what is the goal of life according to hinduism ?

Namaste Hindu,

Can anyone guide me with goal of my life, i mean what is the goal of life according to hinduism ?

Answers are welcomed .

 

According to Hinduism, the goal (purpose) of life is four-fold: to achieve Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. The first, dharma, means to act virtuously and righteously. That is, it means to act morally and ethically throughout one’s life. The second meaning of life according to Hinduism is Artha, which refers to the pursuit of wealth and prosperity in one’s life. The third purpose of a Hindu’s life is to seek Kama. In simple terms, Kama can be defined as obtaining enjoyment from life. The fourth and final meaning of life according to Hinduism is Moksha, enlightenment. By far the most difficult meaning of life to achieve, Moksha may take an individual just one lifetime to accomplish ( very rarely) or it may take several. However, it is considered the most important meaning of life and offers such rewards as liberation from reincarnation, self-realization, enlightenment, or unity with God.

 

The following is an excerpt from a message given by Datta Swami:

In the materialistic plane, a person says that the aim of his life is to achieve a particular post [career objective] and then help his family members. Another person says that the aim of his life is to serve mankind. We appreciate the second aim as higher than the first one. The highest aim of human life can be known only in the spiritual plane. The sole aim of this creation is pleasing God through entertainment. Every human being is a part of the creation and so the same aim applies to every human being. Human life becomes fruitful if one serves the Lord and pleases the Lord through the service. Service means the sacrifice of work and the sacrifice of the fruit of work. Service is the proof of real love. The mother serves her child by sacrificing a lot of work like feeding, giving a bath, dressing up the child etc., continuously for years. The father serves the child by sacrificing the fruit of all his hard work to the child [by providing for the child financially]. It is a clear practical point that the proof of real love is only service. If you serve your family, it proves that you love your family. If you serve the entire world, it proves that you love the creation. If you serve the creator, it proves that you love the Creator. It is a very simple point.

Love is the attraction of the mind towards anybody or anything. When illness attacks the body, you take so much care to serve your body. You love your body. Similarly you serve your father, mother, wife and children because your mind is attracted towards them. What is the first prerequisite for this love? When you love your child, you are aware that a particular small living being is your child and you have the differentiating knowledge of your child from other children who are similar. Similarly, when you love God you must be aware of the form of God, who must be differentiated from other forms, as your child is differentiated from other children. You identify your child by certain special characteristics like the shape of the face, voice etc; you do not recognize your child by the clothes, which it puts on. Other children can put on such clothes too. Similarly, you must distinguish the Creator from the creation and then only love the Creator. You cannot love the entire creation as the creator. Do you love all the children as your own children? Therefore, the prerequisite of love is the true knowledge and the inseparable identifying characteristics of an object by which you get attracted towards it. Therefore, what is the real form of God? And how does it differ from other forms? What are the inseparable identifying characteristics of God? The answers for these questions constitute the detailed true knowledge of God. Only such true knowledge generates attraction and love. When you know the separate special details of Bombay, which are not seen in any other city, then only are you attracted to Bombay and like to see it.

Before proceeding to identify the true knowledge of God, you must also know the purpose of your attraction towards an object. You love your child, and there is no purpose in it. You also love a doctor when you are ill. But that love is not real. It is not love at all. It is only an artificial apparent love, exhibited for a purpose. You want the doctor to help you. Therefore, true love is that when there is no purpose in it. False love is that in which there is some purpose. Generally almost all people love God because God is omnipotent. He has miraculous powers to do anything that is impossible for anybody on this earth. When a problem comes and when one fails to solve it by all the means existing in this world, one starts loving God to solve that unique problem. Therefore, you love the position or power of God and not God Himself.

A poet shows a lot of love and appreciation for a king by his spontaneous poetry because the poet loves the power and the wealth of the king. He expects the king to donate some land or to give him some money after being pleased with his poems. The poet does not love the person, who is the king. He only loves the position of king. Will he write the same poems if the king loses his kingdom and becomes a beggar? In his poetry, the poet praised the king for his very beauty, sweet voice and infinite wisdom. These qualities still remain with the king even if he becomes a beggar. But the poet does not praise the same qualities of that beggar because the beggar cannot donate anything to him. The post of the king and the kingdom are separable characteristics, whereas the qualities are inseparable characteristics. You can easily identify the person by these inseparable characteristics and if your love for him is real, you will love him whether he is a king or a beggar. Do you not love your son and praise him whether he serves you or not? Sita garlanded and married Rama who was to be the future king of Ayodhya. The love of Sita may be for Rama or may be for the kingdom of Ayodhya of which she can become queen, or it may be both put together. Rama tested her love by discarding the kingdom and by going to the forest. Sita followed Rama to the forest. Her love was only for Rama and not for the kingdom. Ravana further tested this. Ravana offered her to become the queen. But she refused. Therefore, the love for God should be analyzed and should be decided whether God is loved or His omnipotent miraculous power is loved for our advantage.

Some people want to take advantage of this power in this world and some others want to take the advantage of this power in the upper world so that they can be protected from hell. In both cases the love for God is not true. It is only the love for his associated power. Shankara says that the true love for God should not have any desire related to this world or to the upper world (Ihaamutra Phala Viragah). If the love is only for the power of God, what is the use of the real form of God or the inseparable characteristics of God? The poet loves anybody as the king. For him whoever is on the throne is beautiful and wise. In such a case, if the king donates the desired land or cash by seeing the poem written by the poet, the poet does not bother to see or talk with the king again [because he has achieved what he wanted]. Therefore, when we love God's power for some advantage, we need not worry about His form or about seeing or talking with God. You can just chant some prayers. He responds to your prayers and your desire is fulfilled. In such a case one need not see God and God too does not want to see his or her bloody face!

When a mother wants to see her child, she does not think about any advantage out of it. In fact the mother presents some cash to the son as a gift and if the son needs, she will even sell all her ornaments and sacrifice for the sake of her son. Similarly, if the person has true love for God, the person wants to see God not for any advantage, but even at the cost of great disadvantage. For such a person, God appears and only such a person can see, talk, touch and even live with God. Only for such persons is there a need for the enquiry of the real form of God.

The real form of God is unimaginable as said in the Vedas and there is no question of seeing or talking or touching the God. The the Gita also says that nobody can know God (Mam tu the Veda Na kashchana). Such unimaginable God cannot be said to have a form and cannot even be said to be formless. The Creator is beyond the creation, which is a four-dimensional network of space and time made up of with matter and energy. The creation contains both formless items like space, energy and air and also items with form like water, earth etc. If you say that God has form or that He is formless, then God becomes a part of the creation and not beyond the creation. The the Veda says that no item in the creation including the pure awareness or life energy is God (Neti Neti...). But there are real devotees who have real love towards God and want to see, touch, talk with and live with God for no selfish advantage, either in this world or in the upper world. God, who has infinite kindness and infinite love, cannot reject such real love.

God is omnipotent and can satisfy the desire of such real devotees and the real devotees are crying for the fortune of His vision, touch, conversation and living with God. God is capable and the devotees deserve. Nobody can put his finger between these two. To satisfy the real devotees, God comes in human form and all these four fortunes are blessed upon the real devotees. If God comes in the form of space or energy, which is formless or He comes in the form of statues, He cannot grant these fortunes. He can talk, touch and live with the devotees only when He comes in the human form. Only the human body can do such things as per the laws of nature. Nature is His creation and the laws of nature are the rules of His own administration. He will not violate these rules except in the case of inevitable emergency. Why should He use His special power (Maya) and talk, touch, or live with you in the form of space, energy or statues? When the purpose is served through the normal routine [following the laws of nature], why are you so rigid in insisting on an abnormal way?

(The above is only an excerpt, for the full message please type 'Datta Swami, Universal Spirituality, Aim of Human Life' in Google Search)