Mahabharata Series Three Purusharthas – Dharma, Artha & Kama Compiled by G H Visweswara October 2016 PREFACE This work is a compilation on the topics of three Purusharthas viz Dharma, Artha & Kama (Pronounced as Kama), also known as trivarga of purusharthas. The fourth purushartha viz Moksha has been left out of the scope here. The contents are extracted from the great epic Mahabharata. One of the famous claims about this great epic is: Whatever has been said in this about dharma, artha, kama and moksha has been said elsewhere also. But what is not in this will not be found anywhere else also (Swargarohana parva; adhyaya 5; shloka 50). Anyone who has studied Mahabharata in depth would have realised how true this statement is. I have extracted these contents from my other comprehensive & unique work on Mahabharata called Mahabharata-Spectroscope. (See http://www.ghvisweswara.com/mahabharata-2/mahabharata-spectroscope-a-unique- resource/). Whereas the material in that was included in the order in which it appears in the original epic, in this compilation I have grouped them by meaningful Topics & Sub- topics thus making it much more useful to the student/scholar of this subject. I have left out moksha as it is quite extensive and may interest only a few. Those who are interested in dharma as related to moksha may get my other PDF called Mokshadharma (a companion volume of Spectroscope) and study the same. Dharma appears in several flavours in Mahabharata. Some examples are: Adharma, Varna dharma, Ashrama dharma, Ahimsa dharma, Daan dharma, Raja dharma, Stri dharma, Putra dharma, Yati dharma, Swadharma, Yuddha dharma, Yuga dharma, Ritu dharma, Beeja dharma, Prakriti Dharma, Sankhya dharma, Pravrtti dharma, Nivrtti dharma, Moksha dharma etc. Hence understanding the underlying essence/principles & the specific variations becomes important to practice dharma. While this compilation is perhaps not exhaustive in capturing everything in Mahabharata about the three purusharthas, I have tried my best to make it adequately comprehensive and have tried to capture all the important passages. Also I have not covered Varna dharma exhaustively as some of the contents are available in my other compiled work Chaturvanas in Mahabharata. I hope the readers will find the document of some use in their study on this subject. Please see http://www.ghvisweswara.com/mahabharata-2/short-compilations-2/ for my other topic based compilations based on Mahabharata. G H Visweswara [email protected] www.ghvisweswara.com October 2016 Three Purusharthas in Mahabharata: G H Visweswara Page 1 Table of Contents Three Purusharthas – Dharma, Artha & Kama ....................................................................................... 6 Dharma ............................................................................................................................................ 6 Characteristic of dharma .............................................................................................................. 6 Dharma is the root ........................................................................................................................ 7 Dharma is made for all ................................................................................................................. 8 Dharma is greatest ....................................................................................................................... 8 Dharmas to be practiced .............................................................................................................. 8 Basis for having different dharmas ............................................................................................... 9 Dama as dharma ........................................................................................................................ 10 Benefits of dharma ..................................................................................................................... 11 Importance of following dharma in life ........................................................................................ 12 Which dharma to choose ........................................................................................................... 14 Dharma can change with time .................................................................................................... 14 Doubts on dharma ...................................................................................................................... 15 Hypocritical dharma .................................................................................................................... 16 Might and dharma ...................................................................................................................... 16 Aapadharma (dharma when in danger) ......................................................................................... 16 What should/can be done .......................................................................................................... 16 What should not be done ........................................................................................................... 20 Adharma/Adharmi .......................................................................................................................... 20 Greed is root cause of sins ........................................................................................................ 20 Other causes of adharma ........................................................................................................... 21 Reasons for Lapsing/falling from dharma .................................................................................. 21 Consequences of adharma ........................................................................................................ 23 Acts of adharma ......................................................................................................................... 24 Understanding/knowing dharma .................................................................................................... 24 Subtlety of dharma ..................................................................................................................... 24 Confusions/complexities/clarifications ........................................................................................ 25 Yudhishtira’s answers to Yaksha (Yaksha prashna) .................................................................. 27 How to determine/clarify doctrines of dharma ............................................................................ 28 Who cannot know dharma ......................................................................................................... 29 Contrary view on dharma ............................................................................................................... 29 Ahimsa dharma (Non-violence) ..................................................................................................... 29 Ahimsa is a great dharma .......................................................................................................... 29 Give up eating meat ................................................................................................................... 30 Censuring yajna & dharma involving violence ........................................................................... 32 Exception situations ................................................................................................................... 32 Avatar & dharma ............................................................................................................................ 33 Daan dharma ................................................................................................................................. 34 Charity is great dharma .............................................................................................................. 34 Who are eligible to receive charity ............................................................................................. 34 Three Purusharthas in Mahabharata: G H Visweswara Page 2 About yajna & daan .................................................................................................................... 34 Daan of land (bhu-daan) is the greatest daan ........................................................................... 35 Greatness of anna daan ............................................................................................................. 35 Anna daan: Story narrated by mongoose .................................................................................. 36 Five types of daan ...................................................................................................................... 36 Planting & growing trees ............................................................................................................ 36 Dharma: Its Varieties ..................................................................................................................... 36 Governance/King & Dharma .......................................................................................................... 37 Importance of King’s dharmic rule .............................................................................................. 37 Implementing/Practicing dharma ................................................................................................ 40 Qualities of