May 15, 2010: Human Pursuits

Our self-awareness and the judgements we make about ourselves are the basis for everything we consciously do in our lives. Our pursuits are not merely for survival; they are attempts to improve ourselves and remove our limitations. They differ from person to person based on what we are dissatisfied with about ourselves. This means that the number of possible pursuits is infinite, but vedānta-śāstra has reduced them all down to a basic, universal few. In Sanskrit, these are called puruṣārtha, which literally means, "That which is sought by human beings." Many people have heard of them before, as they occur frequently in Indian literature and in the culture. However, it is important to understand them with their full import in the context of upaniṣad so we can see that they really do completely describe each of our lives.

One kind of pursuit in our lives is in response to the limitations of our existence. We exist only for a short time, in one place, and as single individuals. Any attempt to remove or minimize these limitations is called artha. On a basic level, we acquire money, property, and resources so that our health and physical survival is never threatened. We seek positions of power, respect, and recognition to maintain our identities. We even secure all of these things for our descendants because we feel, in a way, our existence will continue through them. In fact, we spend most of our lives in artha, trying to establish a sense of security and permanence for ourselves.

Even so, no human being could live for mere existence. When security is achieved, no matter how temporarily, we try to add enjoyment to life. This attempt to remove or minimize the limitations on our happiness is called kāma. Kāma is even more varied than artha, because it is guided by individual preferences and tastes. Even the objects pursued as artha - food, money, position - become kāma when their purpose is no longer survival, but enjoyment. As such, there is no clear dividing line between the two pursuits, but taken together we can see that they include almost everything we ever do.

The purpose of analysing our pursuits is not to judge them as being right or wrong, but rather to learn about ourselves objectively. Śāstra is trying to lead us to the possibility that there is something fundamental underlying all of our pursuits. It is only after understanding this that we will be able to appreciate the practicality of the vision of śāstra: that it is only showing us the way to get what we really want.