Samayasāra centers on the pure nature of the soul and the clear discernment between the Self and the non-Self. Acharya Kundakunda presents the soul (jīva) as pure consciousness and knowledge, intrinsically free from the body, mind, karmic conditions, and all forms of matter or external attachment. This pure Self remains untouched by the changing states that arise through karmic bondage, which are regarded as temporary and not affecting the soul’s essential nature. Liberation is thus portrayed not as a transformation of the soul into something new, but as the unveiling of what has always been present: the soul’s ever-pure, untainted reality.

A key feature of this teaching is the distinction between the ultimate standpoint (niścaya naya) and the practical or empirical standpoint (vyavahāra naya). From the ultimate standpoint, the soul is eternally pure, unattached, and beyond all worldly entanglements; from the practical standpoint, it appears involved in actions, passions, and karmic influx. Samayasāra invites the seeker to recognize these two levels of understanding and to ground spiritual life in the ultimate vision of the Self, while still acknowledging the empirical realm as a relative perspective. In this way, the text guides one to see bondage and liberation as conditions of cognition and awareness, rather than real alterations in the soul’s essence.

The path that emerges from this vision is one of deep self-knowledge and inner realization. Right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct are upheld as the means to align with the soul’s true nature, yet their authenticity rests on direct experiential awareness of the Self as distinct from all that is non-Self. By steadily abiding in the awareness of the soul’s pure, independent reality, the aspirant loosens identification with body, mind, and karmic states, allowing non-attachment to blossom naturally. Samayasāra thus offers a contemplative, inwardly focused spirituality, in which self-realization is nothing other than resting in the soul’s intrinsic, ever-pure consciousness, free from all karmic and material associations.