Summary In this vachana, Basavanna compares barren devotion to a lifeless thing placed in the soil. It may be buried in the earth, but it will not root below, and…

Summary In this vachana, Basavanna first places the Sharanas beyond ordinary measure. They are greater than all because their worth is not decided by rank, ritual standing, social judgment, or…

Summary Basavanna overturns both scholarly and birth-based measures of spiritual worth. One may be learned in the four Vedas, yet without Linga such learning does not establish sacred standing. Conversely,…

Summary In this vachana, Basavanna lists several forms of time-bound observance: sacred lunar days, eclipses, Sankranti, Ekadashi,  and other selected occasions. He then places these beside ritual practices such as…

Summary In this vachana, Basavanna exposes dependence on external religious requirements. The ritual authorities say that without Nandimukha nothing can be done, without Vibhuti nothing can be done, and without…

Summary In this vachana, Basavanna asks a series of direct questions. What use is talk of heroism to one who has no weapon? What use is inner speech to one…

Summary In this vachana, Basavanna gathers several images of unstable or unreliable movement: the weaver bird’s nest, the monkey’s restless movement, the empty marriage, the bat, the gambler’s word, and…

Summary In this vachana, Basavanna says that truth, purity, and daily observance must be lived without break. If they can be practiced without failure, that alone is good. He then…

Summary In this vachana, Basavanna questions outer worship when inner purity is absent. If the self is not pure, what use is body-centered worship? He then questions the delusion that…

Summary In this vachana, Basavanna addresses the Sharana who would worship unceasingly. For such worship, Padodaka is not to be sought elsewhere; the true seeing itself becomes the sacred water…