Caturvarga

Caturvarga · catur-varga, “the group of four aims of life”

Grammar: masculine noun; catur (four) and varga (a group, a class): “the group of four”.

Meaning: the four purushārthas, the aims of human life, taken together: dharma, artha (wealth), kāma (desire) and moksha (liberation).

In the scriptures: the brāhmaṇas leaving Kurukshetra because of Bali‘s yajña bathe in a chain of rivers, the Śatadru, Vipāśā, Kiraṇā, Airāvatī, Īśvarī, Devikā and Payoshṇī. In the middle of a forest the munis see a great and holy āśrama, honoured by all, the abode of the caturvarga. It holds four āśramas: in the east the Dharmāśrama, with groves of palāśa; in the west the Arthāśrama, with sugarcane; in the south the Kāmya āśrama, with banana and aśoka; and in the north the Mokshāśrama, of pure crystal. At the end of the Kṛta yuga moksha dwells there, at the end of the Tretā kāma, at the end of the Dvāpara artha, and at the beginning of the Kali dharma. Because he is made of the four purushārthas, Bhagavān Vishṇu is called Akhaṇḍa-tattva (the undivided reality), and he is present there as four-armed Jagannātha on the Akhaṇḍa mountain (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 62).

The Vāmana Purāṇa names the four as a whole in these places as well:

  • In the year-long ekādaśī vrata to Keśava for those who seek wealth, the four purushārthas are fully achieved by the one who performs it. Its mantra prays that the dharma, artha, kāma and moksha one practises be complete and unbroken (akhaṇḍa) (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 18).
  • Bhagavān Vāmana tells Bharadvāja Maharshi that by seeing, touching, praising and remembering the devatās of his sacred places (vibhūti-sthānas), devas, humans and sādhyas attain all four, dharma, artha, kāma and moksha: “this is certain” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 63).
  • In Vena‘s stava to Sthāṇu, Bhagavān Śiva is named Caturvidha-purushārtha-rūpa, “whose form is the four purushārthas”, and Caturvidha-purushārtha-pratipādaka, “who establishes the four purushārthas” (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26).

Related terms: Purushārtha · Dharma · Artha · Kāma · Moksha · Akhaṇḍa-tattva

Sources

  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 18, 62, 63
  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26