Poetic Rendering
All my acts are Yours, O Lord,
my breath, my strength,
my will all flow toward You.
To You I offer Guru-pūjā,
for You awaken wisdom.
To You I perform Liṅgārcane,
for You are the flame within me.
To You I serve the Jangama,
for You walk this world as living grace.
Whatever fruits come from my hands
let them not stay in my grasp.
They are Yours to give,
Yours to reclaim,
Yours to enjoy.
All that I do, all that I hold, all that I offer
it is not mine, nor ever was.
For I am only Your worker,
and You, the Master of all wages.
O Koodalasangamadeva,
when I live and labor in Your name,
even toil becomes song,
even hunger becomes worship.
This vachana is the quintessential expression of Basavanna’s revolutionary spirituality, where the entire world becomes the theater of worship. He erases the line between the sacred and the secular, declaring that all action from the most mundane labor to the most explicit ritual is an offering to the Divine. This is not a philosophy of renunciation but of – consecration – . The path is not to leave the world, but to infuse it with such conscious surrender that every act becomes a sacrament. This is the lived experience of – Kayaka – (divine work) and – Dasoha – (selfless sharing), the twin pillars of a life lived in constant, joyful communion with the source of all existence.
Spiritual Context
Core Spiritual Principle: The pinnacle of spirituality is the realization of non-doership (Nishkama Karma). The entire universe is a continuous expression (Yajna) of the Divine. To consciously participate in this by offering all actions and their fruits is to live in constant, joyful union with God.
Cosmic Reality Perspective: In Lingayoga, the Linga is the fundamental, dynamic consciousness from which all energy and action arise and into which they subside. The individual (Anga) is a localized manifestation of this energy. When the Anga realizes it is not a separate actor but a channel for the Linga’s energy, the cycle of karma is broken, and life becomes a spontaneous, effortless worship (Sahaja).
Historical Reality (Anubhava Mantapa Context): This Vachana is the philosophical bedrock of the Lingayat social revolution. It sanctifies every form of labor, empowering the common worker and artisan. It dismantles the priestly monopoly on worship by declaring that the cobbler’s stitch, the farmer’s plough, and the merchant’s trade, when done with this consciousness, are as sacred as any ritual performed in a temple.
Interpretation
“To You I offer Guru-pūjā… Liṅgārcane… serve the Jangama…”: Basavanna begins by consecrating the three traditional pillars of the path. But he does so by redirecting them to the one source, Koodalasangamadeva. This prevents the practices from becoming ends in themselves and re-establishes the Linga as the central, unifying reality behind all forms.
“I am tired of this idea that I am the one offering.”: This is the pivotal moment of awakening. The ego (the sense of being a separate doer) is experienced not as a sin, but as a burdensome and false concept. This “tiredness” is the exhaustion that precedes final surrender.
“They are Yours to give, Yours to reclaim, Yours to enjoy.”: This is the operational definition of non-doership. It recognizes God as the only true agent the giver of capacity, the receiver of the fruit, and the enjoyer of the offering. The individual is a transparent intermediary.
“Even toil becomes song, even hunger becomes worship.”: This describes the transformed state of consciousness. When the ego is absent, there is no one to feel the burden of toil or the pang of hunger as a personal affliction. These experiences are simply witnessed as part of the divine play, and thus, are imbued with a sacred quality.
Practical Implications: The seeker is guided to practice offering every action, thought, and sensation to the Divine as it occurs. The practice is a moment-to-moment remembrance: “I am not the doer.” This is applied equally to spiritual practices and worldly duties, erasing any distinction between them.
The Cosmic Reality
Anga (Human Dimension): The individual who has become a willing and conscious instrument. The Anga’s identity is now defined solely by its service to the Linga.
Linga (Divine Principle): Koodalasangamadeva as the ultimate source, energy, and consumer the “Master of all wages.” The Linga is the sole reality.
Jangama (Dynamic Interaction): The dynamic is the continuous flow of life itself, now recognized as the Linga in motion. Every action, from breathing to serving, is the living Jangama the Divine interacting with itself.
Shata Sthala
Primary Sthala: Aikya. This Vachana is a pure expression of the Aikya stage. The complete dissolution of the sense of separation between the servant and the Master, the offering and the offered, is the very essence of Union.
Practical Integration
Arivu (Awareness Practices): Practice the mantra “I am not the doer” throughout the day. Before any task, mentally offer it: “This is for You, by You.” Observe sensations like hunger or fatigue without claiming them as “my” pain, but as movements within the divine field.
Achara (Personal Discipline): Let your primary discipline be the cultivation of this witnessing attitude. Perform all your duties, both spiritual and worldly, with the feeling that you are an instrument being played by the Divine Musician.
Kayaka (Sacred Action): Explicitly dedicate your profession or daily work as a service (Kayaka) to the Divine. See your labor as contributing to the divine order, not to your personal account.
Dasoha (Communal Offering): Share everything you have time, resources, skills with the understanding that you are not the owner but a trustee. Facilitate the flow of divine abundance through you to the community without any sense of personal loss or gain.
Modern Application
Burnout from over-identification with work; the anxiety of ownership and results; the struggle for work-life balance; a sense of meaninglessness in repetitive tasks; the spiritual bypassing of worldly duties.
This Vachana is the ultimate cure for modern stress and existential angst. It transforms the workplace into a temple and daily chores into a meditation. It liberates one from the crushing weight of personal responsibility and outcome-dependency, replacing it with a sense of being a part of a sacred, flowing process. It provides a way to be deeply engaged in the world while remaining utterly free from it.
Essence
The hand that works, the breath I take,
Are Yours to use, for Your name’s sake.
The fruit is Yours, the seed was sown,
I am the field, and You alone.
This Vachana describes a state of Perfect Thermodynamic Openness. The individual system (Anga) has removed all internal barriers (egoic identity). It now functions as a perfectly open system, allowing energy (life force, action) to flow through it without resistance or the creation of karmic entropy (personal attachment to results). The Linga is the infinite energy reservoir and heat sink. In this state, the system does no “work” in the karmic sense; it merely facilitates the flow of energy back to its source. “Toil becomes song” because no energy is lost to internal friction; “hunger becomes worship” because even the process of energy depletion is recognized as part of the sacred cycle.
A perfectly clean pipe does not claim to create the water that flows through it, nor does it hold onto the water. It simply allows the water to flow from the reservoir to the ocean. The pipe’s purpose is fulfilled in its transparency and lack of obstruction. Basavanna has become that pipe. His life is the clear channel for the divine flow, and his joy is in the flowing, not in claiming the water as his own. The greatest burden you carry is the story that you are the author of your life. The ultimate freedom is to realize you are a character in God’s story, and to play your part with full devotion and zero ownership. When you stop trying to steer the ship and simply become the wake it leaves behind, you find yourself moving effortlessly in the direction of the infinite. Your life is not your project; it is your offering.
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