Summary
Basavanna speaks in the voice of complete humility. He says he does not know the methods of devotion, the sixteen modes of worship, the states of feeling and beyond-feeling, or even knowledge and great knowledge. This is not ignorance, but the refusal to claim spiritual attainment as one’s own.
The vachana culminates in repeated salutation at the feet of the revered Sharanas. After devotion, ritual, inner states, knowledge, and great knowledge have all been relinquished as personal possessions, only reverence remains. For the Sharana, the highest maturity is not self-claim but bowing again and again before Kudala Sangama Deva’s realized ones.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The first image is not knowing the methods of devotion. Basavanna does not deny devotion itself. He denies ownership over devotional skill. True devotion has become too inward and natural to be claimed as “my method” or “my attainment.”
The second image is not knowing the sixteen modes of ritual worship. Basavanna does not reject worship. He refuses to measure realization by mastery of ritual procedure. Ritual form is not the final proof of inward surrender.
The third image is not knowing Bhava and Nirbhava. Basavanna relinquishes both devotional feeling and the state beyond feeling. Even sacred inward states are not to be held as personal achievement.
The fourth image is not knowing Jnana and Mahajnana. This is the deepest renunciation in the vachana. Even knowledge and great knowledge are not claimed. The Sharana does not stand before the Divine saying, “I know.” The claim of knowing itself has fallen away.
The final image is repeated salutation at the feet of the revered Sharanas. Basavanna ends not with doctrine but with bowing. The feet of the Sharanas become the place where all claims dissolve into humility. “Namo, Namo” is the final posture of one who has surrendered spiritual self-importance.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches the relinquishment of spiritual ownership. Devotion, worship, inner states, knowledge, and great knowledge may all arise on the path, but the Sharana does not possess them as personal wealth.
For Sharana Sthala, the practice-point is direct: do not claim attainment. Bow at the feet of the Sharanas. When the need to possess devotion or knowledge disappears, reverence itself becomes the living mark of realization.
Editorial Commentary
The repeated “I know not” should not be read as literal ignorance. Basavanna is not dismissing Bhakti, worship, Bhava, Jnana, or Mahajnana. He is rejecting the ego that claims them. The vachana is an instruction in spiritual non-possession.
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Pranalingi Sthala Vachana 1096 — The Worship of the Inner Lotus
Pranalingi Vachana 1096 teaches that the true meaning of ritual worship is inward: the heart becomes the lotus, longing the Arati, illumination the incense, and Anubhava the fragrance.
This prepares Vachana 1290, where Basavanna relinquishes all claims over devotional methods, worship, Bhava, Jnana, and Mahajnana, and remains only in repeated salutation before the Sharanas.
Advancing Vachana
Aikya Sthala Vachana 1034 — The Threefold Establishment
Aikya Vachana 1034 directly advances this teaching by showing the fulfilment that follows reverent surrender at Madivala Machayya’s feet. In Sharana Vachana 1290, Basavanna claims no mastery of Bhakti-yukti, Shodashopachara, Bhava–Nirbhava, or Jnana–Mahajnana; he relinquishes spiritual self-claim and remains only in repeated salutation. In Aikya Vachana 1034, Achara-sukha is established in the Anga, Anubhava in the Prana, and Mahajnana throughout the entire being, while gratitude to Madivala Machayya remains. Thus Sharana-stage humility beyond claimed method advances into Aikya as conduct, experience, and great knowledge firmly established through the Sharana’s transforming guidance.
