Shiva Advaita

Shiva Advaita (Devanagari:शिवाद्वैत, ಶಿವಾದ್ವೈತ, ), also known as or Shaivite qualified nondualism is a Shaivite school of philosophy from Southern India that was founded by Śrīkaṇṭha Śivācārya during the eighth century. According to this doctrine, the Shiva and the Brahman are the one and the same.

Śrīkaṇṭha Śivācārya (also known as Nīlakaṇṭha Śivācārya) wrote a commentary on Brahma Sutras, which became known as Śiva Viśiṣṭādvaita. The time-frame of Śrīkaṇṭha's work is not exactly known, but believed to be somewhere between 12th and 14th century. The theory of Śiva Viśiṣṭādvaita follows very closely Ramanuja's Viśiṣṭādvaita non-dualism doctrine, but differs in who is considered Supreme. Śrīkaṇṭha considers Shiva supreme. It is not known whether Śrīkaṇṭha Śivācārya's work was completed before or after Ramanuja's. Sri Appayya Dikshita contributed further to Shiva Advaita by expounding Śrīkaṇṭha's philosophy in his Sivarka mani dipika. Śrīkaṇṭha does not deny Nirguna Brahman, which is central to Advaita. In contrast to Śrīkaṇṭha, who considers his Brahma Sutra Bhasya Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism), which affirms the supremacy of Saguna Brahman, Appayya affirms a form of pure non-dualism and recasting Śrīkaṇṭha's work in an effort to establish Shiva Advaita in his Śivādvaitanirṇaya.