Karma, Rebirth, and the Four Purusharthas
This domain tests karma as a causal theory, rebirth, and the four purusharthas as a framework for worthwhile life.
Karma and rebirth
Karma is action and its latent result. Texts distinguish sanchita (accumulated), prarabdha (ripening in this life), and kriyamana or agami (newly performed). The self carries karmic traces into a new birth; rebirth is shaped by conduct, intention, and the final thought. Moksha ends the cycle, not by mere good karma but by knowledge, devotion, or grace according to the school.
Four purusharthas
- Dharma: right conduct and duty.
- Artha: wealth and material security.
- Kama: desire and enjoyment.
- Moksha: liberation.
Dharma regulates artha and kama; artha and kama are not rejected but pursued within dharma. Moksha is the final aim, yet the householder's life is not dismissed.
Worked example. A merchant earns by false weights. He gains artha, but not legitimate artha, because the means violate dharma; the act also creates bad karma and requires restitution and penance. The reasoning tests whether wealth is pursued under dharma, not whether wealth is good in itself.
Traps. Do not equate karma with fatalism; do not make moksha merely heaven; do not say purusharthas are four equal goals without order; do not treat artha and kama as forbidden; do not confuse prarabdha with all past karma.