पुरुषार्थpuruṣārtha

पुरुषार्थ (puruṣārtha) is a Sanskrit word meaning any object of human pursuit, human effort or exertion, for the sake of the soul, for or on account of man, object of pursuit, for man as wealth. Its 11 recorded definitions are grouped into 5 contexts, among them The four traditional aims of life, General object of human pursuit, Adverbial: for the sake of man/soul.

Etymology: E. पुरुष, and अर्थ object
Definitions: 11

View Declension Tables , 48 forms

Meanings by context

The four traditional aims of life

4 definitions

any one of the four aims of human existence: desire, wealth, duty, and final emancipation

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

1. The gratification of desire, acquirement of wealth, discharge of duty, and final emancipation. 2. For or on account of man.

— Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary

one of the four principal objects of human existence, namely righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and liberation

— Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary

1. A human object such as duty, wealth, desire, or liberation. 2. On account of man.

— Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

General object of human pursuit

3 definitions

any object of human pursuit

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

1. Object of pursuit. 2. For man as wealth.

— Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary

any object or aim of men

— Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Adverbial: for the sake of man/soul

2 definitions

for the sake of the soul

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

for or on account of man

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Human effort or exertion

1 definition

human effort or exertion

— Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)

Reference to 'four' (aims)

1 definition

Four in number.

— The Purana Index

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Definitions on this page come from 7 works: Cappeller Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary, The Purana Index, Vaidya Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Wilson Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Yates Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Text from the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon.