Acharya Kundakunda peppers Samayasāra with rich imagery that sticks like glue in the mind:

• Mirror and Soot: The soul’s pure radiance gets compared to a spotless mirror. Karmic particles are nothing more than soot that dims its shine. When the grime is wiped away—through right faith, knowledge, and conduct—the mirror reflects its innate luminosity once again.

• Sun and Clouds: Just as the sun remains undisturbed behind drifting clouds, the soul stays untouched by passions and impurities. Clouds (karmic veils) block its brilliance, but the sun (true self) keeps shining, waiting to break through.

• Lotus in Mud: Despite growing in murky waters, a lotus petal stays untainted. In the same way, the soul abides in a body teeming with emotions and attachments yet remains intrinsically stainless.

• Flame and Lamps: Imagine dozens of lamps all lit from one flame—each lamp shines, yet every glow originates from a single source. Individual souls mirror that one universal consciousness, flickering separately but stemming from the same eternal light.

• Ocean of Consciousness: The soul is portrayed as an infinite ocean, its depth calm and undisturbed when karmic waves subside. Once the ripples of attachment and ignorance fade, the surface mirrors the still sky of pure awareness.

• Spark from the Fire: Just as sparks fly off a blazing fire yet never separate from it, individual jīvas spring from supreme consciousness, only to get entangled in karmic webs.

Modern mindfulness trends echo Kundakunda’s metaphors: clearing mental “notifications” to reveal an inner clarity, or peeling back the layers of social media “filters” to reconnect with authenticity. Even today, these analogies serve as a handy roadmap—peeling away the grit of daily distractions until the soul’s original shine shines through.