealth should be earned by righteous and reasonable means. Wealth earned by illegal or unconstitutional means is not allowed under Hindu social system. It is always believed that good means should be adopted for earning wealth. Wealth earned by deceit has all along been condemned.
Kama
Hindu social thinkers have always fully appreciated the place of Kama in human life. According to them Kama is the urge for human life and it must be satisfied. They believe that it is essential both for the production of children and for continuity and perpetualness of the race. They believe that urge for sex is unavoidable and must be satisfied.
Moksha
It is ultimate aim of every human being to get salvation. Perfection and spiritual attainments are not only desirable but the end of human life. Some of the thinkers believe that it is the most important Purushartha and the remaining three are only means while this Purushartha is end of all these means. Leaving that apart, all our sages and saints have always aimed at achieving Moksha.
Trivargas
Trivargas are: Dharma, Artha, and Kama. Where as Moksha is considered to be the end of life and ultimate goal of every human activity in Hindu society, the other three Purusharthas namely Dharma, Artha and Kama combined together are called Trivargas. The Trivargas discuss the three main aspects of human life namely, material, moral and biological. The Kama discusses about biological, Artha material and Dharma moral aspect of the life of a Hindu. Since Hindu society is by and large a religion dominated society, in the Trivarga, Dharma plays a more vital and important part than the other two components namely, Kama and Artha. It is moral aspect. i.e., Dharma of life which regulates two other aspects namely, Artha and Kama or what can be said as material and moral aspects of life. All the three components of human life, i.e., Dharma, Kama and Artha are supposed to work in close cooperation with each other for achieving the ultimate objectives of life namely Moksha the arbitrator shall be the Dharma because that is supposed to provide right guidance.
According to P. H. Prabhu, “…as has been pointed out by Manu, the management and conduct of life should be coordination, or the proportionate aggregate of these three (Trivarga) classes of life needs, or the urges or the principal motives.”
Conclusion
Dharma, Artha and Kama comprise Trivarga. Dharma stands for right action. It is the law of every living being. Artha stands for human prosperity. Earning or wealth by right and legitimate means is Artha. Kama is he urge for human life and it must be satisfied. Dharma, Artha and Kama are essential for perpetuating the society. Moksha is essential for liberating an individual from the cycle of births and deaths. Without properly observing the Trivargas one cannot achieve Moksha. Dharma reveals fulfilment of moral needs. Artha highlights fulfilment of material and economic needs. Kama requires fulfilment of instinctive of intellectual, ethical and spiritual needs. The Trivarga constitute the biological basis of human beings. Unless there is harmonious coordination among the Trivargas society and culture cannot be perpetuated, and Moksha the essence of culture, the spiritual goal cannot be achieved. Therefore, there is close relationship between Trivargas and Moksha. Dharma stands at the highest level. It appears as an arbitrator between Artha and Kama in the event of clash and maintains a balance between them. To be precise, the Trivargas fulfil the needs of the individual and group, and help the society and culture perpetuate to liberate the soul from the cycle of births and deaths
Present relevance of Purusharthas
- Ideally relevance is there but practically not followed. Artha and Kama are given more importance than Dharm.
- Purushartha the psycho-moral basis of Hindu Society is still working
- In spite of changes, it continues to maintain law and order in country. India is a country of one billion plus population characterized by poverty, rampant unemployment and underemployment, low level of literacy, inadequate enforcement of law and order. Yet India shows low crime rate as compared to developed countries. For this a major share goes to self-regulation by virtue of moral order like purushartha.