Samayasāra presents self-realization as the direct recognition of the soul (jīva) as pure consciousness—eternal, formless, and inherently perfect. The true self is described as a knower-seer, characterized by knowledge and perception, utterly distinct from body, mind, senses, emotions, karmic matter, and all worldly roles. From this perspective, all non-self elements belong to the relative, worldly standpoint, whereas the soul as pure consciousness is understood from the absolute standpoint. Bondage is thus framed not as a real change in the soul’s substance, but as misidentification: the habit of taking what is other—body, passions, karma—as “I” and “mine.” Even when associated with karmic modes, the soul’s essential purity is said to remain untouched.

Self-realization in this text is not merely an intellectual assent but an immediate, experiential awareness of the soul’s own nature. It is described as right faith or intuitive insight that firmly knows, “I am pure, unattached consciousness; all else is other.” This inner vision is supported by right knowledge of the fundamental realities—soul, non-soul, karma, bondage, stoppage, shedding, and liberation—and by right conduct that naturally flows from such insight. Meditation and inward turning of attention toward the soul’s intrinsic qualities of knowing and perceiving are emphasized as means of allowing this awareness to become stable. As this vision deepens, the stance shifts from “I am the doer and enjoyer” to “I am only the knower-seer.”

Within this framework, liberation is portrayed as the full and stable abiding in the soul’s true nature, in which karmic bondage comes to an end. When identification with passions and actions ceases, the influx of new karma is stopped, and existing karmas gradually ripen and fall away. This process is aided by equanimity, vigilance, and austerity, but its core is inner non-attachment—the weakening and eventual cessation of attachment and aversion. As karmic obscurations are removed, the soul’s inherent freedom is revealed, culminating in a state where all karmic matter is shed and only the pure, omniscient knower-seer remains. Each liberated soul thus abides as an individual, yet absolutely free, with its own nature of unobstructed knowledge and perception fully manifest.