Kriyā Yoga Sāra is considered at times a Vaiṣṇava Upa Purāṇa, sometimes as the last part of the Padma Purāṇa, appended to its Uttara Khanda.

It is a treatise on the practice of devotional service.

Kriyā YogaSāra is repeated by Śrīla Sūta Goswāmi to the Ṛṣis, after Vyāsadeva's communicated it to Jaimini, in reply to the inquiry on how religious merit might be secured in Kali Yuga.

In the Kali Yuga age common people are not able to practice tapasya (penances) and have no capacity for philosophical abstraction, means by which mokṣa (the final deliverance from the clutches of this material world) could be formerly obtained.

The answer given in Kriyā Yoga Sāra is the same as the one given in the last book of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa: personal devotion to Viṣṇu, thinking of Him, repeating His Holy Names, wearing the tilaka (His marks applied in various places on the body), worshipping Him in His temples, are considered full substitutes for all other type of practices, like penances, sacrifices, and contemplative acts.