What is "jiva"

n. (''in Jainism'') All living beings; the essence or soul of such beings

In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva (, , alternative spelling jiwa; , , alternative spelling jeev) is a living being, or any entity imbued with a life force.

In Jainism, jiva is the immortal essence or soul of a living organism (human, animal, fish or plant etc.) which survives physical death. The concept of Ajiva in Jainism means "not soul", and represents matter (including body), time, space, non-motion and motion. In Jainism, a Jiva is either samsari (mundane, caught in cycle of rebirths) or mukta (liberated).

The concept of jiva in Jainism is similar to atman in Hinduism. However, some Hindu traditions differentiate between the two concepts, with jiva considered as individual self, while atman as that which is universal unchanging self that is present in all living beings and everything else as the metaphysical Brahman. The latter is sometimes referred to as jiva-atman (a soul in a living body).

The word itself originates from the Sanskrit jivás, with the root jīv- "to breathe". It has the same Indo-European root as the Latin word vivus, meaning "alive".

Jīvaka (also referred to as Jiva) was a sister of a king of Kucha, and later a Buddhist nun.

Jīvaka was a princess of Kucha (in Central Asia) in the early fourth century C.E. She was the sister of the King who introduced her to Kumārāyana, a noble Indian who renounced his fortune to become a Buddhist monk and thus stopped in Kucha on his journey. However, after meeting Jīvaka, Kumārāyana and her were married. Jīvaka is said to have possessed great talent and keen perception and understanding. According to the "Collection of Records concerning the Tripitaka", she "had only to glance over a written passage to master it, had only to hear something one time to be able to repeat it fro memory." Combining their great talents, Jīvaka and Kumārāyana produced a son, Kumārajīva. When he was just seven, he had already memorised many Buddhist texts, and Jīvaka herself joined the Tsio-li nunnery north of Kucha. Two years later, when her son was nine, Jīvaka took him to Kashmir to study further. After two or three years they returned to Kashgar, where they stayed for a year. Finally, they travelled to Turpan before returning home to Kucha. As Kumārajīva grew up Jīvaka the two are said to have become more distant, with Jīvaka supposedly relocating to Kashmir. Kumārajīva became a noted Buddhist scholar and translator.

The Jīva or Atman is a philosophical term used within Jainism to identify the soul. It is one's true self (hence generally translated into English as 'Self') beyond identification with the phenomenal reality of worldly existence. Jain philosophy is the oldest Indian philosophy that separates body (matter) from the soul (consciousness) completely. As per the Jain cosmology, jīva or soul is the principle of sentience and is one of the tattvas or one of the fundamental substances forming part of the universe. According to The Theosophist, "some religionists hold that Atman (Spirit) and Paramatman (God) are identical, while others assert that they are distinct ; but a Jain will say that Atman and Paramatman are identical as well as distinct." In Jainism, spiritual disciplines, such as abstinence, aid in freeing the jīva "from the body by diminishing and finally extinguishing the functions of the body." Jain philosophy is essentially dualistic. It differentiates two substances, the self and the non-self.

Jiva is the immortal essence of a living organism in Hinduism and Jainism.

Jiva, Jīva, or Jiwa may also refer to:

• Jīva (Jainism), the word used to refer the soul substance in Jainism
• Jīvá, a Sanskrit trigonometric term also known as jyā; see Jyā, koti-jyā and utkrama-jyā