Poetic Rendering
Wherever I turn my eyes,
Your radiance meets me first.
In joy, in sorrow,
in the quiet chambers of thought
only You shine.
How can darkness stand
before the face of the sun?
So too, when You flood my being,
what else can remain?
O Koodalasangamadeva,
You are the light
that leaves no second thing.
In this vachana, Basavanna describes the highest state of perception where the divine presence fills every corner of experience. Just as darkness disappears when the sun rises, all dualities joy and sorrow, thought and emotion lose their separate identity in the brilliance of God awareness. This is not a poetic exaggeration but a statement of spiritual physics: when true perception dawns, everything resolves into the single radiance of the Divine. The seeker no longer “finds” God God becomes the very medium through which all life is seen.
Spiritual Context
Core Spiritual Principle: The ultimate realization is not of God as an object within reality, but of God as reality itself. In this state of non dual perception (advaita drishti), all apparent distinctions and opposites are resolved into a single, divine, luminous substance.
Cosmic Reality Perspective: The non dual reality (Shivadvaita) is a singular field of pure consciousness and light (prakasha). What we perceive as the world of separate objects and experiences is a fragmentation of this unity through the filter of the ignorant mind. When this ignorance is removed, perception is restored to its natural state, where only the one, undifferentiated radiance of the Linga is apparent. This is the “spiritual physics” Basavanna describes the light of the Absolute is so total that it admits of no other.
Historical Reality (Anubhava Mantapa Context): This Vachana is a pinnacle expression of the mystical goal of the Lingayat path. It moves beyond social reform, ethical instruction, and even devotional longing to describe the very endpoint of the journey: the unitive state. It serves as both an inspiration and a validation for the Sharanas, providing a map of the ultimate destination that justifies the radical nature of their path and practices.
Interpretation
1. “Wherever I turn my eyes, Your radiance meets me first.” This describes a fundamental shift in perception. The “first” thing perceived is no longer a form (a tree, a person, a thought) but the divine radiance in which the form appears. The Linga becomes the primary datum of perception.
2. “In joy, in sorrow, in the quiet chambers of thought only You shine.” This extends the realization beyond the external world to the internal landscape. Even the polarities of human emotion and the subtle activity of the mind are now seen as modulations of the one divine light. The content (joy/sorrow) is secondary to the context (the shining).
3. “How can darkness stand before the face of the sun?” This analogical question uses the logic of the physical world to explain the metaphysical reality. Darkness has no independent existence; it is merely the absence of light. Similarly, the world of separate, egoic existence (“the second thing”) has no substantial reality apart from the Divine; it is a perceived absence of the divine unity.
4. “So too, when You flood my being, what else can remain?” The application to the self. The “flooding” is the full dawn of this non dual awareness. When it occurs, the sense of a separate “I” (the Anga as a distinct entity) is dissolved in the ocean of divine radiance. The seeker does not see God; God sees through the seeker.
5. “You are the light that leaves no second thing.” The definitive, concluding statement. This is the essence of non duality. The Divine is not a light and other things. It is the light in which the very idea of “other things” is revealed as an illusion.
Practical Implications: The seeker is guided to: Practice seeing the divine presence not in things, but as the reality of all things. Understand that the goal is the dissolution of the perceiver perceived dichotomy. Cultivate a vision that seeks the unified field of consciousness behind all apparent diversity.
The Cosmic Reality
Anga (Human Dimension): The Anga has become a perfectly transparent lens. It no longer asserts a separate selfhood but exists as a focal point of the Linga’s own self awareness.
Linga (Divine Principle): The Linga is the “all consuming radiance,” the sole reality and the substance of all that is.
Jangama (Dynamic Interaction): The Jangama is the perfected perception itself the dynamic, living truth that there is no interaction between two things, only the one reality appearing as the play of relationship.
Shata Sthala
Primary Sthala: Aikya Sthala. This Vachana is a pure expression of the Stage of Union, where the distinctions of the Triad collapse into a single, non dual experience.
Supporting Sthala: All preceding stages (Bhakta, Maheshwara, Prasadi, Pranalingi, Sharana) are the progressive purification and preparation necessary to be able to bear and abide in this brilliant, unitive vision.
Practical Integration
Arivu (Awareness Practices): Unity Gazing: Practice looking at the world without labeling or separating. Try to perceive the underlying unity and consciousness that manifests as all forms, sounds, and thoughts. See if you can perceive the “radiance first.”
Self Inquiry in Radiance: Ask, “If God is the light that leaves no second thing, then what am I?” Rest in the silence and space that this question opens, beyond all conceptual answers.
Achara (Personal Discipline): Let your conduct be a reflection of this unity. Treat all beings as manifestations of the one radiance, thereby dissolving the roots of discrimination and harm.
Kayaka (Sacred Action): Perform all work as an expression of the one consciousness in motion. See your actions not as yours, but as the divine radiance acting through a particular form.
Dasoha (Communal Offering): he highest Dasoha is to help others recognize this unity. Be a presence that reminds your community of the one radiance that we all are, fostering a deep sense of shared essence beyond all differences.
Modern Application
“Fragmented Perception and Hyper Separation.” Modern life, with its constant categorization, branding, and digital personas, reinforces a perception of radical separation and duality. This leads to existential loneliness, conflict, and a sense of meaninglessness.
The Liberative Application: This Vachana offers the ultimate healing for the modern psyche: the direct experience of non separation. It liberates one from the tyranny of a fragmented worldview and the anxiety of being a separate self. It reveals that peace and wholeness are not states to be achieved but the fundamental nature of reality to be recognized.
Essence
I spent my life naming the colors of the dawn,
until I realized I was the light itself,
and the colors were my own play.
Now, the seer, the seen, and the sight
are one single, silent, brilliant Yes.
This Vachana presents the final resolution of the metaphysics of perception. It describes the state where the epistemological subject object split is overcome, and ontology (the nature of being) is revealed as a single, homogeneous field of conscious light (prakasha vimarsha). Its multidimensional impact is to provide the final answer to the human quest: the seeker and the sought are, and always have been, one. It positions the Jangama as the living truth of this non duality a human existence that has become a perfect, unbroken expression of the divine radiance, for whom the path, the traveler, and the destination have utterly coalesced.
The separation you feel from God, from the world, and from your own deepest self is the fundamental illusion. The truth is that there is only One Reality, one conscious Light, appearing as the infinite diversity of the universe. You are not a drop in the ocean; you are the entire ocean in the form of a drop. When you realize this, your life ceases to be a search and becomes a celebration. You are Home. You are the Light you have been seeking.
Views: 0