Jiva
(“life”) In philosophical and Vaishnava
(devotees of the god Vishnu) discussion,
jiva is the name used for the embodied
soul of a human being. In a more
general sense, the word can refer to
any living being.
Jivacchraddha
(“Shraddhafor a living [person]”) A
particular type of shraddha, or memor-
ial service for the dead, although in
this case it is performed for a person
who is still living. In many cases, a
person performs the Jivacchraddha for
himself if he has no sonsto fulfill the
responsibility or if he suspects that
the rite may not be performed properly
after his death. The person performing
this rite makes a small figure of sacred
kushagrass, representing the person for
whom the shraddha is being performed,
and then proceeds with the normal
shraddha ceremony.
Jivanmukta
In Indian philosophy, a person who has
attained final liberation of the soul while
still living (jivanmukti) and who contin-
ues to live in a state of liberation. The
concept of the jivanmukta is essential in
many branches of Advaita Vedanta, one
of the six schoolsof classical Indian phi-
losophy. The Advaita school upholds a
philosophical position known as
monism, which is the belief that a single
Ultimate Reality known as Brahmanlies
behind all things, and that all things are
merely differing forms of that reality. For
Advaita proponents, the problem of
human bondage is that human beings,
blinded by avidyaor mistaken under-
standing, do not recognize this ultimate
unity, but mistakenly persist in seeing
the world as made up of separate and
diverse things. The possibility of attain-
ing jivanmukta status is essential to the
Advaita school because it supports their
belief that bondage and liberation are
attained not by doing or becoming any-
thing, but rather by replacing a mistaken
understanding with a correct one. After
this has happened one will continue
to live, but because of the radical change
in consciousness one’s life will never
be the same.Jivanmukti
(“liberation while living”) In later Indian
philosophy, the notion that one can
attain final liberation of the soul while
still living and continue to live after that
in a liberated state. The jivanmukta
(one who is liberated while still living) is
an important claim for many of the sub-
schools of Advaita Vedanta, one of the
six schoolsof classical Indian philoso-
phy. The Advaita school upholds a philo-
sophical position known as monism,
which is the belief that a single Ultimate
Reality known as Brahmanlies behind
all things, and that all things are merely
differing forms of that reality. For
Advaita proponents, the problem of
human bondage is that human beings,
blinded by avidyaor mistaken under-
standing, do not recognize this ultimate
unity. Liberation is not attained by
“doing” anything or by becoming some-
thing that one is not, but by realizing
what has always been the case, and thus
exchanging a mistaken understanding
for a correct one. Although this cogni-
tion forever changes how a person per-
ceives the world, it brings no ontological
changes, meaning that on a physical
level one continues to exist as before,
until the karmathat has created one’s
present body is exhausted. For further
information see Karl H. Potter (ed.),
Advaita Vedanta up to Samkara and His
Pupils, 1981.Jnana
In Indian philosophical thought, a
word with different meanings in
different contexts. The word jnanais
derived from the verb “to know,” and
one of its meanings, at least in a
perceptual context, is “awareness.” In a
more abstract sense it stands for what
it means to truly “know” something;Jiva