Purpose, Striving, Meaning, Wealth. The word artha can mean many things. In vedānta teaching, it is one of the four goals that people pursue (puruṣārthāḥ): artha, kāma, dharma, mokṣa.
- artha
Artha is the pursuit of security through material gain. Social security to use a modern word. Money, a house, pension, etc. This is, as everyone knows, vain pursuit. The (gross) body of a human being is mortal, the spirit (subtle body) reincarnates, and is therefore very changeable during life and very impermanent over many lives. So as a human being, I am never safe.
Only mokṣa, the underlying goal is total freedom, and also security you might say. I as consciousness am infinite and unchanging.
The living insight that I am free, impersonal, unthreatened, certain, totally independent, silent pure consciousness, is total safety. As full consciousness I am always free from threat and there is no otherness.
That is called pāramārthika. Pāram ārtha, the supreme, ultimate thing, beyond (para) to goals and objects (arthas). We could also say 'prior to' goals and objects. By this we mean the independent substrate on which all apparent manifestation depends, from which everything arises and in which everything merges.