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Index
Page of the ‘Goals of Life’
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Sadhya means ‘that which
needs to be attained’, i.e. the Goals of Life. They are also referred to as
the Purusharthas, i.e. that which is aspired by every human being. So the
Goals we are talking about are not imposed goals given to us by someone
else. They are something which we all basically want, something which we
consciously or unconsciously work for. The Rishis who dived deep within
themselves for understanding their basic aspirations & desires
identified FOUR goals for which everyone aspires & desires. They are
universal as well as basic desires. They are something which are at the heart of all our other desires. They are
something attaining which a person truly considers him or herself
fulfilled.
The Four Goals of life
which have been identified by the Shastras are : Dharma, Artha, Kama &
Moksha. Once the goal has been identified very clearly, then alone work
to discover the right means, and then work for it. The goal should be very
very clear, and it has to be loved & desired intensely, then everything
is taken care of.
In this section we shall
discuss about these Four Famous Goals of Life.
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1. Dharma
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Dharma means a righteous way of living. It is
a way of life wherein, not only there is peaceful co-existence with
others, but is also conducive to the attainment of all our worldly and
other spiritual goals. Dharma is so fundamental that even an evil person
expects others to be truthful etc to him. Lets
go deep into this fundamental aspiration of mankind.
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2. Artha
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Roughly translated Artha means the goal of
getting ‘Money’. Money stands for means of getting such a resource which
not only facilitates fulfillment our desires & duties, but also that
which helps brings about a sense of security. How do we look at Money? How
do we work to properly acquire money? Etc is the subject-matter of this
section.
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3. Kama
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Kama
is the aspiration of fulfillment of desires. Desires can be about
anything, worldly or things beyond. We will try to know as to how do we
prepare ourself for this, how do we extricate the maximum out of our
experiences, and also know as to how far does fulfillment of desires
quench the thirst of our heart.
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4. Moksha
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Moksha means Total Freedom. Freedom from a sense of limitation, freedom from limitations
of time & space, and most important freedom from dependence on Artha
& Kama. Moksha is realisation of our Self to be Brahman. This
alone is indicated by the word Enlightenment, and also the Param
Purushartha – the ultimate goal.
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