Jiva, the word for the living is synonymous with Chit, the word for being conscious. The whole world can be classified into the living and the non-living. Hinduism differentiates between the conscious and the non-conscious, the Chit and the Achit. Only the God and the Soul come under the classification of the Chit. The being of Chit is Chetana. God is Parama Chetana.
In Hinduism the whole world has been classified into 24 Tathvas. The natural elements 5 - Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Space The sensory organs 5 - Eye, Ear, Tongue, Nose, Skin
The sensations 5 - Sight, Sound, Taste, Smell, Touch
Organs of action 5 - Hands, Feet, Speech, Anus, Sexual organs
Organs of mind 4 - Mental Stuff, Mind, Intellect, Ego
So the world that comes to knowledge is comprised in these 24 principles, viz., the natural elements, the sensory organs, the sensations, the organs of action and the organs of mind.
The Knower, the Chit or the Atman is the 25th principle that comes after enumerating all the principles of the Known.
So Atman itself is sometimes referred to as the Twentyfifth Principle in the Sastras of Hinduism.
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