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In Jainism, jïva means ãtma, i.e. soul. According to Jaina philosophy, 

soul is eternal and beginning less. It has life, consciousness, Upyoga 

(knowledge and perception) and is potent. The jïva 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 jïva 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/cetana) 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
jïva The  Jïva or souls are infinite in number and--

Jïva or souls are  of two types:-
 Liberated -------- Mukta Jïva or Siddha.
 Non-liberated ----Mundane or embodied o( Sansari Jiva/samsarin).

Liberated souls have no karmas and therefore, they are no longer in the
cycle of birth and death. They are called Siddhas. 

On the other side, non-liberated (worldly) jïvas have karmas, and are
continually going through the cycle of birth and death. They experience
happiness and pain and have passions, and experience the fruit of karmas.
Jïvas 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. 

They are known by the senses they possess. There are five senses
in all, namely those of  touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.
 Jïvas are classified into two categories:-

Based on mobility, all Jïvas are divided into two broad categories:-

A) Sthävar Jïva - those that can not move and have only one sense.
B) Trasa jïva - those that can move and have two to five senses.

A)  Sthävar Jïva,(non mobile) single sense being, or (ekendriya Jïva):
      Jïvas having only one sense, the sense of touch are called Ekendriya.
       EkendriyaJïva are further divided into the following five sub-categories.

 1)-  Jal-käya or water bodied:-The different types of living beings, e.g. dew, fog, 

         iceberg, and rain, etc.

2)    Agnikäya or fire bodied:-The different types of living beings, e.g. Seemingly 

     3)     Prithvï-käya or earth bodied:-The different types of living beings.
            inanimate forms of different types of fires are living being i.e.  flames, blaze,

             ightening, forest fire, and hot ash, etc. They have fire bodies.

    4)     Väyukäya or air bodied:-The different types of living beings, e.g. wind,
             whirlwinds, and cyclones, etc. They have gaseous bodies.

    5)   ( Vanaspatikäya or plant bodied:-The different types of living beings, e.g. 

           Trees, plants,  branches, flowers, leaves, and seeds, etc. are some examples 

               of plant life.  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:-

Pratyek Vanaspatikäya and Sädhäran Vanaspatikäya

B) Mobile (Tras Jïva, multi sensed being, bahuindriya Jïva):-
     These two, three, four or five sensed beings are divided into the
      following categories:

(i) Two sensed beings (Beindriya Jïva):
     Two sensed beings have the senses of touch, and taste. e.g. shells,
      worms, insects, microbes in stale food, termites, etc.

(ii)  Three sensed beings (Treindriya Jïva):
      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.

(iii) Four sensed beings (Chaurindriya Jïva):
      Four sensed beings have the senses of touch, taste, smell and sight,
      e.g. scorpions, crickets, spiders, beetles, locusts, flies, etc.

(iv) Five sensed  beings (Pañchendriya Jïva):
      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 PañchendriyaJïvas 

(Having five senses).or four Gaties  
a) Infernal (Näraki) - Jïvas 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  Saini Pañchendriya and those without a mind
are called Asaini Pañchendriya.

Among all of these 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  a Jïva can attain salvation or Moksha.

All Jïva have special attributes related to the body such as paryäpti
(power), pran (vitality).  The inert or ajïva 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 jïva 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  jïva 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 ----Ahar, Sharir, Indriya, and 

         Shwasoshwas(breathing) 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 that 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.

   10) Ayushya (Longivity): the ability to live.

The Ekendriya jivas possess only four prans:
	(1) Touch		(2) Respiration
	(3) Body	        (4) Longevity-aayu

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/Asaini (non-sentient) Panchendriya jivas possess nine prans. They possess the hearing vitality in addition to the above eight prans.

The Samjni/Saini 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.

Liberation:- The liberation of soul i.e. nivana, moksa is the absolute 

freedom  from karmas, both bhava and dravya,. The Jaina philosophy, therefore,

 asserts that real and everlasting happiness will be obtained by a person only when 

the karmas are completely removed from the soul. Further, Jainism firmly believes 

that even though man is imperfect at present, it is quite possible for him to rid himself 

of the karmas associated with his soul by his own personal efforts without any help 

from an outside agency. moreover it is quite clear that according to Jaina philosophy 

the the highest happiness consists in securing final emancipation from the cycle of 

birth and death and in attaining the state of librated soul, that is obtaining Moksa / 

nirvana or salvation. Further more, the Jaina philosophy reiterates that as this world is full 

of sorrow and trouble, it is quite necessary to achieve the aim of transcendental bliss 

          by following the path of salvation shown by the Arihantas..

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