Basavana vacana

In this poem, the poet addresses the topic of God and worship. He states that the rich make temples for Shiva, and asks what the poor must do to prove their faith. The poet then provides his solution to this question by suggesting that the poor make their bodies into temples for the worship of God.

The poet says that the rich will make temples for Siva. He asks what he, as a poor man, shall do. Rich devotees have the money and the means to finance temples for the gods that they worship, but the poor do not. So, the poet asks what alternative the poor have to show their devotion and piety.

The poet says that his legs are pillars, his body the shrine, and his head a cupola of gold. Because the poor man does not have the means to build a temple, he must make his own body into a temple for worshipping his gods. The poet compares different parts of the body with different parts of the temple structure. The legs are the pillars, the body is the site of prayer, and the head is the dome.

By making his body a temple, the poet suggests dedicating his entire being to his god. The poor must therefore dedicate their lives to God. The poet then calls to the lord of the meeting rivers, his chosen deity- Lord Shiva at Koodalasangama. He declares that things standing shall fall, but the moving ever shall stay.

This means that standing structures such as temples will be destroyed over the course of time, but the temple of the body shall remain because life goes on. Generations of humans will keep carrying devotion in their bodies, even if temples fall. The spirit of worship will keep flowing through human bodies through the ages if people make their bodies into temples for the gods.

This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

The master of the house, is he at home or isn’t he?” 

Grass on the threshold

Dirt in the house

The master of the house, is he at home, or isn’t he?

Lies in the body,

Lust in the heart:

no, the master of the house is not at home,

In the very first line, the word “threshold” refers to an entrance or a doorway, and “grass” might be a reference to the uncleaned path. This line is a clear indication to the fact that the thoughts that arise in a human mind is perverted to an extent; and various disturbances become the grass in man’s path to salvation. There is “dirt” in his house, meaning, he is not void of all worldly attachments. The poet is hinting at the human conscience, where man is entangled in this materialistic world and eventually has turned into a selfish creature.The poet is doubtful if there resides a master in the house or not. The master here is a direct reference to God, and that by having a perverted mind, He surely will not be present in the house. This statement is put in a form of a question, only to be more rhetoric, indicative of the fact whether the individual has begun to clear his conscience or is still struggling to learn the proper ideals.

Man is failing to be truthful, he easily succumbs to lying and cheating others, while being oblivion to the fact that he is not being true to himself. Man is lustful by nature – living in this materialistic world, he now is driven by lust and possesses the immense thirst for power, for materialistic wealth. The poet sternly asserts that the God does not reside in a body like such, where the mind is corrupted. 

Our Lord of the Meeting Rivers.

Basavanna was a royal minister and the figure around whom the ‘Virasaiva’ community combined. He and his associates attempted to form an egalitarian community based on devotion to Shiva, rather than on caste divisions. Basavanna’s signature line, the “the lord of the meeting rivers” refers to a Shiva temple in the town of Kudalasangama, where three rivers met. In this poem, Basavanna writes on a level more inclined towards the ‘Advaita Vedanta’*. “The master of the house, is he at home or isn’t he?” stands to symbolize the presence of clean mind and body as a representation of the supreme abode of the God.