Answer

In Jain Dharma:

• Dravya means a substance or reality that exists.
• Tattva means a fundamental truth or principle that helps us understand the nature of the soul, bondage, and liberation.

They are related because tattvas explain the spiritual condition and journey of the soul, while dravyas explain the basic realities that exist in the universe.

Explanation

Jain philosophy explains reality through two important frameworks:

• Dravya answers: “What exists?”
• Tattva answers: “What truth must be understood for liberation?”

Dravya

A dravya is a real, existing substance. Jain Dharma traditionally describes six dravyas:

• Jīva – soul or living substance
• Pudgala – matter
• Dharma dravya – medium of motion
• Adharma dravya – medium of rest
• Ākāśa – space
• Kāla – time

These describe the structure of the universe.

Tattva

A tattva is a truth that must be understood for spiritual progress. Jain Dharma commonly teaches seven tattvas:

• Jīva – soul
• Ajīva – non-soul
• Āsrava – inflow of karma
• Bandha – bondage of karma
• Saṃvara – stoppage of karmic inflow
• Nirjarā – shedding of karma
• Mokṣa – liberation

Sometimes puṇya and pāpa are added, making nine tattvas.

How They Are Related

The relation can be understood like this:

• Dravya is ontological: it explains what fundamentally exists.
• Tattva is spiritual and practical: it explains what must be known and experienced to attain liberation.

For example:

• Jīva is both a dravya and a tattva.
• As a dravya, jīva is a real substance: the soul.
• As a tattva, jīva is the truth that “I am a soul, separate from non-soul and karma.”

Similarly:

• Ajīva tattva includes non-living realities, which correspond to non-soul dravyas such as matter, space, time, and the media of motion and rest.
• Āsrava, bandha, saṃvara, nirjarā, and mokṣa describe the soul’s relationship with karma and its path toward freedom.

Spiritual Understanding

Understanding dravya helps us see the universe correctly.

Understanding tattva helps us see ourselves correctly.

In Jain Dharma, liberation begins when the soul understands:

• “I am jīva.”
• “I am different from ajīva.”
• “Karma binds me due to passions and activities.”
• “Through right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct, karma can be stopped and shed.”

Takeaway

Dravya means the real substances that make up existence. Tattva means the essential spiritual truths needed for liberation.

In short:

Dravya explains reality. Tattva explains the soul’s path to mokṣa.