Summary
In this vachana, Basavanna speaks of subtle states that cannot be measured by ordinary judgment. Samarati, Samakale, Samasukha, and Svānubhāva cannot be known by asking whether they are great or small.
The teaching is direct. These states do not yield themselves to external comparison, intellectual ranking, social judgment, or visible signs. Their truth belongs to lived realization.
Basavanna then gives the image of testing a jewel without a touchstone. Without the proper means of discernment, even something precious cannot be rightly known. In the same way, without Guru, subtle experience may be misunderstood.
The spiritual concern placed before Kudalasangama Deva is therefore the necessity of Guru. Only those who have Guru know the truth of these measureless states.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The first image is Samarati. This points to a state of spiritual delight or participation in inward equality. Basavanna does not define it in detail, because the vachana’s point is that such states cannot be measured from outside.
The second image is Samakale. This points to a state in which division of condition, time, or separation is brought into inward harmony. It belongs to realization rather than external judgment.
The third image is Samasukha. This is the bliss of sameness or equilibrium. It cannot be weighed as greater or smaller by ordinary standards.
The fourth image is Svānubhāva. This is direct self-experience, not borrowed knowledge or verbal understanding. It must be known inwardly.
The fifth image is greatness and smallness. Basavanna rejects the habit of measuring spiritual states by comparison. What is great or small cannot be determined by external appearance.
The final image is the touchstone. A jewel cannot be tested properly without the right means of testing. Guru is that means of discernment. Without Guru, the seeker may mistake appearance for truth or fail to recognize what is genuine.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches that inner states must be discerned through Guru-guided understanding. Experience alone is not enough if it is not rightly known.
For Pranalingi Sthala, the point is precise. Subtle inward states may arise, but the seeker must not measure them by pride, comparison, or personal interpretation. Guru gives the discernment through which experience becomes rightly understood.
The practice-point is clear: do not rank inner states by appearance. Do not test the jewel without the touchstone. Remain with Guru, and let the truth of experience be known before Kudalasangama Deva.
Editorial Commentary
The touchstone image should remain central. Basavanna is not saying that Samarati, Samakale, Samasukha, and Svānubhāva are unreal or vague; he is saying that they cannot be measured by ordinary means. Guru does not reduce the measureless to a number; Guru enables right recognition of what cannot otherwise be tested.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Prasadi Sthala Vachana 1073 — The Measureless Offering of Bayalu
Prasadi Vachana 1073 supports this teaching by showing that the mind cannot count what ripens, is given, and is already offered within Kudalasangama Deva’s all-pervading Bayalu. The offering belongs to a field beyond number, display, and ordinary calculation.
Vachana 928 carries this into Pranalingi Sthala. Samarati, Samakale, Samasukha, and Svānubhāva cannot be measured as great or small by the seeker’s own judgment. Just as the mind cannot count the measureless offering in Prasadi 1073, the seeker cannot test subtle inward states without the living touchstone of Guru.
Advancing Vachana
Sharana Sthala Vachana 953 — Beyond Veda, Shastra, and Argument: The Source Alone
Sharana Vachana 953 advances this teaching by showing that Veda, Shastra, Tarka, and Agama cannot contain the final source. Sacred systems may point toward truth, but the Sharana does not remain bound by word, doctrine, reasoning, or ritual measure.
In Vachana 928, Guru is the touchstone through whom measureless states are rightly known. In Vachana 953, this matures into Sharana Sthala as direct resting in the source beyond all external systems of measurement. What cannot be judged as great or small is finally known only by abiding in Kudalasangama Deva Himself.
