Summary
In this vachana, Basavanna rejects worldly birth-labels as the measure of spiritual worth. If one whom society calls Holeya bows to the Linga and becomes a Sharana, he is to be recognized through that devotion.
Basavanna tells the listener not to hold to the old name. Say “Linga-Sharana.” Say “Shiva-Sharana.” Spiritual identity must be named according to relation with the Divine. The example of Madara Chennayya gives the teaching its authority. In the great house of Kudalasangama Deva, he stands as a Sharana. The vachana teaches that devotion, not birth, defines the true person.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The worldly label “Holeya” represents social judgment based on birth and inherited status. Basavanna does not accept this as the final truth of a person.
Bowing to the Linga marks a change in spiritual relation. The person is no longer to be named by social contempt, but by surrender.
The repeated instruction to say “Sharana” shifts the ground of recognition. Basavanna asks the listener to abandon caste-language and use the language of realized devotion.
The great house of Kudalasangama Deva is the concluding image. It is the sacred household where worldly hierarchy loses authority.
Madara Chennayya stands there as proof. Sharana-hood is not granted by birth; it is revealed through devotion.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, the Anga is not defined by social designation. Its true measure is its relation to Linga.
This vachana asks the practitioner to see beyond inherited identity and outer classification. When the seeker bows to Linga with sincerity, the old label no longer holds spiritual authority.
The name “Sharana” is not ornamental. It indicates one who has entered surrender.
Practice matures when recognition follows devotion, not worldly rank.
Editorial Commentary
This vachana corrects the act of naming.
Basavanna changes the basis of identity from birth-status to belonging before Kudalasangama Deva.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Vachana 133 — The Unripe Seed
Vachana 133 shows humility before the Sharanas of Kudalasangama Deva. Vachana 135 continues that reverence by showing that a true Sharana must be honored beyond worldly labels.
Advancing Vachana
Maheshwara Vachana 30 — The Abode of Integrity
The transformed identity of Vachana 135 advances into the integrity required in Maheshwara Vachana 30. Once worldly labels are set aside, the seeker must stand in the inner truth by which a Sharana is known before Kudalasangama Deva.
