Virtue, Success, Pleasure, and Liberation: The Four Aims of Life in the Tradition of Ancient India

by Alain Daniélou

What is the Nature of the social order that unquestionably produced one of the greatest and longest lasting civilizations known to humankind? Alain Daniélou, distinguished Orientalist, musicologist, and linguist, reveals the foundations of India's culture and the four aims of human life as they are viewed in the traditional Hindu virtue on a moral plane; success on the material and social planes; pleasure on a sensual plane; and liberation on a spiritual plane. Coexistent with these aims are the four stages of quest for knowledge, family life, retreat into the forest, and renunciation.

A four-fold division can be found in all traditional societies throughout the world, symbolically representing the progression of creative consciousness into physical reality. In India, this division is reflected in the caste system, a social order that differs profoundly from those accepted in the contemporary Western world. Exploring he fundamental concepts of the caste system, the author addresses issues of race, individual rights, sexual mores, martial practices, and spiritual attainments. In this light, he exposes the inherent flaws and hypocrisies of our modern egalitarian governments and shows how the shadow side of the ancient caste system persists, disguised and unacknowledged, beneath contemporary economic regimes. Daniélou explains how Hindu society has served as a model for the realization of human potential on many levels, addressing sociological and human problems that are both timeless and universal.

Genres: India

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1993

About the author

Alain Daniélou :
1935-1948, études du sanskrit, philosophie, théologie, musique dans les écoles traditionnelles hindoues à Bénarès ;
1948-1954, professeur à l'université hindoue de Bénarès ;
1954 1956, directeur de la bibliothèque de manuscrits et des éditions sanskrites d'Adyar à Madras;
1956-1963, membre de l'Institut français d'indologie et de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient ;
1963-1977, directeur de l'Institut international d'études comparatives de la musique à Berlin et Venise.

Reviews

[Tyrell]

An idealized account of the Indian way of life. Pace the author, it shouldn't be read as pure history, but as a book akin to Plato's Republic or Thomas More's Utopia.

[Jodi]

I Lack the cultural context... Clearly

I found myself rubbing up against ideas in this book. I realized about half way through that a woman, born and raised in California, immersed in a melting pot of ethnic, religious, and lifestyle differences can't possibly grasp the concepts presented in this book. I can't wrap my mind around a limited destiny determined at birth. I appreciated the clear explanations and descriptions of the inner workings of the Hindu caste system and its way of life. I'm also not saying the way I live in the west is better.... It's simply much different