What are the four goals of human life and what do they truly mean

Of the four Purusharthas, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, the first one, Dharma, is regarded in common usage as referring to actions like charity, the duties of one’s ashrama (stage in life), going on pilgrimages and such other good deeds. But these relate only to external actions. The true Dharma of every human being is to make every endeavour to realise the Divine. The process by which this consummation can be reached constitutes Dharma. The observance of the duties relating to different ashramas (Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa) is incidental to the particular stage in life. The duties do not constitute Dharma proper. Dharma should lead to Self-realisation. Similarly, Artha does not mean, as commonly understood, the accumulation of property and wealth. They may well become anartha (calamitous); they are not lasting. The acquisition of such wealth cannot be considered as Purushartha. The real wealth that man should acquire is the wisdom that is related to the Divine.

– Divine Discourse, Jan 14, 1985.