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Artha as a concept includes multiple meanings. It is difficult to capture the meaning of artha, or related terms of dharma, kama and moksha, each in a single English word. [9] Artha, as a goal of life, involves the pursuit of wealth and power. Some traditions see it as the primary human objective, as noted in Manusmriti (2.224).
Separating concepts in Hinduism from concepts specific to Indian culture, or from the language itself, can be difficult. Many Sanskrit concepts have an Indian secular meaning as well as a Hindu dharmic meaning. One example is the concept of Dharma. [4] Sanskrit, like all languages, contains words whose meanings differ across various contexts.
Artha (prosperity, wealth, purpose, meaning, economic security) is one of the four aims of human life in Hinduism (Puruṣārtha), [35] the others being dharma (laws, duties, rights, virtues, right way of living), [36] kama (pleasure, emotions, sex) [37] and moksha (spiritual liberation). [38] Śāstra is the Sanskrit word for "rules" or "science".
Smriti is a derivative secondary work and is considered less authoritative than Sruti in Hinduism, except in the Mimamsa school of Hindu philosophy. [13] [22] [23] The authority of smriti accepted by orthodox schools, is derived from that of shruti, on which it is based. [24] [25] The Smrti literature is a corpus of diverse varied texts. [13]
Ancient Indian literature emphasizes that dharma is foremost. If dharma is ignored, artha and kama - profit and pleasure respectively - lead to social chaos. [4] The Gautama Dharmashastra, Apastamba Dharmasutra and Yājñavalkya Smṛti, as examples, all suggest that dharma comes first and is more important than artha and kama. [5]
Abhinavagupta states that since everyone works therefore, everyone possesses dhrti; he holds buddhi to mean 'resolution' and dhrti to mean 'satisfaction'. [ 20 ] In Hinduism , four things viz. Śruti and Smriti which are society’s codes of ethics, sadacara which is good noble conduct accepted by society; and svasya ca priyam atmanah which is ...
Gṛhastha is considered to be the most intense of all four stages, where a man or woman pursues all four goals of life, with greater emphasis on first three - Dharma, Artha and Kama. [4] [5] [12] In contrast, Sannyasa is the stage where the individual renounces Artha and Kama, and pursues Moksha with a single minded pursuit. [4] [7]
Shabda or sabda stands for word manifested by sound ('verbal') and such a word has innate power to convey a particular sense or meaning . According to the Nyaya and the Vaisheshika schools, Shabda means verbal testimony; to the Sanskrit grammarians, Yaska , Panini and Katyayana it meant a unit of language or speech or vac .