Pravachanasara approaches metaphysical reflection by carefully distinguishing what is ultimately real from what is only conventionally so. It does this above all through the contrast between the absolute standpoint (niscaya-naya) and the empirical or practical standpoint (vyavahara-naya). From the absolute perspective, only the pure soul—defined by knowledge and perception—is fully real, while from the empirical perspective, body, karmic bondage, worldly relations, and ethical practices are treated as real for the sake of conduct and spiritual discipline. This layered vision of truth allows seemingly contradictory statements—such as the soul being both bound and free—to be reconciled by assigning them to different standpoints. The text thus uses the doctrine of standpoints not as a mere logical device, but as a way of mapping the many-sidedness of reality and guiding discernment between appearance and essence.

At the heart of its metaphysics lies a sustained analysis of substance (dravya) and modes (paryaya). Reality is characterized as that which persists through change, undergoing continual modification without losing its underlying identity. The soul, as a conscious substance, is beginningless and eternal, inherently pure, yet appears impure due to association with karmic matter. Body, mind, and external relations are treated as transient modes rather than the true self, which remains a locus of knowledge and perception even as its states shift. In this way, Pravachanasara addresses the classic puzzle of how continuity and change coexist, affirming that a single entity can be described as both eternal (in its substance) and non-eternal (in its modes).

Karma is treated not merely as a moral metaphor but as a real, subtle material factor that binds to the soul and modifies its modes. This provides an ontological account of bondage, rebirth, and the gradations of spiritual experience, while preserving the soul’s essential nature as untouched in its core. Bondage and liberation are therefore presented as genuine states of the soul: in bondage, the soul is empirically conditioned by karmic matter and subject to birth and death; in liberation, it abides in its own pure nature of unobstructed knowledge and bliss. The world, bodies, social identities, and even ritual practices are not dismissed as sheer illusion, but are granted a conditional, empirical reality that is ultimately subordinate to the reality of the pure self.

Throughout, Pravachanasara links metaphysics and spiritual practice by treating right knowledge as a direct expression of the soul’s own nature. Knowledge and perception are not accidental activities but defining attributes of the self, while ignorance is understood as a karmically conditioned distortion rather than an intrinsic property. By articulating an ontology of substances, attributes, and modes within a framework of multiple standpoints, the work offers a nuanced realism: it affirms the ultimate reality of the knowing self, yet acknowledges the relative reality of the karmic world and ethical life that must be navigated on the path to freedom.