Purushartha - The Four Aims of Life
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- Purushartha is the four aims of human life. An ancient system to follow for a purposeful and honorable life. In this Kali Yuga - where most things are confusing and where true meaning to life is blurred out or forgotten, and where leaders and role models are few, Purushartha means valuable guidance to what our Indo-European ancestors claimed was the meaning of life. The name is Vedic, but it is a concept that we see throughout Indo-European spirituality and life. Something for all pagans to remember.
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Purushartha is obviously not a Norse or Celtic or Roman concept - the word itself is Sanskrit and it’s a Vedic concept. But it mirrors what we know about how various Indo-European peoples lived, and these values echo in the whole Indo-European world. It rhymes very well with for example the Greek thought of arete, that the meaning of life is to grow in every aspect and to become the best we can in every sense. In fact, you’ll even see that the noble Greek virtue of arete is even etymologically cognate with one of the four points in this very purpose program.
No - Norse paganism isn’t the exact same as Hellenism or Balto-Slavic spirituality. But rest assured that they are traditions scooping out of the same source, we share our worldview and a treasure of ideas, thoughts, morals, virtues and concepts. And despite the fact that we don’t see further because of the blindness and sad state of our society, we are still standing on the shoulders of giants.
The hero’s journey begins with a whispered question that lives within the silent depths of our hearts. A longing to know who we are and why we are here.
Meditating deeply on these questions, ancient sages discovered four major forces at play that profoundly shape our day-to-day lives and guide us on a path to meaningful fulfillment.
These four elements fusioned into the concept of purushartha. It is a key concept in the Vedic spirituality and way of life. It is referred to in Vedics texts and the grand epic Mahabharata.
It’s a vision or a focus for how to strive to live your life. What is a life well spent.
The word itself consists of purusha - meaning a being, a consciousness or self - and artha - meaning goal or objective. So purushartha means the objects of human pursuit.
In the diverse demands and opportunities of our human lives, purushartha is the four meanings or purposes of that life. If we pursue purushartha it’ll lead us to a blissful state of being and a balanced life.
The first step on the hierarchy of needs is of course survival and safety. But with that provided for all humans strive for belonging, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, self actualization and transcendence. And that aligns with both purushartha and Indo-European paganism in general.
For those of you who haven’t already, I recommend listening to episode 6 of this podcast. There you’ll hear more about the Indo-European parts of the self and how to balance them - balance what you choose to focus on in life. That also relates to the concept of purushartha and where we put emphasis in life.
And if you have listened to that episode about etmn and the parts of the self, you know that human life is about understanding what you’re all about and to find the balance in what matters the most and what you choose to focus on.
Unlike other worldviews pagans don’t renounce or reject life and physical aspects of existence. On the contrary we celebrate this world, this life, everything living and also everything we strive to achieve and accumulate in life. It’s perfectly natural to want to make love or to grow your skills, and it’s perfectly human to want to strive for success and wealth, a good material life. Where it goes wrong is if we let a very narrow aspect of existence blind and rule us. If we get obsessed by the power of the one ring, so to say. Instead we should try to grow, succeed, build a rich and happy family life, and when we have - then we give. We reciprocate. The richest should give the most, the strongest should defend the most, those with love all around them should love the most. Reciprocity is the way of the Indo-European pagan.
Purushartha is a concept for you to make sure that you focus on the right aspects of life, so that you live an honorable life and make sure that you’ll take the next step on your journey and grow to the best version of yourself.
If you’ve become an instrument of selfishness and greed, or if you’ve lost track and feel purposeless, then purushartha is a way to find your way back home.
Now, the first part of purushartha, the first aim of Indo-European life is dharma. This is NOT something exclusive to Vedic tradition. Our oldest ancestors - the PIE - followed dharma. They called it dhermn, and there’s a reason I call all pagan spirituality dharmic. This permeates all pagan branches.
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