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True Nature of the Soul
“Who am I?” "I am the soul. I am immutable. I am indestructible. I am eternal." ~ Pravachansaara by Aachaarya Kundkunda, Verse 162 (Page 67, Gems of Jain Wisdom, Author: Dasrath Jain, Publisher: Keladevi Sumati Prasad Trust (Delhi), year 2008)
The soul is a substance. A soul, which is attached to karmas is known as jiiva {living being/life monad). The soul has endless attributes. It is sentient. It is conscious. It is formless and yet it can expand and contract itself. The chief attribute of the soul is knowledge and cognition. Consciousness is its lakshana indentifying and unique trait). By nature, the soul is the knower and the seer. Eternal happiness resides inside it.
Despite being different from the body, the soul occupies the body in its entirety. The soul of a living being extends to its whole body. The soul embodies (sat) existence, (cit) consciousness and (aananda) bliss.
It is beyond the capacity of the human mind to calculate the number of souls present in the universe. Each soul is eternal, unique, sovereign and independent. The number of souls in the universe is constant. Each soul has existed since the beginning of time and shall continue to exist in eternity. The soul experiences joy and sorrow.
The soul may be divided in two categories: 1. Siddha {perfected souls 2. Chadmastha/Sansaarii (souls bound by karmas and stuck in the cycle of transmigration
Perfected souls (Siddhaas) reside in moksha. The worldly (Sansaarii) souls exist in different parts of the universe. They are found existing in different categories and exist as different classes of living beings. Worldly beings exist in four gatis such as hellish beings (Naraka), sub-humans (Plants and animals), humans and celestial beings (Deva). They are found occupying the 24 dandakas and can be born as any one type of living being from among 8.4 millions possible types of living beings.
Worldly souls are burdened with 8 types of karmas (Knowledge-obscuring, perception-obscuring, delusion-causing, impediment-causing, emotion-determining, life-span-determining, statusdetermining and form-determining karmas). As they are bound by karmas, worldly souls keep taking birth after birth.
Perfected souls are free from these eight types of karmas and hence remain blissfully in moksha. They are free from the cycle of birth and rebirth. Since their souls are pure, they are known as parama-aatmaa {supreme/transcendental soul).
