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Chapter 4.3 (a) (Jiva) NINE REAL ENTITIES
ain philosophy conceives of nine 'real entities' (nava tattvas): living beings (jiva), J non-living things (ajiva), merit (punya), demerit (paapa), influx of karma
(aasrava), karmic bondage(bandha), prevention of karmic influx (samvara), shedding of karma (nirjaraa) and the liberation (moksa). The Tattvartha Sutra (1.4) considers merit and demerit as influx of karma and hence mentions seven 'real entities'. These entities are substances and are located in the cosmic space (The Tattvartha Sutra: 5.3, 5.12).
JIVA Jiva means soul or aatmaa. The term jiva is used to describe the embodied souls, which are eternal substances. Each soul is an aggregation innumerable soul units that occupy infinite space-points, has power to expand or contract to the size of the body as the soul units adjust themselves in space points, is eternal and its characteristic is consciousness. (Jain S. tr. Pujyapada's Sarvarthasiddhi 1960: 5.8, 5.16). The embodied soul transmigrates in the worldly cycle because of its karmic bondage, forgets its own characteristics, and mostly identifies itself with its body, made of matter, which causes its difficulties and degradation.
Souls are of two kinds: liberated and worldly. Liberated souls are disembodied souls who have shed all karmic matter and have no more births or deaths. Worldly souls are embodied souls and are subject to the cycle of birth and death, and karmic bondage and its effects.
Liberated souls dwell in a state of bliss at the apex of the occupied universe (siddha silaa) and possess eight attributes: infinite faith (ananta-darsana), infinite knowledge (ananta-jnaana), perfect conduct (ananta-caritra), infinite energy (anantavirya), infinite bliss (ananta-sukha), eternity (aksaya), non-materiality (amurta), and equality to other souls (aguru-alaghu).
Worldly souls are living beings, of any destiny, the classification of which is a subject not only of theoretical but also of great practical interest. As the primary duty of the souls is to live in harmony with each other and not to harm any living being, and their function is to help one another (Parasparopagraho jivanam), it becomes incumbent upon worldly souls such as humans to comprehend the various forms of worldly life (Jain S. 1990: p.147). Jain scriptures have described jiva in great detail, the classifications of which broadly accords with modern science, but the detail refers to earlier phases of natural science.
Worldly souls may have a mind or may not have a mind. The word 'mind' has specific and deep connotations in Jain scriptures, differing from its usual meaning (Jain S. 1990: 5.19); all souls have a psychic mind, the functioning of which depends upon the presence of specific knowledge-obscuring karma. Those with 'mind' have both physical and psychic mind and have the power of thought and intelligence (Tattvartha Sutra; 2.25); those with only psychic mind are considered to be without 'mind'. Worldly souls are divided into two forms: immobile (sthaavara) and mobile (trasa); these characteristics depend upon the consequences of specific karma.
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