Journal of Gyansagar Science Foundation 2013 04 01

SR No.: 007716
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Sanjeev Sogani, Vimal Jain
Publisher: Gyansagar Science Foundation
Publication Year: 2013
Total Pages: 116
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 3 MB

Page 95

Jiva or Soul in Jainism
Jiva or Soul
The Jaina conception of Jiva (Soul) occupies the first place among the doctrines of independent soul. The Jaina view of soul appears to be older than the views of other Indian systems of thought and it is comprehensible to the common people. This sentient principle was well established as the object of meditation for liberation of Lord Parshvanath in the eighth century B.C. The Jaina doctrine of soul did not change from the long past to the present time as it happened in the Buddhist and Vedic traditions
The term Jiva connotes that Soul is consciousness itself and consciousness also is invariably soul. The Jiva is non-corporeal, living, eternal and permanent, and fixed (constant) substance of the Cosmic Universe, having the attributes of consciousness (Cetana). Jiva is the generic name of sentient substance. Jiva substance is non-physical and is not sense - perceptible; it does not have the properties of colour, smell, taste and touch. Consciousness and upayoga are the differentia of the jiva. Upayoga and consciousness are the two sides of the same entity jiva. Consciousness may be interpreted both as a structure and a function of the jiva but upayoga refers to the functional side only. Upayoga gives us almost the same meaning as we get by being mentally active. Just as a mental activity is a fact of mental functioning and a mental capacity, a fact of mental structure; in the same way consciousness or chetana may be taken as a fact of the jiva's structure and upayoga, as a fact of the jiva's function.
Consciousness is the generality of the attributes (if not of all the attributes of the jiva), which distinguish the jiva from the inanimate. Upayoga is the generality of the manifestations of such attributes. This shows that the attributes of intelligence and intuition alone, as is generally understood, can be given a status of consciousness in the structure of the jiva; and these will not constitute the differentia of the jiva. However, intelligence and intuition are agreed to be the two main manifestations (upayoga) of consciousness. Both of them are comprehensions of the object by the subject.
Consciousness in mundane souls manifests itself in several ways: intelligence, knowledge, intuition, bliss, perception (cognitive elements), emotions, will, attitude and behaviour, awareness of pleasure and pain. Life
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and consciousness are coextensive. Wherever there is life, there is consciousness and vice versa. But there are degrees of explicitness or manifestation of consciousness in different organisms. In the lowest class of organisms, it is very much latent, while in human beings, it is very much manifest. Jiva is entirely distinct from inanimate existence, which does not possess consciousness.
Jiva is described from the aspects of substance (dravya), field or locus (ksetra), time (kala), condition or state (bhava) and capacity or quality (guna) respectively in regard to its co-relation with them. It is in number infinite living substances from the point of view of dravya, co-extensive with space of the Cosmic Universe from that of ksetra, eternal and permanent from that of kala, colourless, smell less, tasteless and touch less from that of bhava, and it is endowed with an attribute of consciousness (cetana) from that of guna.
Among many capacities of the soul the main and most comprehensible of all are capacity of knowledge, capacity of energy, capacity of volition or desire and capacity of right attitude of mind or belief. These capacities are nondifferent from it. Jiva is endowed with energy, exertion, action, strength, effort and vigor, and it manifests its sentiency by the state of itself, because soul having the inherent attribute of consciousness attains cognition of infinite modes of all kinds of knowledge and those of wrong knowledge, those of self-awareness, etc.
The soul is jnana (knowledge), i.e. endowed with right knowledge in some respect and also wrong knowledge in other aspect; the jnana itself is invariably soul, for consciousness is its inherent quality. Similarly, selfawareness and outside objects are correlated, because soul is possessed of the capacity of taking note of the natural external objects; it is the knower. It is also invariably self-awareness (darsana) and self-awareness is invariably soul itself.
Life-essentials of worldly soul are represented by five senses, mental, vocal and bodily activities, duration of life and respiration. Whatever things and behaviors it makes, such as forces (samskaras), etc. are reflected in it, one fine material body, called karma body, containing an impression of these forces is being formed by it, and that body exists and accompanies it at the time of taking up another new body.