In Samayasāra, spiritual detachment is presented as the very hallmark of the soul’s authentic state. The soul is described as pure consciousness, inherently free from attachment (rāga) and aversion (dveṣa), and bondage arises only when this consciousness identifies with what is other than itself—body, mind, emotions, and karmic modifications. Detachment, therefore, is not a mere ethical ornament but the soul’s own nature shining forth when false identification subsides. When one no longer says “I am this body, I am this emotion, I am this role,” awareness settles into the standpoint of “I am pure knowing.” In this way, spiritual detachment functions as both the sign and the substance of self-realization.

This detachment has a precise doctrinal function in relation to karma. Attachment and aversion are described as the very forces that attract and bind karmic matter to the soul, perpetuating the cycle of bondage. When consciousness remains inwardly detached—neither clinging to pleasure nor recoiling from pain—the conditions for new karmic bondage are weakened, and existing karmic ties begin to loosen. Detachment thus serves as the operative means of liberation, not simply as an abstract ideal. It is through this freedom from passion that the soul’s inherent qualities of knowledge, perception, bliss, and energy can manifest without distortion.

Samayasāra also links spiritual detachment to a shift in standpoint, from the empirical view to the pure or ultimate view. From the empirical perspective, one speaks of acting, enjoying, and suffering; from the pure standpoint, the soul is seen only as the knower and seer, never truly entangled in the changing states it witnesses. Detachment is the lived expression of this pure standpoint: engagement with the world continues, but without the inner claim of doership or ownership. In this sense, spiritual detachment is not a call to outer indifference, but to an unshakable awareness that external circumstances cannot alter the soul’s essential purity. When such detachment becomes complete (vītarāgatā), it is described as the immediate condition for liberation, marking the soul’s return to its own pristine nature.