Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index In Hindu and Jain philosophy, Atman is the soul in its natural state. Many believe that individual "personal" souls exist as an illusion only, and think of Atman as the all-pervading soul of the universe; the universal life-principle and animator of all organisms, and the world-soul. By contrast, Jiva is the soul in its human state, in which its freedom is limited by the triple bond of anava (ego), karma (action) and maya(illusion). See also: anatta nirvana samsara reincarnation This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.