Purusartha

Purusartha is a key concept in Hinduism, which holds that every human being has four proper goals that are necessary and sufficient for a fulfilling and happy life.

Dharma – signifies behaviors that are considered to be in accord with rta, the order that makes life and universe possible,[16] and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and ‘‘right way of living’’.Hindu dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of each individual, as well as behaviors that enable social order, right conduct, and those that are virtuous. Dharma, according to Van Buitenen is that which all existing beings must accept and respect to sustain harmony and order in the world. It is, states Van Buitenen, the pursuit and execution of one’s nature and true calling, thus playing one’s role in cosmic concert.

Artha – signifies the “means of life”, activities and resources that enables one to be in a state one wants to be in.Artha incorporates wealth, career, activity to make a living, financial security and economic prosperity. The proper pursuit of artha is considered an important aim of human life in Hinduism
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Kama – signifies desire, wish, passion, emotions, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations. Gavin Flood explains kāma as “love” without violating dharma (moral responsibility), artha (material prosperity) and one’s journey towards moksha (spiritual liberation).

Moksha – signifies emancipation, liberation or release.In some schools of Hinduism, moksha connotes freedom from saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth, in other schools moksha connotes freedom, self-knowledge, self-realization and liberation in this life.


Purusartha focused literature
Each of these four canonical puruṣārthas was subjected to a process of study and extensive literary development in Indian history. This produced numerous treatises, with a diversity of views, in each category. Some purusartha-focused literature include,

On Dharma
These texts discuss dharma from various religious, social, duties, morals and personal ethics perspective. Each of six major schools of Hinduism has its own literature on dharma. Examples include Dharma-sutras (particularly by Gautama, Apastamba, Baudhayana and Vāsiṣṭha) and Dharma-sastras (particularly Manusmṛti, Yājñavalkya Smṛti, Nāradasmṛti and Viṣṇusmṛti). At personal dharma level, this includes many chapters of Yogasutras.

On Artha
Artha-related texts discuss artha from individual, social and as a compendium of economic policies, politics and laws. For example, the Arthashastra of Kauṭilya, the Kamandakiya Nitisara, Brihaspati Sutra, and Sukra Niti. Olivelle states that most Artha-related treatises from ancient India have been lost.

On Kama
These discuss arts, emotions, love, erotics, relationships and other sciences in the pursuit of pleasure. The Kamasutra of Vātsyāyana is most well known. Others texts include Ratirahasya, Jayamangala, Smaradipika, Ratimanjari, Ratiratnapradipika, Ananga Ranga among others.

On Moksha
These develop and debate the nature and process of liberation, freedom and spiritual release. Major treatises on the pursuit of moksa include the Upanishads, Vivekachudamani, Bhagavad Gita, and the sastras on Yoga.

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Kritavarma

According to the Puranas, he was born in the most fearless Andhaka clan of the mighty Yadavas, and son of Hŗidika.Though he is depicted as a devotee of Krishna in the Vishnu Purana, apparently he was not in good terms with Krishna, and was one of the conspirators who plotted to kill Satrajit, Krishna's father-in-law during the Syamantaka Jewel episode.

During the great battle at Kurukshetra, Kritavarma was an ally of the Kauravas against the Pandavas and led the Yadava army (also called the Narayani Sena). He was one of the three survivors of the entire Kaurava army and had helped Ashwatthama in carrying out his night attack on Panchala warriors, in which the latter had slaughtered among others, Dhrishtadyumna (the Pandava commander-in-chief), Shikhandi and the five sons of Draupadi.

The event is described in the Sauptika Parva of the Mahābhārata. He returned to his kingdom after the war and was later killed by Satyaki in Dwarka during the final departure of the Yadavas, as we find in the Mausala Parva of the Mahābhārata.

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Eklavya

In the Mahabharata, Eklaivan was the son of Hiranyadhanus, who was King Jarasandha's army commander and leader of the Nishadhas. He approached Drona to tutor him in the arts of war, especially archery.

Self-training
Deeply hurt by Drona's rejection, Eklaivan still didn't give up on his resolute will to master archery. He once stayed hidden in the forest while guru Drona was teaching the Kaurava and Pandava brothers, after they left to the ashram, Eklaivan collected the mud on which his Guru walked, as a symbolic gesture of want to follow his knowledge and foot steps, later he went into the forest and made a statue of Drona under a big old well grown tree.

He began a disciplined program of self-study over many years. Eventually, Eklaivan became an archer of exceptional prowess, greater than Drona's best pupil, Arjuna. He accepted the statue as his guru and practiced in front of it every single day.

One day when Drona and his students were going out into the forest, Arjuna saw a dog that was unable to bark due to an amazing construction of arrows in and all around his mouth. This construction was harmless to the dog, but prevented the dog from barking. Drona was amazed, but also distressed: he had promised Arjuna that he would make him the greatest archer in the world. Drona and his students investigated, and came upon Eklaivan. Upon seeing Drona,Eklaivan came and bowed to him.

Drona asked Eklaivan where he had learnt archery. Ekalavya replied "under you, Guruji", and showed Drona his statue while explaining what he had done.

Drona then reminded Eklaivan that forEklaivan to truly be Drona's pupil, Eklaivan would have to pay guru dakshina. Readily,Eklaivan offers to do anything for Drona. Drona stoically asks for the thumb from Eklaivan's right hand. Hesitant at first, Eklaivan asks for Drona to confirm the command; Drona harshly does so. Smiling, Eklaivan cuts off the thumb and presents it to Drona.

Later, Ekalavya worked as an archer of King Jarasandha. When Jarasandha planned to besiege Mathura, he was aided by Eklavya who was a skillful archer. Eklavya also helped Jarasandha and Shishupala by chasing Rukmini while she eloped with Krishna. After Jarasandha's demise, Ekalavya sought to avenge him by campaigning to destroy Kuntibhoja and every Yadava in Dwarka. During the attack, he is slain by Krishna.

Eklavya the greatest warrior who defeated the pandavas single handedly.   He is said to have knocked out Samba the son of Krisna and took him to Suyodhan  in front of the lords eyes. Even Krishna himself had to cheat to kill him.

In Indonesian legend, in a former life Eklavaya was king Phalgunadi, killed by Drona and reborn as Dhrishtadyumna to avenge the killing. In this version, Arjuna gets his name Phalguna from Phalgunadi. Ekalavya's famous and chaste wife Dewi Anggraini was always faithful to Phalgunadi, even after his death and despite Arjuna's proposals of marriage.

There is a Eklavya  temple in honor of Mahabharata fame Eklavya in Khandsa village in Sector 37 of Gurugram city in Haryana state of India. As per folklore, this is the only temple of Eklavya and it is the place where Eklavya cut his thumb and offered to guru Drona.

In honor of Eklavya, Government of India runs a Ekalavya Model Residential School (EMRS) model residential school scheme for Indian tribals.

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Pradyumna

When Pradyumna grew up, he battled the demon Sambara and killed him using the Vaishnavastra. Soon after Pradyumna became a constant companion of his father Krishna and was well liked by the people of Dvaraka. Pradyumna was a mighty Maharathi warrior.

 He possessed the extremely rare Vaishnavastra which is the most powerful weapon in the universe. Also he was one of the very few people to know the secret of the Chakra Vyuha. But Pradyumna did not participate in the Kurukshetra War as he went on a pilgrimage with his uncle Balarama and other yadavas.

In accordance to Lord Shiva's boon to Rati, he married her incarnation, Princess Rukmavati, the Princess of Vidarbha and daughter of his maternal uncle, Bhimkaraya Rukmi. It is said that Rukmavati found his valor, handsomeness and charm beyond words and insisted on marrying him at her swayamvara. With her, he fathered,

 Krishna's grandson and favourite, also considered a vyuha avatar of Vishnu, Prince Aniruddha.Pradyumna was later killed in an intoxicated brawl at Dvaraka that resulted in the death of most Yadava warriors.

Knowing that their destruction was near, the Yadavas retired to Prabhasa where they were allotted temporary residences. When their time had come Vrishnis started revelling and drinking. Satyaki who was inebriated laughed at and insulted Kritavarma for killing the Pandava army in midst of their sleep. Pradyumna applauded Satyaki for this which highly incensed Kritavarma. He then taunted Satyaki by saying that he had slain the armless Bhurshiravas who had given up all hostile intentions.

Satyaki then narrated the incident when Kritavarma tried to kill Satrajit. Satyabhama upon hearing this became angry and started crying. She then approaced Krishna and sat on his lap greatly increasing his anger towards Kritavarma.

Satyaki then rising up in anger said that he would Kritavarma for slaying the warriors of the Pandava army while they were asleep. Having said this he rushed towards Kritavarma and severed his head with a sword. He then started killing the warriors who were on Kritavarma's side.

Krishna then ran to stop Satyaki. The Bhojas and the Andhakas incensed at Satyaki surrounded him. Krishna knowing the character of the hour stood there unmoved and let them do whatever they could do. The Bhojas and Andhakas started striking Satyaki with the pots in which they had been eating.

Pradyumna upon seeing this became highly enraged and rushed forward for rescuing Satyaki who was engaged with the Bhojas and the Andhakas. However the numbers of the Bhojas and Andhakas overwhelmed the two warriors and they were slain in front of Krishna.

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Satyaki

Satyaki strongly and passionately favored the cause of the Pandavas over the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra War, despite the fact that the Vrishini army had been promised to Duryodhana by Krishna. Satyaki accompanied Krishna to the Kuru capital, with Krishna as the emissary of peace which was ridiculed and turned down by Duryodhana.


The fourteenth day of the conflict features Satyaki in a prominent role. With Arjuna attempting to pierce Drona's formation, in order to fulfill his oath of killing Jayadratha, Satyaki defends Yudhishthira from Drona, who was attempting to capture the emperor in Arjuna's absence. Rescuing Dhristadyumna from Drona, Satyaki engages in a long fight with Drona, taking up the morning's fight.

Drona gets so frustrated by Satyaki, that he even uses divine weapons, which Satyaki counters using his knowledge of divine weapons from his education under Arjuna. Eventually, Satyaki tires, and he is wounded by Drona's arrows. He is rescued by a new attack from the Upapandavas. Ultimately, Satyaki manages to stall Drona long enough that Duryodhana, frustrated with Drona's lack of progress, withdraws Drona to focus on the conflict with Arjuna.

Later in the day, Yudhishthira gets worried that he cannot hear the twang of Arjuna's Gandiva bow. Despite his protests that protecting the king was more important, Satyaki is ordered to find and aid Arjuna. At the entrance to the Padmavyuha, he meets Drona. Drona tells Satyaki how Arjuna avoided Drona by asking permission to leave; permission which Drona granted. Satyaki tells Drona that he also must leave then, as Arjuna is Satyaki's guru, and the disciple should follow the teacher's example.

As Arjuna is being attacked from multiple sides, Satyaki appears, along with Bhima, to help Arjuna. Satyaki fights an intense battle with archrival, Bhurisravas with whom he had a long standing family feud, following from when Satyaki's grandfather defeated Bhurisravas's father in a duel.

After a long and bloody battle, Satyaki, already exhausted from fighting Drona, begins to falter, and Bhurisravas pummels him and drags him across the battlefield. Raising his sword, Bhurisravas prepares to kill Satyaki, but he is rescued from death by Arjuna, who shoots an arrow cutting off Bhurisravas's arm.

Bhurisrava wails out that by striking him without warning, Arjuna had disgraced the honor between warriors. Arjuna rebukes him for attacking a defenseless Satyaki. Moreover, he criticizes Bhurisravas for his actions during the death of Abhimanyu. Recognizing his shame, Bhurisravas lays out his weapons and sits down in meditation.

Satyaki then emerges from his swoon, and swiftly decapitates his enemy. He is condemned for this rash act, but Satyaki states that the moment Bhurisravas struck his semiconscious body, he had sworn that he would kill Bhurisravas. With the day's battle nearly over and Jayadratha still far away, the debate of the morality of Satyaki's actions is shelved.

On the fifteenth day of battle, Satyaki killed Bhurisravas's father Somadatta, and helped Bhima killed Somadatta's father, Bahlika. He had also fought with Duryodhana and defeated him after the later had defeated Nakula.

In the Kurukshetra war, Satyaki and Kritavarma were two important Yadava heroes who fought on the opposing sides. Satyaki fought on the side of the Pandavas, whereas Kritavarma joined the Kauravas. Satyaki is also noted as an ayurvedic physician who was an expert in Shalya (surgery) and Shalakya (Eye/ENT), he is mentioned by Dalhana in Timir and Annantvat (sushrut Uttartantra) and by Chakrapani in Netraroga (Charak).

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Bhagadatta

In the Battle of Kurukshetra, Bhagadatta fought on the side of the Kauravas. He was very well known for his skill on his elephant. On the 12th day of the war, he was involved in a fierce battle with Arjuna on his World Elephant Supratika, who was being attacked by Bhima. During the course of this battle, Bhagadatta fired an irresistible weapon called Vaishnavastra on Arjuna.

But, Arjuna was saved from death by the timely intervention of Krishna. Krishna let himself to be cushion for that potent weapon, which turned into a garland and fell on Krishna. The Vaishnavastra was only known to Lord Krishna, Narakasura, Bhagadatta, Pradyumna and Parashurama during the Mahabharata age. In the Ramayana age the Vaishnavastra was known only to Lord Rama and Indrajit. Finally, Bhagadatta was beheaded by a lethal arrow shot by Arjuna.

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Bhurishravas

Bhurishravas was a prince of a minor kingdom in the kingdom of Bahlika and played a role in the Mahabharata epic.Bhurishravas’ father, Somadatta, once clashed with another prince called Sini. When Devaki, the mother of Lord Krishna was still unwed, many princes competed for her hand in marriage including Somadatta and Sini who fought a great battle over her. Sini, fighting on behalf of Vasudeva won the battle. This incident launched an hatred between the Sini and Somadatta families leading to a sibling rivalry.
By the time of the Battle of Kurukshetra, Saini’s grandson Satyaki, now a king of the Vrishnis, was allied with the Pandava army while Bhurishravas, now aged, sided with the Kauravas and was one of the eleven commanders of the Kaurava army.

On the 14th day of the battle Bhurishravas challenged Satyaki. When Satyaki began to tire after a long and bloody battle, Bhurishravas battered him and dragged him across the battlefield. Arjuna, the leading warrior on the Pandava army, was alerted to Satyaki’s danger by Lord Krishna. Just as Bhurishravas was preparing to kill Satyaki, Arjuna came to the rescue, shooting an arrow cutting off Bhurishravas’ arm.

Bhurishravas wailed that by striking him without a formal challenge, and from behind, Arjuna had disgraced the honor between warriors. Arjuna in turn rebuked Bhurishravas for attempting to kill an unarmed Satyaki – an act also against the rules of war. Arjuna reiterated that protecting Satyaki’s life at all costs was his responsibility as a friend and comrade in arms.

At this point, realising his folly, Bhurishravas laid down his weapons, and sat in the lotus posture to practice yoga.
But then Satyaki emerged from his swoon, and before Arjuna could stop him, swiftly decapitated his enemy.

The warriors on both sides of the battle universally condemned Satyaki for this act – one of the incidents in the epic showing the superiority of dharma and honor against the uncontrollable power of hatred. Symbolically, as Bhurishravas’ attempt to kill the unarmed Satyaki immediately resulted in his own death in the same manner, Bhurishravas can be seen as representing the binding effects of one’s material actions (karma).

Most of times, whenever he is angry he was stratigically fought with Yudhistra , who his known for his cool and calm behavior. Hence, he was never able to display full potential.

Although, he reached very close to his maximum angry level when he heard that hios father has been killed and Duryodhana is almost dead. At that time, he attacked pandavas’ camp to kill all their sons. Actaully, he thought he hsa killed all 5 pandavas, hence, he angry level came down.

After this act, he was cursed was Krishna as a chiranjeevi and his wounds would never heel. At this time, he realised his mistake and then his all boons and angry power was taken off.

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