“Reminiscing on Basavanna in Our Times” - Lessons in Humanity, Equality, and Unconditional Love

  

“Never lose your heart while pursuing the path of trust.”

-        Basavanna

Reference: https://www.allsaivism.com/articles/basava.aspx

At the twilight of the 11th century, in a traditional Kannada Brahmin family, a boy was born who grew up into a quiet revolutionary. Challenging the rigid orthodoxies of his time, Basavanna envisioned a society stripped of caste, creed, and inequality, one where every individual had the right to think, speak, and belong.

Often regarded as one of the earliest free thinkers, his vachanas carried powerful messages of humanity, social equality, and spiritual awareness. He established the Anubhava Mantapa, a hall of spiritual experience where people from all walks of life, whether a cobbler, a farmer, or a sex worker, could articulate their thoughts freely.

In an era where women were not only considered second-class but were also denied the right to worship, Basavanna accorded them equal status within his movement. His vision of devotion was radical because it was inward, stripped of hierarchy, ritual dominance, and social exclusion.

Growing up listening to his vachanas, singing them, and debating their meanings, it still amazes me how deeply relevant these 11th-century words remain in the 21st century. They do not sound dated. Instead, they feel unsettlingly current, as though they were written for a society still grappling with ego, judgment, and misplaced priorities.

Reference https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org/en/blog/basavanna-our-role-model-on-rejecting-caste

My reflections on the Vanchanas…

One such vachana that continues to provoke reflection is this:

Lokada donka neeveke tidduviri?
Nimma nimma tanuva samtaisikolli;
Nimma nimma manava samtaisikolli;
Neremaneya dukhakke aluvavana mecha
Kudala Sangama Deva.

Why would you correct the crookedness of the world?
Take care of your own body.
Take care of your own mind.
The Lord of Kudalasangama does not appreciate one who merely weeps over the suffering of their neighbours.

We invest enormous time and energy lamenting how broken the world is, pointing at everything wrong, as though we are entirely separate from it. We scrutinise others’ lives, judge their actions, and pass opinions without understanding their realities. We forget a simple truth. We cannot control other people’s lives or choices, so why exhaust ourselves over them? Ironically, we have complete control over our own lives and actions, yet pay the least attention to them.

Basavanna’s words don’t call for apathy, but a call to responsibility. Before attempting to straighten the world, he urges us to straighten ourselves. If we channel our energy into becoming better individuals, the world becomes better, at least by one person. Life, after all, is meant to mature us inwardly, not to be consumed by anxiety over others.

This inward accountability becomes even more explicit in another vachana:

Enaginta kiriyarilla!
Śiva-bhaktariginta hiriyarilla.
Nimma pāda sākṣi, enna mana sākṣi!
Kūḍala Saṅgama Devā, enagide divya.

There is none smaller than me.
There is none greater than a devotee of Shiva.
Let your feet be my witness.
Let my own mind be my witness.
O Kudala Sangama Deva, what I have received is divine.

In a time where opinions are loud and moral superiority is easy, this line often reminds me how tempting it is to believe that awareness itself makes us better than others. But, it does not. It is not about being right, visible, or influential. It is about sincerity. About living in alignment with our beliefs and choices. This challenges us to ask whether our values show up only in thought and speech, or whether they quietly govern our choices, our silences, and our conduct.

What stays with me most is the insistence on witness. Not society. Not validation. Not even our ways of living. It’s about our mind and our core belief. This resonates deeply with me because so much of our modern life is performative. We explain ourselves endlessly to the world, yet rarely hold ourselves accountable in private. Basavanna reminds me that the most honest conversations are the ones I have with myself, when no one is watching.

FAQs

1.      Who was Basavanna?

Ans: Basava, also called Basavēśvara and Basavaṇṇa, was an Indian philosopher, poet, and Ligayat social reformer in the Shiva-focused bhakti movement.

2.     What are vachanas?

Ans: Vaks are poetic verses composed by Basavanna.

 

References:

1.      Basavanna: Renowned Social Reformer https://www.clearias.com/basavanna/

2.     Basavanna, our role model on rejecting caste https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org/en/blog/basavanna-our-role-model-on-rejecting-caste

3.     Basavanna – A man who rebelled against Sanatana Tradition https://sabrangindia.in/basavanna-man-who-rebelled-against-sanatana-tradition/