---
type: Concept
bundle: mimamsa-dharma
bundle_version: 0.10.0
id: kratvartha-purusartha
title: Kratvartha and Puruṣārtha
iast: Kratvartha / Puruṣārtha
devanagari: क्रत्वर्थपुरुषार्थ
description: 'The distinction between what is done for the sake of the sacrifice (kratvartha) and what is done for the sake of the agent (puruṣārtha); the criterion sorting subsidiary acts from fruit-bearing ones; NOT selfless versus selfish, NOT sacred versus secular, NOT means versus end in the ethical sense.'
darshana:
- Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā
text_source: Mīmāṃsā Sūtra 4.1.1
tags:
- kratvartha
- purusartha
- mimamsa
- ritual-purpose
not:
- term: 'selfless versus selfish'
  why: 'The distinction is not moral. Kratvartha means for the sake of the sacrifice''''s completeness, puruṣārtha for the sake of the agent''''s result; both can be perfectly proper. It is a functional sorting, not a verdict on motive.'
  instead: 'Render the pair as for-the-sake-of-the-sacrifice versus for-the-sake-of-the-person, not selfless versus selfish.'
- term: 'sacred versus secular'
  why: 'Both are ritual categories internal to the enjoined performance; neither is secular.'
- term: 'means versus end in the ethical sense'
  why: 'While kratvartha acts serve the rite and puruṣārtha names the agent''''s fruit, this is a technical account of ritual purpose-structure, not a general ethics of means and ends.'
related:
- /concepts/anga-pradhana.md
- /concepts/phala.md
- /concepts/dharma.md
timestamp: '2026-07-08'
okf_version: '0.2'
license: CC BY-SA 4.0
---

# Kratvartha and Puruṣārtha -- क्रत्वर्थपुरुषार्थ

**Not:** selfless vs selfish, sacred vs secular, means vs end (ethical)

## What It Actually Means

Some enjoined acts exist to complete the sacrifice itself (kratvartha); others exist to yield something to the agent (puruṣārtha). The distinction decides, for instance, whether a subsidiary act''s result accrues to the sacrifice, making it a mere aṅga, or to the person, making it independently fruitful. It also frames one of Mīmāṃsā''s deepest questions, whether dharma is finally for the sake of the ritual order or for the human being, a question that opens toward the later Vedāntic reframing of action and liberation.

## Audience Metaphor

On a ship, some tasks keep the ship sailing, for the voyage, and some earn a sailor''s private wage, for the sailor. Kratvartha and puruṣārtha are that split applied to enjoined acts: is this step for the sacrifice''s own completion, or for the doer''s fruit?

## Citations

1. Mīmāṃsā Sūtra 4.1 (kratvartha and puruṣārtha) -- see [references/mimamsa-sutra.md](../references/mimamsa-sutra.md)
2. Śāstra-dīpikā on the distinction -- see [references/sastra-dipika.md](../references/sastra-dipika.md)
