Namdev was influenced by Vaishnavite philosophy.[7] His poems sometimes invoked Vithoba, sometimes Vishnu-Krishna as Govind-Hari, but in the larger context of Rama, which states Ronald McGregor, was not referring to the hero described in the Hindu epic Ramayana, but to a pantheistic Ultimate Being.[45] Namdev's view of Rama can be visualised, adds McGregor, "only as the one true, or real Teacher of man (satguru)".[45]

Indian traditions attribute varying theosophical views to Namdev. In north India, Namdev is considered as a nirguna bhakta, in Marathi culture he is considered a saguna bhakta.[46]

In Namdev literature, devotion as the path to liberation is considered superior to alternative paths. Novetzke states that the envisioned devotion is not one way from the devotee to Vishnu, but it is bidirectional, such that "Krishna (Vishnu) is Namdev's slave, and Namdev is Vishnu's slave". To Namdev, mechanical rituals are futile, pilgrimage to holy places is pointless, deep meditation and loving mutual devotion is what matters.[47] Namdev and other sant poets of India "were influenced by the monist view of the ultimate being (Brahman)", which was expressed, in vernacular language, as the loving devotion not of a specific deity but to this ultimate, according to McGregor.[4] Namdev's songs suggested the divine is within oneself, its non-duality, its presence and oneness in everyone and everything.[48][c][d]

In Namdev's literary works, summarises Klaus Witz, as with virtually every Bhakti movement poet, the "Upanishadic teachings form an all-pervasive substratum, if not a basis. We have here a state of affairs that has no parallel in the West. Supreme Wisdom, which can be taken as basically nontheistic and as an independent wisdom tradition (not dependent on the Vedas), appears fused with highest level of bhakti and with highest level of God realization."