Summary
In this vachana, Basavanna teaches that after Linga-sāhitya has become established upon the Anga, one cannot turn again toward Sthavara-daiva as the final object of dependence.
He gives a direct relational comparison. Can one leave one’s own husband and go into the company of another man? In the same way, after receiving the intimate relation with Linga, turning toward another external deity becomes a breach of fidelity.
Basavanna then brings the image to Karasthala Deva, the Deva present in the palm. When the deity is already present in the hand, bowing before an installed deity on the earth becomes spiritually contradictory.
The spiritual concern placed before Kudalasangama Deva is therefore undivided fidelity to the Linga already received. To abandon the immediate Linga-relation and seek another fixed external support is to fall into spiritual contradiction.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The first image is Linga-sāhitya upon the Anga. This indicates intimate association with the Linga, not merely distant reverence. Once this relation is established, the seeker has already been brought into direct sacred nearness.
The second image is Sthavara-daiva. This is the fixed deity, the stationary sacred form, or the deity approached as external installation. Basavanna does not discuss it as an initial practice here; he warns against turning to it after Linga-sāhitya has been received.
The third image is one’s own husband and another man. This is the strongest comparison in the vachana. It shows that the issue is not curiosity or variety, but fidelity. To leave the one to whom one belongs and seek another is rupture in relationship.
The fourth image is Karasthala Deva. The Divine is already present in the palm. This image emphasizes immediacy. The seeker does not need to search for a distant or external center when the Deva is already held in direct relation.
The final image is bowing to the installed deity on the earth. Basavanna says that if one does this after Karasthala Deva is present, the result is hell. The hell is the consequence of violating the direct Linga-relation by turning away from what has already been received.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches that sacred relation must not become divided after it has become direct. Once the Linga is received and held in living nearness, the seeker must not treat external fixed worship as a higher or alternative refuge.
For Pranalingi Sthala, the point is precise. The seeker must remain faithful to the Linga that has become immediate through body and hand. Practice must not regress into divided dependence.
The practice-point is clear: do not leave Karasthala Deva for another external support. Do not turn from the Linga already received. Remain in undivided fidelity before Kudalasangama Deva.
Editorial Commentary
The vachana should not be read as a general attack on all sacred forms. Its force lies in the phrase “after Linga-sāhitya.” Basavanna is warning the seeker who has already entered direct relation with Linga not to abandon that immediacy for another fixed external dependence. The husband-image makes the teaching one of fidelity, not mere preference.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Prasadi Sthala Vachana 137 — The Irreversible Transmutation
Prasadi Vachana 137 supports this teaching by showing that true Linga-touch changes the seeker’s condition. Just as iron touched by parasu does not remain iron, one touched by Linga cannot continue in defective conduct. The final line is decisive: the Sharanas of Kudalasangama Deva know no other.
Vachana 962 carries this into Pranalingi Sthala. Once Linga-sāhitya is established upon the Anga and Karasthala Deva is present, the seeker cannot turn toward another fixed external deity. What Prasadi 137 teaches as irreversible Linga-touch becomes, here, undivided fidelity to the living Linga already received.
Advancing Vachana
Sharana Sthala Vachana 965 — Union of Body and Linga—Can It Be So Declared?
Sharana Vachana 965 advances this teaching by testing the claim of union between Anga and Linga. It warns that if the body claims union while difference and desire still remain, the seeker falls into delusion.
In Vachana 962, Basavanna rejects the outward fall: after receiving the living Linga, one must not return to fixed external dependence. In Vachana 965, this matures into Sharana Sthala as a subtler inward warning: even the direct Linga-relation must not become a false claim of union by the body. True fidelity to Linga must become silent, undivided realization before Kudalasangama Deva.
