Jiva

In Hinduism and Jainism, a jiva (Sanskrit:जीव, jīva, alternative spelling jiwa; Hindi:जीव, jīv, alternative spelling jeev) is a living being, or more specifically, the immortal essence or soul of a living organism (human, animal, fish or plant etc.) which survives physical death. It has a very similar usage to atma, but whereas atma refers to "the cosmic self", jiva is used to denote an individual "living entity" or "living being" specifically. To avoid confusion, the terms paramatma and jivatma (also commonly spelled jeevatma) are used.