Four Goals in the Mahabharata

On the surface, The Mahabharata seems to be a story about the struggle for political power and land rights between two opposing families. Yet, this Sanskrit epic holds much deeper philosophical and devotional material. Through telling this story, the epic presents the Indian way of perceiving the world and man’s place in it.

The Mahabharata discusses the four “goals of life” throughout. These goals consist of dharma (right action), artha (material purpose/prosperity), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation). These goals become self-evident throughout the story as we see members of each family make decisions following, or not following these goals. During one dice game between Shakuni (a member of the Kaurava family) and Yudhishtira (a member of the Pandava family), we see Yudhishtira continually bet all of his most prized possessions away. He loses all of his wealth, his kingdom, brothers, wife, and finally himself. In betting away everything he has come to possess, he clearly disregards the need to respect and follow artha. Artha is the Sankrit term for purpose, cause, motive, or meaning. All of these things he has so easily given away are the core substances that create meaning to his life. They have come to define who he is. Before the game, Yudhishtira had accomplished the goal of artha in life, but in throwing it all away, he loses everything. At one point, he tries to justify his actions by saying, “Even when you have lost everything, you still have the right to yourself and to your freedom.” Yet, personally, I disagree with this philosophical statement. For one, he gave himself up to the Kaurava family so his physical being is no longer under his control. Two, he has given everything up that have come to define him, so in essence, without these things, would he really be himself and would life be worth living? It’s doubtable.

Even from personal experience I know that when you’ve lost everything (artha), you don’t necessarily have the right to yourself and your freedom. There was a time in my life where I went from having everything I had ever wanted to absolutely nothing. I had no rights, no freedom, and nothing familiar that I had defined myself through to help guide me. In this environment, I became someone else and had lost myself. The years I had spent building up and defining myself were in the past. It was one of the most agonizing periods of my life. From this experience, I personally know that Yudhishtira could not have the right to himself and to his freedom because everything that defined him was already gone. He was in a state of peril and wasn’t about to admit it.

The Mahabharata reminded me to hold what I value close and to fight for what I believe in. It also reminds me to be appreciative of all that I have because it could be taken away in an instance, a realization that is too pertinent to today’s times. In holding what I care about closest to me, and not giving in, I will be able to follow the path of dharma that Yudhishtira wasn’t so successfully able to follow.