Jiva (, IAST: ), also referred as Jivātman, is a living being or any entity imbued with a life force in Hinduism and Jainism. The word itself originates from the Sanskrit verb-root jīv, which translates as 'to breathe' or 'to live'. The jiva, as a metaphysical entity, has been described in various scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. Each subschool of Vedanta describes the role of the jiva with the other metaphysical entities in varying capacities. The closest translation into English and abrahamic philosophies would be the soul.
Described in the scriptures
A common metaphysical entity discussed in the scriptures (such as the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishad and Vachanamrut) in the seven schools of Vedanta is the jiva or atman: the soul or self.
Bhagavad Gita
Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita contains verses describing the jiva. For example, the jiva is described as eternal and indestructible in chapter 2, verse 20:
Upanishads
बालाग्रशतभागस्य शतधा कल्पितस्य च । भागो जीवः स विज्ञेयः स चानन्त्याय कल्पते ॥ ९ ॥
"If the tip of the hair were to be divided in to one hundred parts and each part was divided into 100 more parts, that would be the dimension of the Jiva (soul)". Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (5.9)
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad compares the jiva and the Paramatma to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree:
समाने वृक्षे पुरुषो निमग्नोऽनीशया शोचति मुह्यमानः । जुष्टं यदा पश्यत्यन्यमीशमस्य महिमानमिति वीतशोकः ॥ ७ ॥
"Two birds sitting in the tree (the body). One bird, the jiva is enjoying the fruits of the tree and the other the Paramatma is watching the jiva." Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (4.7)
Vachanamrut
Swaminarayan has described the nature of the jiva in his discourse in Vachanamrut Jetalpur 2:
Vedanta
Vedanta is one of the six schools (darshanam) of Hindu philosophy, and it contains subschools that have derived their beliefs from the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. The aforementioned three scriptures are commonly referred to as the Prasthantrayi.
Advaita Darshan
The Advaita (non-dualist) Darshan posits the existence of only one entity, Brahman. It considers all distinctions ultimately false since differentiation requires more than one entity. Those distinctions empirically perceived, along with those expounded in the Prasthanatrayi, are accounted for within this school by the recognition of a relative reality (vyavaharik satta). One such distinction is that between jivas, or souls, and Brahman. Understood through the paradigm of relative reality, jivas are cloaked by maya—avidya, or ignorance—a state in which they are not able to realize their oneness with Brahman. Within Advaita philosophy, the nature of the Jiva is described using three theories or metaphors: Pratibimba-vāda (theory of reflection), Avaccheda-vāda (theory of limitation), and Ābhāsa-vāda (theory of appearance). According to Pratibimba-vāda, the jiva consists of a reflection of the atman, and the mirror on which the reflection occurs is ignorance (avidya). This metaphor clarifies that the atman and jiva are not distinct, even though they appear to be so, just as one's reflection in the mirror appears to be distinct from oneself but is actually identical with one. Avaccheda-vāda denies that consciousness can be reflected, and instead understands the jiva as a limitation (upadhi) of the atman. It is limited and appears to be separated from other selves because of ignorance.
Bhedhabheda (Dvaitadvait) Darshan
The Bhedhabheda Darshan, founded by Nimbark, maintains that jivas are at once distinct and part of Brahman, a middle ground of sorts between the extremes of Advaita, utter oneness, and Dvaita, utter distinctness. This notion of difference yet non-difference is commonly depicted through an analogy: just as rays originate from the sun but are spatio-temporally distinct from it, so too jivas are parts of the whole that is Brahman. Another analogy given is that of sparks emitted from a fire. The sparks, composed of same substance as fire, are non-different (abheda) from the fire. They are also different (bheda), located in different place from the fire from which they originated. Yet another analogy given is of ocean and its waves, which shows that even though the bhedabheda darshan entails that Brahman has parts and jivas are part of Brahman, this does not mean jivas lessen its perfection, just as the waves of the ocean do not lessen the amount of water present in the ocean.