Insights : Artha, the second Purushartha

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One of the meanings of Artha is wealth.

So when you say Artha is second Purushartha, everyone jumps up and says its Okay to make money, its one of the sanctioned goals of life!

But that is misleading in my view.

Artha is meaning, or purpose.

So the second Purushartha says, “Find Meaning or Purpose in your life”. And suddenly it makes sense.  Don’t bother with the needless pursuit of money or wealth, just that kind of and amount of wealth that makes sense in your life context.

Dhanam Agnih, Dhanam Vayuh, ….. all these are also wealth. Maana Dhanam, praana dhanam, is also wealth, tapo dhanam is also wealth.. birdsong is also wealth, a clean floor is also wealth!

So you don’t have to “Earn money till I drop since I can do that only when I am young“.. that is slavery still.

Instead you can think, “I need this much dhanam of this type to fulfil my Dharma, which is my first Purushartha”.

I would also like us to relook at the word Purushartha itself.

Purushasya  Artha. The goal of the Purusha.

Purusha  does not mean man alone. Purusha is that Divine One that exists in all that exists, you as well your little kitten, men as well as women.

So Purushartha means The Purpose of the Purusha in your body.

From whatever I understand so far of the Purusha, It will certainly fulfil whatever purpose It took that particular life form for. The mind goes along for the ride like a helpful operating system managing the karmendriyas (limbs etc) and navigating with the help of the gnyanendriyas (senses). It might want to stop and explore the scenery at places, but the Isa, Master, Purusha, will go where It wills anyway! I think some people call this  destiny and some might call it fate (if they don’t like it).

When the Purusha completed doing what It had to do as Ravana रावण and Parasurama परशुराम, It became Rama  and Kaikeyi – कैकेयी and Hanuman and Sita Devi सीता देवी and Sugriva. It ended Ravana physically and took away the power of Parasurama.

When the Purusha finished doing what It had to do as the anaerobic bacteria, and made Oxygen on the planet, It took the form of Oxygen based life forms who are now busy filling the environment with CO2 and other stuff  lethal to oxygen-needing forms. It will take another new form next on earth. And thus throughout the Universe.

We may feel very tiny, insignificant and unimportant and the work we do as irrelevant to the Universe, but The Purusha has taken our form for a reason and will do what It has planned to do using our lives.

Since we have only one brain cell to every star in the universe, and to every person on the planet, the scheme is a little complex for us to follow. But we have enough brain cells to play our role in transforming terra-firma.

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

Thoughts and Insights : (Links to my other such thoughts and insights.)

The Dhi or thinking part of our mind loves toy with various ideas and understand them to convert them into buddhi! My efforts in that direction :

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula



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