Summary
In this vachana, Basavanna points to the true Prasadi as one established in stainless true nature.
Such a Prasadi does not desire and does not imagine. He does not create an inner demand for what should come, nor does he form his own mental picture of grace.
Basavanna then gives the measure of receiving. Apart from the Prasada that comes through the mouth of the Guru, the Prasadi does not touch or receive anything else.
Chennabasavanna is shown in Kudalasangama Deva as one who stands in this state. The teaching is direct: the true Prasadi does not seek, demand, or fabricate Prasada. He receives only what comes through the Guru.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The first image is the stainless true one. Basavanna asks the listener to behold the person established in Nijaguna, the true nature free from stain.
The second image is the Prasadi who neither desires nor imagines. Desire looks outward for what it wants. Imagination constructs what it expects. Basavanna says the true Prasadi is free from both.
The third image is Prasada coming through the mouth of the Guru. This keeps the receiving within the Guru’s living word and direction. The Prasadi does not receive according to personal wish.
The final image is refusal to touch anything else. This is not a general rejection of life. It is discipline in receiving. What does not come as Guru-given Prasada is not taken.
Chennabasavanna is named as the one established in this way before Kudalasangama Deva. The vachana therefore gives both the definition and the example of the Prasadi.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches disciplined receiving.
The seeker should not make desire or imagination the source of spiritual movement. What is received must come through the Guru’s word and become Prasada.
For Prasadi Sthala, the point is exact: the Prasadi is not merely one who receives many things as sacred. The Prasadi is one who receives only what comes rightly through Guru-Prasada.
Editorial Commentary
“Nijaguni” should be retained as the one established in true nature.
“Kāmisa” and “kalpisa” should be kept close to the Kannada: not desiring and not imagining. These two words prevent the Prasadi from turning grace into personal expectation.
“The Prasada that comes through the Guru’s mouth” should be read as Guru-vachana received as Prasada. The closing refusal to touch anything else shows disciplined receiving.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Maheshwara Sthala Vachana 44 — The Lament of Repetition
Maheshwara Vachana 44 supports this vachana by showing the danger of returning to desire after one has already seen the path. In Vachana 1254, the true Prasadi neither desires nor imagines, and receives only what comes through the Guru. Maheshwara Vachana 44 prepares this by warning that the pull of desire repeatedly sells the seeker away from Kudalasangama Deva.
Advancing Vachana
Pranalingi Sthala Vachana 966 — The Integrity of the One Linga Path
Pranalingi Vachana 966 advances this teaching by showing steadiness after the Anga-Linga relation has been received. In Vachana 1254, the Prasadi touches nothing except the Prasada that comes through the Guru’s mouth. In Vachana 966, this matures into Pranalingi discipline: the seeker remains firm in Ekalinga, receives Arpita-Prasada without self-claim, and does not wander into divided sacred dependence.
