YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Lecture 03 : Purushartha : An Ancient Indian Model of Human Development

Lecture 03 : Purushartha : An Ancient Indian Model of Human Development — Transcript

by IIT Roorkee July 2018 · 5,131 words · 1,010 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00[music]
0:11[music]
0:20[music]
0:25>> So, Namaskar, friends, and welcome once
0:27again. Let us start lecture number
0:30three. In the earlier lectures,
0:32we have tried to make sense of uh
0:35soft skills.
0:37And we also had uh an elaborate
0:39discussion on
0:41IKS, that is Indian knowledge system.
0:44And now we'll see how these soft skills
0:47that we have identified as an integral
0:50part of our professional life, the soft
0:54skills that are so crucial
0:57to our, you know, successful career, how
1:01they have been mentioned in our ancient
1:04texts and Indian traditions,
1:07and how we can really learn from them
1:11and make ourselves perfect in soft
1:14skills
1:15so that uh we can effectively
1:19implement them in our workplaces
1:22and can
1:24uh harness the best out of them. So, in
1:27this lecture, I intend to talk about
1:29Purushartha, which is a very important
1:33uh
1:33uh concept, and this is in fact an
1:37Indian ancient model of human
1:40development. So, let us begin by an
1:44episode in Mahabharata,
1:48a crisis of action, Arjuna at
1:51Kurukshetra.
1:52You all uh
1:54know about the story and can visualize
1:57uh what I'm talking about. In the
2:00battlefield, the armies of Kauravas and
2:04Pandavas are ready for the battle
2:08and suddenly Arjun throws his
2:12bows and arrows
2:14and uh
2:16says that I cannot fight. But then his
2:19charioteer is none other than Lord
2:22Krishna. And Lord Krishna
2:26gives him some practical and Dharma
2:30Samat we call it
2:32what is right according to Dharma
2:35advice
2:36and then uh asks him to fight. So in the
2:40battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjun stands
2:44at the threshold of action yet finds
2:47himself unable to act. He says that in
2:52front of him whosoever is there, they're
2:55all my own people, my guru
2:59my brothers
3:00my you know uh priest.
3:04So how can I really fight and kill them?
3:08As he surveys the armies, what unfolds
3:11is not the fear of death but a profound
3:15collapse of meaning.
3:17He starts questioning himself even if I
3:21win will that win be worth it? Will that
3:25be meaningful? He sees before him as I
3:29say not enemies but his teachers, his
3:33elders, his brothers, his kith and kin.
3:36And
3:37so
3:38suddenly
3:40he realizes that he cannot take his bows
3:43and arrows
3:44against all these people.
3:47He says says you know this time even
3:50Swajanam Krishna
3:52sidanti mam gatrani
3:55That means seeing my own people, oh
3:58Krishna, my limbs give way. So, he
4:01doesn't feel like fighting. His warrior
4:04duty
4:05or svadharma calls him to fight. He is
4:09there to fight. Yet, his emotional
4:11attachments, his bonds of love and
4:15kinship rejects this violence. The
4:18promise of earth kingdom, power, victory
4:22loses all meaning in the face of it.
4:26Friends, this is not simple crisis. This
4:30crisis is part of our life. There are
4:34moments when we have to choose between
4:38what is right and what is not apparently
4:42wrong, but still cannot be
4:45chosen. So, na kankse vijayam Krishna
4:49na ca rajyam sukanica
4:52He says, "I desire neither victory nor
4:55kingdom nor pleasure, oh Lord Krishna.
4:59So, I should I fight?" In this moment,
5:03Arjuna is no longer merely a warrior.
5:07He becomes a figure of existential
5:10crisis. My indeed friends, our life is
5:14full of such existential crisis. And
5:18there are moments
5:20when we are not able to take an informed
5:24decision. His confusion is not between
5:27right and wrong,
5:28but it is between multiple forms of
5:32right, between duty and desire, and the
5:36ethical consequences of action. We'll be
5:39thrown in such situations every now and
5:43then
5:44where we will take some action which
5:48will have other consequences.
5:51And obviously we will be in a fix
5:54whether
5:55to take such action at all.
5:58Overwhelmed
6:00Arjun turns to Krishna and surrenders
6:03his certainty. Karpanya dosho
6:07pahasta swabhavaha
6:09sisters teham sadhimam twam prapannam.
6:14My nature is overcome.
6:16I'm your disciple, guide me.
6:19He falls to the feet of Lord Krishna and
6:22he says, "Oh Lord Krishna,
6:24I'm not able to take any decision at the
6:27moment. So you please guide me what will
6:31be the right thing to do." Krishna's
6:34response does not dissolve the conflict
6:37by offering
6:38a simple moral rule. Instead, it
6:42reframes the very nature of action. He
6:46calls upon Arjuna to act but without
6:50attachment to outcomes.
6:53Well, friends, uh
6:55we all know about the Gita
6:58which was
6:59recited by Lord Krishna, which was in
7:02fact Lord Krishna's way of convincing
7:06Arjun
7:07what is right thing to do in a given
7:10situation. And so Krishna tells him
7:14that there are moments when you don't
7:17have to bother about the outcome.
7:20You have to act because the outcome is
7:23not in your hands. The action is. And so
7:27he says karmanevadhikaraste
7:30maphaleshu kadachana. You have the right
7:33to action alone, not to its fruits.
7:37And this is how he tries to, you know,
7:40propagate his uh
7:43idea of nishkam karma. His
7:47you know, nishkam karma, what is this?
7:51It is action without desire. Now,
7:55the modern people, people like us, will
7:57always question, "If we are not getting
8:00any outcome, why should we act in the
8:03first place?" Why? Because we want
8:06instant gratification of all our
8:10actions. Say, if I'm doing business, I
8:13mean profit. But then, friends,
8:16this needs to be understood that instant
8:20gratification does not have a
8:23sustainable presence. And again,
8:27our overindulgence
8:29with the outcome
8:31impacts our quality of action. So, what
8:36Lord Krishna
8:37wants to convey
8:39is that,
8:40you know,
8:41action without desire, where one remains
8:44fully engaged in the world while
8:48inwardly detached. Arjuna's crisis
8:52reveals a fundamental structure of
8:54existence
8:55where dharma, duty, artha, power, kama,
9:00attachment, and moksha, detachment, do
9:04not align easily, but exist in tension.
9:09Well, in our Hindu dharma, we always
9:13talk about
9:15attaining all these four dharma, artha,
9:18kama, and moksha.
9:20But they all
9:21come in opposition to each other
9:24and always create conflicting
9:27situations.
9:29So, it is precisely this condition that
9:32the Indian tradition conceptualizes
9:35through the framework of purushartha,
9:38not as a set of stable goals but as an
9:42ongoing negotiation between competing
9:46claims of life. So, somebody who is able
9:50to balance
9:51dharma, artha, kama and moksha is
9:54somebody who can have a fulfilling life.
9:59Somebody who can really call himself or
10:02herself successful. Coming to
10:05Purushartha, this is an ancient Indian
10:07model of human development and it will
10:11guide us throughout our careers
10:14what it means to be Purusharthi. Who is
10:18Purusharthi? Well, I begin Sreyan
10:22Swadharmo Vigunah Paradharmath
10:25Svanusthithath
10:27Swadharme Nidhanam Sreyah Paradharmo
10:30Bhayavahah.
10:32So, better one's own dharma though
10:35imperfect
10:37than another's well performed. Even
10:40death in one's own dharma is better.
10:44The concept of Purushartha referring to
10:48the aims of human life provides a
10:51comprehensive model
10:53integrating ethical conduct, material
10:56well-being, emotional fulfillment and
10:59spiritual realization. So, Sarvepalli
11:03Radhakrishnan also notes that Indian
11:06philosophy is not merely
11:10uh speculative but practical
11:13aiming at the transformation of life.
11:17So, one has to strike a balance between
11:21the different claims
11:24on him. It is not about earning alone.
11:28It is not about detachment alone. It is
11:31not about following the rules alone.
11:34So, it is
11:36an integration
11:39of all these conflicting claims
11:43that really results in our balanced
11:47self.
11:48What is purushartha?
11:50It is
11:51derived from purusha, meaning human
11:54being, and artha, meaning purpose or
11:58value. Thus,
12:00it refers to the meaningful aims that
12:03structure human life. So, somebody who
12:07leads a meaningful life is called
12:10purusharthi.
12:12And a meaningful action,
12:14a valuable action in life,
12:17leads to purushartha. So, these aims are
12:20traditionally identified as
12:22as I said,
12:24dharma, artha, kama, and moksha.
12:26So, rather than functioning as isolated
12:29goals, they represent interdependent
12:33dimensions of a balanced life.
12:37Alain Danielou observes,
12:39"The purusharthas cover the whole field
12:42of human aspirations,
12:44from the most material to the most
12:48spiritual."
12:49So, in Hindutva, we believe that the
12:52life is divided into four parts.
12:56We talk about brahmacharya. We talked
12:59about
13:00grihastha,
13:01vanaprastha, and sannyasa.
13:04Now, all these four
13:06stages of life,
13:08they have four different motives or aims
13:12to be accomplished. Likewise, it is said
13:16that our life
13:18is about pursuing dharma, artha, kama,
13:22and moksha. So, it suggests that human
13:25flourishing lies not in the pursuit of a
13:29single value but in the harmonious
13:32integration of multiple dimensions of
13:36existence.
13:37So, if someone
13:39is very rich
13:41but lacks ethical considerations or
13:45moral character obviously, he will not
13:48be considered an ideal person.
13:51Some concern is very rich and
13:53profit-making
13:55but it does not give value to its
13:58employees
14:00neither does it spend a penny in charity
14:04for the common good of humans, obviously
14:08such an organization is not an ideal
14:12example of a good organization.
14:16So, we can talk about Rita and Dharma.
14:20Those are Vedic foundations.
14:22The origins of Purusharth framework can
14:25be traced to early Vedic thought.
14:28Friends, in the previous lecture, we
14:30found out the treasure house of wisdom
14:33that lies in the Indian texts and
14:36scriptures.
14:38And the first and foremost was the
14:41Vedas. So, in the Vedic text itself, we
14:45find the origins of Purushartha,
14:48particularly in the Rigveda
14:51the earliest one where the concept of
14:54Rita
14:55or cosmic order
14:57is central. Rita signifies the principle
15:03that governs the universe and maintains
15:06harmony. Ritam Satyam Brihat in
15:10Atharvaved it says truth and order are
15:15foundational to existence.
15:18If there is no truth, if there is no
15:20order
15:21this world will go
15:24to
15:25ducks.
15:26Everything will go topsy-turvy.
15:28Everything will be in a disarray. So,
15:31human beings are expected to align their
15:33actions with this order, which evolves
15:37into the concept of dharma. Thus, the
15:40earliest articulation of life skills in
15:44Indian thought is rooted in the ability
15:49to live in accordance with a universal
15:53moral order. Mind it, friends, the
15:56Indian
15:57knowledge system always values something
16:01that is deep, something that is deeply
16:04philosophical, richly debated, and
16:07established after much debate and
16:11consideration. It does not talk about
16:14the terms
16:16superficially.
16:17And so, we need to understand all these
16:20concepts in order to really practice
16:23what is needed of us by way of soft
16:27skills.
16:28Then, we come to the Upanishadic
16:30interiorization and moksha.
16:33In the Upanishadic period, particularly
16:36in texts like the Brihadaranyaka
16:38Upanishad, there is a shift from ritual
16:41to inner realization.
16:43So, Upanishad, all of us know,
16:46the disciples used to sit upa upa means
16:50near, near their gurus, and the gurus
16:53used to explain
16:55the nuances of life to them, and that
16:59used to make lot of changes to them, and
17:03so, we can learn a lot from such
17:06ruminations.
17:07So, the focus turns towards the nature
17:09of the self or atman
17:12and its relationship with ultimate
17:15reality. So, uh we are not only talking
17:19about physical prowess or physical
17:22satisfaction, we are also talking about
17:27knowing oneself because knowing oneself
17:30or self-realization
17:32is the key.
17:34We see the outside world with our inner
17:38eyes. If you are inwardly,
17:41you know, disturbed, the same disturbed
17:44state of mind will lead to disturbed
17:47behavior. Fine.
17:49So, the focus turns towards the nature
17:51of the atman and its relationship with
17:54ultimate reality.
17:56The famous Upanishadic statement, Aham
18:00Brahmasmi.
18:02What is this Aham Brahmasmi?
18:04Brahma
18:05Brahma is the origin
18:08of mankind, the creator of mankind.
18:11When we say Aham Brahmasmi,
18:15that means I'm part of that same cosmic
18:20order.
18:21It reflects the realization of the unity
18:23of self with the absolute. This marks
18:27the emergence of moksha as a central aim
18:31of life.
18:32As human beings, we always believe
18:35that we are part of the same divine self
18:39or cosmic self,
18:41and we have been sent to this world with
18:44some tasks to perform, and ultimately
18:47after performing those tasks, we'll
18:50again go back to the same cosmic whole
18:54and unite with that. So, the emphasis on
18:57introspection
18:59and self-knowledge
19:01introduces a crucial life skill,
19:04the ability
19:06to cultivate self-awareness
19:09and inner discipline.
19:11Let us come to the Mahabharata, the
19:14biggest known epic in the world with
19:17over 1 lakh slokas
19:20and one of the most complex in terms of
19:23dharma,
19:24niti,
19:26and strategy and what not. It is a
19:30multi-dimensional,
19:31multi-model,
19:34you know, treatise which provides
19:36answers to
19:38many of our complex questions.
19:41Mahabharata explores ethical dilemma and
19:46the interplay between
19:47different aims of life. So, we find that
19:53through different episodes in
19:55Mahabharata, we come to know
19:58about the complexities
20:00and the difficult
20:02ethical choices and decisions
20:06that
20:07humans
20:08are supposed to make. It repeatedly
20:11emphasizes
20:13the subtlety of dharma
20:15stating
20:17dharma is subtle.
20:19Sukshma dharma. Dharmarthasya
20:23kamasya sa dharma kim na sevate. From
20:27dharma arise artha and kama. What cannot
20:30be achieved through dharma?
20:32So, it is believed that through
20:35righteousness, by following the right
20:38path,
20:39everything can be achieved. If you want
20:43to be successful, if you want to be
20:45prosperous,
20:47don't ever take routes that are
20:51unethical or immoral.
20:54So, this is embedded in our system, dear
20:57friends, and uh
20:59we can really learn from that. These
21:02insights suggest the ethical life is not
21:05governed by rigid
21:08but requires discernment. What is
21:11discernment? Viveka. Our ability to
21:14think and judge a particular
21:17situation.
21:19Contextual judgement. Now, judgement is
21:22not independent of the context.
21:26So,
21:27if the context is known, let's say chori
21:32or stealing is a crime,
21:34but what would you do if you find a
21:38small child who has been starving for
21:41days simply because he does not have
21:45anything to eat, no support from his
21:47parents, and doesn't have a penny on
21:50him,
21:51suddenly, you know, steals one loaf of
21:56bread from your general store. Will you
22:00kill that fellow for that? Will you send
22:02that fellow to jail? Will the police and
22:05judge penalize him for this crime? Or
22:09looking at this context,
22:12he will realize that he was in need of
22:15this, and that is why under this kind of
22:18compulsion, he has stolen from your
22:20store, and will pardon him. So,
22:23contextual judgement always looks at the
22:27existing reality and then judges things,
22:31and emotional balance.
22:33So, discernment, contextual judgement,
22:36and emotional balance are crucial if we
22:41want to take an informed and a right
22:45decision.
22:46Dharm, what is dharma? The principle of
22:49order, ethics, and right living. So,
22:52dharma is opposed to the modern concept
22:56of law. Law when enacted becomes
23:00binding, and irrespective of the
23:02situation, it is enacted.
23:05So,
23:06let's say you break the, you know,
23:10traffic signal, and you pay the penalty.
23:13But then, in Dharma, you may not be
23:16asked to pay the penalty unless and
23:18until
23:19the reason for breaking this law
23:23is established.
23:25If you are driving an ambulance, and
23:28somebody's life is in danger,
23:31and you break the traffic signal, you
23:34know,
23:35you may not be penalized. Why? Because
23:38you are saving somebody's life, where
23:40every second is crucial. See, in the
23:44Mahabharata, Dharma is described as that
23:47which sustains, dhārayati, the world,
23:51the world itself. So, Dharma, a concept
23:56that resists simple translation,
23:59encompasses
24:01cosmic order, social duty,
24:04moral law, and personal righteousness.
24:08So, friends, it is all-encompassing
24:11and very broad. It is not simple law. In
24:16the Mahabharata, Dharma is repeatedly
24:19described as gahana, that is gahan means
24:24deep, something that is unfathomable.
24:28Gahan, gahan, all of us know, deep,
24:32unfathomable, something that cannot be
24:35really understood fully.
24:37The Bhagavad Gita redefines Dharma
24:40through the lens of svadharma, one's own
24:44duty. What is your duty?
24:47Well, he asks Arjuna,
24:50"You are a warrior, and your duty is to
24:52fight. You have come to the
24:54battleground, so fight." Aligning
24:57ethical action with inner disposition
25:00and cosmic order. But don't act in
25:04haste.
25:05Act morally. Ethically.
25:09Think of the consequences of your
25:12action.
25:13And that is why you know, fighting
25:16against adharma
25:18is a valid reason because you are
25:21fighting to restore dharma. So however
25:24dharma cannot be fully known in advance,
25:28it must be interpreted in action. That
25:32is the whole beauty, you know. There is
25:34no fixed manual for taking decisions.
25:38Rather, the decisions come from your
25:41understanding
25:43of that particular situation. Whatever
25:46your viveka says
25:48is right in that particular situation,
25:51you take that decision. Well, dharma and
25:54its conflict conflicting registers when
25:56we talk about it's not that easy to
25:59understand dharma. In the famous
26:01Yaksha-Yudhishthira
26:03Samvad or dialogue, Yudhishthira is
26:06asked what the path of dharma is
26:10and Yudhishthira responds, "The truth
26:13about dharma lies hidden
26:15in a cave.
26:17The path followed by the great is the
26:20path."
26:21Mahajano yena gatah sa panthah.
26:24Jis raste mahan jan jaye,
26:26us raste ko follow karna chahiye. That
26:29is the path to dharma.
26:32So dharma
26:33is always lying hidden from us.
26:37And we tread that path and realize it
26:41bit by bit. This is not relativism,
26:45but what Bimal Krishna Matilal calls
26:49moral particularism.
26:52Ethical judgment emerges through
26:55context-sensitive
26:57reasoning, not universal rules.
27:01And that is the reason, friends, every
27:04now and then
27:05we hear a call for following the rules,
27:09not in letters, but in spirit. So,
27:13Dharma operates across conflicting
27:16registers,
27:18like cosmic, Rta, Dharma,
27:22social, Varna Ashrama, personal,
27:25Svadharma, situational, Apadharma.
27:29So, there are different aspects of it.
27:32Dharma is one with many manifestations.
27:37What is your Dharma? When we look at the
27:41dice episode in the Mahabharata,
27:44where Draupadi is being humiliated by
27:47Dushasana, and Yudhisthira and all his
27:51brothers are sitting with downcast eyes,
27:55and equally helpless are Guru
27:58Dronacharya, Guru Kripacharya,
28:00Dhritarashtra, and all the dignitaries,
28:03including Vidura.
28:05You know, we don't understand why none
28:09of them is,
28:11you know, coming forward to save her.
28:14Now, let's take the case of Yudhisthira.
28:19Yudhisthira has to follow Raja Dharma.
28:23He is the Raja, and a Raja has given
28:28consent to play the game of dice,
28:32and has also put his own wife on the
28:36stake, and has
28:38lost possession of her. Now,
28:41as he's Raja Dharma, he cannot really
28:44fight against Dushasana, um, because
28:49Draupadi is owned by them.
28:52And somebody who owns a trophy, it is
28:55his
28:56prerogative how to take care of that
28:58trophy.
29:00Throw it or put it in a cabinet and save
29:05it. Fine. So,
29:07you will find that but again,
29:10he's torn between his personal dharma,
29:13pati dharma. He's also a pati, a
29:16husband,
29:17husband of Draupadi,
29:19a raja. He also has brother dharma,
29:23bhratri dharm.
29:24So, all these dharmas are conflicting
29:27and at that point in time, it becomes
29:30difficult for him
29:31which one to justify, which one to
29:33follow. Arjuna's swa dharma,
29:36warrior duty, conflicts with sadharan
29:40dharm, that is non-violence.
29:42Bhishma's
29:44vow-bound dharm leads to catastrophic
29:46consequences. All of us know Bhishma is
29:50a great warrior
29:52and had he taken keen interest, the
29:55Mahabharat or the Mahabharata war could
29:58never have taken place. But then, he has
30:02taken a vow that he will not take
30:05weapons. And as a result, you know,
30:09he is going by his own swa dharma and
30:14does not take part in the
30:16war.
30:17Alf Hiltebeitel
30:20interprets this as a narrativization of
30:23ethical crisis where dharma is not
30:26given, but tested through suffering and
30:30failure.
30:31Now, so all of us know that dharma is
30:35our ability to
30:37take the best possible
30:40decision in a given situation. Second
30:43comes artha, that is materiality, power,
30:47and the conditions of life. The modern
30:50world is dictated by artha.
30:53Artha,
30:54but then artha is not money and
30:58possessions alone. In our ancient Indian
31:02knowledge system, it is much more than
31:05that. It denotes not merely wealth, but
31:09the broader domain of material
31:11resources, political power, and social
31:15order that are necessary for sustaining
31:18life. The most systematic articulation
31:22of artha is found in
31:24Arthashastra of Kautilya, a seminal
31:27text,
31:28which foregrounds
31:30its foundational role through the
31:34assertion, "Artha mulau hi dharma
31:37kamau."
31:38That means
31:39dharma and kama are rooted in artha.
31:42That means the pleasures of life,
31:45the important decisions of life, the
31:48duty of life, they're all rooted in
31:52resources or possession of artha, that
31:56is
31:57being resourceful. This formulation
32:00establishes that ethical conduct and
32:02desire are materially conditioned. Well,
32:06friends, here I'm reminded of a case
32:09relating
32:10Guru Dronacharya.
32:12Guru Dronacharya initially refuses to go
32:15to the court of Kauravas
32:18to teach the Kauravas because he is a
32:21guru and he believes that even if
32:24they're rajkumars or they're praja,
32:27they have to come to him, not he has to
32:30go to them to teach them.
32:32But then later on when he is uh,
32:35insulted by Drupad
32:37and is suffering acute poverty.
32:40He is compelled to take on the job
32:44offered by the Kauravas to teach them
32:47how to use weapons.
32:50So, you know, the desire
32:53and ethical conduct are also
32:56materially conditioned, making earth the
32:59infrastructural basis of human life
33:02at the same time.
33:04Kautilya articulates a welfare-oriented
33:06vision of governance as well.
33:09But, what Kautilya says is
33:12you use earth
33:14earth is important, but then
33:16the earth should also be
33:19oriented towards common good or welfare.
33:22Praja sukhe sukham raja.
33:25Praja sukhe sukham rajya. What does that
33:28mean? That raja only deserves to be
33:32happy whose praja or subjects are also
33:36happy. So, the happiness of the king
33:39lies
33:40not in his own material possessions and
33:42comforts. It lies in the happiness of
33:46his
33:47subjects as well. So, it indicates that
33:50political power must ultimately serve
33:54collective well-being.
33:56Well, however epic literature
33:58complicates this instrumental view, the
34:01Mahabharata offers a critical
34:02perspective. It says, "Arthasya puruso
34:06daso nartho dasa kasyacit." Arthath,
34:10"Man is the servant of wealth. Wealth
34:14serves no one." That means wealth is
34:17powerful. It highlights the autonomy and
34:21potentially dominating force of material
34:23pursuit. Thomas Trautmann in Kautilya
34:28and the Arthashastra
34:30reads the text as an early articulation
34:32of state rationality and administrative
34:36governance. In contrast, Amartya Sen in
34:40Development as Freedom reinterprets
34:42artha through the lens of capabilities
34:45and human flourishing, shifting focus
34:48from accumulation to freedom. So, this
34:52artha emerges as a double-edged
34:54category, both the necessary condition
34:58for ethical and social
35:01life and a potential source of
35:04domination, revealing the deep
35:07entanglement of power, materiality, and
35:11human flourishing. Now, we come to the
35:14next aspect, dharma, artha, kama,
35:18moksha. So, now we come to the third
35:20one, kama, which is generally believed
35:23to be another name for desire, pleasure,
35:27or aesthetic fulfillment. It signifies
35:31not merely sexual desire as many people
35:36believe,
35:37rather the cultivated experience of
35:41pleasure, affect, and sensory
35:44engagement. In the Kama Sutra,
35:46Vatsyayana
35:48defines it as shrotra
35:52gacchijihva
35:54ghrana nam pravrttih kama.
35:57That means kama is the engagement of the
36:00senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste,
36:06and smell, guided by the mind toward
36:09appropriate objects.
36:12It is the sensual gratification of
36:15pleasures, but not one particular
36:19pleasure. Fine? This definition is
36:22crucial because it positions kama as
36:25embodied cognition, where desire
36:28mediated by the mind and culture
36:31not merely instinct. Minded friends,
36:35many a time people say sex is
36:37instinctual.
36:39But here, you know, in this concept
36:41desire is not free. It is mediated by
36:44mind and culture.
36:46At the same time, the text insists on
36:49regulation.
36:51Dharmartha Kamana Samyak Anushthanat
36:55Sukham
36:56That means happiness arises from the
37:00proper pursuit of Dharma, Artha, and
37:03Kama, thereby embedding desire within an
37:08ethical and social framework. So, Kama
37:11is not free from Dharma and Artha. So,
37:15they are all integrated.
37:17Well, Kama
37:19may be treated as an affective force,
37:22the force of realization or
37:26experiencing.
37:27However, other traditions problematize
37:29Kama. In the Bhagavad Gita, it is
37:32described as Kamesha Krodhesha
37:36Mahashana.
37:37That means
37:39desire is all devouring. Any kind of
37:42desire swallows you whole.
37:45You are engulfed in your desire.
37:48And swept by desire
37:51you forget
37:53anything else. You dissolve in that.
37:57It reveals its potential to destabilize
38:01ethical life.
38:03Friends, there are many instances to
38:05show that
38:07the desire for more money has led to
38:10havoc. The desire to have sex has led to
38:14immoral living.
38:16So,
38:17desire or Kama, according to Bhagavad
38:21Gita
38:22is
38:23a destructive emotion. Thus, kama
38:25operates as both creative and
38:27destructive force,
38:29generating a fundamental tension between
38:31pleasure and control,
38:33but without desire, there is no life.
38:37Desire has to be controlled,
38:40has to be governed by dharma and artha,
38:44and then it gives us
38:46good result.
38:47Aesthetic theory transforms this
38:50tension. In the Natya Shastra, which we
38:53talked about earlier
38:55by Bharata Muni,
38:57kama becomes sringara rasa,
39:00sringara, aesthetic pleasure, sringara
39:03rasa, where personal desire is
39:06universalized into aesthetic experience.
39:10Abhinavagupta, in his Abhinavabharati,
39:14argues that through sadharanikarana,
39:17that is, universalization,
39:19individual emotion becomes collective
39:23contemplative enjoyment, detaching
39:26desire from immediate gratification
39:30and relocating it in artistic cognition.
39:34So, modern scholarship further
39:36complicates kama, as Sudhir Kakar
39:39in The Inner World interprets desire as
39:43central to psychic formation and
39:45fantasy, while Wendy Doniger, in The
39:49Hindus, An Alternative History,
39:51highlights its plural, transgressive,
39:55and often subversive representations,
39:59challenging normative control over
40:01sexuality and pleasure. So, this kama,
40:06there are different takes on it.
40:08It emerges as a deeply ambivalent
40:11category. It is at once sensory
40:14fulfillment, aesthetic experience,
40:17psychological force,
40:19and ethical risk. So, rather than being
40:23reducible to pleasure, it reveals how
40:26human life is structured by the
40:28interplay of desire, discipline,
40:30imagination, and power. Now, we come to
40:33the last moksha. It represents the most
40:36radical dimension of the purushartha
40:37framework, referring to liberation from
40:41samskara, that is cycle of death and
40:44birth,
40:45and the realization of ultimate reality.
40:48Aham Brahmasmi.
40:50We talked about that a little while ago.
40:53That means we are part of the same
40:55cosmic divine whole, and ultimately we
40:58dissolve in that. So, this desire for
41:01moksha, the last stage, is that stage
41:05where we try to realize that unity or
41:09oneness.
41:10So, in the Upanishads, this is
41:11articulated through the identity of
41:13atman and Brahman, encapsulated
41:17in mahavakya,
41:19tat tvam asi, means thou art that, which
41:23reframes liberation as an epistemic
41:26transformational shift from ignorance,
41:29that is avidya, to knowledge, that is
41:32vidya, rather than a physical or spatial
41:37escape. However, moksha introduces a
41:39structural tension within the
41:41purushartha system. While dharma, artha,
41:44and kama are world-affirming, moksha is
41:47often world-transcending.
41:50Realizing the question, does liberation
41:54negate social, ethical, and material
41:56life, or reconfigure them?
41:59What is the ultimate? Well, we become
42:02very successful, we amass lot of wealth,
42:05but ultimate realization, what is that?
42:08What is that one final thing that we
42:10want to realize? the Bhagavad Gita
42:13addresses this tension by proposing
42:16multiple paths
42:18like Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Bhakti
42:22Yoga, thus allowing liberation within
42:24action rather than outside it.
42:28Philosophical traditions further
42:29complicate moksha.
42:31Advaita Vedanta, as systematized by Adi
42:35Shankaracharya,
42:36interprets it as non-dual realization
42:40where the self is identical with the
42:43absolute reality. In contrast, Samkhya
42:47Yoga traditions define liberation as
42:51Kaivalya,
42:52the isolation of pure consciousness that
42:56is Purusha from material nature that is
43:00Prakriti, emphasizing ontological
43:03dualism. So, modern scholarship
43:07reinterprets moksha
43:09in critical terms.
43:10Like Louis Dumont in Homo Hierarchicus
43:16reads Indian civilization
43:18as privileging renunciation over worldly
43:21life.
43:23We have always been criticized by the
43:25Westerners for being too spiritualistic
43:29because they value the worldly positions
43:34more than the spiritual attainments.
43:37While Sri Aurobindo in The Life Divine
43:40challenges this by envisioning moksha as
43:44integral transformation
43:47where a spiritual realization coexists
43:50with worldly engagement. You need not to
43:54be a griha tyagi, a forsaker of your
43:57home in order to realize this kind of a
44:00spiritual enlightenment. Thus, moksha is
44:04not merely a spiritual end point, but a
44:06critical standpoint that questions the
44:09very foundations of desire, power, and
44:11identity. It destabilizes the
44:14Purushartha system by introducing a
44:17transcendent critique of all worldly
44:20pursuits, making it both the culmination
44:24and the deception of human goals. We can
44:28really match it with Maslow's
44:31need hierarchy theory. Abraham Maslow's
44:34hierarchy of needs proposed in a theory
44:37of human motivation conceptualizes human
44:40motivation as a structured progression
44:42from
44:43basic survival to higher fulfillment.
44:45This model is typically represented as a
44:48pyramid consisting of physiological
44:50needs, that is food and shelter, safety
44:53needs,
44:54that is security and stability, love and
44:57belonging, that is relationship and
44:59community, esteem,
45:01recognition, status, and
45:03self-actualization is the last, that is
45:05the realization of one's true potential.
45:08So, Maslow argues that unmet lower needs
45:13dominate behavior. If our stomach is
45:16empty, obviously that will dominate all
45:19other thinking. So, this introduces a
45:22teleological and developmental logic
45:26where human life is seen as a movement
45:28towards increasing psychological
45:31integration. So,
45:33if we map the Purushartha model to
45:37Maslow's model, Dharma represents
45:40ethical conduct and duty, which aligns
45:43with Maslow's social and esteem needs.
45:46Artha, material competence, corresponds
45:49to physiological and safety needs. And
45:51Kama, you know, encompassing emotional
45:54fulfillment and relational intelligence,
45:57maps onto love and belonging. Moksha, or
46:00liberation, resonates with the idea of
46:03self-actualization,
46:05reflecting personal growth and inner
46:09freedom. While Abraham Maslow's model
46:12assumes a progressive resolution of
46:14human needs, where one ascends step by
46:17step towards self-actualization,
46:21the Purushartha framework envisions life
46:24where Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha
46:27coexist in enduring tension rather than
46:31being sequentially resolved. So,
46:35Purushartha
46:36is a critical framework for contemporary
46:38life. We can see that it emerges as a
46:42diagnostic tool for modern existence
46:45rather than merely a perceptive model of
46:48life goals. Texts like Mahabharata
46:51already anticipate this complexity
46:53presenting human life not as resolution,
46:57but as ethical struggle, ambiguity, and
47:00decision under uncertainty. In a world
47:04that is shaped by capitalist
47:05acceleration,
47:07Artha often expands beyond necessity
47:10into endless accumulation, restructuring
47:14human value in economic terms.
47:17Simultaneously, digital and consumer
47:20cultures amplify affective excess, where
47:24Kama proliferates as overstimulation,
47:28desire without fulfillment, and
47:31commodified intimacy. Dharma, rather
47:34than offering stable guidance, appears
47:38increasingly fragmented across competing
47:42moral, social, and ideological
47:45registers. While Moksha reemerges in
47:47contemporary forms as mindfulness,
47:50wellness, or escape, sometimes as
47:53resistance, sometimes as withdrawal from
47:56systemic pressures, the Purusharth
47:59illuminates not balance but the crisis
48:03of balance in modern life. And so we
48:06find that what Halbfass sees the
48:10Purusharth as reflecting a tension
48:12between world affirmation and world
48:14renunciation, a tension that is never
48:17fully resolved. As Daya Krishna argues,
48:21you know, Indian philosophy is a
48:23tradition of questioning.
48:25And the Purusharth must be read in this
48:28spirit, not as fixed goals but as
48:31problematizations of life itself. The
48:35significance of this framework lies in
48:38revealing that human flourishing is not
48:42a state to be achieved but a practice of
48:47negotiating power, desire,
48:50ethics, and transcendence within
48:54overarching historical conditions. So,
48:57this is all, dear friends. I hope this
49:00framework that we have discussed you
49:02will keep it in mind and it will give
49:05you
49:06an insight in developing your soft
49:09skills, decision making, and making
49:12ethical, moral, and right choices in
49:15your life. This is the select
49:17bibliography. Thank you very much. Do
49:20join me for the next class. Thank you.
49:31>> [music]
49:43[music]

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Lecture 03 : Purushartha : An Ancient Indian Model of Human Development by IIT Roorkee July 2018, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 5,131 words across 1,010 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.