Words Well Worth 13: Four Pursuits And The Way Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Selfless service the highest dharma,
Highest pursuit, the skill in karma,
Charity to those that deserve,
Best way to one's wishes to serve,
And utter wishless dispassion
The best way O to liberation!
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The transliteration of the subhāśhita is given below:

upakārah parah dharmahparah arthah karma naipuņam |
pātre dānam parah kāmahparah mokśhah vi-tŗśhņatā ||

According to Indic philosophy there are four basic human pursuits of life: Dharma (the righteous way) , artha (pursuit of means and wealth): kāma (pursuit of desires) , and mokśha (pursuit of Liberation) . Dharma is the way the other three are to be pursued.

upakārah: to help/oblige others (expecting nothing in return): parah: the supreme, the highest; dharmah: duty/responsibility, the righteous code of conduct; arthah: purpose, pursuit, end; karma: in one's own work/duty; naipuņam: skill in, ability in; pātre: to one who deserves, to right vessel/receiver to get charity; dānam: charity, alms, help, assistance;
kāmah: work, piece of work; mokśhah: liberation/salvation, freedom from (birth-death): vi-tŗśhņatā: lack of thirst/desire, absence of yearning of things.

Topic: work, pursuits