Bahujivavada is the theory of the existence of multiple jivas (beings). Bahujivavada is the principle that there are innumerable beings or jivas in the world, each being independent, separate, absolute and permanent. The word jiva denotes a being immersed in the world (samsara), enjoying pleasure and pain as a result of past karma (deeds) and undergoing the cycle of birth and death. Since time immemorial, jiva has been associated with an element of imperfection that binds the being to the world of experience. The reasons for this, according to different schools of though, are avidya (ignorance), karma-pudgala (activity of an individual), maya (an individual’s construct) and so on.
A jiva can be freed from this bandhana (bondage) through a
course of action, and each school of thought has its own prescription regarding
this. Once a jiva is freed, it then abides in that freedom permanently. Thus, a
jiva is either bound or mukta (free).
Samkhya-karika gives five arguments for the existence of
being. One verse in it mentions three main reasons why the being may be many
and not just one (Bahujivavada). The first is that each living being has a
specific time of birth and death had has separate sense organs. If the being
were not many but one, then everybody would have been born at the same time and
died at the same time and the sense organs of living beings would not have
performed different activities at one and the same time. Another argument is
that each person can behave and act independently according to his will; all
people do not have to sleep or eat or work concurrently. The third argument is
that some people have more of sattva guna (purity), others have more of rajo guna
(passion), and still others a preponderance of tamo guna (passivity). This would
not be possible if the beings were not many.
The Bahujivavada viewpoint in contrary to that of Advaita
Vedanta, according to which there is no plurality of any sort in the basic
realities of the world. There is only one reality, Brahman, which underlies the
multiplicity of appearances. Vedantins point to the relationship between gold
and ornaments and between the ocean and its waves. The ornaments appear to be
different but in reality, there is only gold underlying all of them. The
ornaments are in no way separate from gold and ornaments are in no way separate
from gold and do not exist independently. Similarly, the waves are in no way separate
from the ocean. The waves only appear to be different and many but they are
actually part of the single entity, the ocean.
The plurality of the selves is also regarded in Advaita
Vedanta as an appearance and not an actuality. This phenomenon is called vivarta
or adhyasa. In dim light a rope may appear like a snake, but in bright light,
the false appearance or illusion vanishes. The perception of the snake can be
compared to dream objects or a mirage or the presence of silver in a shell.
Thus, according to Vedanta, the beings only appear to be
many but are not actually so. There is only one reality: Brahman. Other schools
replace this monistic view with pluralism of various types. The Samkhya and
Yoga schools believe in two basic realities of the selves and their primordial
nature.
The Jainas believe in jiva and ajiva. They describe many varieties of selves and argue that a self has the same size as the body it resides in. The Buddhists do not take the self to be permanent; Samyuktha Nikaya argues that just as there is no self in the fire in a flame, though the flame goes on burning; similarly, there is no separate, permanent self in the living beings. Just as the flame is extinguished by strong breeze, so does the self come to an end.
The Nyaya Vaiseshika and Mimamsa Schools consists of pluralists and realists who believe in the existence of individual self and of the paramatma (Supreme Self). They take each self to be independent, abiding in itself on attaining freedom from pain.