Purushartha (puruṣārtha)

The purusharthas are the four legitimate aims of a human life: dharma, artha, kama and moksha, in that order of authority. The Mahabharata is often described as a book about what happens when the ordering breaks down, and its own colophon claims that whatever is found here on these four may be found elsewhere, but what is not here is nowhere. Yudhishthira's life is the test case, since he is asked in turn to pursue righteousness, empire, family love and finally release, and finds them impossible to hold at once.