Number of Souls

Author(s): Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 2

earth. The total numbers of Vyavahär_räshi Nigod Souls are infinite (Anant). They are further divided into two sub-categories:
o
Vyavahär_räshi Nigod Bädar Souls: - Bädar body means big body. Hence they can be seen. All root vegetables are classified in this category. In Jain terminology, it is called Sädhäran Vanaspati-Kaya, Kandamul or Jimikand.
o
Vyavahär_räshi Nigod Sukshma Souls: - Sukshma means a very small body. Hence they cannot be seen. The entire universe is filled with such a type of Nigod Sukshma souls.
Avyavahär_räshi Nigod Souls: - In this category infinite souls share one physical body (same as Vyavahär_räshi Nigod Souls). All souls possess only one sense. Since they are Nigod souls, they are classified as vegetation souls. All Avyavahär_räshi Nigod souls are Sukshma Souls and hence they can not be seen. The entire universe is filled with such type of Nigod Sukshma souls. Both Vyavahär_räshi and Avyavahär_räshi Nigod Sukshma souls fill the entire universe. However the duration of Vyavahär_räshi Nigod souls are very short and they are in very small numbers when compared with Avyavahär_räshi Nigod souls. Hence Jain literature differentiates them by indicating Vyavahär_räshi souls are infinite (Anant) and Avyavahär_räshi souls are infinite x infinite (Anantä_anant). When one soul from Vyavahär_räshi (Human soul) attains liberation then one soul from the Avyavahär_räshi Nigod souls gets a chance to come into Vyavahär_räshi. This chance does not depend upon the soul's karma. However this phenomenon is defined as Niyati, Bhavitvyatä, or predestination in Jain literature. Once a soul enters into Vyavahär_räshi, its life span is determined by the amount of karma it possesses and its journey begins from the Vyavahär_räshi Nigod category to Vyavahär_räshi Pratyeka souls to Human and ultimately to liberation. In each time cycle a finite number of souls leaves from the Avyavahär_räshi Nigod category to Vyavahär_räshi or Samsäri souls category but the number of souls is never depleted there because they are Infinite x Infinite (Anantä_anant).
Clarification on Vegetation Souls (Vanaspati_käya): All vegetation souls are classified into the following three categories:
Vyavahär_räshi Pratyeka Vegetation Souls: - Each soul has its own body. The vegetables which grow outside the earth are classified in this category. In Jain terminology, it is called Pratyeka Vanaspati_käya Vyavahär_räshi Nigod Souls: - In all Nigod categories, infinite souls share one physical body. It has two subcategories o Vyavahär_räshi Nigod Bädar Souls: - One can physically see the vegetation. All
root vegetables (Kandamul or Jimikand) are classified in this category. In Jain terminology, it is called Sädhäran Vanaspati-Kaya, Kandamul or Jimikand. Vyavahär_räshi Nigod Sukshma Souls: - One cannot see them but the entire
universe is filled with such souls. • Avyavahär_räshi Nigod Souls - It has only one category and is defined as
o Avyavahär_räshi Nigod Sukshma Souls: - One can not see them but the entire
universe (14 Räjloka) is filled with such souls. Vyavahär_räshi Nigod Souls are those souls that may have attained human life in the past and then fallen back into the Nigod category after acquiring very bad karma. They will come out of Nigod when their Karma are exhausted.