Hinduism 7(four factors)

The Four Goals of Life

The four goals of human endeavor or motivating factors are:—

1. Dharma — the pursuit of right living, virtue and duty to ourselves and society.

2. Artha — profession, material prosperity, power, security and wellbeing, all of which
must be based upon the codes of ethics taught in Dharma.

3. Kama — recreation, pleasure, aesthetics, sense gratification the highest form of which
is sexual enjoyment and love.

4. Moksha — liberation from the cycle of births and deaths (transmigration).

The ideal Hindu life embraces all these four aims in balanced measure and all being firmly based
on the principles of duty and properness (Dharma). For most people living in modern society
there are only two aims — material prosperity-power and pleasure, hence the pervading feeling
of alienation and lack of meaning in life. In order to achieve the most complete earthly happiness
all these four paths have to be in harmonized and integrated into our lives. Dharma and Moksha
add meaning to our earthly existence and differentiate us from the animal realm.

The Four Stations

According to the Vedic scheme the ideal life is divided into four stations;—
1. Student — in this stage one learns everything one can to equip oneself for the journey of life
and the attainment of the four previously mentioned goals. In the Student stage the stress
is on the study of Dharma as well as acquiring a general and tertiary education.

2. Householder — after studentship, one marries and enters into the order of householder
which is the best of the four orders and is the support of the other three. The family is the
cornerstone of society and the purpose of marriage is procreation. The focus now shifts to
prosperity — Artha and love/romance — Kama, but without neglecting Dharma.

3. Retiree — when one’s children are all old enough to take care of themselves, one begins the
process of withdrawal from worldly life. The focus now rests on Dharma and Moksha —
liberation.

4. Renunciate — when one is psychologically and spiritually prepared, one takes the final step
of preparation for death by renouncing the family and world and retiring to a monastery to
spend the last years in the pursuit of Moksha.
In the present age it is said that there are really only two stations; the householders and the
monastics.

The Four Social Divisions

The division of society into 4 distinct social orders exists and has existed in almost every
civilized society. What differentiates the Western ‘class’ system from the Hindu ‘caste’ system is
that in the West there is relative class mobility — meaning that with education and professional
advancement one can move from one social order into another whereas in India it was extremely
difficult, though not unknown to change from one caste to another, or for a whole caste to elevate
itself.
When observing any organized and structured society we can distinguish clearly between four
classes —
• The Intelligentsia (Brahmins) — the thinkers, teachers, poets, writers, scholars and
intellectuals of the society.

• The Bureaucrats (Kshatriyas) — politicians, administrators, managers, executives, soldiers,
police and all government officials.

• The Entrepreneurs (Vaishyas) — traders, businessmen, merchants, artisans, farmers etc.

• The Proletariat (Sudras) — unskilled and semiskilled workers, laborers etc.