Summary
Basavanna says that the body’s distortions trouble him, the mind’s distortions gather within him, and the senses’ distortions whirl around him. He is caught within that whirl and asks Kudalasangama Deva not to bind him there.
The prayer then becomes precise. Basavanna asks not to be kept in another or divided mind, but to be placed in Kudalasangama Deva’s own mind. He asks to be placed among the Sharanas who abide in the essence of incomparable bliss. This alone is his request.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The body’s distortion is the first named trouble. Basavanna begins with what is felt through embodied life.
The mind’s distortion is the second trouble. It does not remain outside; it gathers within him.
The senses’ distortion is the third trouble. It does not merely touch him; it whirls around him.
The whirl is the central image. Basavanna is not describing a single disturbance, but a condition of being caught within repeated movement.
The plea, “do not bind me,” shows that he does not want to remain held within that whirl. He does not ask to manage the whirl by himself; he asks Kudalasangama Deva not to fasten him there.
The request not to be kept in another or divided mind moves the vachana inward. Basavanna asks to be placed in the Lord’s own mind.
The final request to be placed among the Sharanas of incomparable bliss completes the vachana. The prayer is not for a lesser comfort. It is for placement with those who abide in the essence of that bliss before Kudalasangama Deva.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, the relevance of this vachana lies in the movement given by the source: body, mind, and senses are disturbed; the seeker is caught in the whirl; he asks not to be bound there; he asks to be placed in Kudalasangama Deva’s mind and among the Sharanas.
The practice-point is direct: when body, mind, and senses whirl in distortion, the seeker must ask for right placement, not merely relief from disturbance.
Editorial Commentary
This vachana should be read as a prayer for placement. Basavanna does not stop with naming disturbance. He asks not to be held in the whirl, not to remain in another or divided mind, and to be placed in Kudalasangama Deva’s own mind among the Sharanas. The force of the vachana lies in this movement from disturbance to exact surrender.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Pranalingi Sthala Vachana 416 — The Threshold of Distraction
Pranalingi Vachana 416 supports this vachana by showing the fragility of steadiness at the point of Linga-bearing. There, Basavanna warns against judging the Linga-bearer even when the hand trembles, and teaches reverence toward the living relation of Linga and Jangama. Sharana Vachana 48 carries that concern into prayer: the seeker, troubled by body, mind, and senses, asks not to be bound in the whirl but to be placed in Kudalasangama Deva’s mind among the Sharanas. The support is direct: wavering must not become separation; it must turn into reverent placement.
Advancing Vachana
Aikya Sthala Vachana 960 — Inner and Outer, Self and World: One Alone
Aikya Vachana 960 advances this teaching by carrying the prayer for placement into oneness. In Sharana Vachana 48, Basavanna asks not to remain in another or divided mind, but to be placed in Kudalasangama Deva’s own mind among the Sharanas of incomparable bliss. In Aikya Vachana 960, inner and outer, self and world, are declared one, and the joy of that ascended state is known only to Kudalasangama Deva. Thus the Sharana-stage prayer for right placement advances into Aikya as the dissolution of division in the one ground of Kudalasangama Deva.
