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april 2018yogajournal.com.auCosmic Clues
The purusharthas are elaborated upon
extensively in the Mahabharata, the epic
Indian poem that contains the Bhagavad
Gita, and are interwoven with yogic
philosophy at the deepest levels. But
they have their roots in the Rig Veda,
the most ancient and revered of Hindu
scriptures. “What the Rig Veda suggests
is that the purusharthas are the
inherent values of the universe,” says
Douglas Brooks, a tantric scholar and
professor of religion at the University of
Rochester. “The cosmos is considered a
living being, and the issues of law,
prosperity, desire, and freedom belong
to it. These are not just human concerns
or psychological concepts. When we
engage them as human beings, we are
aligning the microcosm with the
macrocosm. The cosmos is all laid out
for you; your job is to get with the
program.”
To fully grasp the purusharthas,
Stryker says, it pays to parse the
meaning of the word itself. Purusha
means, roughly, “soul”—the essential
Self that is unchanging, that isn’t born
and doesn’t die but belongs to the
universe. Artha means “the ability” or
“for the purpose of.” Taken together,Stryker explains, purushartha means
“for the purpose of the soul,” and the
very concept asks that you take the
broadest view of your life. Are you
managing the day-to-day in such a way
as to support your inner work?
“The purusharthas are a
sophisticated way of living in balance,”
says Sally Kempton, a master teacher of
meditation and tantric philosophy. “But
they demand reflection. You have to
constantly ask yourself, ‘Which of these
areas am I emphasising too much? Am I
having a good time but not being as
ethical as I could be? Am I a great yogi
but haven’t yet figured out how to make
a living? Am I incredibly ethical but still
at the mercy of every passing feeling or
thought? Am I so rigid in my practice
that if I can’t do 90 minutes my day is
ruined?’ Anything you don’t deal with
will come back to bite you later,” says
Kempton.
Each one of the purusharthas has
many scriptures dedicated to it (the
Kama Sutra, the Dharma Shastras, and
the Artha Shastras, among others), and
truly understanding all four would
require a lifetime of study. Still, learning
the fundamentals is useful, especially to
the contemporary practitioner who’slooking to find more joy and meaning in
life. Here, a guide for working with the
four aims: dharma, artha, kama, and
moksha. Once you have an
understanding of the individual
components of each of the
purusharthas, you can assess the role
they play in your life by contemplating
the questions related to each one. Then
you can begin to analyse how well
balanced they are in your life.LET’S JUST SAY IT UP FRONT:Dharma is a
big word. It’s translated to mean “duty,”
“ethics,” “righteousness,” “work,”
“law,” “truth,” “responsibility,” and
even the spiritual teachings related to all
of the above (as in the Buddha dharma
or the Hindu dharma). The meaning of
the word is synonymous with your very
purpose in life—with having the
strength to get up each day and do what
needs to be done.
“The easiest way to define dharma is
to look at the verbal root, which really
means ‘to make firm,’ ‘to establish,’ or
‘to create structure,’” says Brooks. “It’s
about that which gives life order—
about stepping up to your own- DHARMA duty
PHOTOS: LUMINA/STOCKSY; BEATRIX BOROS/STOCKSY