Poetic Rendering
Wherever I turn,
only You shine before me.
Eyes of every creature are Your eyes,
faces in all directions are Your face.
The hands that hold the world,
the feet that steady the earth
all are Yours,
O Koodalasangamadeva.
In every form,
in every motion,
I see only Your boundless body.
Basavanna reaches a pinnacle of mystical vision in this vachana: the realization that the entire cosmos is the form of God. Every being becomes a limb of the Divine, every face a window into the same radiance. This is not poetic exaggeration but the lived experience of non dual perception, where the separation between God, world, and self dissolves. The universe becomes a single, living body of consciousness Jangama made visible everywhere.
Spiritual Context
Core Spiritual Principle: The ultimate truth is that the entire cosmos, in all its diversity, is the literal, living body of the Divine (Vishvarupa). There is no substance, form, or action that is separate from God.
Cosmic Reality Perspective: This Vachana expresses the pinnacle of the non dual (Shivadvaita) worldview. The Linga (Divine Consciousness) is not a separate entity that has a creation; it is the creation. All apparent forms are its organs and limbs. All activities are its functions. The “Jangama” principle is thus universalized: the entire universe is the “Moving One,” the dynamic, ever changing expression of the static, eternal Linga.
Historical Reality (Anubhava Mantapa Context): This Vachana is the theological and experiential culmination of the Lingayat path. It provides the metaphysical basis for the radical social equality preached by Basavanna: if all faces are God’s face, then caste, gender, and social status are utterly meaningless illusions. It also justifies the reverence for all life (jiva daya) and the practice of seeing the Divine in the Jangama (the human guru), as the entire universe is now perceived as the Jangama.
Expanded Interpretation
1. “Wherever I turn, only You shine before me.” This reiterates the unitive vision of Vachana 83, establishing the perceptual ground: a consciousness so saturated with the Divine that it cannot perceive anything else.
2. “Eyes of every creature are Your eyes…” This is the realization of a shared, universal consciousness. The consciousness that looks out from your eyes, an animal’s eyes, and another person’s eyes is one and the same divine consciousness. Perception itself is God perceiving through infinite instruments.
3. “…faces in all directions are Your face.” Identity is universalized. The sense of a separate, individual self is replaced by the recognition of the one Divine Self appearing as all selves.
4. “The hands that hold the world, the feet that steady the earth all are Yours…” This extends the vision to the very structure and functioning of the cosmos. The forces that govern the universe gravity, the laws of physics, the sustaining principles of life are not impersonal laws but the active functioning of God’s “hands” and “feet.” The macrocosm is God’s body.
5. “In every form, in every motion, I see only Your boundless body.” The conclusion. The distinction between the sacred and the profane is annihilated. The “boundless body” includes everything from a galaxy to a grain of sand, from a sublime thought to a mundane action. All is a sacred, living theophany.
Practical Implications: The seeker is guided to: Practice seeing the divine presence as the essential reality of every person, creature, and object. Treat the entire world with the reverence due to the body of God. Understand that all service (dasoha) is ultimately service to the one Cosmic Body.
The Cosmic Reality
Anga (Human Dimension): The Anga is the point of awareness within the cosmic body that has realized its true nature as an inseparable part of that body. It is a cell that has become conscious of the whole organism.
Linga (Divine Principle): The Linga is the life and consciousness of the “boundless body” the animating principle and substantial reality of the entire cosmos.
Jangama (Dynamic Interaction): The Jangama is the entire universe in its dynamic, ever changing manifestation. It is the Cosmic Body in motion, the total play (lila) of the Divine.
Shata Sthala
Primary Sthala: Aikya Sthala. This Vachana is the quintessential expression of the Stage of Union, where the seeker’s consciousness merges with the cosmic reality of God.
Supporting Sthala: All other stages lead to this pinnacle. Pranalingi Sthala is the realization of the divine within the individual body, which expands in Aikya to the realization of the divine as the universal body.
Practical Integration
Arivu (Awareness Practices): Cosmic Body Meditation: Meditate on the universe as the body of God. Visualize stars as cells in its brain, rivers as veins, the wind as its breath, and all living beings as its senses and limbs. Feel your own body as a microcosm of this divine macrocosm.
Sacred Gazing: Practice looking at people, animals, and nature with the conscious thought: “This is Your face. These are Your eyes. This is Your body.”
Achara (Personal Discipline): Let your ethical conduct be guided by this vision. Practice non harm (ahimsa) because harming any being is harming the body of God. Practice compassion because all suffering is felt by the one Divine Consciousness.
Kayaka (Sacred Action): See your work as a necessary function within the cosmic body. Whatever you do farming, healing, building, cleaning is your unique way of serving and maintaining the divine organism.
Dasoha (Communal Offering): Serve the community and the world as you would care for your own body. Environmentalism, social justice, and charity become natural expressions of caring for the “boundless body” of God.
Modern Application
“Ecological Disconnection and Existential Alienation.” The modern worldview often sees the universe as a dead, mechanical void and humans as separate, accidental inhabitants. This leads to environmental destruction, existential loneliness, and a sense of meaninglessness.
The Liberative Application: This Vachana offers the most profound healing for our time. It restores a sacred, animate connection to the cosmos. It cures existential alienation by revealing that we are not alone in a dead universe; we are integral, conscious members of a living, divine body. It provides the deepest possible motivation for ecological and social stewardship.
Essence
I spent my life naming the parts of Your body,
calling this a tree, that a stone, this other a stranger.
Now I know the tree is Your limb, reaching for light.
The stone is Your bone, patient and still.
The stranger is Your own face,
looking back at me from a mirror I had never seen before.
This Vachana presents the ultimate non dual metaphysics, where ontology (the nature of being) and theology are unified. The universe is not a creation ex nihilo but a divine emanation the Linga expressing its own infinite potential as form. Its multidimensional impact is to sacralize all of existence, making every atom a shrine and every moment a worship. It positions the Jangama as the totality of this perceived reality the infinite, dynamic, and conscious play of the one Divine Substance, in which the individual seeker has realized their identity as a blessed and conscious participant.
You are not a stranger in a foreign land. You are a beloved part of God’s own body. The universe is not a cold, empty space; it is the vibrant, living form of the Divine. When you look at another, you are looking at God. When you serve the world, you are caring for God. This realization ends all loneliness, all fear, and all sense of separation. You are home, and you are whole.
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