Vachana 1367 – The Treasure Found in the Field of the Formless

The Vachana moves from Guru-given Ishtalinga worship, through recognised attainment, into the field of the Formless, where the treasure of Chara-Linga transforms and fulfils the entire Linga-relation.
The Guru Establishing Linga upon Anga
The movement begins with Sri Guru.
The Guru establishes his Linga upon Basavanna’s Anga. The Linga is therefore received through Guru, not independently chosen or produced by the worshipper.
Anga becomes the embodied field upon which the Linga is established. This begins the living relation between Guru, Linga, and the seeker.
The phrase carries more than the physical placing of Ishtalinga. The Guru causes Linga to become the governing sacred presence upon embodied life.
Eightfold Worship and Sixteenfold Service
Basavanna worships the Linga through Ashtavidha Archane, the eightfold worship, and Shodashopachara, the sixteen forms of service.
These acts express complete and disciplined reverence. Worship engages body, attention, offering, and conduct in the service of the Guru-given Linga.
The Vachana recognises the validity and fruit of this worship. Basavanna does not pass beyond it because it has failed. He passes beyond the limitation of remaining satisfied with its attainments.
The Fourfold Fruits and the Aims of Human Life
Through worship, Basavanna attains the recognised fruits and Purusharthas.
The attainment is real. Worship has borne its proper results. Yet these fruits still remain within the field of something obtained by the worshipper.
Basavanna refuses to settle there. His movement is not from failure to success, but from successful attainment to a reality beyond attainment.
The fruits and aims of life may fulfil religious and human aspiration, but they do not exhaust the relation between Anga, Linga, Prana, and the living Sharana.
Entering the Field of Nishkala
Basavanna enters the field called Nishkala, the Formless.
The field-image is important. A field is a place in which something hidden may be found, cultivated, or brought to manifestation.
Nishkala is beyond differentiated form, yet what Basavanna finds there is not an abstraction. He discovers a treasure with a living identity: Chara-Linga.
The movement into the Formless therefore leads him toward the living Linga rather than away from embodied sacred presence.
The Hidden Treasure
The treasure signifies a reality already present but not previously recognised.
Basavanna does not manufacture it through ritual or obtain it as another reward. He finds it after passing beyond contentment with the fruits of worship.
The question, “What is the name of that treasure?” gives the discovery precision. The treasure is named Chara-Linga.
It is not left as an undefined mystical experience. It is the living, moving Linga revealed through Sharana and Jangama.
Chara-Linga as the Primal Root-Sprout
Chara-Linga is called the Ādi-Mūlāṅkura—the primal root-sprout of the Three Lingas.
The root-sprout holds origin and unfolding together. It is rooted in the primal source while carrying the living power through which that source becomes manifest.
Chara-Linga is therefore presented as the living source through which the full Linga-relation unfolds.
The treasure found in Nishkala is not inert. It is a living source capable of purifying, nourishing, and bringing the relations of Linga, Anga, and Prana into realised unity.
Padodaka Cleansing the Worshipping Hands
Basavanna brings the Padodaka from Chara-Linga and washes the hands connected with his Ishtalinga worship.
The hands represent worship in action. They have performed the eightfold offerings and the sixteen services and have received the recognised fruits of those acts.
Yet the hands themselves must now be cleansed through Chara-Linga’s Padodaka.
The image gives a clear order of sacred fulfilment. Ishtalinga worship becomes purified through reverent receiving from the living Chara-Linga.
The worshipper does not abandon Ishtalinga. His relation with Ishtalinga is renewed and deepened through the Padodaka of Jangama.
Prasada Nourishing the Life of Ishtalinga
Basavanna then receives the Prasada of Chara-Linga and nourishes the Jīva-kalā, the living vitality, of his Ishtalinga.
Padodaka purifies the worshipping hands; Prasada nourishes the life of worship.
Ishtalinga is no longer approached as a sacred form maintained only through the worshipper’s offerings. Its living significance is continually renewed through Chara-Linga.
A sacred circulation is established:
Guru establishes Ishtalinga upon Anga;
Anga worships Ishtalinga;
Chara-Linga gives Padodaka and Prasada;
Padodaka purifies the worship;
Prasada nourishes its living vitality.
Thus personal worship becomes participation in the living relation of Guru, Linga, and Jangama.
Linga Is Anga; Anga Is Linga
The Vachana now declares that Linga is Anga and Anga is Linga.
The Anga that first appeared as the receiver and worshipper of Linga is no longer known as standing outside it.
Embodied life continues, but its centre is no longer independent of Linga. The one who worships and the Linga worshipped are known through a realised relation without separation.
The reciprocal wording must remain intact. It is not only that Anga belongs to Linga; Linga is Anga, and Anga is Linga.
Linga Is Prana; Prana Becomes Linga
The recognition then enters the living principle itself.
Linga is Prana, and Prana becomes Linga.
Prana is no longer held as the private life of the individual. The very living current of the Sharana is known through Linga.
This completes the movement begun by the Guru’s establishment of Linga upon Anga. Linga is first received and worshipped; through Chara-Linga, Padodaka, and Prasada, the relation reaches Prana and becomes living realization.
Beyond the Fruits and Purusharthas
Basavanna calls this condition a greatness surpassing the fourfold fruits and Purusharthas.
The contrast is between attainment and transformed relation.
Fruits may be received by a worshipper. Purusharthas may be pursued and accomplished. Here, however, the distinction between the one who attains and the sacred reality attained no longer governs experience.
The treasure is therefore greater than every reward because it changes the very ground from which reward is sought.
The Nature of the Two
Basavanna concludes that only Kudalasangama Deva’s Sharanas know the nature of this dvaya, this apparent twoness.
The Vachana has named several paired relations:
Ishtalinga and Chara-Linga;
Linga and Anga;
Linga and Prana;
worshipper and worshipped;
receiving and offering.
Their functions remain visible, but the Sharana knows their inward non-separation.
This cannot be known through terminology alone. It is known through the living experience in which Ishtalinga worship, Jangama relation, Padodaka, Prasada, Anga, and Prana become one continuous sacred reality.