Summary
In this vachana, Basavanna prays not to look elsewhere, not to listen elsewhere, and not to be drawn toward any other object.
The center of the prayer is the feet of Kudalasangama Deva’s Sharanas. Basavanna does not ask for scattered devotion, but to be kept only in that direction.
The teaching is simple: seeing, hearing, and attraction must be gathered away from dispersion and held at the feet of the Sharanas.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
Looking elsewhere is the first image. The eye becomes a gate through which attention can move away from the path.
Listening elsewhere is the second image. The ear can also scatter awareness when it follows what draws it away.
Anya-vishaya, other objects or attractions, gives the wider field. Basavanna is not naming one object alone. He asks to be protected from every pull that divides the seeker’s orientation.
The feet of the Sharanas are the corrective image. They are the place of humility, direction, and living guidance. To remain there is to let one’s movement be governed by realized presence.
The final prayer is to be kept in that state. Basavanna does not claim that he can hold himself steady by his own strength. He asks Kudalasangama Deva to hold him.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches guarded attention. Seeing, hearing, and desire must not be left to wander.
The practice-point is direct: do not feed every sensory pull. Let sight, hearing, and interest return to the feet of the Sharanas.
For Sharana Sthala, this is disciplined nearness. The Sharana seeks to remain held in one direction before Kudalasangama Deva.
Editorial Commentary
The prayer is for direction: not to look elsewhere, not to listen elsewhere, and not to be drawn toward anything apart from the feet of the Sharanas. Anya-vishaya should be kept broad as “other object” or “other attraction,” without adding unlisted examples.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Pranalingi Sthala Vachana 797 — The Inseparable Abidance in the Linga
Pranalingi Vachana 797 supports this teaching by saying that after receiving Prana-Linga, one cannot walk, speak, enjoy the five senses, or perform even a small bodily act apart from Linga. Vachana 264 gives the Sharana form of that discipline: sight, hearing, and attraction must not move toward other objects, but remain held at the feet of Kudalasangama Deva’s Sharanas. Both vachanas require the senses and ordinary movement to remain within sacred orientation.
Advancing Vachana
Aikya Sthala Vachana 1063 — The One Linga Beyond Division
Aikya Vachana 1063 advances this teaching by dissolving divided understanding of Linga. In Vachana 264, Basavanna asks that seeing, hearing, and attraction not scatter away from the feet of the Sharanas. In Aikya Vachana 1063, the one Mahalinga shines in the hand, mind, and heart as Sarvanga-Linga. Thus the Sharana-stage prayer for single-pointedness advances into Aikya as undivided realization of the one Linga before Kudalasangama Deva.
