What is six dravya

Six Dravya (sapta-dravya) are the fundamental substances acknowledged in Jain philosophy. The common list of six is:

• Jiva (living souls): conscious beings with the capacity for bondage and liberation.
• Ajiva (non-living entities): everything that is not a living soul, including matter and cause of karmic bondage.
• Pudgala (matter): gross and subtle matter that forms physical stuff around us.
• Kala (time): the universal medium in which all changes occur; time is a substance.
• Dharma (principle of motion of soul and matter): a subtle principle that allows movement.
• Adharma (principle of rest or resistance): a subtle principle that allows rest and prevents movement.

Notes:

• These six are the standard dravya (substances) in Jain metaphysics. Some scriptures and traditions also discuss eleven or more tattvas (categories involved in bondage and liberation), but the six dravya are the core physical and functional substances.
• There is no essential difference between Digambar and Shvetambar regarding the basic list of six dravya; differences arise in interpretation of certain subtler tattvas and metaphysical details, not the fundamental six.

If you’d like, I can explain how each dravya interacts with karma and helps explain Jain ideas of bondage and liberation.