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21
Jiva
THE Jainas consider that there are six real categories constituting
1 Substance, viz., Soul (Jīva), Matter (Pudgala), Principle of Motion (Dharma), Principle of Rest (Adharma), Space (Ākāśa) and Time (Kāla). Since all the categories are real and independent, they are also referred to as the substances (dravyas).
Of these, jīva is conscious but has no form, pudgala is nonconscious but has form and dharma, adharma, ākāśa and kāla are non-conscious and formless.2 Jainism thus holds the view that Reality is divisible not merely into two general categories—the conscious and the material—but into three,—the conscious, the material and a category which is both unconscious and immaterial. In the Bhagavati-Sūtra we find the two-fold classification of substance into the rūpin (with form) and the arūpin (formless) ... but there is absolutely no difference in regard to the enumeration of the categories themselves. This is evident from the fact that under rūpin is included pudgala and under arūpin are included the other categories. We shall briefly consider the specific qualities and modes of the six dravyas. It is convenient to consider first the category of jīva and then ajīva under which are included the other five categories.
JĪVA : The Jaina system maintains that the jīva is real and eternal (uncreated and indestructible) and that there are an infinite number of them, all imperceptible because of their formlessness,
1 Tattvartha-Sutra, V. 5 2 Ibid., V.4
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