Guru Basava Vachanas

Offering the body guru should be pleased.
Offering the mind linga should be pleased.
Offering the wealth jangama should be pleased.
Excluding these three kinds,
beating drums, and worshiping the sign,
Koodalasangamadeva will not be pleased with such goravas. -Guru Basava/211/^[1]

Said I offer my body, but I was far from guru vachana.
Said I offer my mind, but I was far from the face of linga.
Said I offer my wealth, but I was far from jangama.
Koodalasangamadeva, I said I act for you
and there is no end for my undoing. -Guru Basava/212/^[1]

Hurting the body,
making the mind exhausted
has any one attained your feet?
Will not such a saying bum?
Koodalasangamadeva,
hurting a sharana means hurting linga. -Guru Basava/213/^[1]

I shall offer my body
I shall offer my mind
I shall offer my wealth
if sharanas ask.
If the thought that ‘I want’ crosses my mind,
I swear on your feet oh, glorious one.
In my mind, word or deed
if I desire for something else
Lord Koodalasangamadeva
hurtle me into horrifying hell. -Guru Basava/214/^[1]

Pleasure of ones mating,
eating one’s food
can these be assigned to another?
The daily ritual worship of one’s Linga
is to be done by oneself,
can this be assigned to another?
Those who do it casually
do they know you, Koodalasangamadeva? -Guru Basava/215/^[1]

Father you are,
mother you are
all relations and kin you are,
I have no one but you.
Koodalasangamadeva
drown me in milk,
drown me water,
it is your wish. -Guru Basava/216/^[1]

While a father warns his children
he is angry about their faults,
but not about their life.
When a lingavanta warns another
he is angry about the faults,
but not about his way of life.
Koodalasangamadeva will not appreciate
those who are upset
when a linga-devotee shows the true path of linga. -Guru Basava/217/^[1]

If there is a pot of milk under a palm tree
no one will believe it is a milk pot.
It is a toddy pot they will say.
Cure this misconception
lord Koodalasangamadeva. -Guru Basava/218/^[1]

Measure of beats and prosodyI
don’t know.
Play of varieties of instrumentsI
don’t know.
Use of amritagana, devaganaI
don’t know.
Koodalasangamadeva,
not harming you
I sing as I please. -Guru Basava/219/^[1]

Like
a dog that licks the blade of the sword
for the taste of ghee
is my life.
See,
my mind doesn’t give up
the company of the world.
With your mercy
cure me of this doggy-ness with your mercy
Koodalasangamadeva. -Guru Basava/220/^[1]

Like decorating a servant maid with brass ornaments
is the company of the bad, nor worthy of the good ones.
Koodalasangamadeva,
Can a crab’s eye be equal to an emerald? -Guru Basava/221/^[1]

Brothers bathing in streams,
masters bathing in streams,
give up, give up first
the other women’s company
and desire for another’s wealth.
Without giving up these
merely bathing would be
like bathing in a dried up stream
lord Koodalasangamadeva. -Guru Basava/222/^[1]

Lord
is there any religion
without compassion?
There must be
compassion for all creatures.
Compassion itself is the root
of religion.
Anything otherwise
is unacceptable to Koodalasangamadeva. -Guru Basava/223/^[1]

Let him be a son of slave maid,
or a son of a whore,
after Shiva-initiation he should be considered Shiva,
should be respected and worshipped,
one should partake his paadodaka and prasaada.
That is the right way.
If one is indifferent to him
into a hell reserved for five deadly sins will
Koodalasangamadeva hurtle you. -Guru Basava/224/^[1]

Holding on to the sign of daasoha
guru I saw, linga I saw,
jangama I saw, prasaada I saw.
Four kinds of wealth
thus I attained Koodalasangamadeva. -Guru Basava/225/^[1]