Within Shaivism, moksha is understood as liberation from bondage and the realization that the individual self is, in its deepest essence, Shiva-consciousness. The soul, though appearing limited and bound, is regarded as inherently pure consciousness, and bondage is explained as arising from impurities or limiting factors such as a sense of smallness, the binding force of karma, and the ignorance produced by maya. Moksha is therefore not the destruction of the self, but the removal or transcendence of these limitations, so that the soul stands free from sorrow and the cycle of birth and death. In this liberated state, the self abides in its original Shiva-nature, characterized by knowledge, bliss, and freedom.

Different Shaiva traditions articulate this realization in distinct yet related ways. In nondual currents such as Kashmir Shaivism, liberation is described as a recognition that one’s own consciousness is Shiva, the all-pervading, blissful reality, and that the universe itself is a manifestation of this Shiva-consciousness. Here moksha can be a living realization (jivanmukti), in which the world is no longer experienced as bondage but as Shiva’s play. Other Shaiva streams, including certain forms of Shaiva Siddhanta and devotional lineages, speak of moksha as eternal union or proximity to Shiva, where the soul is purified of impurity, karma, and maya through Shiva’s grace and spiritual discipline, yet retains a distinct individuality while enjoying everlasting communion with the Lord.

Across these perspectives, the means to moksha are portrayed as a convergence of disciplined practice and divine grace. Devotion to Shiva, yogic disciplines such as meditation and contemplation, mantra recitation, and self-inquiry into the nature of consciousness all serve to loosen the knots of bondage. At the same time, the final breakthrough into freedom is attributed to Shiva’s grace, which completes the process of purification and recognition. The fruit of moksha is a state in which desires and attachments no longer bind, compassion and wisdom arise spontaneously, and there is an unbroken awareness of one’s true identity as Shiva or of intimate nearness to Shiva, beyond the reach of suffering and rebirth.