Hindu Perspectives on Meaning

Many Hindu texts and teachers describe four aims of a human life, called the puruṣārthas. Dharma is right conduct and duty (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.-d). Artha is material well-being and livelihood. Kāma is enjoyment. Mokṣa is liberation, often described as release from the cycle of rebirth. In many tellings, mokṣa is the final aim, and artha is pursued mainly in the householder stage of life (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.-a).

In these traditions, karma is the idea that actions have consequences, with a moral side and a psychological side. It is never a reason to blame a person who is suffering. Saṃsāra is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Most classical Indian schools describe it as marked by suffering (Chadha, 2022).

Traditional life stages are called āśramas: student, householder, someone who gradually withdraws from daily duties, and someone who gives up possessions to seek liberation (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.-b).

The Bhagavad Gītā, a much-loved text, teaches doing one's duty without clinging to the results (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.-c). We do not read this as advice to ignore pain or to stay in a situation that harms you. The Gītā describes paths of action, knowledge, and devotion. They are seen as suited to different kinds of people, and as working together (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.-e).

Martela and Steger (2016) describe three parts of meaning in life. Coherence is a sense that life makes sense. Purpose is a sense of goals and direction. Significance is a sense that life has value and is worth living.

A review of 66 studies (Czekierda et al., 2017) found that meaning in life was linked weakly to moderately with physical health, most strongly for self-reported health. These are associations, not proof that meaning causes better health.

Singh et al. (2022) compare Hindu and Western positive psychology ideas and call for more research.

You may notice some overlap between the four aims and the three parts of meaning. For example, dharma might connect to purpose, and self-knowledge to coherence. This is our reading, not a research finding. Hindu traditions describe their own aims in their own terms.

Pandya and Bhangaokar (2025) interviewed 30 urban adults in Vadodara, India, split evenly between men and women. Themes included the kinds of suffering people described, the idea that suffering has a karmic side, and easing suffering by working on one's character. The authors point to svadharma (one's own duty) and equanimity (samatvam, calm steadiness).

Parekh et al. (2025) combined six interview-based studies on Hindu beliefs and experiences about death and dying. They reported four themes: teachings, rituals, homeland and life abroad, and family involvement.

Much psychology research has used people from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic societies, who are not typical of people worldwide (Henrich et al., 2010). A review of 78 studies found that therapies adjusted to a person's culture worked better than standard versions. The studies were not specific to Hindu communities, and the authors note open questions (Hall et al., 2016). A guide for clinicians suggests that knowing a person's ideas about self and suffering can help build rapport (Singh, 2022). You can bring these ideas to a therapist.

A biopsychosocial view keeps all three in sight. The next two sentences describe a tradition, not a research finding. In Hindu traditions, yoga is a path and not only exercise. It includes ethical and contemplative training (Dalal, 2021; Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.-e).

• Body: A review of 15 studies of healthy people linked slow breathing, under ten breaths a minute, with changes in heart-rate patterns and fewer signs of a keyed-up body. It did not test any one tradition's practices (Zaccaro et al., 2018). In women with sleep problems, yoga was linked on average with better sleep quality, though not on every measure or in every subgroup (Wang et al., 2020). Physically active yoga was linked with lower depressive symptoms in people with diagnosed mental disorders (Brinsley et al., 2021). Studies vary in size and quality. Yoga is not a cure or a replacement for treatment.
• Mind: Many ideas here involve acceptance, self-knowledge, values, and attention. Interviewees in one study described equanimity as a way to ease suffering (Pandya & Bhangaokar, 2025).
• Community: In one study of an Odia Hindu community, rituals and self-discipline shaped how people grew older (Menon, 2013). Rituals and family involvement also mattered in grief (Parekh et al., 2025). Community can also exclude. Caste is a social hierarchy in South Asia, and it is not only a Hindu matter. A review of nine studies in India and Nepal, centred on Dalit communities, found that caste-based exclusion affects well-being and access to health care (Thapa et al., 2021).

• One review of 83 studies found unwanted effects of meditation in about 8% of participants. The figure ranged from about 4% in trials to 33% in observational studies. Anxiety and depression were among the most common, and they may occur in people with no earlier mental health problems (Farias et al., 2020). In one study of 96 adults in an eight-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy program, lasting bad effects occurred in 6% to 14% (Britton et al., 2021). These studies are not specific to Hindu practice.
• Published case reports describe harm from yoga, most often to muscles and bones, and often with extreme postures or forceful breathing (Cramer et al., 2013). Case reports cannot show how common this is.
• Spiritual bypassing means using spiritual ideas to avoid painful feelings or real problems. It has had little study so far, and early studies have begun to measure it (Cashwell et al., 2010; Fox et al., 2017). Pain is real and deserves care, whatever your beliefs.

• Hindus differ widely (Singh et al., 2022). Ask people about their own views rather than assuming.
• Karma ideas can comfort some people. We did not find research on whether they help or harm coping. This is a caution, not a research finding. Karma must never be used to say someone deserved illness, abuse, or poverty.
• Duties have not fallen equally on everyone. Classical texts described the life stages mainly for upper-caste men. Women and people of other castes were not addressed in the same way (Olivelle, 1993). Caste-based harm is documented (Thapa et al., 2021). We do not accept any justification for it.
• Yoga and Hindu practices are not cures for illness. They are living traditions, so please treat them with respect and not as a wellness trend.

• Which of the three parts of meaning (coherence, purpose, significance) feels strongest in my life right now?
• Which of my responsibilities feel truly mine, and which were given to me by others?
• When I face something hard, what helps me find steadiness, and who helps?
• Where do I need rest or support, and not another practice?
• Whose voices, from within a tradition I care about, could I listen to more?

• Brinsley, J., Schuch, F., Lederman, O., Girard, D., Smout, M., Immink, M. A., Stubbs, B., Firth, J., Davison, K., & Rosenbaum, S. (2021). Effects of yoga on depressive symptoms in people with mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 55(17), 992-1000. Link
• Britton, W. B., Lindahl, J. R., Cooper, D. J., Canby, N. K., & Palitsky, R. (2021). Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs. Clinical Psychological Science, 9(6), 1185-1204. Link
• Cashwell, C. S., Glosoff, H. L., & Hammond, C. (2010). Spiritual bypass: A preliminary investigation. Counseling and Values, 54(2), 162-174. Link
• Chadha, M. (2022). Personhood in classical Indian philosophy. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Link
• Cramer, H., Krucoff, C., & Dobos, G. (2013). Adverse events associated with yoga: A systematic review of published case reports and case series. PLoS ONE, 8(10), e75515. Link
• Czekierda, K., Banik, A., Park, C. L., & Luszczynska, A. (2017). Meaning in life and physical health: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 11(4), 387-418. Link
• Dalal, N. (2021). Śaṅkara. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Link
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.-a). Artha. Link
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.-b). Ashrama. Link
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.-c). Bhagavadgita. Link
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.-d). Dharma. Link
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.-e). Hinduism: Karma, samsara, and moksha. Link
• Farias, M., Maraldi, E., Wallenkampf, K. C., & Lucchetti, G. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: A systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 142(5), 374-393. Link
• Fox, J., Cashwell, C. S., & Picciotto, G. (2017). The opiate of the masses: Measuring spiritual bypass and its relationship to spirituality, religion, mindfulness, psychological distress, and personality. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 4(4), 274-287. Link
• Hall, G. C. N., Ibaraki, A. Y., Huang, E. R., Marti, C. N., & Stice, E. (2016). A meta-analysis of cultural adaptations of psychological interventions. Behavior Therapy, 47(6), 993-1014. Link
• Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 61-83. Link
• Martela, F., & Steger, M. F. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 531-545. Link
• Menon, U. (2013). The Hindu concept of self-refinement: Implicit yet meaningful. Psychology and Developing Societies, 25(1), 195-222. Link
• Olivelle, P. (1993). The Āśrama system: The history and hermeneutics of a religious institution. Oxford University Press.
• Olivelle, P. (2019). From trivarga to puruṣārtha: A chapter in Indian moral philosophy. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 139(2), 381-396. Link
• Pandya, N., & Bhangaokar, R. (2025). Suffering and self-refinement: Moral perspectives from a Hindu, Indian worldview. Psychology and Developing Societies, 37(1), 93-117. Link
• Parekh, R. P., Sobczak-Edmans, M., & Williamson, I. (2025). A qualitative synthesis of Hindus' beliefs and experiences about death and dying. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 28(2), 200-225. Link
• Park, C. L., & Kamble, S. V. (2020). Relations of religious beliefs with distress and well-being among Hindu college students. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 23(10), 902-911. Link
• Singh, K., Raina, M., & Oman, D. (2022). Positive psychology and Hinduism. In E. B. Davis, E. L. Worthington Jr., & S. A. Schnitker (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology, religion, and spirituality (pp. 195-209). Springer. Link
• Singh, S. P. (2022). Self and suffering in Indian thought: Implications for clinicians. BJPsych Advances, 28(5), 286-296. Link
• Thapa, R., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P. R., & Heaslip, V. (2021). Caste exclusion and health discrimination in South Asia: A systematic review. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 33(8), 828-838. Link
• Wang, W.-L., Chen, K.-H., Pan, Y.-C., Yang, S.-N., & Chan, Y.-Y. (2020). The effect of yoga on sleep quality and insomnia in women with sleep problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 20, Article 195. Link
• Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B., & Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, Article 353. Link

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