“Work is Worship”

Born

1131 CE

Died

1196 CE

Literature

Vachanas

Country

India

Vishwaguru Basavana

WORK IS WORSHIP

Basava, also known as Basaveshwara and Basavanna, lived in 12th-century India. He was a multifaceted figure—statesman, philosopher, poet, and social reformer. Basava played a vital role in the Shiva-focused bhakti movement, advocating for equality and rejecting discrimination and rituals. He introduced the Ishtalinga necklace, a symbol of devotion, to all individuals regardless of their background.

As a chief minister, Basava established the Anubhava Mantapa, a platform for inclusive discussions on various aspects of life. He vehemently opposed human and animal sacrifices while advocating the principle of ahimsa (non-violence). While traditional accounts label him as the founder of the Lingayat sect, modern scholarship views him as revitalizing an existing tradition rather than creating it anew.

Basava's life is detailed in works like the Basavarajadevara Ragale and Basava Purana. His literary contributions, particularly the Vachana Sahitya in Kannada Language, have left a lasting impact. He's often referred to as Bhaktibhandari and Basavanna, reflecting his deep devotion and influence in Indian society.

Vachana

What if you read the Vedas, listen to the scriptures, do chanting and perform penance? What use all this if you cannot touch the mind of Koodalasangayya?

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When a hunter brings a rabbit they value it and buy it for coins. When the ruler of the land lies dead they wont value his corpse worth half a coin. Life of a man is worse than that of a rabbit. Have faith in our Koodalasangamadeva.

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If sharana sleeps, it is chanting. If he gets up from sleep, it is Shivaraatri. What he does is pure act. What he speaks is Shiva-principle. The very body of Koodalasanga’s sharana is kailaasa.

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Shall I say scriptures are great? They praise karma. Shall I say the Vedas are great? They tell of animal sacrifice. Shall I say shruti is great? It searches what is before one’s eyes. As you are not in any of those, Koodalasangama, You can be seen in nothing but three kinds of daasoha.

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Men without thought of Shiva, without knowledge of Shiva, are like millions of vermin in cow dung. Don’t the wild animals live together? Don’t the animals in town live together? Any place where there are no sharanas of Koodalasanga is worse than wilderness, a hilly forest of human creatures.

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Having born a Shiva devotee, being one with linga, having linga on the body, and if you praise others, appreciate words of others, celebrate others, you will fall into karma, you cannot escape the chains of worldliness, you cannot escape taking birth as a dog. That’s why Koodalasangamadeva the life of the faithless deceivers is like building a wall in sand and washing it in water.

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Being a devotee and you go to Shiva hoping he will hold you. He will hit you, pound you to powder, will make you dust, will turn you to ash. If you have firm faith Koodalasangamadeva will ultimately make you like him.

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Can you say Nambiyanna is a kid? Can you say sun is little? He shines the whole world. Can you say sight is little? It sees the whole creation. Can you say feeling is little? It makes a measuring jar linga. Koodalasangamadevayya Can you say Channabasavanna, who is beyond time and space, is little?

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What if he eats dog-meat? Linga devotee is highborn. If one has no faith and doubts it is useless. What if you tie ishtalinga, touch it and worship it, unless your mind is touched with devotion? Unless feelings are pure devotion will not be stable in one whom Koodalasangama doesn’t love.

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Like a dog not knowing how to put the pot back on shelf after tumbling it down and eating the food in it, what shall I do studying six sthalas unless my bad qualities are done away? I am undone by not knowing how to do daasoha to creator jangama-linga, Koodalasangamadeva.

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Having born in this world why should you desire for something else? Smile and talk with devotees of Shiva. Why should you keep silent in your arrogance? abhyaasena viheenasya tasya janma nirarthakarn gurunaapi samam haasyam kartavyani kutilam vinaa. Open your mind and talk with sharanas of Koodalasanga.

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When the serpent of worldly life has bitten me poison called desire of five elements of my body rise up. I fall down wreathing and saying the mantra Om namah Shivaaya. When the sharanas of Koodalasanga appear And tell me not to fear I become whole.

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In the wilderness of worldly life there are tigers and bears. Sharana is not afraid, brave sharana is not afraid. Sharana of Koodalasanga is fearless.

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Worldly life is a lamp exposed to blowing wind. Wealth is gathering of crowd in market place. Don’t trust them and be undone. Forget wealth and worship our Koodalasangamadeva.

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The tide in ocean of worldliness is rising coming up to the face. Is this world-ocean waist high? Tell me. is it neck high? Tell me. When this ocean rises head high what will I say? Father, my father, listen to my woe. O, what shall I do, Koodalasangamadeva?

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As actions spring from linga, as words spring from linga, why should lingavanta be afraid? He should be as linga wills, as respect or otherwise of devotees is responsibility of Koodalasangama.

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Where there is linga there will not be words of abuse. Where there is abuse, linga is not. What does it matter how they are, where they are, the lingavantas? A sharana of Koodalasanga is incomparable.

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Is linga not there in boundary marking stone? Is linga not there in the marks on thighs of cattle? If stone is placed on a bush and that stone is found can the bush become a devotee? That’s why only a person with truthfulness, naturalness, good feelings and action is a true devotee. Otherwise he is like the stone found on a bush, Koodalasangamadeva.

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To walk without linga, to speak without linga to swallow saliva without linga is pollution that very moment. The body of those who walk without linga is worldly, not to be touched. The body of those who speak without linga is polluted with death, not to be heard. If one moves without linga each step he takes, each word he utters makes him lose his vow Koodalasangamadeva.

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Looking at good things, if mind desires them however much it is of no use. Stretching hands, looking up at the fruit in the tall palm tree it is mere ache in the neck. Listen Koodalasangamadeva, we have only when you give.

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What if you earn good name and live five days? What if you earn good name and live four days? What if you earn good name and live three days? What if you earn good name and live two days? As it is saidjeevitam shivabhaktaanam varam panchadinaani ca naajakalpasahasraani bhakriheenasya shaankari. What if you live for a single day earning good name in the vachanas of sharanas, Koodalasangamadeva!

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Why attempt to straighten the crookedness of the world? Console your body, console your mind. Koodalasangamadeva will not appreciate those who weep for the sake of neighbors.

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Speech filled with nectar of your name eyes filled with your image mind filled with your thought ears filled with your fame Koodalasangamadeva At your lotus feet I will be like a bee full-filled.

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If wild cuckoo is brought home does it forget remembering its forest? If elephant from hills is brought home does it forget remembering its hill? If sharanas of Koodalasangamadeva come to this earth Do they forget thinking of primordial and infinite linga?

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T don’t know weeks or days. I don’t know. I don’t know if it is night or day, I don’t know. Worshiping you I forgot myself, Koodalasangamadeva.

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You spread before me the green grass of desire. what does a beast know? Seeing the grass it desires. Make me desire free. Feed me devotion till I am content. Give me the water of good sense to drink. Look after me and protect me, Koodalasangamadeva.

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I saw some worshiping Vishnu and burning their shoulders, I saw some worshiping Jina and becoming naked, I saw some worshiping Mylara and barking like dogs, I saw those worshiping Koodalasangama are called as devotees.

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You call yourself brave devotee with restraint. If you are brave, enemies should praise you. If you have restraint, women should praise you. If you are a devotee, jangama should praise you. If you act according to your words Koodalasangamadeva will give you what you ask.

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I shall put leather sheath to the Vedas I shall put shackles on the shastras I shall skin the back of Tarka I shall cut off the nose of Agamas. See lord most generous Koodalasangamadeva I am vassal of Maadara Chennayyas house.

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The Vedas shivered, scriptures stood aside, logic became dumb, aagama just went away, all because our Koodalasangayya had his food in the house of untouchable Maadara Chennayya.

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Like a fish-eating bird sitting on the banks they hold their noses in meditation. They let their hair grow tangled, move their lips, close their eyes and count on their fingers the number of chants. Grass held in their hands as if they yearn for protection, Koodalasangamadeva.

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Getting up at the break of dawn, touching the feet of linga, and looking at the face of Shiva sharana at the break of day- this is the way to make ones birth fruitful. These words are true. Koodalasangamadeva doesnt want them who are not like this.

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Like lightning hidden behind clouds, like soul hidden behind the the body, like treasure hidden under the earth, god, you are. Who can ever know you? Knowing this for long and yet forgetting and ignoring I have gone mad. My mistakes have no end, Koodalasangamadeva, save me, save me.

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Doing exercise for three hundred and sixty days and forgetting all the skills of the hand in the battle ground- my bhakti is like that. When the mind is not firm what use, what use, how long I worship linga? Breaking the pot of milk, is it possible for me to gather spilt milk, Koodalasangamadeva?

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Does Mount Meru seek for great qualities in a crow? Does touchstone seek for qualities in iron? Does the virtuous seek for goodness in a wicked person? Does the sandal-wood seek for qualities in all trees? o linga filled with all qualities why do you seek for negative qualities in me Koodalasangamadeva?

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I don’t want to be high, but low. Will the cow give milk if calf doesn’t go down low? I will not rise high and dangle in hell, keep me down low at your sharana’s feet most generous Koodalasangamadeva.

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What can a sword do if it’s sharp edge is no more? What will a snake do if its poison is no more? What will a knowing devotee do if his words go false? When the words go false and desire to live it is like dog eating food reserved for god, Koodalasangamadeva.

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Offering sheep to tiny troublesome gods carried on winnowing fan they dance in joy. Does sheep die and protect those with whom Shiva is angry? No sheep, no calf, just worship our Koodalasangamadeva with leaves, it is enough.

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Eating in silence is not righteousness. After offering food to god one should say Shiva’ for every morsel. Then if you eat thinking of Koodalasanga the ways of flesh are made quiet.

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My mind is for nothing but linga, my wealth is for nothing but jangama, my body is for nothing but prasaada. It is my oath that I will not open my mouth but for linga jangama prasaada. If not offered thus, mistake is mine, cut my nose Koodalasangamadeva.

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Having faith that linga and jangama are one one should know wives of jangamas are wives of linga. Mating with this woman and that does one mate with Chowdeshwari too? If you embrace woman of jangama without the feeling that you are her baby Koodalasangamadeva will cut your head off.

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Is there harshness in linga? Is there caste for jangama? Is there tastelessness in prasaada? I will not differentiate my feelings in these three Koodalasangamadeva, my devotion is like steady stream of holy water from the vessel.

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Once you worship linga you should fear and respect jangama. Do not be stiff as if you have swallowed an iron rod. If you bow like a bunch of ripe banana Koodalasangama will give you what you ask.

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What use worshiping linga unless you have equanimity, love, brightness and happiness equal to linga? What use worshiping linga unless worshiping Koodalasangamadeva you become like a river merging with river?

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Give me the joy of looking at the face of jangama as I worship linga. Give me this ultimate bliss linga. This is the boon I beg you Koodalasangamadeva.

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Being in the shadow of a tree can one search ones’ shadow? What kind of devotee am I? What kind of worthy am I in the presence of your sharanas? Won’t the words I am a devotee burn me Koodalasangamadeva?

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Like a monkey that has climbed the tree I dash from branch to branch. How can I have faith? How can I have love for this burnt mind? It doesn’t allow me to move towards my father Koodalasangamadeva.

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Plucking flower from the tree and offering it to the tree, offering river water to the river, o, do not take away the calf from the cow making the cow suffer don’t milk it for your use. The Maya created by Koodalasanga has beaten many.

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Fire born out of friction of trees, will it not burn those trees? Fire of knowledge, born out of companionship of the wise, will it not burn away the nature of my senses? That’s why Koodalasangamadeva, show me the wise.

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This world is maker’s mint. Those who are acceptable here are acceptable there too. Those who have no currency here are not accepted there too, Koodalasangamadeva.

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However much you rub can black soot become white? Effects of Karma do not go away. What if one receives endless honors? A moment of sloth undoes everything, Koodalasangamadeva I am a pretender I believe and yet do not have faith in you.

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If you feel you have done terrible sound of Shiva’s drum will haunt you. Do not say you have done something for linga, you have done something for jangama. If your mind doesn’t retain the trace of your acts Koodalasangamadeva will grant you all your whishes.

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By doing and giving, all those who say you worship linga, listen brothers- Like leaving footwear at the doors of the temple and remembering them as you bow before god you meditate upon footwear and not on god. If you keep money for your self you can never escape worldliness. Money should be spent for sharanas of Koodalasangamadeva.

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Doing without mind, they are destroyed. Giving without truthfulness, they are destroyed. If you have the true quality of doing and giving Our Koodalasangamadeva will be with you.

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You should do and be as if you have not done, You should be as if you are not in your acts, You should think and think And yet do not appear to think of Koodalasangamadeva.

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The body of a devotee who worships should be like stem of banana without any hardness within. Our people swallowed the great fruit along with seeds. I have no more births, Koodalasangamadeva.

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Hey, goat, weep, weep, that they kill you for the sake of mere words. In front of those who have read the Vedas, weep. In front of those who listen to scriptures, weep. Koodalasangamadeva will punish them for your weeping.

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People take a vow and tie Marikavve in their necks. If they fall in debt sell that goddess. If they fall in debt pledge that goddess. Our Koodalasangamadeva cannot be pledged, cannot be sold.

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Man and Masani are not some other evil gods. What is Man? If eyes commit mistake in sight, it is Man. If tongue commits mistake in speech, it is Man. If one forgets the thought of our Koodalasangamadeva, it is Mari.

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I am just thorny yekka among sweet mangoes. How can I say, without shame, I am a devotee in the presence of your sharanas? How can I be a devotee? That too, when sharanas of Koodalasangama are there?

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For the wedding of devotion-passion with the rings of oleander, the screen of jasmines, the canopy of chrysanthemums. o all kinds of flowers, do come in procession. I am getting married to Koodalasangamadeva.

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I speak only words of good devotion, I act as I speak, I fulfill my words in my act. High above you have the scale in your hand. If there is even a particle of difference throw me out and walk away, Koodalasangamadeva.

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The good devotees don’t relish the daasoha of the one without devotion. A crow relishes bitter fruit of neem, but a cuckoo cannot. Sharanas of Koodalasangamadeva don’t relish the words of those unrelated to linga.

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If you can be a bhakta in various births, see, it is better to have those births. Worship of linga, experience of jangama are each day’s bliss. I wish for them for ever, O father, Koodalasangamadeva, grant me this.

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Can you paint without a canvass? Can you grow without the earth? Can you worship linga without jangama? Can you penetrate the lord of life without a body? As Koodalasangamadeva the un-manifest has the face of jangama I don’t know anything else.

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Wealth hidden in the earth, appear to those who have anjana. Don’t be afraid, don’t have doubts, if you have faith that linga is injangama Koodalasangamadeva will appear before your eyes.

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For the Bherunda bird having one body and two heads, if you put blinkers between two heads and pour milk for one mouth and poison for another will not poison spread in one body? Worshiping linga and blaming jangama, I fume in rage Koodalasangamadeva.

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Tonsuring my head I became a male slave. I may be immodest, but I will please linga. I may be unashamed, but I will please linga, Let the worldly neighbors laugh, if they feel like it, Koodalasangamadeva I submit myself to you.

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The pot is god the winnowing fan is god the stone on the street is god the comb is god the bowstring is god the measuring vessel is god the small cup is god there are gods and gods no place to set foot in. There is just one god, Koodalasangamadeva.

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To make a pot earth comes first. To make ornaments gold comes first. To know the path of Shiva path of guru comes first. To know Koodalasangamadeva company of sharanas comes first.

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Pot made of earth cannot become earth losing its form. Butter melting and becoming ghee cannot become butter again losing its form. Gold cannot become iron losing its form. Pearl born in water cannot become water again losing its form. Once a sharana of Koodalasanga cannot become a mere man losing his form.

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The mind a snake the body a basket. Living in company with the snake, when it will kill me, I do not know when it will swallow me, I do not know. If I can worship you each day that is the charm against the snake Koodalasangamadeva.

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Look at the house, they are poor. Look at the mind, they are rich. Remaining pure regarding women, they are brave in every sense. Nothing in store, but have enough when they need. The sharanas of Koodalasanga are independent and brave.

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Is the master of the house in, or is he not? Grass growing around the threshold, the house filled with dust, is the master of the house in, or is he not? The body filled with lies, the mind filled with desires, the master of the mind, is he in or he is not? The master of the mind is not in the mind, Koodalasangamadeva.

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Considering the root to be the mouth of the tree if you pour water at the bottom, see the tree sprouted at the top. If you consider jangama to be the mouth of linga and offer all to it, linga will give everything in the future. If one sees jangama as Shiva and think of him as man One cannot escape hell, Koodalasangamadeva.

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