Dravya is a term used to refer a substance. According to the
Jain philosophy, the universe is made up of six eternal substances: sentient beings or souls (
jiva), non-sentient substance or matter (
pudgala), principle of motion (
dharma), the principle of rest (
adharma), space (
akasa) and time (
kala). The latter five are united as the
ajiva (the non-living). As per the
Sanskrit etymology,
dravya means substances or entity, but it may also mean real or fundamental categories.