1. Jīva (Introduction)

The Bhāṣyakāra presents an appropriate definition of the jīva:

jīvayati svadehaṃ yo jīvati ca svayaṃ yataḥ |
tasmāddhi cetanā''tmā'yaṃ jīva iti prakīrtitaḥ || Svāminārāyaṇa Siddhāntasudhā Kārikā 314 ||

“Because this sentient ātman itself lives and enables the body to live, it is called the jīva.”

In response to the question, who is the most ignorant among all ignorant persons? Svāminārāyaṇa explains that the jīva resides in the body, and with the help of it, the jīva perceives forms as beautiful and ugly, perceives childhood, youth, and old age, and perceives varieties of names and forms around; but does not perceive itself. Such a person (jīva) is the most ignorant among all ignorant. Similarly, he enjoys a great variety of forms through eyes, tastes through the tongue, smells through the nose, and so on; but does not turn inward to enjoy the happiness of his own self, nor does he make an attempt to know one’s own essential nature. He, therefore, is the most ignorant among all ignorant persons. Now, since it is a prima facie duty of man to know the nature of self (jivātman) (Know Thyself), let us turn to analyze the concept of self in SvāminārāyaṇaVedanta. Jivā or soul is the finite individual self. It is a spiritual substance. It is extremely subtle and imperceptible, and hence, regarded as atomic in size. It resides in the body of an organism. It is the very principle of life and its activities. The self is an eternal, indivisible, single, partless entity.

The self is not subject to production and destruction. It was never created, nor can it ever be destroyed, and hence, at the annihilation of the body, the self is not annihilated. Consciousness is the very essence of the self (jivātman), while knowledge (cognition) is its essential inseparable quality. The self, under its attributive knowledge, pervades the whole body. Therefore, the self is the real knower, enjoyer, and doer of everything.

However, in the state of worldly existence, the self's knowledge and bliss are in a state of contraction or obscuration. The self (jivātman) is beginningless bound by the fetters of avidya-karma (ignorance-actions). The gross (sthūla), subtle (sūkṣma), and causal (Limp) are the three bodies; while the waking (jāgrata), dreaming (svapna), and sleeping (suṣupti) are the three states of the jīva. The Upaniṣads proclaim that ātman that is bereft of sin, is to be searched for and is to be realized. In Svāminārāyaṇa’s opinion, that knowledge is the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of the field and the field-knower. Through the eyes of knowledge, one ought to know the distinction between the field and field-knower.