jivas

Jiva, or jivatman, is a Sanskrit term meaning "life" or "living being" used across Indian philosophical and religious traditions to denote the individual sentient self. In most contexts it refers to the conscious, self-aware aspect of a being rather than matter.

In Hindu philosophy, jiva denotes the embodied self, the finite carrier of consciousness that experiences birth, karma, and rebirth. The jiva is considered distinct from Brahman, the absolute reality, though in some schools (notably Advaita Vedanta) the ultimate nature of the jiva is unity with Brahman when ignorance (avidya) is removed. Liberation (moksha) is the release of the jiva from samsara.

Jainism regards jiva as the essential, conscious substance that constitutes every living being, from the smallest to humans. Jivas are inherently pure but acquire karma that veils knowledge and binds the jiva to the cycle of birth and death. Liberation is achieved by shedding karma through right conduct, knowledge, and meditation. Jain literature describes many forms of jiva, classified by sense-perception, ranging from micro to great beings.

Sikhism speaks of the jiva as the individual soul created by God, capable of union with the divine through spiritual practice and ethical living. The soul is considered eternal and part of God’s creation, not identical with God but capable of realizing the divine within.

Buddhist traditions generally reject an eternal, unchanging jiva, substituting the doctrine of anatta (no-self) whereby beings are dependently arising aggregates rather than a permanent self.