The teaching of Rāja Yoga presents a very precise goal: the attainment of *kaivalya*, the absolute liberation or isolation of pure consciousness. In this state, consciousness (*puruṣa*) abides in its own nature, completely free from identification with the mind and with material nature (*prakṛti*). This is not merely a psychological quietude, but a radical freedom in which the seer is untouched by suffering, karma, or the cycle of rebirth. Such liberation is described as absolute independence, a state in which pure awareness stands alone, no longer entangled with the changing phenomena of body, mind, and world.

The path toward this goal unfolds through the systematic discipline of the eight limbs, whose inner thrust is expressed in the phrase *citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ*—the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. As the mental modifications are stilled, meditative absorption (*samādhi*) becomes possible, culminating in the highest state of consciousness. In that culmination, the distinction between consciousness (*puruṣa*) and nature (*prakṛti*) is directly realized, and the true Self is known as pure, unchanging awareness. This realization is spoken of as liberation (*mokṣa*), the end of bondage and the fruition of the yogic journey.

From this perspective, *samādhi* is both a summit of practice and a gateway: it represents complete meditative absorption, yet it is valued above all because it opens into *kaivalya*. The ultimate aim is not simply an exalted experience, but a stable abiding in the knowledge of one’s true nature as pure consciousness, free from identification with body, mind, and ego. Rāja Yoga thus orients every limb of practice toward this single, overarching end: the direct, unshakable realization of that freedom which is the essence of *puruṣa*.