Dharma and the discipline of desire

Kama, or desire, is called out in our scriptures as one of the Arishadvargas – one of the six primary enemies of mankind preventing them from attaining self-realization.

Kama is also mentioned as one of the Chaturvidha Purusharthams – one of the things a human being must pursue as part of this life's journey.

Now there seems to be an obvious conflict. How do we pursue and not pursue the same thing?

The devil, like they say, is in the detail or, maybe, in deconstruction.

Unrestrained pursuit of pleasure is an enemy. The "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" kind of an attitude makes people think that pursuit of desire is the primary purpose of life. Obviously it leads to decadence over time is well understood even if not very well appreciated.

So then what is restrained pursuit of desire?

The Purusharthams always appear in a sequence – Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. I believe therein lies the essence of desire and its behavior or impact on a person.

Dharma – The destined duties as per Shastra. Duties that one is bound to because of who they are born to, who they are married to and what their chosen line of work to sustain the body and its relationships. Living as per Swadharma is quintessential, says Krishna. Therefore, Dharma can be termed as performing duties as ordained by nature (that include the kind of Karma one can perform given their natural orientation of skills etc) and human commitments (like marriage or work).

Artha – roughly translated to accumulation of wealth. The Artha that is essential and important is what gets accumulated in upholding Dharma and performing duties thereof. Pursuit of wealth itself isn't really the thing here. Wealth is a lead indicator. Its accumulation is a consequence of Swadharma. How much gets accumulated is not the key measure. How it gets accumulated is what matters. So, obviously, living within the stipulations of Swadharma, one cannot be expected to "over accumulate".

As a side note, we can see how Sanatana Dharma is inherently socialist – despite all the modern leftists and their efforts to use Sanatana Dharma as a bugaboo to force convert people into ideologies or religions that aren't really thought through to the extent Sanatana Dharma is.

Now comes Kama – Within the accumulated Artha from the stipulated Dharma, what one can afford to fulfill is the Kama that is worth pursuing. If one applies enough thought, it becomes quite clear that restrained Kama isn't even a phrase that needs to be called out. Kama, by definition and by its place in the sequence of Purusharthas, is already restrained.

Now one can argue that a family can pursue limitless Artha because of the number of Children that are born in a marriage. Again, I guess the sequence matters. You give birth to certain number of children based on how much you are limited by your Artha.

Fulfilling desires only to the extent your Artha allows you, and strictly performing duties based on Dharma, will naturally orient one's mind towards Moksha. Moksha is also a lead indicator. It would require no effort if one really leads a life that is ideal in the pursuit of purusharthas and, this is important too, focused on developing "Sattva Guna."

Krishna calls out the habits and behaviors of people depending on what Guna is dominant in them. He also asks people to focus on making Sattva dominant in their bodies. Once Sattva dominates, the consequence is that people will naturally be oriented towards Moksha.

The adherence to Purusharthas and a constant endeavor to develop Sattva Guna is all that is needed in leading this life. The universal purpose of Self Realization happens as a natural and effortless consequence.