Summary
Basavanna speaks from the discipline of offering body, mind, and wealth for the sake of Kudalasangama Deva’s Sharana. These three are not sought for personal gain. They are begged for only so that they may serve the Sharana.
He then turns inward to the first movement of desire. If the thought “I want this for myself” arises in the mind, he places himself before the Lord’s great majesty and at the Lord’s feet. The danger begins not after possession, but at the first inward claim.
The final test is complete integrity. In mind, speech, and body, if he knows anything other than Kudalasangama Deva, then he asks to be cast into the terrible condition of Bhava. Separation is not treated lightly; it is the return of bondage.
The vachana therefore joins offering, vigilance, and refuge. Body, mind, and wealth must be for the Sharana; mind, speech, and body must know no other center than Kudalasangama Deva.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The first image is begging for the body. Basavanna does not present the body as self-owned. The body is requested so that it may belong to the service of the Lord’s Sharana.
The second image is begging for the mind. The mind too is not treated as private territory. Thought, intention, memory, and desire must be gathered for sacred purpose.
The third image is begging for wealth. Wealth is not condemned, but neither is it allowed to remain self-directed. It is sought only in relation to the Sharana.
The phrase “for Your Sharana” controls the opening. Body, mind, and wealth are not neutral possessions. Their worth is measured by whether they are made available to the living field of Sharana-presence.
The next image is the thought “I want.” This is subtler than action. Before anything is taken, before anything is spent, the inner movement of self-seeking has already appeared. Basavanna catches desire at its beginning.
The Lord’s feet become the witness. Basavanna places this inward movement before Kudalasangama Deva’s feet, where no hidden self-interest can be concealed.
The final triad is mind, speech, and body. The earlier triad was body, mind, and wealth in relation to the Sharana. Here the triad becomes the whole instrument of life: inward knowing, spoken expression, and embodied action.
The terrible Bhava is the final image. If another center appears apart from the Lord, existence becomes fierce and binding. Bhava is not merely outer worldly life; it is life lived under separation, desire, and divided orientation.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches vigilance at the very beginning of self-seeking. The seeker must examine whether body, mind, and wealth are being held for the Sharana or quietly reclaimed for the self.
For Sharana Sthala, the practice-point is direct: let body, mind, and wealth be sought only for the Lord’s Sharana. Let mind, speech, and body know no other center than Kudalasangama Deva.
This is not withdrawal from life. It is purification of motive. What is received must not become “for me.” What is thought, spoken, and done must not create another center apart from the Lord.
Editorial Commentary
The phrase “I want” should remain central. Basavanna is not only warning against outer possession; he is warning against the first inward arising of self-claim. The closing line is equally severe: if mind, speech, and body know another apart from Kudalasangama Deva, Bhava itself becomes terrible.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Pranalingi Sthala Vachana 797 — The Inseparable Abidance in the Linga
Pranalingi Vachana 797 supports this teaching by insisting that after receiving Prana-Linga, walking, speaking, sensing, and even the smallest bodily act cannot remain apart from Linga. This prepares Vachana 1201 directly. In Vachana 797, ordinary movement, speech, sense-experience, and bodily action must not become Linga-virahita; in Vachana 1201, Basavanna gives the Sharana form of the same discipline: in mind, speech, and body, nothing other than Kudalasangama Deva must be known.
Advancing Vachana
Aikya Sthala Vachana 1204 — The Natural One Beyond Self
Aikya Vachana 1204 advances this teaching by showing the state beyond the self-claim that Vachana 1201 guards against. There, the natural one acts without selfhood, gives without selfhood, and abides in the true state beyond division, where speech itself falls silent. This is the natural Aikya fulfillment of Vachana 1201. In Sharana Vachana 1201, Basavanna prays that body, mind, wealth, mind, speech, and body not turn toward “I want” or toward any other center; in Aikya Vachana 1204, that vigilance ripens into sahaja action and giving, where no separate self remains to claim, seek, or divide.
