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Concept of "Jiva (Soul)” in Jaina Philosophy
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Jiva (Soul) experiences pleasure, pain, life and death through the agency of Pudgala (Matter).80 "From the empirical point of view a worldly soul draws in fine karmic matter in consequence of the activities of mind, body and speech and experiences their results.”81 Here Jaina metaphysics throws light upon the theory of transmigration of Soul in terms of karmic matter an extraordinary conception which is not found in any other Indian system of thought. While commenting on the aphorism "Sukha-duḥkhajivitamaranopagrahāśca” of the Tattvārthādhigama-Sūtra, Pūjyapāda Devanandi explains that "Not only is Matter the basis of pleasure, pain, life and death but one piece of Matter is capable of producing physical and chemical changes in another piece of Matter. This fact is connoted by the word "upagraha” in the Sūtra. The examples cited here are the purification of bronze by the addition of certain ashes, the purification of water by the addition of an organic substance nirmali and tempering of steel with the help of water."32
Jiva, even being conscious and non-corporeal, becomes corporeal by its only activity of collected (formed) corporeal body upto the moment of the existence of such body.33 In regard to the relation of Soul with mind, speech and body, it is explained that speech and mind are non-soul, i, e. matters, for they are corporeal, non-conscious and non-living, and are associated with the spiritual being-Soul.34 As to its relation with body it is defined that Soul is body, i. e, identical with it, when the former exists in the latter, and non-soul (No-ātā) is also body. It is both corporeal and non-corporeal, conscious and non-conscious, living and non-living and it is of beings and non-beings also.35 The body was destroyed in the past, it exists and undergoes transformation at present, and it will undergo transformation in future into the gross physical, gross physicai-cum-translocation, transformation, transformation-cumtranslocation, translocation, translocation-cum-karmic, and karmic bodies 36 in association with the spiritual being or self, i. e. Soul, for the dehin (possessor of body) existing in eighteen kinds of sinful acts up to determinate and indeterminate consciousness is Jiva and the very Jiva is known to be Jivātmā (Soul of being).37
Umāsvāti explains that "The mundane souls help each other.'88 Ācārya Pūjyapāda, while commenting on the aphorism “Parasparopagraho jivānāṁ" of Umāsvāti, makes it clear that the master and his servant, the teacher and the taught are the examples of mutual obligation. The master helps the servant with money and the servant repays it through his humble service; a teacher renders a great service through his sound training and advice, while the taught repays it through his good conduct."89
According to the body, parimāņa (dimension or extent) of Soul decreases and increases. The decrease and increase of its parimāņa do not affect its fundamental substantiality; its basic essence remains the same as it is; only its parimāņa increases or descreases due to the difference of nimitta (cause). This is one kind of pariņāmavāda (doctrine of transformation) and it is also Pariņāminit yatāvāda (doctrine of permanence-in-change). Its other aspect is the decrease and increase of the mani.
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