The Guru Basava Movement

The Twelfth-century Multi-dimensional Revolution

The twelfth-century multi-dimensional revolution which was a protest against the polluted religious and social environment is one of the mos tunique events in the religious history of perhaps any country in the world. It was a revolution that sought to uproot blindbeliefs and meaningless dogmas and rituals. The twelfth century revolution was against "power of priesthood, against dogmatism, temple cult, caste and class privileges and social inequality in every form."

This was a revolution involving religious, economic, social and literary reforms aimed at establishing a casteless and classless society based on spiritual and practical values. The aims of the revolution were:

1. To emphasischumanitarian values.
2. To spread a religion that was democratic in spirit and practice
3. To establish a society based on egalitarian values-a casteless and classless society which included gender equality as a valued aim and
4. To uplift the downtrodden.

Thusthewell-being of mankind was its main objective.

This multi-faceted socio-religious movement, also known as the Sharana movement originated under the charismatic, inspiring and dynamic leadership of Basaveshwara, popularly called Basavanna, who preached a practical form of spirituality which was characterized by personal devotion. He propagated a form of religionin which everybody could participate, a religion which did not necessitate renouncing secular life in order to attain the highest level of mystical experience. Infact Allama Prabhu, a great mysticof the twelfth century, who was the President of Anubhava Mantapa, Hall of Experience-established by Basavanna, said that devotion done by husband and wife is very dear to Lord Siva:

When a couple stands with their hearts made one,
As in sun-vision the twin-eyed look,
There's dedication to Guhesvaralinga!
O Sangana Basavaņņa! (SVS V. I)

Basavanna's greatest desire was to be of service to the common man. He was a man of the masses. In him the twelfth century has produced one of the greatest saint philosophers, the world has seen, who was also a social reformer and economist. The impact of this most important spiritual revolution of the 12th century which happened because of Basavanna who had the courage of a rebel and temperament of a reformer, is experienced to this day by millions andmillions across the world.

Basavanna, who was a junior accountant in the service of BijjalaII of Kalachurya family in Mangalvede, came to Kalyana when King Biljala,a feudatory chief of the chalukyas of Kalyana, usurped their Kingdom and setup his own rule. Basavanna by then had risen to the position of his finance minister, and later became his Prime Minister. Thus, Kalyan became the main centre of the sarana movement. It is not surprising that Basavanna looked upon his position as an opportunity to serve the common man.”

The political situation was dim and alarmingly uncertain. Making Kalyan heaven on earth was the purpose of Basava's birth sang many Sharanas. Akkamahadevi extolling the virtues of Basavanna, says:

Our Basavanna, descending to the earth
For the welfare of the world,
Lives to propagate Lingavanta religion
By embodying fifty-two disciplincs (v.309.P.193).

Akkanāgamma, his sister says

...Inorder that right conduct should grow
Abundantly in the mortal world,
Basavanna descended to the earth
And spread Bhakti Sthala (v. 705 p.364)*

And Allama Prabhu having entered Kalyan says

I know, because I have seen
Breaking the secret of the lock;
How you became
Guhesvara, Basavanna by name,
In Kaliyuga;
How, with practice of all kind enriched,
You brought to light
Devotion and knowledge;
How fostered the growth
Of the mighty Siva cult;
How held aloft
The flag of Siva-devotion, and
Diffused it through the mortal world. (SS vol.II p. 304)

Basavaņņa was born in a well-connected Agamika Shaiva Brahmin family to Mādalāmbike and Mādarasain 1134 A.D. at Ingaleswar-Bagewadi. Not happy with the discrimination in Brahminism of man against man, and men against women, which truth was brought home to him during his thread ceremony (Upanayam), when his sister Nagayi (Akkanāgamma) was not allowed to participate in the ceremony, the ceremony that symbolized initiation into brahminism because of which Brahmins are said to be the “twice-born'. Also, the treatment meted out to the untouchables by his caste people not only made him unhappy, but angry too. He therefore, rebelled against it, and started a new religion called Lingayat. One of the most important tenets is equality—equality of gender, caste and class. The untouchables became an integral part of this religion, and many of them attained mystical height and wrote their songs of experience called Vachanas.

Lt is perhaps not out of place to mention here that there is an argument which traces the history of Lingayathism back to primordial times. Whether the argumentis acceptable or not, it must be said that the credit of widening its scope and including everyone in its fold, by introducing a revolutionary concept of Ishtalinga should goto Basavaņņa.

Basavanna's concept of religion was such that everybody could participate in it. He completely rejected the ‘tradition of temple cult dominated by Brahmin priests,and advocated worship in a new revolutionary form-the worship of Ishtalinga, which was considered the symbol of Siva, and which was worn on the body. The worship of Istalinga would lead to spiritual progress and profound mystical experiences. Every human being was potentially divine, and the ceremony of initiation (diksha) by a competent Guru, who by placing his hand on the head of the disciple (Sisya) and giving the Istalinga in his left hand palm, whispered the five letter mantra(namah Sivaya) in the righ tear, prepared the sisya to worship and realize his true identity, his divinity.

Whoever underwent the diksha ceremony and wore the linga on the body was a Lingayat. Both men and women were eligible for diksa. Basavanna advocated complete equality for all devotees. “Old concepts such as caste purity found new application in the teaching of morality, thus the devotees learned that the one who kills is ‘low-caste' or 'untouchable' whereas one who does good to his fellow creatures is well-born.”

The man who slays is a pariah,
The man who eats carrion is a low-caste person
Where is the caste here where?
Our Kudala sanga’s Sarana
One who loves all living beings, he is the well-born one! (B.V. Р.).

Compassion is the root of all religions. Basavanna asked, “can there be a religion without compassion"? It was Basavaņņa’s Lingayatism that insisted on the equality of the sexes, in mundane as well as spiritual matters, and kept open the doors of his Mahāmane for all castes and creeds.

It is a unique achievement of the twelfth-century Sarana movement that many women found their rightful place in society in the field of religion and literature. Even the Vedic period which was considered to be the golden age when women had equal status and had earned scholarship, cannot boast of so many women poets, philosophers and thinkers, though names like Gargi and Maitreyi are still remembered for their scholarship, the twelfth century women saints who were poets were more than thirty. Basavanna gave women an honorable existence.

The Sarana movement came as a great blessing to all women who were hitherto bound by unsympathetic orthodox traditions and rigid codes of conduct that had made their condition miserable, by denying them any kind of freedom. This was also a time when Manu the author of Manusmpiti had ruled out freedom for women by saying that woman was not fit for freedom. In childhood she is taken care of by her father, in youth she is looked after by her husband and at a later stage in life, in old age by her sons'. The lot of the lower caste women was worse than cattle, because of the tyranny of the Varnashrama dhama, which had caused the division of society into low-born and high born, and as for woman, she was the low caste súdra and was considered impure.

The Varnāshrama dharma was good in it self but was deliberately misinterpreted by vested interests. Varnishrama dharma was based on three qualities (gunas), satwa, rajas and tamas and caste was determined on the basis of these three gunas. Higher or lower castes were determined depending upon the predominance of any of the three gunas, so that one could in the same family find a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, a Vaisya and a Sudra. A Brahmin was one in whom satwa predominated—followed by Rajas and then tamas, so he was considered fit for study. Rajas was followed by satwa, such a combination made a good guard who could fight to protect the borders of his country. Vaisya was one in whom Rajas was followed by tamas and satwa came after and was supposed to make a good businessman, so he went in for business. Tamas took precedence over satwa and rajas in a Sudra, who was considered fit for manual labour. But this system which had recognized the co-existence of all the four castes in a family had degenerated into determining caste on the basis of birth. Selfish motives of the priest class had made these divisions so rigid that society was now divided into upper and lower castes, and the upper castes exploited the so-called' lower castes. It was at such a time that Basavaņņa arrived on the scene and brought about healthy changes in society.

What facilitated caste equality and gender equality was Basavanna's revolutionary concept of religion. Instead of static religious patterns, a new dynamic way of worship was introduced. He made devotion to God and love amongst his creatures, the very, in fact, the sole' basis of “the edifice of his socio-religious philosophy”.He did away with all obligatory rituals of Brahminism" and liberated men and women from the domination of priesthood. “Social equality was the very breath of Basava's philosophy; service to the community at large and devotion to the Lord, constituted the primary sadhana-means for liberation.”

Basavanna advocated the worship of one God-Lord Siva. There is only one God and he is all-pervading. He is the Absolute Parabrahman, Absolute Reality, Parasiva or Sunya-thus he said:

Do not say swollen with pride
The gods are two or three
Mark you. He is but one.
That there are two is just a lie,
The Veda says, there is none
But Kudalasangama

He was against idolatry. In several ways, he dissuaded people's attention from worship of idols.

How can I feel right?
About a god who eats up lacquer and melts,
Who wilts when he sees fire?
How can I feel right?
About gods you sell in your need,
And gods you bury for fear of thieves?
The lord of the meeting rivers,
Self-born, one with himself
He alone is the true god. (AKRv 558,p-54)

In another vacana, he decriesthis worship:

The pot is a god.
The winnowing fan is god
The stone in the street is god.
The comb is a god.
The bowstring is also a god.
The bushel is a god
The spouted cup is a god.
Gods, gods, there are so many
There’s no place left for a foot. (AKR.V.503, p. 84)

Other revolutionary concepts that helped him in his crusade for equality were his ideas relating to work (Kayaka) and offering (Däsoha). His concept of kayaka is markable contribution to practical philosophy. Kayaka in Sarana system of life maybe physical, mental, or intellectual, and there is no connection between caste and Kayaka, Bhakti was the only caste for Saranas. For them only two classes of people existed – Bhaktas and Bhavis.

The concept of Kāyaka, described by this treasurer of Lord's love, cut at the root of the traditional Varna or caste order of society, Lingayat saints did not believe that religion was something one was born with or into, unlike the orthodox Hindu, for whom a Hindu is born not made. This was a rigid system that gave scant scope for choice or change. For the Šaranas then all Kāyaka was equal. The Sarana worked and lived for God. Sincerely done Kāyaka is heaven. Basavanna insisted that Kāyaka itself was Heaven-‘Kāyakve Kailas". Kāyaka should be done with a pure heart and pure mind-Satya Shuddha Kāyaka, which could become the means of self-realization. Work was compulsory. Begging was forbidden. Sharanas who worked and lived for god believed that alms never reached God. The importance given to Kāyaka was such that nothing, not even service to the holy triad of Lingayatism Guru-Linga-Jangama "was more important than Kayaka. The belief was that God was boundup with the doer. Ayadakki Mārayya" who realized the Absolute in his Kāyaka says:

If one is busy with Kāyaka, one can
Even forgo seeing his Guru, he can forgo
The worship of Linga and he need not
Care for Jangama. Since
Kāyaka itself is worship
Even Amareswaralinga is
Indebted to Kāyaka (B.V. PP 19-20)

According to the rules of Kāyaka, a Sarana was forbidden from saving for the next day. Ayadakki Lakamma, Mărayya's wife pulls him up for bringing more than necessary:

Greed befits a king
Does it befit a devotee?
Anger befits the messengers of death
Does it befit the unborn ones?
Why the greed of so much rice for you
God does not approve it.
Marayyapriya Amalesvaralinga does not like it. (V.628.p.329)

She makes him retum the extra collection saying:

How easy it was to go gladly
To the courtyard of Basavanna!
How easy it was to fetch
The rice that lay in the dung hill,
Picking it and tying it in a piece of cloth !
It was easy to go and easy to fetch!
But what we get everyday is enough for us.
Go back and throw where it was.
What we get by doing our duty enjoined
By Mārayyapriya Amaleśvaralinga
Is enough, O Mārayya! (V.646p.334)

The most significant feature of Basavanna's doctrine of Kāyaka was that the wages earned from Kāyaka did not belong only to that particular individual. After meeting his need, the remainder had to be used in the service of Jangama-society. Since Kāyaka was heaven, there was no difference in the Kāyaka. Everybody from the prime minister to the cobbler was equal.

Dăsoha means offering. The wages earned through honest and devoted labour (Satya shuddha Kāyaka) had to be offered to Jangamas, wandering mendicants with spiritual perfection. The twin-principles of Kāyaka-Disoha “involve a well-knit system of both production and distribution,” which prevents amassing of wealth by a few individuals and dividing society into two classes of the haves and have-nots. A dasohi is a bhakta with a profound sense of service. Basavanna, through this concept of Kāyaka Dāsoha upheld dignity of labour and thus promoted an egalitarian society.

He made the century and the movement even more unique by establishing the Hall of Experience (Anubhav Mantapa) on the gates of which were inscribed the five-letter mantra (Namah Sivaya), a parliament where men and women from all strata of society, met everyday and through sharing and exchange of views and ideas made contributions to the development of Lingayat spritiuality and philosophy and its doctrine .