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classes: pure/liberated soul (having no karmic load) and impure/mundane soul (having karmic loads). He further subclassified impure souls into six subtypes according to their bodies. The two primary classes are:
Liberated/Pure Souls (no karmic load)
STHAVAR
(immobile)
1- sensed (touch) (plants & vegetables)
1- sensed (microbial creatures in earth, air, water)
SOULS
(JIVA or ATMAA)
2sensed
3sensed
Number of Senses:
1-touch
2-touch & taste
3-touch, taste & smell
4-touch, taste, smell & vision
5-touch, taste, smell, vision & hearing
Mundane Souls (with karmic load)
TARAS (mobile)
An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide
4sensed
Human
5sensed
Non-Human
1. Sthavara, or immobile, living beings that cannot move on their own to achieve their objectives, such as their need for air, water, or fire. This category includes one-sensed beings. All vegetation, plants, and trees belong to this category.
2. Trasa, or mobile, living beings who can move on their own to achieve their objectives. The beings in this category, from ants to humans, can have two-to-five types of sense organs.
Today, contribution by the sciences to ecology and various conservancy policies and practices can be considered a direct corollary to Mahavira's definitions of ahimsa and living
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