Four Axes of Meaningful Life
Discovering the axes of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha in the circle of Life.
Once upon a time, Sage Narad visited the heavenly abode of Lord Vishnu, pregnant with a sheepish question that accompanied his untested conclusion— Who was Lord Vishnu’s greatest devotee?
Lord Vishnu pondered with a glint of half-born smile before he announced it aloud. His greatest devotee was a poor farmer who lived in a small village in India.
Sage Narad stood flummoxed. He couldn’t shake off the disbelief which engulfed his body. He reasoned in whimpering vain that none chanted the Lord’s name more than he did.
The Lord pursed his smile with a concealing wit and quickly changed the topic so as to make it seem that he was ignoring his discomfort. He wasn’t.
“Would you be able to complete an errand I have for you? ”
Narad Muni was puzzled and agreed to run the Lord’s errand whole-heartedly, although with a quizzical heart.
Lord Vishnu gave him a bowl full of oil, filled up to the brim. As the Lord handed Narad Muni the bowl, he told him that he wanted him to take the bowl around the whole world without dropping a single drop of oil.
Narad Muni took the bowl with reverence and left for his journey around the world.
When Narad Muni returned with the bowl, he was proud of his accomplishment. He hadn’t spilled a single drop.
“Narada, thank you for running this errand for me. How many times did you chant my name as you went around the world with this bowl?”
Narad Muni stood in speechless agony. Engrossed in making sure that not a drop of oil spilled out of the bowl, he had completely forgotten to remember God’s name.
“But Lord…It was your errand…”
“And so is the case with the farmer. It is to his credit that he remembers me, despite attending to my errands”
“Now tell me, who is the greatest devotee?”
This story from Bhagavatham has often been used to extoll the virtues of devotion. It is however, fascinating to me, for one underrated reason: It shows us unusual glimpses of heroism in Indian thought.
Every tradition assigns a hero myth based on what it values. Every society needs a hero myth for its effective functioning. The beautiful thing about myth is that as the times we live in change, our hero myths also change to keep up with them.
In the Chinese tradition, the wandering monk is a hero. The Chinese tradition is replete with paintings that extol one solitary person walking across a vast land-scape.
In the West, the hero is the strongest who wins by the sword. The weapon could change over time - from sword to rattle gun to computers.
In India, the householder is the hero. The householder king who could answer tough riddles in spirituality was called Janaka - a king who lives in a way that brings together the pragmatic and the philosophical simultaneously.
When Shankaracharya was debating with Mandana Mishra, he was challenged by Mishra’s wife. Shankaracharya was unable to continue the debate without first living as a householder. He had to go through the process of living as a householder before he could even speak.
To me, this has been the most challenging part of this discovery- How does one live the life of a householder, with its pulls and pushes, and stay anchored to the highest wisdom ?
Growing up in a consumerist culture which values individuality, many a times, whenever I am asked to introduce myself, I am habituated to introduce myself alone. At the back of my mind though, I confront a question - Can I introduce myself without acknoweldging the web of relations I am enmeshed in?
Being and living the life of a householder teaches you the most difficult lesson: You can never run away in pursuit of truth. Can you be in the here and now and pursue the truth?
It was while pursuing this question when I stumbled upon the purushartha and the four axes of meaningful life. Here is how I have made sense of it. In Indian thought, one often comes across geometric ideas.
Life is a circle.
Time is a circle, consisting of various Yugas.
Indian classical music, when defined in one way, is a geometric appreciation of musical ideas.
Another geometric idea is to draw a square inside the perimeter of a circle.
It is essentially a spiritual pursuit to ensure that one doesn’t get caught tumbling in the vicissitudes of life. Development of the consciousness is the attainment of the perfect square which can sit inside the circular flow of life.
Is it possible to draw a square and circle of the same perimeter?
Squaring of the circle could be the reason why Pi was discovered a few thousand years ago in this part of the globe. Many of the concepts of life have square-like properties. You can anchor yourself in a perfect square, while you engage in the circularity of life.
Now what are the four bases of the square to anchor oneself in?
The base of the square is Dharma.
While the definition of Dharma has evolved over centuries [and we will explore that history at some point], essentially, it asks a fundamental question: How do I live in the world that enlivens me, you and the context in which we live?
The next side of the square deals with engagement of wealth - How do I generate wealth for me and my family?
The third side of the square deals with engagement of the pleasurable things in life- desire. How do I relate with the pleasures of life?
While Artha and Kama define the engagement framework with the world, Moksha (which is often confused as the ultimate destination) defines the ability to act in the world without getting entangled in our conditioned patterns of extractive relationships.
These four axes start to make real, tangible sense, when you start placing them in the four journeys of life.
Brahmacharya starts from the age of 7-9, when the child kicks off learning with upanayanam (not limited to brahmins as historical evidences show how everyone wore the sacred thread when they started learning under a guru) and commits him or herself to deep immersion in learning not just technical skills, but life skills required to lead a wholesome life.
The emphasis here is on Dharma, the bedrock of one's existence.
Grihastashram kicks off when the young adult decides to get married. The emphasis here is on Artha and Kama, as the householder pursues wealth and pleasures that is grounded on the dharma he has built his or her roots in.
Vanaprastha begins at 60 when the Sashtiabdapoorthi ceremony invokes a new context between the partners who were earlier in grihastashram. It is the time when the emphasis shifts to renunciation and moksha, moving away from earlier goals of seeking wealth and pleasures.
Sanyasa begins from 75, when the individual prepares for complete renunciation, preparing for the departure of the material world.
How do I draw the perfect square of my life, while flowing along with the circularity of life? Is it possible to live my current grihastashrama life, while remaining anchored in dharma? Is it really possible to transition towards Sanyasa when I have satiated the life of Grihastashrama?
I am willing to test this hypothesis out with my life. I will share my experiments, as I discover more about myself.
Do you find this framework useful to work with? Do let me know your thoughts.
Four Axes of Meaningful Life
Very thoughtful and well expressed! I especially enjoyed and related with this point:
"Being and living the life of a householder teaches you the most difficult lesson: You can never run away in pursuit of truth. Can you be in the here and now and pursue the truth?"
As someone who once wanted to run off and become a monk, and is currently married and running a business, your article was very relevant!