Hindu goals

Posted byanglohindu 4 Comments on Hindu goals

Based on the principle of progressive evolution of soul.

Doctrine of four ends forms the basis of individual and social life of a Hindu.

The four Goals are:

Dharma

Good moral and ethical practices according to the scriptures. Includes all duties, individual, social and religious

Artha (Wealth):

One must earn enough order to raise a family and maintain a household. Wealth should also be for sharing with those who are poor, handicapped or less fortunate. Dharma and Artha must be coordinated in order to earn decent living while recognizing that Artha is not an ultimate end of Hindu religious life

Kama

Denotes the wants and desires of body and mind in the form of desires, passions, emotions and drives.

Through controlled satisfaction of desires and passions, an individual becomes free from Karma(notice spelling). Freedom from sensual desires and passion is necessary for attaining moksha and is made possible by the proper coordination of Dharma, Artha, and Kama.

Moksha

This is the freedom from cycle of birth and death. In striving to attain liberation one becomes a better person, so that he/she can live harmoniously in this world before becoming one with God.

4 replies on “Hindu goals”

  1. You have a slight error in this post. It is Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha, nor Karma. Kama is defined in a glossary as:

    kama: “Pleasure, love; desire.” Cultural, intellectual and sexual fulfillment. One of four human goals, purushartha. See: Kama Sutras, purushartha.

    and karma as

    karma: “Action,” “deed.” One of the most important principles in Hindu thought, karma refers to 1)any act or deed; 2) the principle of cause and effect; 3) a consequence or “fruit of action” (karmaphala) or “after effect” (uttaraphala), which sooner or later returns upon the doer….

  2. “Based on the principle of progressive evolution of soul.”

    Actually their is no evoultion of the soul. The present pathetic state of the soul is due to it’s loss of memory of the real self. This “loss” is not something akin to detachment of the soul’s part but similar to covering of the Sun by the clouds. Actually it is impossible to loose the memory of self or soul for ever. But it is possible that the soul or self forgets it self temporarily. And that this temporary period extends to millions and trillions of years, which is nothing if we consider the immortality of the soul! The techniques in Hinduism are all focused on retrieving the original memory of the individual through styling and training the individual.

    1. Thank you Pramod, much of the info I’ve used is not my own but reworking of widely used content from the web and books. So I can rework the part in quotations can you let me know which post it was from please.
      One thing I was led to believe was led to believe was that when we are reborn we start to lose our memory of our past life until at about the age of 4 we no longer remember. Is that how you see it?

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