Poetic Rendering
One earth the altar for all temples,
for no place stands holier than the ground beneath your feet.
One water that cleanses all,
for purity flows not from the river, but from within the heart.
One true lineage the one who knows the Self,
whose birth is not of flesh,
but of awakened consciousness.
One fruit alone ripens for all beings
liberation, tasted through
the sixfold vision of Shatsthala,
where every stage dissolves into Oneness.
And one true support You,
the axis of all paths,
the breath in every prayer,
the still center of the turning worlds,
O Lord of Koodalasangama.
This vachana is Basavanna’s majestic synthesis of non-dual truth (Advaita) and its practical implications for society and the individual seeker. It is a radical declaration of spiritual and social equality that systematically dismantles all man-made divisions caste, sect, pilgrimage, and hereditary privilege. By proclaiming the fundamental unity of “One Earth” and “One Water,” he establishes that the divine is equally accessible to all, anywhere. He redefines spirituality from an external pursuit of holy places and rituals to an internal journey of Self-realization, whose ultimate “fruit” is liberation (Moksha) and whose only true “support” is the formless, all-pervading consciousness of Koodalasangamadeva.
Spiritual Context
Core Spiritual Principle: Universal Non-Dualism (Sarva-Advaita) Actualized via Shatsthala. The declaration of Oneness is not mere philosophy but a realized state made accessible through a precise, universal method. The “sixfold vision of Shatsthala” is the transformative protocol. It ensures the “One Fruit” of liberation is not a vague hope but a “tasted” reality, achieved through a graded refinement of perception and being that is open to every human being regardless of background.
Cosmic Reality Perspective: This is the panoramic view from the summit of Shiva consciousness, reached by climbing the six terraces of Shatsthala. From this peak, all apparent multiplicity is seen as the play (Shakti) of the One (Shiva). The Shatsthala is the path up the mountain, training the vision at each camp (stage) until, at the summit (Aikya), the seeker sees that the “still center” and the “turning worlds” were never separate.
Historical Reality (Anubhava Mantapa Context): This vachana is the constitutional charter and curriculum of the Anubhava Mantapa. It provided the theological bedrock for radical inclusivity and the practical syllabus to achieve it. It negated exclusive claims to sacred geography, genealogy, and liberation, while simultaneously providing the alternative: the universal, structured path of Shatsthala leading to the One Support, Koodalasangamadeva.
Interpretation
“One earth the altar for all temples…” This desacralizes exclusive spaces and resacralizes the entire cosmos, a perspective cultivated from the Bhakta stage onward, where devotion sees the divine everywhere.
“One true lineage the one who knows the Self…” This establishes a gnostic meritocracy based on the awakening achieved through Shatsthala. Authority flows from the experiential wisdom (anubhava) forged in its stages, not from bloodline.
“One fruit alone ripens for all beings liberation, tasted through the sixfold vision of Shatsthala…” This is the operational heart of the vachana. The Shatsthala is the alchemical ripening process. Each stage is a necessary phase of maturation, dissolving a specific layer of illusion (ahamkara, duality), until the purified soul can directly “taste” the singular, non-dual liberation. It is the guaranteed method for making the universal goal personally attainable.
The Cosmic Reality
Anga (Human Dimension): The Anga is the seeker who must traverse the Shatsthala. Its journey is the process of realizing itself as the microcosm of the One its body the earth, its awareness the water, its awakened state the fruit.
Linga (Divine Principle): The Linga is the “One Support” the gravitational center and ultimate destination of the Shatsthala journey. It is the silent “I am” witnessed and then realized as one’s own being through the six stages.
Jangama (Dynamic Interaction): Jangama is the lived progression through Shatsthala. It is the active, moment-to-moment application of each stage’s lessons worshipping at the altar of daily work, cleansing with the water of introspection, and moving ever closer to the Center, until movement and center become one.
Shata Sthala
Primary Sthala: Aikya. The vachana is a description of the Aikya stage’s fulfilled perception. The “sixfold vision” is the unified sight achieved when all previous stages are integrated and transcended. Here, the seeker doesn’t practice seeing oneness; they are the oneness seeing itself.
Supporting Sthala: The Sequential Journey of Shatsthala. This vachana implicitly validates and requires the entire Shatsthala method. The Bhakta learns devotion on the One Earth. The Maheshwara and Prasadi receive and embody the One Water of grace. The Pranalingi merges their life-force with the Lineage. The Sharana surrenders to the One Support. Aikya is the consummation the tasting of the Fruit these stages have ripened.
Practical Integration
Arivu (Awareness Practices): The core practice is to apply the “sixfold vision” of your current Sthala. If in Bhakta, see the Linga in the earth beneath you. If in Sharana, see all actions as offerings to the One Support. Use the vachana’s declarations as contemplative themes for your specific stage.
Achara (Personal Discipline): The discipline is to enact the unity appropriate to your stage. For a Bhakta, this may mean rejecting notions of “impure” places. For a Sharana, it means unwavering integrity. Each stage demands eradicating a specific form of separation, as guided by the Shatsthala framework.
Kayaka (Sacred Action): Let your work be the field where your Sthala is tested and expressed. Use your duty to honor the One Earth, to cleanse with the One Water of right action, and to serve the One Lineage manifest as your community.
Dasoha (Communal Offering): Build a Sangha (community) that is a living model of the Shatsthala journey. Support members at their respective stages, honor the awakened as the true Lineage, and center all communal life on the collective movement toward the One Support and the shared tasting of the One Fruit.
Modern Application
“Fragmented Seeking Without a Map.” In an age of spiritual consumerism, seekers often mix practices without a unifying framework, leading to confusion and stagnation. Societally, we are fractured by competing identities and truths without a shared higher vision or method for harmony.
This vachana, with its integrated Shatsthala method, provides both the ultimate goal and the user manual. It answers “What is the purpose?” (The One Fruit of liberation) and “How do I get there?” (The sixfold vision of Shatsthala). It offers a structured, inclusive path out of fragmentation, promising that any life, sincerely lived through this framework, becomes a journey to wholeness.
Essence
They sold the world in separate plots,
and damned the streams by name and rite.
They claimed a fruit for special lots,
and hid the source of all their light.
But I walked the sixfold rising way,
where every step dissolved a “they.”
I saw One ground beneath the strife,
One stream that gives eternal life,
One harvest in my hand, at last
the First and Only, vast and vast.
This vachana presents a Complete System: Unified Field Theory plus Verified Experimental Protocol. The grand, non-dual truth is the theory. The Shatsthala is the repeatable, empirical experiment for verifying the theory in the laboratory of consciousness. “One Earth, Water, Lineage, Fruit, Support” are the predicted observations of a successful experiment. The six stages are the calibrated procedure controlling variables (ego, ignorance), applying treatments (devotion, surrender), and recording results (increased peace, clarity, unity)until the final datum is obtained: direct taste of the One Fruit. It turns mysticism into a rigorous science of the Self.
A master declares there is one ultimate, perfect dish. That’s the vision. He then gives you the exact, six-step recipe the Shatsthala. You don’t just hear about the dish; you are given the ingredients (practices), the step-by-step instructions (progression of stages), and the taste test (liberation) at the end. The vachana is both the master’s description of the perfect meal and the handover of the recipe book, proving the meal is attainable by anyone who follows the steps faithfully.
This speaks to our dual yearning for a transcendent unity and a practical path to get there. We despair when lofty ideals have no ladder. Basavanna provides the ladder the Shatsthala with six secure rungs. He confirms: The unity you seek is real, and here is how, from wherever you stand, you can climb to see it, touch it, and finally become it. The path is the proof.
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