The Shiva Purana presents itself first and foremost as a bhakti scripture, yet within its devotional fabric it weaves together several philosophical strands. It repeatedly extols Shiva as the supreme reality, both nirguṇa and saguṇa, the formless Brahman and the personal Lord who can be loved, worshiped, and invoked. In this way, it gives voice to a theistic Advaita: the ultimate is one without a second, yet that same non-dual reality is addressed as Shiva, the inner Self of all beings and the source, sustainer, and dissolver of the universe. At the same time, it stresses that knowledge and yogic effort find their fulfillment only through Shiva’s grace, so that non-dual insight and devotional surrender are not set in opposition but held together.

Alongside these non-dual affirmations, the text also contains elements that resonate with the later Shaiva Siddhānta outlook. Shiva appears as Pati, the supreme Lord, distinct from the individual souls (paśu) and from the bonds or impurities (pāśa) that fetter them. Souls are portrayed as eternally dependent on Shiva, requiring divine grace for the removal of mala and the attainment of liberation. This yields a qualified dualism in which God, soul, and bondage remain distinct categories, yet the soul’s highest good lies in an intimate relation with Shiva, secured through devotion, right conduct, mantra, and ritual worship.

The Purana further integrates a range of classical Indian philosophical motifs into this Shaiva framework. Vedic and Upaniṣadic language of Brahman and Ātman is appropriated to affirm that the Brahman of Vedānta is none other than Shiva. Sāṅkhya-like cosmological categories and tattvas appear, yet they are subordinated to Shiva as their controller and source. Yogic ideas and practices are present as well, but the goal of yoga is consistently framed as realization of Shiva, not an abstract liberation severed from the Lord. In this way, the text does not function as a manual for any single school; rather, it offers a broad, Vedānta-colored Shaiva theology in which non-dual metaphysics, dualistic devotion, and grace-centered soteriology are held in a creative and devotional tension.