Summary
Basavanna asks whether Devaloka and Martyaloka are truly separate realms. He then asks whether, within this very world, there is again some other endless world to be sought. These questions dissolve the idea that sacredness must be located elsewhere.
The answer is given directly: Shivaloka is Shivachara. The world of Shiva is not a distant region but the lived conduct of Shiva-awareness. Where the Shiva-bhakta stands, that itself is Devaloka.
The devotee’s limbs are Varanasi, and the body itself is Kailasa. The Aikya source explains that “Varanasi” and “Kailasa” are not geographical references here, but expressions of realized presence; what is held sacred externally is recognized internally.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The question “Is Devaloka separate from Martyaloka?” gives the first movement of the vachana. Basavanna begins by challenging spatial division. Heaven and the mortal world are not to be treated as two unrelated places when Shiva-presence is realized.
The question “Within this world, is there again another endless world?” deepens the same challenge. The seeker’s habit is to imagine that the sacred lies somewhere beyond the present world. Basavanna interrupts this search for another realm.
The statement “Shivaloka is Shivachara” gives the first answer. Shivaloka is not reduced to a distant place. It is found where Shiva-conduct is lived. Sacred world and sacred conduct are brought together.
The line “the place where the Shiva-bhakta stands is Devaloka” gives the central reversal. The devotee does not travel to heaven as an external destination. The place becomes Devaloka because awakened devotion lives there.
The statement “the limbs of the bhakta are Varanasi” brings sacred geography into the living devotee. Varanasi is no longer treated only as a city outside. In the devotee, sacredness is present through lived embodiment.
The statement “the body is Kailasa” completes the relocation of sacred place. The Aikya source clarifies that “body as Kailasa” does not simply glorify the body; it removes the distinction between sacred and ordinary when presence is realized.
The final declaration, “This is true, Kudalasangama Deva,” seals the teaching. Basavanna is not offering poetic exaggeration. He affirms as truth that sacredness is not elsewhere when Shiva-bhakta, Shivachara, and Kudalasangama Deva are present.
Together, the lines show that sacred geography is fulfilled in awakened presence. Devaloka, Shivaloka, Varanasi, and Kailasa are not denied; they are recognized where devotion and Shiva-conduct are living.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches that the seeker must not keep sacredness only in distant places, future worlds, or outer pilgrimage. The practice-point is to recognize whether Shiva-conduct is being lived here.
The body is not to be despised as merely worldly, nor glorified as separate achievement. The source states that sacredness is not assigned to location; it is evident in presence. Where this stands, nothing lies outside it.
Thus the seeker should not search for another world while missing the field already given. Where the Shiva-bhakta lives in right conduct before Kudalasangama Deva, the sacred place is already present.
Editorial Commentary
This vachana should be read as a correction of externalized sacred geography. Basavanna does not deny Devaloka, Shivaloka, Varanasi, or Kailasa. He refuses to let them remain distant when their truth is realized in the Shiva-bhakta.
The line “Shivaloka is Shivachara” should govern the whole reading. Sacred place without sacred conduct becomes merely imagined distance. Sacred conduct reveals the place itself.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Sharana Sthala Vachana 1326 — Can the Child Call Its Own Mother Barren?
Sharana Vachana 1326 supports this Aikya vachana by relocating sacredness from outer religious form to living sacred fellowship. In that vachana, decoration and ritual cleansing do not hold the center because the true Varanasi is found in the gathering of devotees. The source explains that the living company of devotees becomes the place where the seeker receives spiritual birth, nourishment, and recognition.
Aikya Vachana 139 carries this further. In Sharana Vachana 1326, Varanasi is recognized in the gathering of devotees. In Aikya Vachana 139, the place where the Shiva-bhakta stands is Devaloka, the devotee’s limbs are Varanasi, and the body is Kailasa. Sacredness is no longer elsewhere; it is present where awakened devotion lives.
Advancing Vachana
Aikya Sthala Vachana 854 — Every Step the Sacred Ground
Aikya Vachana 854 advances this teaching within Aikya Sthala. In Vachana 139, the sacred place is recognized where the Shiva-bhakta stands, and the body itself is Kailasa. In Vachana 854, this recognition extends to every step: every step is a sacred place, every step is a divine field, and wherever such a Sharana abides, that itself is Varanasi.
Thus Vachana 139 removes the distance between sacred worlds and the awakened devotee, while Vachana 854 shows the same realization in movement. Sacredness is no longer confined even to a standing place; it is lived at every step before Kudalasangama Deva.
