artha

artha, (Sanskrit: “wealth,” or “property”), in Hinduism, the pursuit of wealth or material advantage, one of the four traditional aims in life. The sanction for artha rests on the assumption that—with the exclusion of the exceptional few who can proceed directly to the final aim of moksha, or spiritual release from life—material well-being is a basic necessity of man and is his appropriate pursuit while a householder, that is, during the second of the four life stages. Furthermore, artha, as the pursuit of material advantage, is closely tied to the activities of statecraft, which maintains the general social order and prevents anarchy. But, as the immoderate pursuit of material advantage would lead to undesirable and ruinous excesses, artha must always be regulated by the superior aim of dharma, or righteousness.