The Kriyāpāda of Chandrajnāna enumerates seven varieties of śaivas:
शैवाः सप्तविधा ज्ञेयास्तेषां भेदान् शृणु क्रमात् |
अनादिशैवः प्रथम आदिशैवस्ततः परम् ||
महाशैवस्ततो ज्ञेयस्त्वनुशैवस्ततः परम् |
अवान्तरस्ततो ज्ञेयः प्रवरस्तदनन्तरम् |
अन्त्यशैवस्ततो ज्ञेयस्तेषां लक्षणमुच्यते ||
1. Anādiśaiva
2. ādiśaiva
3. Mahāśaiva
4. Anuśaiva
5. Avāntaraśaiva
6. Pravaraśaiva
7. Antyaśaiva
Anādiśaiva refers to Lord Paramaśiva himself, and there is no Anādiśaiva apart from the great Lord.
Seers such as Kauśika come under the category of ādiśaiva. Kauśika, Kaśyapa, Bharadvāja, Atri, and Gautama are five sages who were initiated by Tatpuruṣādi five faces of Paramaśiva. For those born in their lineage, it is believed that punardīkṣā is not necessary. However, just like the sacred Gāyatrī is received by them during the samskāra of upanayana, they also need to worship the Lord for a maṇḍala and then receive the upadesha of śivamantra and śivapūjā from the father. Thus, for the lineage (gotra) of these five sages, the father himself is the dīkṣā guru and no separate guru or initiation is required (as long the father is competent and is himself well-versed in the practice of mantra and caryā ). Among the various categories of śaivas, ādiśaivas are the dvijas (śivadvija) respected by the other categories and are authorized to perform yajana and pūjana for others as well.
Those brāhmaṇās who are initiated by methods of śaiva dīkṣā (from a competent Guru) are termed Mahāśaiva. Similarly, Kṣatriyas and Vaishyas initiated through śaiva dīkṣā are named Anuśaiva, whereas such initiated śūdras are called Avāntara śaiva. Those belonging to categories such as cobblers etc. (kulāla, pārśvaka, etc.), after initiation, are called Pravaraśaiva. Those belonging to other categories come to be known as Antyaśaiva after śaiva dīkṣā. Thus based on varṇa, the above seven-fold division is described in various āgamas.
Based on ācāra, a four-fold categorization is described:
1. Sāmānyaśaiva
2. Miśraśaiva
3. śuddhaśaiva
4. Vīraśaiva
A Sāmānyaśaiva worships the Lord when he sees a shrine or idol. He then performs archana, pradakṣiṇā, namaskāra, etc. There are no rules and regulations here and one worships based on one’s capacity. He is mostly a pious devotee who is deeply devoted to the chihnas of the Lord such as bhasma and rudrākṣa, and to devotees of śiva as well as the māhātmya of the Lord.
A Miśraśaiva offers equal worship to śiva, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Kumāra, Gaṇeśa, āditya and Ambikā. While exhibiting devatābuddhi towards all these, he still holds a special place for śiva, though performing the rituals for all the deities listed. Since the śaiva aspects here are mixed with the sampradāya of other deities such as Viṣṇu, Gaṇeśa, and śakti, this ācāra is known as Miśraśaiva.
In the case of śuddhaśaiva, śiva along with Jagadambā Umā alone is considered to be the brahma whose lakṣaṇas are satya, jnāna, and ānanda. All other deities are considered to be devoted and subservient to śiva, born of him and deriving their powers from him. Unlike Miśraśaiva, the worship of other devatās here is only as āvaraṇa devatās of śiva and never as the pradhāna devatā. A śuddhaśaiva may choose to worship the iṣṭa liṅga given by Guru in his left palm. He is also required to carefully follow the rules and regulations prescribed by his Guru. If the iṣṭa liṅga is lost, stolen, damaged, separated from its pīṭha, etc., he is required to meditate on the lotus feet of the Guru, recite the sacred formula of Aghora and wear the same or a different liṅga again. In the case of a niyama lopa, he is required to perform the japa of mūla pancākṣarī mantra. Performing prāyaścitta in the case of hāni to vrata or niyama is considered very important for a śuddhaśaiva.
One free from rāga and dveṣa and always immersed in the contemplation of śiva, is called a Vīraśaiva, after all vikalpas are lost. They are again of three kinds: sāmānya, viśeṣa, and nirābhāra. Because this is not a topic of primary interest to us, we shall not dwell into further details here.