Purusha means human being and artha means object or objective. Purusharthas means objectives of man.
According to Vedanta a person should strive to achieve four main objectives (Purusharthas) in his life. They are:
1. Dharma (righteousness),
2. Artha (material wealth),
3. Kama (desire) and
4. Moksha (salvation).
Every person is expected to achieve these four objectives and seek fulfillment in life before death.
The four principles can be summarized as “acquiring material wealth through righteousness to fulfill the desires to acquire inner happiness”
The word dharma means, “To hold together”. It represents “any act” of omission or commission, which holds people together in the society. The purpose of earning money should to be to hold one’s dharma and the money should be earned using the principles of dharma.
Mokhsha is the very purpose of life and in broader séance means acquiring inner happiness. The same can only be acquired using the principles of duty, discipline and devotion. Only if the desire or intention to acquire one’s happiness is focused one can get it.
Intention and attention are thus the main two tools of acquiring any thing in life. With right intention and focused attention, one can get over all the adversities in life.
The main principles also tell us the message of the trimurti: Brahma Vishnu and Mahesh, the three God of our existence. While Brahma teaches us about Dharma, Vishnu about righteous earning and Mahesha about fulfilling the desires.
All the four Purusharthas are also related to the ashrams of life. Bramcharya with dharma, Grasthya with Artha, Vanprasthan with kama and sanyasa with the moksha.
On each of the objective Vedic texts are available; dharamshastra, artyhashastra, kamashastra and the Upanishads.
Summary: “Using dharma to earn money which in turn can be spent on fulfilling the desire to get inner happiness”or “Fulfilling one’s desire of inner happiness using the means earned through righteous earning”
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