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Lord Mahavira certain energies which bring about birth, death and various experiences of life; this process could and must be stopped, and the energies already forged destroyed by a course of discipline leading to salvation.25 This statement involves seven propositions: first, there is something called the living (jiva); secondly, there is something called the non-living (ajiva), thirdly, the two come into contact with each other (asrava); fourthly the contact leads to the production of some energies (bandha), fifthly the process of contact could be stopped (samvara), sixthly, the existing energies could also be exhausted (nirjara), and lastly, salvation (moksha or mukti) could by achieved. These seven propositions are called the seven tattvas or realities by the Jainas. 26
The first two of these seven propositions—that there is a jiva or soul and that there is an ajiva or non-soul-exhaust between them all that exists in the universe. The soul or jiva by itself, is imperceptible, but its presence may be known by the presence of its gunas (qualities) in a material body. Its essential characteristic is consciousness, which is accompanied by sense activity, respiration, and a certain period of existence in a particular body. There is an infinite number of such souls in the universe both of immobile (sthâvara) and mobile (trasa) kinds. They retain their individuality through out and acquire the shape of the body in which they reside.
Consciousness being the characteristic of a soul, knowledge is inherent in every living being27 but its stage of development differs. It may be knowledge derived through senses (mati jñâna) or through scriptures (sruta jnana), or of objects remote from one in time and space (avadht jnana), or of others' mind (manah paryaya jñâna) or supreme knowledge (kevala jnana).
Jivas are by nature perfect, possessed of the qualities of infinite perception, infinite knowledge28 infinite power and infinite bliss. There is no God or Supreme soul over and above them. But with the exception of only a few of them they have fallen into the grip of matter and are being formed by it through a round of existence as samsari or living beings.29 The soul's subjection to pudgala or matter is the result of its own activities. Affected by affection, aversion or infatuation the soul generates a sort of magnetic energy and attracts to itself the infra-atomic particles of matter called karman. Karman, the immaterial principle “Of other
