Dharma & Individual Uniqueness

A Mission of the Spirit

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Context

According to the Vedas, the soul is fueled by four core desires, the longings behind all actions. These universal aims or goals of human existence are called purusharthas (translated as “for the purpose of the soul”). They are:

1. Dharma – the desire for purpose
2. Artha – the desire for health, security, finances, the means to survive and prosper
3. Kama – the desire for the deep pleasures of intimacy, sensuality, and love
4. Moksha – the desire for spiritual fulfillment, fearlessness and enduring freedom

WHAT YOU WERE BORN TO DO

Dharma is not what you do, not what you should do, not even what you want to do, but what you were born to do. – Aadil Palkhivala 

• Dharma can mean an individual’s unique mission or purpose, or the wise path in a bigger sense.
• Some sources use sva dharma which means “one’s own dharma” to differentiate potential meanings related to an individual purpose vs. a more general meaning such as “moral law.” (Here we will use the word dharma as it is commonly used: to refer to an individual’s purpose.)
• Each life is said to have a purpose, “a mission of the spirit.” Rod Stryker expands; “It is the desire to become who you were meant to be. It is the longing to thrive and, in the process, to fulfill your unique purpose; it is the drive to fulfill your destiny.”

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF EACH BEING

The Sanskrit word, “dharma,” as used in the Bhagavad Gita, is so full of meaning that it is impossible to grasp its full scope through any single English translation. “Dharma” can be variously, but incompletely, translated as “religious and moral law,” right conduct,” “sacred duty,” path of righteousness,” “true nature,” and “divine order.” … The word dharma… refers to the peculiar and idiosyncratic qualities of each being—those very essential and particular qualities that make it somehow itself. – Stephen Cope