Basava Consciousness
Basava was born into a wealthy, high caste family. He got the best education. He enjoyed political power, as finance minister and later prime minister, he made King Bijjala’s empire thrive. But fame, money and worldly success mattered little to him. He took up the cause of the poor and the humiliated, and led a movement that has no parallel in history.
By Ramjan Darga
In the 12th century, Basavanna led a social movement that drew inspiration from spirituality. He lives in the hearts of millions to this day. Without doubt, the world will be better place and will thrive in all respects if more people become aware of Basava and his ideals.
Basava Consciousness means giving up the idea of Karma, which states that everything is predetermined, and making Kayaka or work, the center of our existence. It means making our vocation not an extension of our selves but our very life-breath. It means understanding the principle of equality.
Basava Consciousness means we wish good for all living creatures. It means we accept that there is one God for the entire universe, and forget all distinctions of caste, creed and gender. Basava prompts us to give up any science that is anti-life, and to destroy our arrogance. He shows us the way to a society without exploitation. His is a democratic ideology that respects plurality of culture.
Basava awareness teaches us to live a spiritual life and physical life at the same time. It gives us the strength to fight exploitation and become truthful. It makes us speak the truth when we are silent lest we offend someone. It tells us to bare our mistakes and to stand fearless.
How did Basavanna lead people to a life of simplicity and freedom? How did he proclaim the dignity of labor?
The hellhole of Karma
Before Basavanna was born, the Buddha, Mahaveera and thinkers of the Lokayata School had spoken out against philosophies that pushed people into the hellhole of karma. They had denounced that idea that superiority comes from birth, and proposed an equal society. Basavanna went a step ahead and showed us the way to achieve equality. He realized that minority not engaged in production was subjugating a majority of productive and hardworking women, shudras and untouchables. He showed that caste, knowledge and power were sources of exploitation, and traced the roots of sorrow to them.
Basavanna thought deeply about changing old ways. He wanted to build a new society with new values. He shifted the focus of education from blindly memorizing texts to living by one’s spirit. He questioned everything that came in the way of this new way of life.
Conscious is Basavanna’s God. He refused to accept any other God. When he talked about ishtalinga (personal deity), he stressed that it represented inner voice.
It’s enough if you experience God within, heaven and hell are futile concepts, he said. Basavanna strove tirelessly to tell the world about his vision of God. When God resides within us, we become heaven ourselves.
Can there be religion without compassion, Basavanna asks. For him compassion is the basis of all spirituality. This led him to oppose the Vedic ideas of heaven and hell, and the unequal laws of Manu that govern much of Indian society.
Impediment to vitality
Thinking of heaven and hell is an impediment to human vitality, Basavanna said. He urged his followers to clear up such ideas with broomstick of proper awareness.
The physical ishtalinga that the devout carry is but a symbol of God. It is one thing to just look at the physical symbol, and quite another to see what it symbolizes. Without this knowledge, says Basavanna, all worship is hollow.
He says in a vachana that outward worship, without any compassionate social action, is meaningless. In Kannada mythology, we hear of the bherunda, a bird with two heads. For Basavanna, society and God are two heads of bherunda. You can’t give milk to one and poison to the other and still expect the bird to live in good health, he says.
Dangers of fatalism
Does God have a form? Or is He / She formless? Basavanna knew the dangers of fatalistic idol worship. In a vachana, he tries to grasp the formless nature of divinity, but is troubled by the difficulty of doing so. Thus is born his idea of the ishtalinga, a personal deity.
Even before Basavanna’s time, people carried personal Gods in a small case. They worshipped these substitute Gods – the original one remained at home – when they traveled. But Basavanna’s ishtalinga became a symbol of the true practitioner of his ideals.
The ishtalinga thus caters to sensitive spiritual needs without turning the individual away from society. It is a confluence of the micro and macro planes at which conscious works. It ensures the internal and external purity of individuals, and ensures that the two planes work as one.
The works of disciples who carry the ishtalinga are not mere words, they are promises. In rote culture, people who don’t work rule. In Basavanna’s vachana culture, people who don’t work have no importance. The shudras and other working classes become central to his world. In rote culture, they existed only to work, but not to enjoy the fruits of their work!
“The ishtalinga could be a badge given to Basavanna’s followers. Commitment to the Linga implies a commitment to the community and to the followers” Says P. S. Patil the well-known Marxist thinker of Bijapur, in his book ‘Basava chaluvaliaya Bhoutikavadi Adhyayana (A Materialist Study of the Basava Movement).
The ideal Society
Basavanna’s view of the ideal society is unique. He lived in Kalyana, a city whose name incidentally means welfare, and constantly contemplated the idea of a welfare society. In a vachana, he says his happiness depends on the happiness of the entire community that lives around him.
But without social, cultural, economic and gender equality, an ideal society cannot be built. Equality means freedom from caste, class and gender distinctions. Basavanna gave his all to achieve such equality. He questioned all aspects of society that were inhuman. He was deeply disturbed the practice of untouchability. He stripped himself of high caste attitudes to be able to understand such practices.
Untouchability is not just an unequal social system; it hides a production system that favors the upper castes. It hides a system of exploitation, violence and humiliation. It hides hunger, helplessness and labor without fruit. In the last 5000 years of Indian history, great men like Buddha and Gandhiji have fought in favor of the weak and the Dalits, but we can’t find another who lowered himself in caste like Basavanna.
In a vachana he questions the idea of caste, and says all devout people are casteless. The low-caste Chennayya is far greater than God himself, Basavanna proclaims in this poem. The last man in the hierarchy of Manu can become, by the strength of his uprightness and hard work, the highest man in Basavanna’s society. “I reject the texts, I am a son of Channayya the untouchable,” he says.
It was because Basavanna understood shudra power that he was able to dream of a society that could create good people. A mere knowledge of astrology, arithmetic, logic and grammar is nothing. “A true devotee finds no meaning in them,” he says “Our lord will not accept people without true devotion.”
The karma philosophy, which is the basis of Manu’s laws, drives people to fatalism and fills them with guilt. It justifies exploitation by describing it as the fruit of one’s previous birth’s misdeeds. It favors the exploiters.
Darkness and light
What use is a light if it doesn’t drive away darkness? What use is an ishtalinga if you wear and still believe in karma? These are questions Basavanna asks. Even a violent man can become good and devout, he says in a vachana. But he is skeptical about mainstream deities with their hierarchy. Basavanna’s God is straightforward; he goes to the houses of untouchables, and eats with them. When Kudalasangama, Basavanna’s God, eats at the house of Chennayya, orthodox society is scandalized. Basavanna understood the cruelty of caste society by interacting with the most oppressed, and thus gained the authority to question it. In one vachana, denounces Linga worshippers who continue to neglect or ill treat untouchables.
Such is his moral strength; Basavanna stands in support of children born out of wedlock. He describes himself as a son born to the lowliest of the low – imaginary servants of the untouchable Channayya and Kakkayya who made love in the fields.
Manu’s laws are against mixing of castes. Basava is in favor of mixing of castes. For him, caste is hollow when it comes face to face with moral uprightness. The lamp of revolution he lit continues to burn to this day.
Basavanna’s contemporaries praise him from the heart. Allama Prabhu, the great philosopher-poet who was also a prominent leader of Basava’s Bhakti movement, says the lamp of Basavanna’s thoughts should illumine the ideal society.
Akka Mahadevi, who wrote vachanas of rebellious brilliance, says Basavanna is greater than all the Gods of the three worlds. Here moral strength comes from interacting with great minds like Basava and Allama Prabhu. Aydakki Marayya, a lesser know poet of Basavanna’s time, says the world will brighten up only when it is lit by Basavanna’s Compassion.
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Basava was born into a wealthy, high caste family. He got the best education. He enjoyed political power, as finance minister and later prime minister, he made King Bijjala’s empire thrive. But fame, money and worldly success mattered little to him. He took up the cause of the poor and the humiliated, and led a movement that has no parallel in history.
By Ramjan Darga
In the 12th century, Basavanna led a social movement that drew inspiration from spirituality. He lives in the hearts of millions to this day. Without doubt, the world will be better place and will thrive in all respects if more people become aware of Basava and his ideals.
Basava Consciousness means giving up the idea of Karma, which states that everything is predetermined, and making Kayaka or work, the center of our existence. It means making our vocation not an extension of our selves but our very life-breath. It means understanding the principle of equality.
Basava Consciousness means we wish good for all living creatures. It means we accept that there is one God for the entire universe, and forget all distinctions of caste, creed and gender. Basava prompts us to give up any science that is anti-life, and to destroy our arrogance. He shows us the way to a society without exploitation. His is a democratic ideology that respects plurality of culture.
Basava awareness teaches us to live a spiritual life and physical life at the same time. It gives us the strength to fight exploitation and become truthful. It makes us speak the truth when we are silent lest we offend someone. It tells us to bare our mistakes and to stand fearless.
How did Basavanna lead people to a life of simplicity and freedom? How did he proclaim the dignity of labor?
The hellhole of Karma
Before Basavanna was born, the Buddha, Mahaveera and thinkers of the Lokayata School had spoken out against philosophies that pushed people into the hellhole of karma. They had denounced that idea that superiority comes from birth, and proposed an equal society. Basavanna went a step ahead and showed us the way to achieve equality. He realized that minority not engaged in production was subjugating a majority of productive and hardworking women, shudras and untouchables. He showed that caste, knowledge and power were sources of exploitation, and traced the roots of sorrow to them.
Basavanna thought deeply about changing old ways. He wanted to build a new society with new values. He shifted the focus of education from blindly memorizing texts to living by one’s spirit. He questioned everything that came in the way of this new way of life.
Conscious is Basavanna’s God. He refused to accept any other God. When he talked about ishtalinga (personal deity), he stressed that it represented inner voice.
It’s enough if you experience God within, heaven and hell are futile concepts, he said. Basavanna strove tirelessly to tell the world about his vision of God. When God resides within us, we become heaven ourselves.
Can there be religion without compassion, Basavanna asks. For him compassion is the basis of all spirituality. This led him to oppose the Vedic ideas of heaven and hell, and the unequal laws of Manu that govern much of Indian society.
Impediment to vitality
Thinking of heaven and hell is an impediment to human vitality, Basavanna said. He urged his followers to clear up such ideas with broomstick of proper awareness.
The physical ishtalinga that the devout carry is but a symbol of God. It is one thing to just look at the physical symbol, and quite another to see what it symbolizes. Without this knowledge, says Basavanna, all worship is hollow.
He says in a vachana that outward worship, without any compassionate social action, is meaningless. In Kannada mythology, we hear of the bherunda, a bird with two heads. For Basavanna, society and God are two heads of bherunda. You can’t give milk to one and poison to the other and still expect the bird to live in good health, he says.
Dangers of fatalism
Does God have a form? Or is He / She formless? Basavanna knew the dangers of fatalistic idol worship. In a vachana, he tries to grasp the formless nature of divinity, but is troubled by the difficulty of doing so. Thus is born his idea of the ishtalinga, a personal deity.
Even before Basavanna’s time, people carried personal Gods in a small case. They worshipped these substitute Gods – the original one remained at home – when they traveled. But Basavanna’s ishtalinga became a symbol of the true practitioner of his ideals.
The ishtalinga thus caters to sensitive spiritual needs without turning the individual away from society. It is a confluence of the micro and macro planes at which conscious works. It ensures the internal and external purity of individuals, and ensures that the two planes work as one.
The works of disciples who carry the ishtalinga are not mere words, they are promises. In rote culture, people who don’t work rule. In Basavanna’s vachana culture, people who don’t work have no importance. The shudras and other working classes become central to his world. In rote culture, they existed only to work, but not to enjoy the fruits of their work!
“The ishtalinga could be a badge given to Basavanna’s followers. Commitment to the Linga implies a commitment to the community and to the followers” Says P. S. Patil the well-known Marxist thinker of Bijapur, in his book ‘Basava chaluvaliaya Bhoutikavadi Adhyayana (A Materialist Study of the Basava Movement).
The ideal Society
Basavanna’s view of the ideal society is unique. He lived in Kalyana, a city whose name incidentally means welfare, and constantly contemplated the idea of a welfare society. In a vachana, he says his happiness depends on the happiness of the entire community that lives around him.
But without social, cultural, economic and gender equality, an ideal society cannot be built. Equality means freedom from caste, class and gender distinctions. Basavanna gave his all to achieve such equality. He questioned all aspects of society that were inhuman. He was deeply disturbed the practice of untouchability. He stripped himself of high caste attitudes to be able to understand such practices.
Untouchability is not just an unequal social system; it hides a production system that favors the upper castes. It hides a system of exploitation, violence and humiliation. It hides hunger, helplessness and labor without fruit. In the last 5000 years of Indian history, great men like Buddha and Gandhiji have fought in favor of the weak and the Dalits, but we can’t find another who lowered himself in caste like Basavanna.
In a vachana he questions the idea of caste, and says all devout people are casteless. The low-caste Chennayya is far greater than God himself, Basavanna proclaims in this poem. The last man in the hierarchy of Manu can become, by the strength of his uprightness and hard work, the highest man in Basavanna’s society. “I reject the texts, I am a son of Channayya the untouchable,” he says.
It was because Basavanna understood shudra power that he was able to dream of a society that could create good people. A mere knowledge of astrology, arithmetic, logic and grammar is nothing. “A true devotee finds no meaning in them,” he says “Our lord will not accept people without true devotion.”
The karma philosophy, which is the basis of Manu’s laws, drives people to fatalism and fills them with guilt. It justifies exploitation by describing it as the fruit of one’s previous birth’s misdeeds. It favors the exploiters.
Darkness and light
What use is a light if it doesn’t drive away darkness? What use is an ishtalinga if you wear and still believe in karma? These are questions Basavanna asks. Even a violent man can become good and devout, he says in a vachana. But he is skeptical about mainstream deities with their hierarchy. Basavanna’s God is straightforward; he goes to the houses of untouchables, and eats with them. When Kudalasangama, Basavanna’s God, eats at the house of Chennayya, orthodox society is scandalized. Basavanna understood the cruelty of caste society by interacting with the most oppressed, and thus gained the authority to question it. In one vachana, denounces Linga worshippers who continue to neglect or ill treat untouchables.
Such is his moral strength; Basavanna stands in support of children born out of wedlock. He describes himself as a son born to the lowliest of the low – imaginary servants of the untouchable Channayya and Kakkayya who made love in the fields.
Manu’s laws are against mixing of castes. Basava is in favor of mixing of castes. For him, caste is hollow when it comes face to face with moral uprightness. The lamp of revolution he lit continues to burn to this day.
Basavanna’s contemporaries praise him from the heart. Allama Prabhu, the great philosopher-poet who was also a prominent leader of Basava’s Bhakti movement, says the lamp of Basavanna’s thoughts should illumine the ideal society.
Akka Mahadevi, who wrote vachanas of rebellious brilliance, says Basavanna is greater than all the Gods of the three worlds. Here moral strength comes from interacting with great minds like Basava and Allama Prabhu. Aydakki Marayya, a lesser know poet of Basavanna’s time, says the world will brighten up only when it is lit by Basavanna’s Compassion.
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good one raman,,i like it
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Very nice article sir, love this.
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