Poetic Rendering
Let my eyes rest upon the Jangama,
let my ears drink the words of the Jangama,
let my breath itself serve the Jangama.
Let my tongue speak only of the Jangama,
let my shelter be offered to the Jangama.
Love, warmth, all that I am
I shall place before them.
For all I give,
O Koodalasangamadeva,
is given to Your Sharanas.
Basavanna consecrates every sense and impulse to the Jangama the living embodiment of Shiva. By ending with “Sharanas,” he affirms the non-duality between God and the realized devotees who carry His presence. Offering to the Sharana is offering to God, for only the Divine truly fills all existence.
Spiritual Context
Core Spiritual Principle: The most direct and potent form of worship is to perceive and serve the Divine in its living, human manifestation the Jangama. By consecrating every faculty to the enlightened being, the seeker’s entire existence becomes a continuous act of worship, accelerating the dissolution of their own ego.
Cosmic Reality Perspective: In the non-dual reality of Shivayoga, there is no separation between Shiva (Linga) and the fully realized soul (Jangama). The Jangama is the Linga in dynamic, human form. Therefore, to see the Jangama is to see God; to hear them is to hear the divine command; to serve them is to serve the absolute. This is not idolatry but the recognition of divinity in its most accessible and potent expression.
Historical Reality (Anubhava Mantapa Context): This Vachana establishes the Jangama as the central pillar of the Lingayat spiritual economy. It creates a society where the highest spiritual practice is not solitary meditation but active, reverential service to the enlightened beings within the community. It ensures the flow of grace from teacher to disciple and sustains the entire spiritual ecosystem.
Interpretation
“Let my eyes rest upon the Jangama…”: This is the practice of sacred seeing (darshan). By focusing the eyes on the form of a realized being, one absorbs their state of peace and consciousness, purifying one’s own perception.
“…let my ears drink the words of the Jangama…”: The “words” are not ordinary speech but the embodiment of truth (Vak). Listening becomes a form of imbibing divine wisdom that transforms the listener from within.
“…let my breath itself serve the Jangama.”: This is the ultimate surrender. Breath (prana) is life itself. To offer one’s breath is to offer one’s very existence, symbolizing that every moment of life is for the Divine.
“For all I give… is given to Your Sharanas.”: This final line collapses all duality. It reveals that the Jangama/Sharana is not a separate entity but the very form of God. The offering is not to them but through them to the Linga they embody. The distinction between giver, gift, and receiver dissolves.
Practical Implications: The seeker is guided to find a living teacher or spiritual guide (Guru/Jangama) and to offer their entire life their time, energy, resources, and love in service to them. The practice is one of total self-surrender, using the relationship with the Guru as the crucible for burning the ego.
The Cosmic Reality
Anga (Human Dimension): The devotee’s body, senses, mind, and life-force, all dedicated as instruments for serving the Divine in the form of the Jangama.
Linga (Divine Principle): Koodalasangamadeva as the absolute reality, the ultimate source and destination of all offerings.
Jangama (Dynamic Interaction): The realized Sharana is the living Jangama. They are the dynamic interface where the formless Linga becomes approachable. The act of serving them is the sacred dynamic that transfers grace from the absolute to the individual.
Shata Sthala
Primary Sthala: Sharana. This Vachana is the lived experience of a Sharana one who has taken refuge. Their refuge is not abstract but is actively lived through this total self-offering to the living embodiment of their refuge.
Practical Integration
Arivu (Awareness Practices): Practice seeing the divine in your teacher or in beings of wisdom. In their presence, consciously direct your gaze, your listening, and your awareness toward them as an act of worship.
Achara (Personal Discipline): Dedicate your daily activities to the service of a higher wisdom or your spiritual guide. Before acting, ask, “Is this worthy of being offered?”
Kayaka (Sacred Action): Let your work be a direct offering to sustain the community of the wise (Sangha). See your labor as supporting the presence of enlightenment in the world. Dasoha (Communal Offering): Make your primary form of Dasoha the support of the Jangamas and the Sharanas those who guide the community. Offer them the best of your resources, time, and reverence.
Modern Application
The loss of the Guru-disciple tradition; spiritual independence that rejects all external authority; a transactional relationship with teachers; the inability to surrender and trust deeply, which blocks the transmission of grace.
This Vachana resurrects the sacred role of the spiritual guide. It offers a timeless method for rapid transformation: finding a true teacher and surrendering to them completely. It teaches that the ego cannot transcend itself alone; it requires the mirror and the fire of a realized master. In an age of hyper-individualism, it points to the power of humble devotion and service as the fast track to liberation.
Essence
My eyes, my ears, my breath, my all,
Upon the Living God I call.
For in the Sage, the Truth I see,
And offering to them, I offer to Thee.
This Vachana describes a Complete Energetic and Informational Circuit. The Jangama is a superconducting conduit for divine energy (Shakti). The seeker’s individual system (Anga) has high resistance due to ego. By connecting every sensory and energetic channel (sight, sound, breath, etc.) to this superconducting conduit, the seeker’s system is brought into a state of induced coherence. The grace (current) flows without resistance through the Jangama and into the seeker, burning out the impurities (resistance) and eventually allowing the seeker’s own system to become a superconductor. The offering is not a loss but an investment that completes the circuit and allows for a transformative power transfer.
A plant does not worship the sun from a distance by reading about it. It turns its leaves (eyes) to face the sun directly, absorbs its light (words), and uses its entire structure (breath, life) to convert that light into growth. The Jangama is the sun. Basavanna’s consecration is the plant consciously orienting every part of itself to receive the nourishing light of grace for its ultimate transformation.
The fastest way to learn is to be near a master. The deepest way to love God is to love His reflection in His saints. Your entire being your senses, your heart, your life is meant to be an offering. When you find a vessel that is pure enough to hold that offering without contaminating it with ego, pour yourself out completely. In that self-emptying, you will be filled with the Divine.
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