Summary
Basavanna says that those who do not know the cause or source of Achara and Shivachara take refuge in their own separate positions. The six doctrines each claim refuge for themselves. The Samaya and other Shaiva groups likewise say, “Sharana, Sharana,” according to their own measure.
The problem is not the existence of paths, doctrines, or religious communities. The problem is outward functioning without knowing the source of conduct. When the source is forgotten, Shivachara becomes a claim rather than lived alignment.
Basavanna then asks where those who move only in the external use of what Kudalasangama’s Sharanas have done can truly stand. The teaching is direct: the conduct of the Sharanas cannot be reduced to outward adoption. Shivachara must arise from the living source, not from external repetition, doctrine, or group identity.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
Achara and Shivachara form the central field of the vachana. Basavanna does not treat conduct as mere behavior. He asks whether its cause or source is known. Conduct without known source becomes imitation.
The six doctrines are the next image. Each stands in its own position and declares its own refuge. Basavanna shows how doctrine can become self-enclosed when it speaks from its own system rather than from direct realization.
The Samaya and other Shaiva groups extend the same concern. Religious identity and sectarian belonging may use the language of refuge, but language alone does not establish truth.
The repeated cry of “Sharana, Sharana” is therefore tested. Basavanna does not reject the word Sharana. He asks whether the one who speaks it has entered the source from which Sharana-conduct arises.
The viniyoga, or use/application, made by Kudalasangama’s Sharanas is the decisive contrast. The Sharanas’ conduct has living source. But those who merely operate outwardly with that conduct, without inward realization, remain in the external field.
The final question, “where are they?” gives the vachana its severity. Basavanna does not offer them a stable place. Without source-known conduct, outward practice has no firm standing before Kudalasangama Deva.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches that conduct must arise from source-awareness. Achara and Shivachara are not validated by system, repetition, sectarian claim, or external conformity.
For Sharana Sthala, the practice-point is precise: do not borrow the conduct of the Sharanas as outer form. The Sharana path must be lived from the inward ground that made such conduct possible.
This guards against spiritual externalism. The practitioner may speak of refuge, follow a doctrine, or imitate sacred action, yet remain outside the source. True Shivachara begins where conduct, speech, and inward knowing arise from one living relation to Kudalasangama Deva.
Editorial Commentary
This vachana should remain centered on the distinction between source-known conduct and outward religious functioning. Basavanna’s critique is not a broad attack on doctrine or Shaiva affiliation. It is a warning that even sacred forms become hollow when separated from the source known and lived by Kudalasangama’s Sharanas.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Pranalingi Sthala Vachana 631 — The Hollow Talk of Shivachara
Pranalingi Vachana 631 supports this teaching by asking what use there is in speaking of Shivachara when Kudalasangama Deva is not livingly present. It also asks what use daily observance has without truth, and what use inner speech has when Linga has withdrawn. This directly prepares Vachana 818. In Vachana 631, Shivachara is hollow when separated from Linga, truth, love, and Kudalasangama Deva; in Vachana 818, Basavanna extends the same warning to doctrines, Shaiva groups, and outward use of Sharana-conduct without knowing its source.
Advancing Vachana
Aikya Sthala Vachana 819 — Who Is the Bhakta, Who Is the Deva?
Aikya Vachana 819 advances this teaching by dissolving the outward identities that remain after doctrine and conduct have been tested. It asks who is the Bhakta and who is the Deva when sacred marks, symbols, vehicles, and signs of authority are no longer sufficient. This is the Aikya-stage fulfillment of Vachana 818. Sharana Vachana 818 shows that doctrines and outward uses of Sharana-conduct become hollow when the source is forgotten; Aikya Vachana 819 carries this further by dissolving the final distinction between devotee and Divine, leaving the Sharana free from all identity built upon external signs before Kudalasangama Deva.
