Summary
In this vachana, Basavanna asks why one should lower oneself before worldly wealth when Kudalasangama Deva is already present.
He gives the image of milk flowing openly before the village. When such nourishment is available, why should the young one bend its back, lose shame, or lose modesty?
Basavanna then asks: when Kudalasangama Deva is with me, why do I need Bijjala’s treasury?
The teaching is direct. Where Kudalasangama Deva is present, dependence upon royal wealth, external favor, or worldly treasury loses its hold.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The first image is milk flowing before the village. Milk represents nourishment that is already available.
The young one bending its back suggests lowering oneself unnecessarily. Basavanna questions such lowering when nourishment is already flowing.
The words on shame and modesty show the inner cost of seeking from the wrong place. To bend before worldly gain when Divine presence is near is to lose inward dignity.
Bijjala’s treasury represents royal wealth and worldly resource. Basavanna does not deny its existence. He asks why it should be needed when Kudalasangama Deva is present.
The contrast is between available Divine presence and dependence on external treasury.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches freedom from dependence on worldly possession and royal favor.
For Prasadi Sthala, the teaching is that grace gives inward sufficiency. When the seeker knows the presence of Kudalasangama Deva, the hunger for external wealth weakens.
The seeker must not bend the mind toward worldly treasury when the source of true nourishment is already near.
Editorial Commentary
Bijjala’s treasury represents royal wealth and external power. Basavanna is not merely renouncing material gain. He is dismantling the moral authority of external power over the realized individual.
When Kudalasangama Deva is present, the seeker does not need to bend before worldly authority for wealth, favor, or security.
The true treasury is awakened consciousness itself. Once this inner wealth is known, worldly structures lose their power to command obedience through fear, greed, or dependency.
Thus, the vachana becomes both a mystical declaration and a social insight. The one who is inwardly established in Kudalasangama Deva cannot be ruled by external treasury.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Maheshwara Sthala Vachana 414 — The True Measure of Worth
Maheshwara Vachana 414 supports this vachana by showing how people bend quickly before visible wealth but dismiss the poor Bhakta. In Vachana 755, Basavanna asks why he should need Bijjala’s treasury when Kudalasangama Deva is present. Both vachanas correct false valuation based on wealth and restore the measure to Divine presence and Bhakti.
Advancing Vachana
Pranalingi Sthala Vachana 647 — The Mind as Witness
Pranalingi Vachana 647 advances this teaching by showing that the seeker must stop waiting for a gift and recognize the witness that is already present. In Vachana 755, Basavanna no longer needs Bijjala’s treasury because Kudalasangama Deva is with him. In Vachana 647, this becomes the Pranalingi realization that the Divine is not a transaction to be obtained, but the present ground in which the seeker abides.
