Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

, Pudgala (or ') is one of the six Dravyas, or aspects of reality that fabricate the world we live in. The six ''dravya''s include the

jiva ''Jiva'' (, IAST: ), also referred as ''Jivātman,'' is a living being or any entity imbued with a life force in Hinduism and Jīva (Jainism), Jainism. The word itself originates from the Sanskrit verb-root ''jīv'', which translates as 'to br ...

and the fivefold divisions of

ajiva ''Ajiva'' (Sanskrit) is anything that has no soul or life, the polar opposite of " jīva" (soul). Because ''ajiva'' has no life, it does not accumulate ''karma'' and cannot die. Examples of ajiva include chairs, computers, paper, plastic, etc. ...

(non-living) category: ''dharma'' (motion), ''adharma'' (rest), ''akasha'' (space), ''pudgala'' (matter) and ''kala'' (time). ''Pudgala'', like other ''dravya''s except ''kala'' is called ''astikaya'' in the sense that it occupies space. Pudgala is derived from the words 'pud', which is defined as Supplement (Addition /Fusion), and gala, which is defined as Disintegrate, or Division or Fission. Therefore, Pudgalas are best defined as all things that are continuously changing by the process of Supplementation or Disintegration, namely matter. The individual unit of Pudgala is the material from which all is made called a Paramanu, which, by the process of supplementation, can combine to form what can be roughly said is an aggregate, called a

Skandha ' (Sanskrit) or (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings, clusters". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the perpetual process of craving, cli ...

. It possesses at all times four qualities, namely, a color (''varna''), a taste (''rasa''), a smell (''gandha''), and a certain kind of palpability (''sparsha'', touch). In Buddhism, ''Pudgala'' means the entity that reincarnates as an individual or person, i.e., the ''bundle of tendencies'' that keeps an individual reincarnating until they attain enlightenment.Dasgupta, Surendranath (1975, reprint 2010). ''A History of Indian Philosophy'', Vol.I, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, , p.195n

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The Jaina Philosophy, Pudgala
Surendranath Dasgupta, 1940 {{Jainism topics Jain philosophical concepts

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