Spiritual significance of पुरुषार्थ (puruṣārtha – Soul’s purpose)

पुरुषार्थ (puruṣārtha – Soul’s purpose)

Etymologically the term पुरुषार्थ (puruśārtha – soul’s objective) is derived from the Sanskrit words – पुरुष (puruṣa - soul) & अर्थ (artha - purpose). According to Hindu wisdom, as articulated in various scriptures, following are traditionally the चतुर् वर्ग (catur-varga –four-fold classification) of critical objectives driving soul’s aspirations. Please be noted that here the term पुरुष (puruṣa -self) is not restricted to an anthropocentric meaning (i..e.,mankind alone), but is used in a more broader sense to include every individual जीवात्मन् (jīvātma - embodied soul). Each such soul, ultimately, as Swami Vivekananda used to say, every soul has “to seek, to strive, to find, to conquer and not to yield.” for achieving these four objectives during its lifetime.

இனஂபம் / काम  (inbam /kāma – passional persuits) 

Etymologically, the term काम (kāma) means desire. The basic physiological needs of mankind including the urge (strong desire) to live, sustain, grow and procreate, can be considered under this group as they are predominantly triggered by natural biological instincts for survival, which are not specific to human species alone but universally applicable to all forms of life – a fact well re-established by the famous Darwinian theory of evolution.

Well, you may be wondering as to in what way such needs are related to religion.In other words, why have the Hindu sages, included it under the domain of religion. Well, the answer is very simple and straight forward. Religion is one of the basic expressions of man’s instinctual objectives a fact endorsed even by modern modern psychological researches on religion shared by eminent subject matter experts like Sigmund Freud, according to whom, Religion is an attempt to get control over the sensory world, in which we are placed, by means of the wish-world, which we have developed inside us as a result of biological and psychological necessities. But while this is true, before proceeding further, I would like to warn you, with a word of caution,  not to get mislead by the term  काम (kāma), from a very restricted sense of sexual lust alone. Although sexual or sensual desire is one of the basic instincts of life, here the term is used in a broader perspective of इच्च शक्ति (icca śakti –will power) of the self to manifest and exist, Thus, the term काम (kāma - desire) here is more in conjunction with the famous Cartesian स्ंकल्प (saṁkalpa -volitional determination) - Cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I exist).  In ontological terms of शैव सिद्धान्त दर्शन (śaiva siddhānta darśana), it represents the आणव मल  (āṇava mala - ego fetters) attached to the जीवात्मन् (jīvātma  - embodied soul), responsible for driving these passions.   

Interestingly, from a functional perspective, this ancient hierarchical model can be mapped with the modern version of hierarchy of needs based on functional classifications), originally proposed by Abraham Maslow

But please remember that, any such hierarchical models  including the ones discussed here are only a logical categorization of the needs for practical epistemological reasons and hence do not have rigid water tight compartments as explained by Maslow himself, “We have spoken so far as if this hierarchy were a fixed order but actually it is not nearly as rigid as we may have implied. It is true that most of the people with whom we have worked have seemed to have these basic needs in about the order that has been indicated. However, there have been a number of exceptions.”

பொருள் /अर्थ (poruL / artha – wealth pursuits)

 काम (kāma - desire) would remain mere abstract wish-thinking, unless acted upon (implemented). In order to satiate his existential needs discussed above, each soul resorts to the next level of goals viz. acquisition of sufficient wealth in order to equip himself (economically, materially, intellectually etc.) for comfortably securing him, not only his basic requirements including food, clothing and shelter, but all his other desires as well. In fact, the renowned saint poet ஔவையார் (owvaiyaar), very categorically recommends each soul to embark on such a pursuits for wealth.

திரை கடல் ஓடியும் திரவியம் தேடு

(

thirai katal Odiyum dhiraviyam thEdu

Seek for wealth even at the cost of crossing the oceans

)

ஆத்திச்சூடி (āththiccūḍi)

I would like to warn here also, please be informed that the term wealth here is not confined to a mere financial sense of the word  alone. It is used in a more more holistic scope by including provision for all kinds of infrastructures. Again the term infrastructure is used in its etymological context viz.  “The installations that form the basis for any operation or system”.

A simple analogy from the corporate world, would help us understand this concept better. While काम (kāma - desire) represents the business vision and goals, the अर्थ (artha – utility) aspect focuses on the mission aspect of devising implementation strategies for realizing those visions comfortably. Any commercial enterprise, in order to run its business, needs the following kinds of base infrastructures, generally called as the 5M’s viz.: money, men, materials, machines & methods. Without these ingredients no business vision can be materialized. The same logic can be extended to the wider concept of soul’s sustenance as well -  our topic of discussion here. Thus, the act of acquiring the same becomes a pre-requisite pursuits of life. Only to emphasize the role and significance of wealth in one’s life, the ancient poet திருவள்ளுவர் (thiruvaḻḻuvar) declares

அருளில்லார்க்கு அவ்வுலகம் இல்லை பொருளில்லார்க்கு
இவ்வுலகம் இல்லாகி யாங்கு.

(

aruḻillārkku avvulagam illai poruḻillārkku

ivvulagam illāgi yāngu

As to impoverished men this present world is not;
The 'graceless' in you world have neither part nor lot

) திருக்குறள் (ThirukkuRaL) (247)

Translated by Shuddhananda Bharatiar

In Darwinian terms, the world is a cutthroat battle- field, wherein only the fittest can manage to adapt, survive and excel the competition. Homeostasis is a classic example of physical organism’s automatic efforts to maintain the metabolic equilibrium in its body, in order to live. In animal and other lower organisms, अर्थ (artha – utility) gets manifested in more primitive forms as food gathering, hunting, building of nests and other kinds of shelter for its survival. In the case of human being, who is more of a social animal, his aspirations are far more divergent in scope and driven by the community or social needs. For example, while animals are content with single home as a shelter, humans may not be contented with a basic house foe his shelter, he would like to acquire more than one house property – which is considered a symbol of wealth and prosperity in the society. In the words of Maslow, “All people in our society (with a few pathological exceptions) have a need or desire for a stable, firmly based, (usually) high evaluation of themselves, for self-respect, or self-esteem, and for the esteem of others. By firmly based self-esteem, we mean that which is soundly based upon real capacity, achievement and respect from others”.

Again in terms of ontology of சைவ சித்தாந்தம் (saiva siddhāntam), at a micro-cosmic perspective, continuous pursuit for implementation (action) can be mapped to the कर्म मल (karma mala  - action fetters), triggered by अहंभाव (ahaṁbhāva- self esteem), while at macro-cosmic scale, such perennial activity is referred as क्रिया शक्ति (kriyā śakti), which is a recursively process in the संसार चक्र (saṁsāra cakra - phenominal cycle). An undeniable fact, testified by Lord Jesus, Himself, 

ὁ δὲ [Ἰησοῦς] ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖςὉ Πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι

(My Father has never ceased to work and I am working too)

[The Holy Bible – Gospel of John -5:17]

அறம் /धर्म  (aRam / dharma – ethical persuits)

 If the above two pursuits are left to themselves uncontrolled, then selfishness, greed and beastly race of survival of the fittest, would eventually lead to chaotic anarchy where only the savage laws fo the jungle works. This is where, in any organised ,  the relevance of dharma - organised governance (physical, political, economic, cultural etc.) driven by moral standards, becomes indispensable for  holistic and effective cultural growth not only at an individual level but also at all the level of the collective consciousness – family, corporation, city, country etc

Please remember that laws of धर्म (dharma - righteousness) not only starts but also ends with nature – in fact, mother nature is one of the greatest law enforcers. Every thing in this Universe – be it animate or in-animate, natural or man made is bound by her omnipotent laws. For example, the entire universe is driven by physical laws of nature (many of which have already been discovered by science) including gravity, electricity, velocity etc. Again, all actions are bound by the laws of causation, as established in the कर्म वाद  (karma vāda – doctrine of fate) theory,    

 While such natural laws are universally applicable, customized or self made laws are more prevalent among the advanced organisms in the evolutionary hierarchy. For example mankind has been devising various kinds of socio-political laws for better governance and control. Moreover, able consciousness governance is one of the key yard sticks for measuring the level of progress and maturity in a society – community, country, company etc.

 In fact, religion is one of the highest expressions of धर्म (dharma - righteousness), and that is why in the language of the ancient Hindu sages religion is called सनाथन धर्म  (sanāthana dharma – eternal laws or principles). As prescribed by all religions in the form of regulatory guidelines – do’s and don’t’s every individual can carry on with his passional or materialistic pursuits via thoughts, words or deeds as long as they are bound by the moral laws of individual and collective conscience. The ब्राह्मण (brāhmaṇa) texts like शतपथ ब्राह्मण (śatapatha brāhmaṇa), धर्म शास्त्र (dharma śāstra) text like मनुस्मृति (manusmṛti), अपस्तंब सूत्र (āpastamba sūtra),  अर्थ शास्त्र (artha śāstra)

The Ten Commandments laid down by Mosses and the eight fold Golden path prescribed by Gautama Buddha are similar codes of conducts from Judaism & Buddhism respectively, highlighting the principles of धर्म (dharma - righteousness).  

Compliance to such धर्म (dharma- righteousness) is mandatory pre-requisite in qualifying oneself for experiencing higher realms of spiritual consciousness. In fact, most of the religious rituals are kind of self cleansing processes to set the stage for man’s spiritual progress. Thus, we find that there are numerous such religious practices that give tremendous strength and will power. Faith helps us to move mountains. God gives man the much needed courage and will power to progressively ascend the spiritual ladder. 

Another major benefit of man’s faith in God and religion is the belief in the concept of “Rewards and Punishments”. A person who believes in the universal ruler wants to enter the good books of Him. He feels that every thought word and deed of him is closely watched and monitored by his Highness and accordingly rewards those who indulge in good activities while punishing those indulging in evil or wicked practices – some kind of a Kingdom of God – a governing system.  Thus, this God-fearing man is always in the fear of punishment and thereby tries to discipline himself by trying to be good. Although fundamentally fear is a negative attitude, yet to some extent it helps in at least controlling if not completely remove evil tendencies in man since the general human tendency is that most men refrain from evil acts not with any great noble intentions, but merely out of fear of punishment. Let us face the bitter truth, for example most of the students, (of course there are always some honorable exceptions) do not indulge in copying in an examination not because of their honesty but merely because of the fear that they may be caught. Again not all of us are law-abiding citizens, not for any noble reasons but merely because of fear of punishment.  How many of us are voluntarily ready to pay the taxes, if not for the stringent regulations and penalties in place.

Man is usually governed by fear. Just as how a government of a state, controls crime by the ¾÷ÁტÂõ (dharmaraajiyam), enforce धर्म (dharma- righteousness) through his laws of कर्म (karma) – Òñ½¢Âõ, À¡Åõ (puNNiyam, paavam). Thus, many religions promote such ideas of “Beware! the Gods are watching you….” Based on your deeds you shall either be rewarded or be punished. They deliberately and constantly drive home this message into the hearts of the people from their childhood and inculcate a sense of fear in them in order to make them better humans. In fact, probably this is why, the great French revolutionary poet Voltaire sings,

If the heavens, stripped of his noble imprint,

Could ever cease to attest to his being,

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

Let the wise man announce him and kings fear him.

Kings, if you oppress me, if your eminencies disdain

The tears of the innocent that you cause to flow,

My avenger is in the heavens: learn to tremble.

Such, at least, is the fruit of a useful creed.

For example, the beautiful concept of स्वर्ग (svarga – heaven) and नरक (naraka – hell, based on the कर्म (karma - fate) of a person, his after-life is determined – he will be either in the luxury of स्वर्ग (svarga – heaven) or thrown into नरक (naraka – hell). There is Mr. चित्रगुप्त (citragupta) – the trusted officer of the यमधर्मराज (yamadharmarāja – lord of death), who very carefully tracks the conducts and actions of each and every individual and prepares a balance sheet of his कर्म (karma - fate), based on which, the “after life“of the individual. There are also lots of parables, fables, stories in the scriptures like the गरुड पुराण (garuḍa purāṇa), The Gospel of John – (Holy Bible) which promote such moral fears.  

The furious and frightening forms of Hindu देवत (devata - deities) including बध्र कालि (badhra kāli) ,  भैरवि (bhairavi), नरशिम्म (naraśimma), सरेबेश्वर (sarebeśvara), रुद्र (rudra) etc., are direct indication of man’s fear concept – kind of warning to potential sinners and wrong doers to refrain from such actios else face the wrath  (dire consequeces of eternal condemnation and punishment) of the furious Gods.

Ancient वेद मन्त्र (veda mantra) like श्री रुद्रम śrī rudram) containing नमकम (namakam) and चमकम (camakam) are further testimonies of man’s earnest attempts to pacify their angry God, praying for His Mercy and forgiveness of their sins.

Thus, we find that in this sense, religion has helped in promoting what I would say a positive fear concept driven by the favoritism of rewards and fear of punishment aspect. However, please be informed that, such fear psychosis is not the only driving force for souls to abide by the laws of dharma although the majority of the average minded souls would fall in this category.

People who comply with such regulatory recommendations due to either the convention, convenience or compulsion, would typically fall under this category. However, there are many evolved souls (perfectionists) adhering to धर्म (dharma- righteousness) purely based on their passionate conviction for the same. Mahātma Gandhi, Yudhiśtra, the purānic legend rāja hariścandra, are some such honorable exceptions, who demonstrated in their life their uncompromising conviction for the principles of Truth.

வீடு/ मोक्ष (vIdu / mokśa – soteriologial pursuits)

            Finally, we come to the highest rung  (the summit state) in the hierarchy of a soul’s needs which  is aptly refered by Maslow as the self-actualization (originally termed by Kurt Goldstein) needs.  Such needs represent the ultimate purpose of every religion. Religion plays a key role in the teleological discovery process of the respective soul, i.e., a self inquiry into the  into ultimate purpose of one’s existence (manifestation). To quote Swami Vivekananda, “Each soul is potentially Divine… Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man (read soul)”  by liberating from the clutches of māyā.  Etymologically, the Sanskrit term mokśa means final emancipation (end state) and is synonymous with मुक्ति (mukti - liberation),  समाधि (samādhi – atonement), निर्वाण (nirvāṇa- release) and the Greek term 'soteria (salvation)'

               Thus, the telos (ultimate purpose) of Life is spiritual salvation which is the realization of God, the अन्तर्यामि ब्राह्मन (antaryāmi brāhmana - inherent Divinity).  In philosophical terms, this process is essentially called as the spiritual retreat or home coming – returning of the soul’s after a tiring journey, back to its வீடு (vIdu - hometown). In fact, even etymologically speaking, the very term धर्म  (dharma) which denotes religion in Sanskrit (as discussed above), is derived from the root word ‘“ध्र’ (dhr), which means “to hold - bind together”.  Interestingly, for that matter, the English term ‘religion’, is derived from the Latin roots “re” which means “again” & “ligare” which means “to bind back”, thus  denoting “ the art & science of binding back together with the original source – God”.  Such a concept of the spiritual retreat to the source, is very beautifully highlighted in the  the mystic verses of the eminent Persian poet and Sufi saint - Jelaluddin Rumi,

Seeking the Source

a voice out of this world calls on our souls

not to wait anymore get ready to move

to the original home your real home

your real birth place is up here with the heavens

let your soul take a flight like a happy phoenix

you've been tied up your feet in the mud
your body roped to a log break loose your ties
get ready for the final flight
make your last journey from this strange world
soar for the heights where there is no more
separation of you and your home

- by Mevalana Jellauddin Rumi (translated by Nader Khalili)

In response to such a Divine call, every soul would eventually embark upon a spiritual pilgrimage to return back to its favorite Home sweet Home.  and just as in the empirical scenario he can potentially select one or more of the modes of transport viz. railways, roadways, waterways or airways, to reach his destination, according to Hindu wisdom, in the case of the spiritual journey, the pilgrim can take one or more of the following मार्ग (mārga - modes) viz. भक्ति मार्ग (bhakti mārga – devotional mode), कर्म मार्ग  (karmāmārga – service mode), ज्ञान मार्ग (jñāna mārga – knowledge mode) & ध्यान मार्ग (dhyāna mārga – meditation mode).

Please remember that, in physical travel, there could be varieties of routes connecting the source and destination and some of these routes each of these routes could potentially contain a variety of terrains that one has to cross through (plains, mountains, seas etc.). Moreover, some journeys, particularly those cutting across terrains, may require multiple modes of transports.

Similarly, according to Hinduism, in a spiritual journey, the variety of routes can be compared to different religious belief systems that one can follow (viz.  dvaita,, advaita, vishistadvaita etc) and the terrains correspond to different कोश (kośa – sheaths/realms) of consciousness viz.   अन्नमय (annamaya - physical),  प्रानमय (prānamaya - vital), मनोमय (manomaya - mental), विञानमय (viñānamaya – intellectual) &  आनन्दमय (ānandamaya - bliss)

Again, just as in any physical travel, milestones market between the source and destination, will help us measure and monitor the progress in the journey, there are established milestone अवस्था (avasthās - states) in spiritual progress viz. जाग्रत् अवस्था (jāgrat avasthā – waking state), स्वप्न अवस्था (svapna avasthā – dream state), सुषुप्ति अवस्था (suṣupti avasthā – sleep state) and the तुरिय अवस्था (turiya avasthā – fourth state of mukthi  liberation) and finally the तुरियातित अवस्था (turiyātita avasthā – transcendent state) of परमानन्दम् (paramānandam - supreme bliss) beyond the तुरिय (turiya – fourth).

The traveler taking the appropriate mode of transport and route to reach the destination, and after transcending the respective milestone stages, finally at the end of the journey and depending on the modes of transport and the routes taken, the traveler reaches the respective destination endpoint (port of entry). For example, a person trying to return back to Chennai would land in the appropriate port viz. airport, harbor or railway station or bus terminus depending on whether he has traveled by flight, ship, train or bus. Similarly, a spiritual journey could have multiple endpoints (destination ports). Hinduism, for example, recognizes the following endpoints - viz. वेदान्त (vedānta), सिद्धान्त (siddhānta), नाधान्त (nādhānta), बोघान्त (boghānta), योगान्त (yogānta) & कलान्त (kalānta).