God exist in spirit. He puts a part of this spirit as soul in everybody and sends them to the earth. Man is expected to enjoy nature and participate in its further development on behalf of God. For this, he is enjoyed to perform duties earmarked for him. Human birth is endowed with many benedictions like intellect and a sense of discrimination with which he can understand what is expected of him. The duties that man should perform are covered by the word Dharma. It encompasses all duties in all fields of life. Man is not expected to perform these duties mechanically as a robot without emotions and need for personal aspirations and enjoyment. The man, therefore, also works for his economic wellbeing and satisfaction of desires. While man works, he creates resources for himself and the society, thus contributing to development. This quality is called Arth or economic well-being. The man uses resources for fulfillment of his aspirations and in the other name for merger of the soul with God and consequently release from the cycle of reincarnation. Dharma, Arth, Kaam and Mosksh are together called the four cardinal blessings, the achievement of which signifies a successful and productive life that ends in salvation.
The word “Purushartha” as per the Vedantic tradition consists of two parts ‘Pursha’ meaning ‘MAN’ and ‘ARTHA’ meaning aim of life. Dharma, Arth and Kaam, coexist and are inseparable. They should never be purused as an end in themselves, but as a means to ‘Janan’ (knowledge) – enlightenment of the self as they are inescapable means to an end. The ultimate goal being Moksha (salvation), and as we are about to realize it, we must substitute Dharma, Artha and Kama by vairagya and tapasya (detachment and penance).
Lord Krishna immortalized the small village of Jyotisar at Kurukshetra by delivering the timeless semon of ‘Bhagavad Gita’ there. The Gita is not an external dialogue, but an internal and intrinsic one. It concern is the turmoil and conflict within, the struggle for mastering the self that each one of us must wage relentlessly if we are to emerge victorious in life. The objective of the eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad Gita is to guide the individual consciousness to attain communion with the ultimate consciousness through Karma, Bhakti and Jnana Yoga, i.e. action, devotion and intellect respectively.”
Mahatma Gandhi said “When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita and find a verse to comfort me, and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who mediate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day”. Albert Einstein once remarked” “When I read the Bhagvad Gita and reflect about how God created the universe, everything else seems so superfluous.”