Summary
Basavanna questions the separation between the one who acts and the One who causes the act. The individual may appear to do, give, and know, but the deeper movement belongs to Kudala Sangama Deva. The relation between the seeker and the Divine is like body and life-breath: distinct in expression, yet inseparable in living reality.
From this insight arises humility. Basavanna does not say, “I know.” He says, “Do as You know; give as You know.” Action and giving are surrendered to the Lord’s knowing. The final image makes the teaching practical and intimate: if the hand is joined to the body, will the mouth be left unfed? One who remains joined to Kudala Sangama Deva need not fear lack, abandonment, or separate responsibility.
Imagery & Symbolic Relevance
The first image is the one who acts and the One who causes the act. Basavanna asks whether there is any real division between them. The question removes the pride of independent doership. The act may appear through the seeker, but its source is deeper.
The second image is the union of body and life-breath. Body and prana are not the same in appearance, yet neither can function apart from the other in living experience. Basavanna uses this image to show the intimacy between action and Divine causation.
The third image is “Do as You know.” Basavanna gives action back to Kudala Sangama Deva. He does not insist upon his own will, plan, or measure. The Lord’s knowing becomes the ground of action.
The fourth image is “Give as You know.” Giving too is surrendered. Basavanna does not claim generosity as his own virtue. What is given, how it is given, and when it is given are left to the Lord’s wisdom.
The fifth image is the refusal to say, “I know.” This is the inner renunciation of spiritual self-importance. The Sharana does not stand before the Lord as one who claims understanding. He allows the Lord alone to know.
The sixth image is doing and giving as something made to happen by the Lord. Basavanna sees that even action and offering are not separate achievements. They arise because Kudala Sangama Deva makes them possible.
The final image is the joined hand and the mouth. If the hand is joined to the body, the mouth will not remain unfed. The hand serves, the mouth receives, and the whole body is sustained. In the same way, one who remains joined to Kudala Sangama Deva need not fear the fruit of action or giving.
Lingayoga
In Lingayoga, this vachana teaches the surrender of separate agency. The seeker acts, gives, and participates, but does not claim independent authorship. Body and life-breath, hand and mouth, action and Divine causation are to be understood in living relation.
For Sharana Sthala, the practice-point is direct: act as one joined to Kudala Sangama Deva. Give as one joined. Do not claim, “I know,” “I act,” or “I give.” When the hand remains joined to the body, nourishment is not lost.
Editorial Commentary
This vachana should not be read as passivity or fatalism. Basavanna does not tell the seeker to stop acting or giving. He teaches action without egoic claim. The hand still moves; the gift still flows. What disappears is the pride that says, “I alone do this.”
Related Vachana
Supporting Vachana
Pranalingi Sthala Vachana 788 — The Tremor and the Steadying
Pranalingi Vachana 788 supports this teaching by showing the inward trembling that can arise while holding what is to be given. There, the hand still feels the burden of personal giving and asks Kudala Sangama Deva for steadiness. This prepares Vachana 1315 directly. In Vachana 788, the seeker still fears while giving; in Vachana 1315, that fear matures into surrender, because doing and giving are understood as the Lord’s own movement.
Advancing Vachana
Aikya Sthala Vachana 886 — The Divine Embracing Itself
Aikya Vachana 886 advances this teaching by dissolving the very notion of separate offering. There, milk, water, fragrance, the hand, and even the “I” who comes to worship are already the Lord’s. In Sharana Vachana 1315, Basavanna surrenders agency by saying, “Do as You know; give as You know.” In Aikya Vachana 886, that surrender reaches fulfilment: there is no separate giver, no separate offering, and no separate receiver; all that comes to the hand is already Kudala Sangama Deva’s.
