Jainism Simplified Chapter 3 - Jiva (Living Beings)JIVA TATTVA This chapter answers the following questions: What is ahimsa? Why do we observe ahimsa? What is jiva? What are different types of jiva? What is worldly jiva? What is liberated jiva? What is pratyek vanaspatikäya jiva? What is anantkäya vanaspatikäya jiva? Why is the human life important? Where do jiva live? What is paryapti? What is pran? Why should we know about pran? How do we do himsa? In Jainism, Jiva and soul are more or less described synonymously. When the spiritual or psychic status of the Jiva is described it is referred to as the soul, and when the physical structure about the soul is described it is called Jiva. The jiva is that which grows, decays, fluctuates, varies, eats, sleeps, awakes, acts, fears, rests, has knowledge and perception, attempts to self defend, and reproduces. These and more qualities of the jiva are obvious through a physical body when the soul is present in it but when the soul leaves these qualities cease. These qualities are external features and consciousness (chetan) is the basic inner feature of the soul. This also makes it clear for us that the body and the soul are separate entities. Since the soul has a flexible size, pervades the entire body that it occupies. For example, the same soul can occupy the body of an ant or an elephant. Such bodies stay alive as long as there is a soul within. A live body, or rather, a body with a soul is described here as a Jiva. Jivas are categorized in two groups. 1. Liberated Jiva or Siddha. 2. Non-liberated Jiva or Sansari Jiva. Liberated souls have no karmas and therefore, they are no longer in the cycle of birth and death. They do not live among us, but reside at the uppermost part of this universe called Siddhashila. They are formless and shapeless, have perfect knowledge and perception, and have infinite vigor and bliss. All siddhas are equal and there is no difference in their status. On the other side, non-liberated (worldly) jivas have karmas, and are continually going through the cycle of birth and death. They experience happiness and pain and have passions, which in turn cause the soul to wandering more. Except for the jiva of Arihants, non-liberated jivas have limited knowledge and perception. Jivas are found on earth, as well as in the water, air, and sky, and are scattered all over the universe. Human beings, celestial beings, infernal beings, animals, fish, birds, bugs, insects, plants, etc. are the most common forms of Jiva with which we can easily relate. However, Jain scriptures state that there are 8.4 million species of Jiva in all. They are known by the senses they possess. There are five senses in all, namely those of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. Different types of Jivas possess one or more of these senses. Based upon the number of senses and mobility, Jivas are classified into two categories. Based on mobility, all Jivas are divided into two broad categories: A) non-mobile or Sthävar Jiva - those that can not move and have only one sense. B) Mobile or Trasa jiva - those that can move and have two to five senses. A) Non-Mobile (Sthavar jiva, single sense being, or ekendriya jiva): Jivas having only one sense, the sense of touch are called Ekendriya. Ekendriya Jivas are further divided into the following five sub-categories. (1) Prithwikäya or earth bodied: Seemingly inanimate forms of earth are actually living beings, e.g. clay, sand, metal, and coral, etc. They have earthly bodies, hence the name Prithwikaya which is derived from the Sanskrit term for earth, Prathwi. (2) Apkäya or water bodied: Seemingly inanimate forms of different types of water are living beings, e.g. dew, fog, iceberg, and rain, etc. They have water bodies, hence the name Apkäya which is derived from the Sanskrit term for water, Ap. (3) Teukäya or fire bodied: Seemingly inanimate forms of different types of fires are living beings, e.g. flames, blaze, lightening, forest fire, and hot ash, etc. They have fire bodies, hence the name Apakaya which is derived from the Sanskrit term fire, Tejas. (4) Väyukäya or air bodied: Seemingly inanimate forms of air are actually living beings e.g. wind, whirlwinds, and cyclones, etc. They have gaseous bodies, hence the name Vayukay which is derived from the Sanskrit term for gas, Väyu. (5) Vanaspatikäya or plant bodied: It is well known that plants grow, reproduce, etc., and they are accepted as living beings. Trees, plants, branches, flowers, leaves, and seeds, etc. are some examples of plant life. The Sanskrit term for plant is Vanaspati and therefore such Jivas are called Vanaspatikäya Jiva. A plant life can have one or more souls in a single body and, depending upon this, plant life is further divided into the following two sub-categories: A. Pratyek Vanaspatikäya: Pratyek means one. Such plant life has one soul in one body. Therefore, they are called pratyek vanaspatikäya. Trees, plants, bushes, stem, branches, leaves, and seeds, etc. are all examples of pratyek vanaspatikäya jiva. B. Sädhäran Vanaspatikäya: Sädhäran means common. In such plant life many souls occupy the same body making this type of plant life multi-organic. Therefore, such plant life is called sädhäran vanaspatikäya. Such plant lives have an infinite number of souls in one body are called "Anantkäya". Roots such as potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, beats, etc. belong to this category. B) Mobile (Tras jiva, multi sensed being, bahu indriya jiva): These two, three, four or five sensed beings are divided into the following categories: (1) Two sensed beings (Beindriya Jiva): Two sensed beings have the senses of touch, and taste. e.g. shells, worms, insects, microbes in stale food, termites, etc. (2) Three sensed beings (Treindriya Jiva): Three sensed beings have the senses of touch, taste, and smell, e.g. bugs, lice, white ants, moths and insects in wheat and other grains, centipedes, etc. (3) Four sensed beings (Chaurindriya Jiva): Four sensed beings have the senses of touch, taste, smell and sight, e.g. scorpions, crickets, spiders, beetles, locusts, flies, etc. (4) Five sensed beings (Panchendriya Jiva): Five sensed beings have all the five senses of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing e.g. human beings, cow, lions, fish, birds, etc. The following are four sub-categories of the Panchendriya Jivas. a) Infernal (Näraki) - Jivas living in hell, b) Tiryancha - Non-human beings i.e. elephants, lions, birds, fish, etc. c) Celestial (Dev) - heavenly beings, d) Manushya - Human beings. Among the five sensed beings some have minds, while others do not. Those having a mind are called Sangni Panchendriya and those without a mind are called Asangni Panchendriya. Among all of these Jivas the most happiness is found in the celestial being, while the most suffering is found in the infernal beings. Neither celestial nor infernal beings can perform any austerities and cannot attain salvation during this life. Animals possess limited restraint only and therefore, they also cannot attain salvation directly. The human state of existence is the most preferable because during this life one can use logic to the fullest extent, can perform austerities, can live with restraint, and thus only through this human phase can a jiva attain salvation or Moksha. All jivas have special attributes related to the body such as paryäpti (power), pran (vitality). The inert or ajiva substance does not possess any such qualities. The following is the discussion relating to paryapti and pran. Paryapti: Paryapti means a special power through which the jiva takes in matter (Pudgals) like food and converts it into separate kinds of energy. There are six kinds of Paryaptis: (1) Ahar (food) (2) Sharir (body) (3) Indriya (senses) (4) Shwasoshwas (respiration) (5) Bhasha (speech) (6) Man (mind) When the life of a jiva is over, the soul along with tejas and karman bodies leaves the current body and acquires a new body. As soon as a jiva is born, the first thing it does is consume food. The jiva, with the help of Tejas body, digests food. After this, the jiva gradually attains the power of the body and the power of the senses. The activities of consuming food, developing the body, and forming and strengthening the sense-organs go on continuously. The body is formed in a duration called the Antarmuhurt (within 48 minutes). Next, the jiva receives the matter of respiration which allows it to acquire the power of respiration and eventually the power of mind. The Ekendriya, one sensed jivas have (1) Ahar, (2) Sharir, (3) Indriya, and (4) Shwasoshwas Paryaptis. Beindriya, Treindriya, Chaurindriya and Asamjni Panchendriya jivas also possess (5) Bhashas paryapti in addition to the above four. Samjni Panchendriya jivas also possess (6) Man paryapti in addition to above five. Depending upon the development of paryaptis the jivas are also classified as (1) Paryapta Jiva, (2) Aparyapta Jiva. Paryapta Jiva means that their corresponding paryaptis have developed to full capacity. While, Aparyapta Jiva means thst their paryaptis are not developed to the full capacity. Pran (Vitality): Depending upon the development of the Jiva, there are up to ten kinds of prans or vitalities present in each jiva. These vitalities are: 1) Sparsh-Indriya (Touch): The ability to feel the sensation of touch. 2) Ras-Indriya (Taste): the ability to taste 3) Ghran-lndriya (Smell): the ability to smell 4) Chakshu-lndriya (Vision): the ability to see 5) Shravan-Indriya (Hearing): the ability to hear 6) Mano-bal (Mind): the ability to think 7) Vachan-bal (Speech): the ability to speak 8) Kaya-bal (Body): the ability to move the body 9) Shwasoshwas (Respiration): the ability to inhale and exhale 1O) Ayushya (Longivity): the ability to live The Ekendriya jivas possess only four prans: (1) Touch (2) Respiration (3) Body (4 ) Longevity The Beindriya jivas possess six prans. They possess the taste and speech vitalities in addition to the above four prans. The Treindriya jivas possess seven prans. They possess the smell vitality in addition to the above six prans. The Chaurindriya jivas possess eight prans. They possess the vision vitality in addition to the above seven prans. The Panchendriya jivas are divided into two groups: (1) Asamjni (non-sentient) jivas, those whose minds are not developed and (2) Samjni (Sentient) jivas, those whose minds are developed. The Asamjni (non-sentient) Panchendriya jivas possess nine prans. They possess the hearing vitality in addition to the above eight prans. The Samjni Panchendriya jivas possess ten pranas. They possess mind vitality in addition to the above nine prans. The reason we need to know these prans, because any injury no matter how little it may be to anyone of these prans is considered himsa (violence). When himsa occurs by us, our soul accumulates karmas. But, one of our aims is to stop a new karmas coming in so that liberation of the soul can happen faster. Therefore, to accomplish our aim we have to observe Ahimsa (nonviolence) related to all of these ten prans and of all categories of Jivas. The first vow of the householders, monks and nuns is related to protect these ten prans. Now you may understand why we say "Ahimsa Parmo Dharma", because by observing Ahimsa we are protecting the vitalities of the soul. The summary of number of Paryäptis and Prans in various Jivas. Abilities Paryaptis Prans Ekendriya - those having one sense 4 4 Dwindriya - those having two senses 5 6 Teindriya - those having three senses 5 7 Chaurindriya - those having four senses 5 8 Asanjni Panchendriya- those having five senses without a mind 5 9 Sanjni Panchendriya- those having five senses with a mind 6 10 Back to Chapters List. Back to the Home Page.