The Jīva as stated by Śrī Madhvācārya

The jīva is the eternal associate of Lord Śrī Hari. According to Śrī Madhvācārya, there are two theories: (1) independence (svatantra) theory, (2) dependence (paratantra) theory. The independent tattva is Lord Viṣṇu, while the dependent tattva is twofold: (1) existence (bhāva) and (2) non-existence (abhāva). existence (bhāva) is further divided into two: (1) conscious or the jīva, and (2) unconscious or matter.

There are four types of nonexistence (abhāva):

(1) prāk-abhāva–an example of prāk-abhāva is that there is no clay pot now; it will be made tomorrow.

(2) pradhvaṃsābhāva–an example of pradhvaṃsābhāva is that the clay pot was destroyed; at present it is no longer visible.

(3) atyanta-abhāva–an example of atyanta-abhāva is that it is never present; neither in the past, the present, or the future, like the horn of a rabbit or the hairs on a tortoise.

(4) anyo’nyābhāva–in anyo’nyābhāva, the existence feature and non-existence feature are present.

Prāk-abhāva, pradhvaṃsābhāva and atyanta-abhāva are only non-existence. unconsciouness or matter is of many kinds. Consciousness or the jīva is threefold: sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika. In Lord Viṣṇu’s body, there are innumerable living entities and these jīvas are divided into the above-mentioned three categories.

दृष्ट्वास चेतनगणान् जठरे शयानानानन्दमय वपुषः सृतिविप्रमुक्तान्
ध्यानगतान् सृतिगतां च सुषुप्तिसंस्थान् ब्रह्मादिकान् कलिपरान् मनुजां तथैक्षत्

dṛṣṭvāsa cetanagaṇān jaṭhare śayānānānandamaya vapuṣaḥ sṛtivipramuktān
dhyānagatān sṛtigatāṃ ca suṣuptisaṃsthān brahmādikān kaliparān manujāṃ tathaikṣat

Mahābhārata-tātparya-nirṇaya (1.8)

Limitless jīvas are present in the body of Lord Viṣṇu. Among them, the conditioned jīvas are divided into three categories (sāttvika, rājasika and tāmasika). Inside His body, Lord Viṣṇu saw (1) demigods like Brahmā, who are meditating, (2) human beings who are absorbed in family-life, and (3) demons who are in the stage of profound sleep (suṣupti).

They are all confined by the darkness of avidyā (material ignorance) and the flow of fruitive karma from time immemorial. People in the mode of goodness are fit for liberation; people in the mode of passion are fit for family life; and people in the mode of ignorance are destined for the hellish planets.

Demigods like Brahmā, Indra the Gāndharvas (singers of the heavenly planets), Ṛṣis, the 14 Manus, the 8 Vasus, and the best of human beings–all belong to the category of the mode of goodness (sāttvika). The jīvas in the mode of passion are the lowest among the humans; they are the fruitive workers. Kali, Kālanemi, Jarāsandha, Madhukaiṭabha, Sambara, Vṛtrāsura, Kālkeya, Poulamā, rākṣasas and demons–all belong to the mode of ignorance.

The constitutional bodies of sāttvika living entities are full of knowledge and bliss; rājasika persons have both knowledge and ignorance; and tāmasika persons are distressed and ignorant. Truthfulness, kindness, purity, control of the mind and senses, renunciation, and bhakti are the constitutional features of sāttvika persons. In the constitutional body of rājasika persons, the inclination towards both religion and irreligion is present. Falsehood, impurity, cruelty, egoism, fickleness, uncontrolled senses, greediness for the material objects, rebelliousness, and a hostile mentality towards Hari, Guru, and Vaiṣṇavas are the characteristic features of those in ignorance (tāmasa).

Three types of conditioned living entities have three destinations:

त्रिविधा जीवसंघास्तु देवमानुषदानवाः तत्र देवा मुक्तियोग्या मानुषेषूत्तमाः तथा
मध्यमा मानुषा ये तु सृतियोग्याः सदैव हि अधमा निरया एव दानवास्तु तमोलयाः
मुक्तिर्नित्या तमः च एव नाव्रित्तिः पुनः एतयोः देवानां निरयो नास्ति तमः च अपि कथञ्चन
मानुषाणां मध्यमानां नैवैतद्-द्व्यमाप्यते असुराणां तमःप्राप्तिस् तदाह् नियमतो भवेत्

trividhā jīvasaṃghāstu devamānuṣadānavāḥ tatra devā muktiyogyā mānuṣeṣūttamāḥ tathā
madhyamā mānuṣā ye tu sṛtiyogyāḥ sadaiva hi adhamā nirayā eva dānavāstu tamolayāḥ
muktirnityā tamaḥ ca eva nāvrittiḥ punaḥ etayoḥ devānāṃ nirayo nāsti tamaḥ ca api kathañcana
mānuṣāṇāṃ madhyamānāṃ naivaitad-dvyamāpyate asurāṇāṃ tamaḥprāptis tadāh niyamato bhavet

Mahābhārata-tātparya-nirṇaya (1.87–92)

The living entities are in three categories, the demigods, the human beings and the demons. Among them, the demigods and the best of human beings are qualified for liberation, the mid-section of human beings are always inclined and absorbed in family life; and lower category of human beings are destined for the hellish planets. The demons are destined for the andhatāmisra hell. The demigods practically never have to go the hellish planets or become influenced by the quality of ignorance (tamaḥ). Similarly, the demons do not easily get liberation at any time or by any cause. The human beings in the middle are neither worthy for liberation, nor destined for andha-tāmisra. Therefore, only the demons go to the andha-tāmisra hell regularly.

The natural qualities and faults of the living entities are as follows:

असुरादेस्-तथा दोषा नित्या स्वाभाविका अपि
गुणदोषौ मनुस्याणां नित्यौ स्वाभाविकौ मतौ
गुणैकमात्ररूपास् तु देवा एव सदा मताः

asurādes-tathā doṣā nityā svābhāvikā api
guṇadoṣau manusyāṇāṃ nityau svābhāvikau matau
guṇaikamātrarūpās tu devā eva sadā matāḥ

Gītā-bhāṣya (6.9)

In other words, among the demons, only faults are present in their constitutional nature; among the human beings, both good qualities and faults are present; and in the demigods, especially those who are performing bhajana, good qualities are always present.

The conclusion regarding these living entities is:

नित्यानन्दज्ञानबला देवा नैवं तु दानवाः दुःखोपलब्धिमात्रास्-ते मानुषास्-तु भयात्मकाः
तेषां यदान्यथा दृश्यं तदुपाधिक्र्तं मतं विज्ञानेनात्मयोग्येन निजरूपे व्यवस्थितिः
सम्यग् ज्ञानन्तु देवानां मनुष्याणां विमिश्रितम् विपरीतन्तु दैत्यानां ज्ञानस्यैवं व्यवस्थितिः

nityānandajñānabalā devā naivaṃ tu dānavāḥ duḥkhopalabdhimātrās-te mānuṣās-tu bhayātmakāḥ
teṣāṃ yadānyathā dṛśyaṃ tadupādhikrtaṃ mataṃ vijñānenātmayogyena nijarūpe vyavasthitiḥ
samyag jñānantu devānāṃ manuṣyāṇāṃ vimiśritam viparītantu daityānāṃ jñānasyaivaṃ vyavasthitiḥ

Bhaviṣya Purāṇa (2–3)

In other words, the demigods are very powerful, full of knowledge and blissful. The demons on the other hand are always suffering. The human beings are always afraid. They have deep bodily attachments according to the bodily designations acquired from birth. They are afraid that someone will change their situation, and they think that they may be cursed, or that someone may get a boon that will affect their situation adversely. All are eligible for reaching their constitutional position. The knowledge of the demigods is factual; of the human beings is real and unreal; and of the demons, is totally opposite to the demigods. These are the divisions in the realm of knowledge.

At the time of creation, the living entity is inactive, lying in a dormant state in the body of Lord Viṣṇu, and does not have a physical body; only the results of activities (karma) that the living entity performed done in the previous kalpa remain. According to this previous karma or deeds, the living entity subsequently receives an appropriate physical body by the Supreme Lord.

This physical constitutional body of the jīva is conditioned in the subtle body of the jīva. The subtle body is thus said to be beginningless (anādi). On the outside of this subtle body is the physical functional body which is created by Lord Aniruddha during the new creation of the universe. This happens in every kalpa of a new day of Brahmā when partial dissolution (pralaya) or the night of Brahmā is over. each day of Brahmā is 4.32 billion solar years, or lasts a thousand periods of the four yugas.

During the annihilation and creation of the material universe, the living entities are lying latent inside the body of Lord Viṣṇu, and later they have to receive a physical body to become absorbed in enjoyment and activities, in accordance to their last impressions. The jīva has three categories of body:

(1) The svarūpa-deha, which is the eternal constitutional position of the jīva, full of knowledge and bliss.

(2) The subtle or astral body, as a covering of the jīva.

(3) The karma-deha, which is the physical body or gross covering of the jīva.

The body of the living entities inside the body of Lord Viṣṇu is also called karma-deha, but that karma-deha is very subtle, whereas the karma-deha of the created body of the living entities is gross and materially tangible.

At the end of this physical gross body, the jīva has to get a suffering-body (yātanā-deha) to experience the happiness of heaven or the distress of hell, according to the results of their actions and desires. There is no revelation of one’s eternal postion (svarūpadeha) until the subtle body is destroyed.

The living entities in the mode of goodness (sāttvika jīvas) have to become free from their subtle body and reside with Brahmā through worshiping the spiritual master, cultivating scriptural knowledge and cultivating pure devotional service. Rājasika people, or living entities in the mode of passion, have to become free from their subtle body at the end of a kalpa, through the performance of favourable activities in purified consciousness. Tāmasika people, or living entities in the mode of ignorance, have to desire to give up prohibited karmas and hostility to Hari, Guru and Vaiṣṇavas. Then, after giving up animosity to Hari, Guru and Vaiṣṇavas, they have to be freed from their subtle body at the end of a kalpa.

Then their transcendental eternal body (svarūpadeha) will be manifested. Some living entities in the perfected stage of sādhana, being ordered by Śrī Hari, are delivered along with Brahmā, and some in the incomplete stage have to obtain another planet, to be delivered along with another Brahmā later.

आज्ञैव हरेः केचिद्पूर्त्तेः केचिदञ्जसा
विहृत्यैवान्यलोकेषु मुच्यन्ते ब्रह्मणा सह

ājñaiva hareḥ kecidpūrtteḥ kecidañjasā
vihṛtyaivānyalokeṣu mucyante brahmaṇā saha

Bhāgavat-tātparya (2.2.30)

“When the great devastation comes, then all living beings have to join with Brahmā and later, they have to enter into Lord Viṣṇu with Brahmā.”

According to this Suparṇa-śruti, in this great devastation (mahāpralaya), the living entities have to get the mercy of Lord Viṣṇu with the sub-creator Brahmā. At the end of half of Brahmā’s lifespan (parārdha), in great devastation, all living entities have to enter into supreme position (parampada) with Brahmā.