The purusharthas serve as pointers in the life of a human being. In ancient India, all men and women were advised to Purusarthas and Ashramas which were directly related to family life. The term Purusarthas represent the fundamental aspirations of ancient sages and social thinkers.
These are values of ideals for which one must strive in conduct and behaviour. Hindu social organization is both material and spiritual, and this helps people coordinate between the two. There are four purusarthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.
Dharma
The term dharma comes from Sanskrit, which literally means to hold ‘to preserve’. It represents right action. It stands as a principle for maintaining the stability of society. It is the guiding principle for attainment of other purusarthas.
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Artha
Artha refers to acquisition of material prosperity. It is important to acquire material wealth because it satisfies the material needed for the running of a household, to give gifts and to feed the poor. They should be earned through dharma or right action.
Kama
Kama refers to desires in man for enjoying and satisfaction of all the senses including the sex desire through right action. It is necessary to satisfy the physical urges of man as well as to achieve propagation of species.
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Moksha
It is the supreme and final purpose of life and is attained through proper functioning of other Purusarthas. Moksha is mainly concerned with the individual and frees him from all suffering and the cycle of birth.
Hindu Ashramas
The above mentioned four Purusarthas are the basis of Hindu Ashramas. They are concerned with the link between the individual .and the community. They form the psycho-moral basis of the Indian social system.
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The ashramas are the four different stages of life in which specific functions have to be performed. The four ashramas are Brahmacharya, Grahasthya, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa.
Brahmacharya
This is normally accepted as the first twenty five years of life. In this phase, each young man maintains celibacy and stays at the house of the Guru for studies and learning. Usually, in this period, an individual is engaged in Dharma.
Grahasthya
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Roughly, the next twenty-five years from the period of Grahasthya
in which an individual gets married and leads his family life. He/she engages in Dharma with Artha and Kama.
The third quarter of life in which an individual starts dissociating himself from the family life and starts the life of a pilgrim or religious wanderer and gradually gets away from Arts and Kama functions and prepares for Moksha.
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This is the last quarter of life in-which an individual dissociates himself completely from the family and becomes a monk engaged in Dharma and Moksha.