Vachana 1399 — I Seek the All-Encompassing One

The Vachana is built through the repeated movement:
“If I seek…”
Each repetition opens a possible refuge and then immediately identifies the particular condition through which that figure is known.
Basavanna does not remain in any of them. The sequence prepares the final declaration that Kudalasangayya alone is the One he seeks.
“If I Seek Hari”
Hari is first recalled through Bali.
The reference brings Hari into a particular sacred narrative concerning Bali and Divine giving. Basavanna does not expand that narrative. He names it briefly and moves onward.
Hari is therefore known here through a specific act and relationship. The reference has a defined narrative setting; it does not become the final ground of Basavanna’s seeking.
“If I Seek Brahma”
Brahma is recalled as being without a head.
The image marks Brahma through a remembered condition of loss. However great his creative position may be within traditional accounts, the figure presented here is still identified through a particular bodily and narrative circumstance.
Basavanna does not allow that position to become his final refuge.
“If I Seek the Buddha”
The Buddha is recalled through a particular condition of buddhi and inward composure.
The wording is concise and should remain so. Basavanna is not giving a complete judgment upon Buddhist teaching. He identifies the Buddha through a distinctive condition attributed to him and continues the search.
The line contributes to the larger sequence: each revered figure remains known through a particular quality, discipline, history, or state.
“If I Seek the Jina”
The Jina is recalled through the absence of bodily possession.
This may suggest renunciation and freedom from ordinary possession, but the Vachana does not stop to unfold a complete doctrine of Jina practice.
The Jina too is recognised through a particular condition. Basavanna’s longing continues beyond it.
“If I Seek Ganapati”
Ganapati is identified through his broken tusk.
The tusk is a visible and remembered sign through which Ganapati is commonly recognised. Basavanna uses that familiar mark without elaborating its mythology.
The line continues the pattern of particularisation. The Divine figure is named through a distinct bodily sign rather than through the universal fearlessness Basavanna finally seeks.
“If I Seek Bhairava”
Bhairava is recalled through his severe ascetic appearance and movement.
The image is striking, but it too belongs to a particular sacred form. Bhairava is identifiable through a distinctive outward condition.
Basavanna does not make that form the conclusion of his seeking.
The Accumulation of Particular Conditions
The six references should be read together.
Each figure has:
a name;
a remembered history;
a particular quality;
a bodily sign;
a recognisable mode of appearance.
Basavanna does not need to deny that these figures are revered. His question is more direct: Where shall his own seeking finally rest?
A refuge defined through one story, sign, function, or condition does not fulfil the longing expressed in this Vachana.
Abhayankara to the Whole World
The sequence turns through the declaration:
Abhayankara jagakkella—the giver of fearlessness to the whole world.
Basavanna now moves from particular figures to a Divine relation extending to the entire world.
Abhaya is fearlessness, protection, and freedom from fear.
Kara indicates the one who gives, establishes, or makes.
Kudalasangayya is therefore the one who gives fearlessness universally.
This fearlessness is not merely courage before one temporary danger. It arises from receiving Kudalasangama Deva as the final refuge, without another Divine centre competing within the heart.
Jagadāni
Basavanna calls Kudalasangayya Jagadāni.
The word presents Him as the giver or benefactor of the world.
The earlier figures are recalled through particular conditions. Kudalasangayya is named through giving that embraces the world.
Basavanna therefore does not seek merely one special gift from Him. He seeks the Giver Himself.
“I Seek Kudalasangayya”
The final statement is personal and direct.
Basavanna does not conclude with an abstract principle such as universal divinity or impersonal radiance. He names Kudalasangayya.
His seeking passes through consideration of several revered figures and becomes firmly established in one Lord.
The conclusion contains no uncertainty:
not one more comparison;
not another sacred alternative;
not a further theological classification;
Kudalasangayya alone.
The Aikya Movement
The Aikya condition here lies in the ending of divided refuge.
The Vachana does not say that all names and forms must be blended into one conceptual system. It shows Basavanna’s own searching movement becoming one-pointed.
As long as the mind continues to ask whether one or another figure should become its final refuge, inward division remains.
When Kudalasangayya alone is sought, the searching mind finds its sole centre.