Vachana 893 — The Gradual Ripening into Lingaikya

“Slowly, Slowly”
The repeated mella mellane governs the entire Vachana.
Basavanna uses it after Bhakta, Yukta, and Sharana. Each condition must become real through gradual inward assimilation.
The repetition does not indicate laziness or indefinite delay. It indicates that sacred identity cannot be obtained merely by adopting a name.
One may be called a Bhakta before Bhakti has entered conduct.
One may speak of integration while the mind remains scattered.
One may appear as a Sharana while self-will remains active.
Basavanna therefore allows each condition to ripen fully.
Becoming a Bhakta
The first movement is toward Bhakta.
The Bhakta turns toward Linga through devotion, remembrance, worship, trust, and sacred conduct. The former direction of life begins to change, but the devotee and the Lord are still experienced through relationship.
Basavanna does not dismiss this beginning. Lingaikya cannot be separated from the Bhakti through which the Anga first becomes receptive to Linga.
To become a Bhakta slowly means that devotion must enter the whole life rather than remain a passing feeling or an assumed designation.
Becoming Yukta
The next movement is becoming Yukta.
Yukta means joined, gathered, integrated, disciplined, or rightly aligned.
Bhakti has now begun to bring the divided faculties together:
thought and conduct;
worship and daily life;
speech and intention;
body and awareness;
Anga and the Linga-relation.
The Yukta is not yet presented as Lingaikya. Integration is a necessary maturation within the path.
Where the Bhakta turns toward the Lord, the Yukta becomes increasingly steady in that direction.
Becoming a True Sharana
Basavanna then says that he becomes a true Sharana slowly, slowly.
The Sharana is no longer governed primarily by personal preference, demand, or self-claim. Devotion and integration mature into surrender.
The qualification “true” is important. The name Sharana is not sufficient. The condition must become visible through humility, fidelity to Linga, right conduct, freedom from possessiveness, and receptivity to Kudalasangama Deva.
The Sharana does not use surrender as another spiritual title. The separate will progressively yields to the Lord.
Crossing the Stumbling Places and Pits
The movement toward Lingaikya is not described as a smooth or effortless ascent.
Basavanna speaks of crossing the places in which one may stumble and the pits into which one may fall.
These signify the real obstructions encountered in spiritual life:
divided conduct;
spiritual pride;
impatience;
false claims of attainment;
attachment to experiences;
possessiveness;
neglect of Guru, Linga, Jangama, or Sharana;
the return of self-will within surrender.
The pits are not separate ceremonial stages. They are dangers that must be recognised and crossed.
Basavanna’s gradualness therefore includes vigilance. Ripening does not occur merely because time passes; it occurs as each obstruction is met and passed without abandoning the Linga-relation.
Coming into Lingaikya
After Bhakta, Yukta, Sharana, and the crossing of obstructions, Basavanna says that he becomes Lingaikya.
Lingaikya is not presented as a sudden title added to the individual. It is the fulfilment of the preceding transformations.
Bhakti prepares receptivity.
Yukti gathers the divided being.
Sharana dissolves self-directed claim.
The crossing of obstacles tests stability.
Lingaikya fulfils the Anga–Linga relation.
The Vachana therefore protects Lingaikya from premature assertion. The word appears only after the whole gradual movement has been named.
“Through You I Become Elevated”
The concluding line places the entire process before Kudalasangama Deva.
Basavanna does not say that he becomes spiritually great through his own effort. Whatever elevation, distinction, or ripeness appears comes through the Lord.
The final line corrects any possibility of spiritual pride created by the preceding progression.
Basavanna may become Bhakta, Yukta, Sharana, and Lingaikya, but Kudalasangama Deva remains the source of that becoming.
The culmination is therefore not:
“I have advanced beyond others.”
It is:
“Through You alone has this elevation become possible.”