Trivarga/Caturvarga

[Chris Austin]

If I recall, the following book locates the primary textual sources of the
(sometimes 3) 4 ends:

Arvind Sharma - The Purusharthas: A Study in Hindu Axiology. Michigan State
University. 1982.



Chris Austin
McMaster University
Department of Religious Studies


----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald R. Davis, Jr." <drdj at UMICH.EDU>
To: <INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 1:22 PM
Subject: Trivarga/Caturvarga


> In preparing a survey paper on the purusarthas, I have come across two
> sticking points which I hope list members can clarify for me.
>
> 1) I am looking to identify the earliest references to caturvarga in the
> sense of the four classic purusarthas (viz, dharma, artha, kama, moksa).
I
> have references to caturvarga from the later parts of the Mahabharata, at
> least one reference in the Raghuvamsa, and all over the puranas.  Before
> this, trivarga is the norm, e.g. Manu, Kautilya, etc.  Does anyone know of
> earlier references to caturvarga?
>
> 2) Does the medieval (or early) philosophical literature make much of the
> purusarthas as a collectivity?  Mimamsa and Vedanta, as far as I can tell,
> do not.  Are there substantive discussions of the purusarthas as a group
in
> other darsanas?
>
> Any help would be most appreciated.
>
> Best,
>
> Don Davis
>
> Dept of Asian Languages & Cultures
> University of Michigan