The Rishies have articulated the goals of humankind as Purusharthas. Purusha means an ‘individual’ and Artha means ‘objective’. Purusharthas are four:

Dharma: Righteousness; follow moral and ethical principles

Artha: Earn Wealth for family and society

Kama: Love, affection and respect one get by his conduct and work

Moksha: Being one with Brahman; Liberation from the cycle of birth and death

An individual is born on earth to realize himself or herself as infinite Brahman which is indicated by the last of the Purushartha, Moksha. But Moksha can be achieved only by balancing and fulfilling the other three Purusharthas.

The four Purusharthas are not independent of each other and should not be viewed in a stand-alone manner. For example the Artha is to be earned by strictly following dharmic rules. Kama is not an unlimited desire but the love and respect he/she receive by his/her conduct and work. The objective is to develop a balanced personality and make him/her useful to the society and motivate him/her to achieve the spiritual goal. Exclusive pursuit of one Purushartha creates an imbalance in a person’s life and prevents the person from reaching the ultimate destination of their life. As a person progresses through the evolution of their soul, they find that some of the objectives eventually lose their place and importance to more predominant objectives. For example, the desire to earn wealth may diminish and disappear, or a person may come to the realization that there is no more material desires that they need to pursue, and hence more room is created for the pursuit of the ultimate objective, Moksha.