Sarva is a Sanskrit word meaning all or everything. Sarva is a name of Shiva, but it is not very commonly used. The name implies that Shiva encompasses everything in creation and is one with the material universe. However, Shiva's relationship to the material universe is complicated and involves some paradox.

According to Shaivites, Shiva is eternally static, and the material creation is created by His consort Shakti. She is considered to be one with Him and coequal, but in contrast to His static, unchanging nature, She embodies the active principal by which the material universe is manifest. She is sometimes accepted to be one with the material creation. This relationship is so direct that She is sometimes called Mahamaya, the attribution of this epithet being that

Although it is commonly accepted that Śiva and Śakti are one, even by non-Shaivites, much discussion and exposition among Shaivites is directed toward clarifying the subtle and profound relationship that exists between Shiva and Shakti, and therefore what is eternal and what is temporal.