The true of self of a being are never its features, never its body, never its personality. It is the consciousness which is enshrined within that very being. To get a deeper understanding of the nature of the consciousness, Acharya Mahapragya Ji, takes us across different ways to contemplate the same. The first one is Jaanati passati. This is also called the practical nature of the jeev. For every being, each and every incident, object, word, happening is perceived first by the sensory organs, which is then transferred to the mind and then the information reaches the layers of the consciousness. The way in which this information is perceived, is the practical nature of the consciousness- i.e. seeing and knowing.

The second is Icchati suham vibhedi dukkhado. It simply means the innate nature of a jeev to seek out pleasure and despise off pain. It is in fact logical too. Every person who prays, prays for a better future, a better health, a better well-being. Have we seen someone pray for pain and sufferings, for themselves. What is even more interesting to observe is that the fear of the pain, increases the suffering of the pain itself, making the jeev suffer twice more and sometimes suffer even before the actual pain had begin.

The third nature of the jeev is Kuvvadi hidamahidam vaa. These describes the nature of activities that the jeev indulges in. these activities can be beneficial for harmful. Since there is no hard and fast rule for determining whether an activity is beneficial or not, Acharya Mahapragya Ji has provided a simple analysis for the same which goes as, if a certain activity keeps us in a state of questioning and doubting as to why did we indulge in the same then the activity was not beneficial. But if after the activity, we are content and happy, we can be assured that it was a beneficial undertaking.

The fourth nature of the jeev is Bhunjaldi falam. It is the fundamental rule of as you sow, so shall you reap. A jeev suffers the consequences of its actions. Each action leads to its corresponding consequence. These 4 nature of the jeev, together constitute our entire practical life, and on creating an understanding of the same, we need to ponder on the fundamental question of what we were in the past and what will we become in the future. Bhagwan Mahavir had also encountered such questions in his life time and he helped the seekers of such questions by invoking the Jaati Smriti Gyaan (knowledge of the previous lives) and thereby discover the answer by themselves.