Poetic Rendering
Let me speak only what is true, O Lord
and let me walk exactly as I speak.
Wherever my feet may go,
may every word I have uttered
remain steady, unwavering.
For the pointer of the balance
rests in Your hand alone.
If my mind tilts even a hair’s breadth
from truth or righteousness,
then turn Your face from me,
O Kudalasangama Deva
for I am unworthy of Your nearness
if my word does not ripen into deed.
In this vachana, Basavanna affirms the central Sharana ideal: speech and action must be one. Words, in themselves, are empty unless they mature into lived truth. He declares that he will speak only what is pure and walk only in alignment with those spoken principles. Basavanna evokes the image of a steelyard balance a symbol of moral precision. He acknowledges that only Kudalasangama Deva holds the pointer, the final measure of a life’s alignment with dharma. Even the slightest imbalance, a small deviation between word and deed, is enough to distance one from divine grace. Thus the vachana teaches:
- Integrity is the highest form of devotion.
- A seeker must be as careful with actions as with speech.
- God is near where truth is lived, not merely spoken.
This is Basavanna’s uncompromising commitment to authenticity: the spiritual path begins with the tongue, but is fulfilled by the feet.
Spiritual Context
Core Spiritual Principle: Integrity as Worship (Satyachara). In Lingayoga, truth is not a concept but a state of being where expression and action are unified. This integrity is the highest form of worship and the essential precondition for receiving grace. Hypocrisy the gap between word and deed is a primary spiritual pollutant.
Cosmic Reality Perspective: From the non-dual Shiva-Shakti dynamic, speech is Shakti as sound (Vak Shakti) and action is Shakti as movement (Kriya Shakti). When these two expressions of energy are in coherent harmony, directed by consciousness rooted in Shiva (truth), they create a resonant field that attracts the grace of the whole. The “balance” is the cosmic law (Rta) inherent in Shiva’s conscious order.
Historical Reality (Anubhava Mantapa Context): This vachana was a cornerstone of ethical conduct for the Basavayoga revolution. In a society where priestly ritual often masked social oppression, Basavanna established personal integrity as the true ritual. It built trust within the diverse Sharanas and ensured their revolutionary words were authenticated by impeccable conduct, making the community a living embodiment of its teachings.
Interpretation
1. “Let me speak only what is true… let me walk exactly as I speak”: This vow establishes integration as the primary sadhana. Truth-speaking (Satyavacana) is the foundation; truth-acting (Satyakriya) is its validation. One without the other fractures consciousness and severs connection to the Divine.
2. “Wherever my feet may go, may every word I have uttered remain steady”: Life’s journey presents variable terrain. This prayer is for contextual integrity that the truth declared in one setting does not become a lie in another. It demands that principles be universal, not situational.
3. “For the pointer of the balance rests in Your hand alone”: The balance (Tula) represents the immutable law of karma. The “pointer” is the precise measure of alignment. Acknowledging divine sovereignty over judgment eliminates self-deception and the manipulation of social morality.
4. “If my mind tilts even a hair’s breadth from truth or righteousness…”: The “mind’s tilt” is the subtle inner compromisethe selfish intent, the hidden reservationthat precedes outward hypocrisy. The standard is absolute; divine perception detects the infinitesimal.
5. “Turn Your face from me… for I am unworthy of Your nearness if my word does not ripen into deed”: The consequence is natural, not punitive. Grace requires a vessel of coherence; a fractured vessel cannot hold it. Unripens the state where word remains umami fest is itself the distance from God.
Practical Implications: Practice “integrity in the moment.” Before speaking, pause to ask: “Am I willing to live by this?” After acting, reflect: “Did this embody my deepest truths?” Make small promises to yourself and keep them impeccably, training the unity of word and deed.
The Cosmic Reality
Anga (Human Dimension): The compound instrument of speech, action, and mind. It is prone to fragmentation saying one thing, doing another. Its spiritual purpose is to become a unified field, a coherent expression of truth.
Linga (Divine Principle): The absolute reference of truth and the source of moral order. It is the unwavering standard by which all alignment is measured and the grace that floods into a coherent being.
Jangama (Dynamic Interaction): The continuous process of self-alignment and correction. It is the living practice of ensuring each step (action) echoes each word, and both resonate with the silent truth of the Linga, creating a feedback loop of refinement.
Shata Sthala
Primary Sthala: Sharana. The vow of integrity and surrender to divine judgment are defining traits of the Sharana, who takes refuge in lived truth as their only protection and offering.
Supporting Sthala: Maheshwara. The sustained discipline and discriminative vigilance required to maintain this integrity, especially against internal and external pressures, reflect the focused effort of the Maheshwara stage.
Practical Integration
Arivu (Awareness Practices): Practice “The Balance Meditation.” Visualize your words on one scale and your actions on the other, with the Linga as the pointer. Observe where imbalances lie without judgment. Set an intention to bring one specific word-deed pair into alignment each day.
Achara (Personal Discipline): Institute a “Truth Covenant.” For a week, speak only of things you are actively practicing or embodying. Abstain from professing ideals you are not working to realize. This creates conscious speech and reveals hidden hypocrisies.
Kayaka (Sacred Action): Let your profession be your primary field of integrity. Ensure your work deliverables match your promises and proposals. Let your labor be a testament where your craft speaks as loudly and truthfully as your words.
Dasoha (Communal Offering): Foster a community of “integrity mirrors.” With permission and compassion, gently help fellow seekers notice discrepancies between their stated values and actions. Receive such feedback with gratitude, seeing it as divine grace operating through the sangha.
Modern Application
The Performance of Integrity. In the age of curated identities and virtue signaling, it is easy to perform righteousness online or in select circles while living a contradictory private life. This creates psychological fragmentation, erodes trust, and makes spirituality a brand rather than a being.
Embody First, Express Second. This vachana calls for a radical inversion: let your actions become so aligned with truth that your words become a simple, inevitable reporting of your lived reality. Stop advocating for causes you do not personally practice. In a world of empty rhetoric, let your life be a silent, powerful sermon where your deeds are your only doctrine. This is the ultimate authenticity that rebuilds self-trust and social credibility.
Essence
Let my tongue speak only what is sown,
And let my feet tread that truth alone.
Your balance weighs the thought, the sigh,
The gap between the word and why.
A hair’s-breadth tilt, and grace may flee
So weld my speech to action, Thee,
That in the unity I profess,
I dwell within Your nearness.
This vachana describes the quantum coherence of spiritual identity. Each word is a commitment that collapses the wave function of potential identities into a specific state. Each action is a measurement that confirms or denies that collapse. Incoherence (word-action mismatch) creates a superposition of contradictory identities, leading to decoherencea loss of spiritual energy and clarity. Divine grace operates as a coherent field that only entangles with a coherent system. The “balance” is the apparatus that measures the system’s coherence. To receive grace, one must achieve a classical, definite state where word and deed are the same observable, creating a resonant identity that the divine field can recognize and amplify.
Imagine a radio transmitter (yourself). Your words are the frequency you broadcast on. Your actions are the signal actually sent. If you broadcast on 100.0 FM but send noise on 98.5 FM, the listener (the Divine) tuning into 100.0 hears only static and turns away. To get a clear signal, the broadcast frequency and the transmitted signal must be identical. Tuning your life is the meticulous work of ensuring every action transmits exactly on the frequency of your professed truth.
We crave to be whole, to trust ourselves, and to be trusted. Yet, we habitually create internal divisions with excuses and minor betrayals of our own values. This vachana identifies that fracture as the root of spiritual poverty. It offers a profound solution: the sacred vow of integrity. It teaches that the peace we seek is found not in flawless achievement, but in the cessation of inner civil war. When word and deed become one, the exhausting labor of maintaining a facade ends, and we become a single, clear note that the universe can harmonize with.
This is the gentle rhythm of Basavanna’s spirituality: effort grounded in integrity, sustained by grace.
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