In Jain Dharma, ātmā (jīva) is the conscious, eternal substance. It is not the body, not the senses, and not the mind. Its own nature is awareness (upayoga) — which appears as knowledge (jñāna) and perception (darśana).

Key points

• Eternal and independent: The soul is beginningless and endless. It is never created or destroyed.
• Inherent qualities: consciousness, knowledge, perception, bliss, and energy (vīrya). In its pure state these are infinite.
• Bondage and karma: Due to passions (kāṣāyas) and activities, subtle karmic matter binds to the soul. This obscures its natural qualities and causes birth and death in various bodies.
• Worldly vs. liberated:

- Worldly soul (saṃsārī jīva) pervades and animates the body it occupies and experiences pleasure–pain according to karma. - Liberated soul (siddha) is free from all karmas, resides at the top of the universe (Siddhaśilā), and eternally manifests infinite knowledge, perception, bliss, and energy; it has no body, senses, gender, or movement.

• Path to liberation: Right Faith, Right Knowledge, and Right Conduct (Ratnatraya) gradually remove karmas and reveal the soul’s purity.

Digambar and Śvetāmbara

• Both traditions equally affirm the above fundamentals about the soul’s nature, bondage by karma, and liberation at Siddhaśilā. Differences, where they exist, are mainly in disciplinary details and not in the essential definition of ātmā.

In simple words: “Ātmā is the knowing, feeling, and blissful reality within, eternally pure by nature; bondage hides this purity, and spiritual practice uncovers it until full liberation.”