This term consists of three terms 'Linga', 'anga' and 'sāmarasya' [ಲಿಂಗ, ಅಂಗ ಸಾಮರಸ್ಯ] ('the feeling of harmony'). The compound term means the feeling of the pure soul that it is one with Parashiva.

Anga (part) is in its original or natural state is a pure and an inseparable part of Parashiva [ಪರಶಿವ]. But because of its metaphysical ignorance (ājñāna) [ಅಜ್ಞಾನ] or forgetfulness ('marevu') [ಮರೆವು] it has forgotten its true nature and has come to think (wrongly) that it is separate from and independent of Parashiva. The ignorance has generated in him the wrong idea that sensual pleasure is the goal of life. Because of this twofold ignorance he has been involved in various kinds of activities, which bind him to saṃsāra [ಸಂಸಾರ] where he suffers in innumerable ways. When he realizes that this is enough or that sensual pleasure is temporary and does not satiate one fully, he comes to a guru for help. The guru initiates him to Lingayathism and guides him till he attains Lingānga-sāmarasya.

Lingānga-sāmarasya, [ಲಿಂಗಾಂಗ ಸಾಮರಸ್ಯ] is another name for what the Upaniṣads [ಉಪನಿಷತ್] call mōkṣa [ಮೋಕ್ಷ] (liberation). One who is in saṃsāra [ಸಂಸಾರ] suffers from ignorance, sense of separation, rebirths and redeaths, the malatrayas [ಮಲತ್ರಯ], etc. To attain mōkṣa is to become free from them and to enjoy the eternal union with Parashiva. Mukta (one who is liberated) has no marevu (ignorance), and its attendant selfishness, and, therefore, he has no karmas or rebirth.

The word 'sāmarasya' translated as 'oneness' or 'harmony' or 'union' needs to be clarified. If, for example, we say 'there is perfect harmony between any two persons' (such as brothers or husband and wife or friends), what is meant is that, what one says is acceptable to the other. But there is no harmonious relationship between anga and Linga in this sense. Because if the anga says 'my body is vehicle of Parashiva', Parashiva should also say (but does not say) that 'my body is a vehicle of the anga'. The ideas of Linga (about creation, maintenance, etc) cannot be the ideas of anga. The anga in the state of samarasa or sāmarasya thinks that he has united with Linga, like a river in an ocean. But Linga never thinks that he has united with anga like an ocean with a river. Because the sense of harmony is required for the anga and not for Linga.

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So what is the meaning of sāmarasya, then? During the mystic intuition the anga experiences his merging in Parashiva, and after he returns to the waking state he realizes that he has lost his individuality and is controlled and guided by Parashiva, he is convinced that he eats, drinks and experiences other things, acts and thinks, not for himself, but as an instrument or vehicle of Parashiva. Others may think that he is eating, but the anga thinks that though he eats it is for Parashiva, who enjoys through his tongue, nose, etc. Lingānga-sāmarasya is the result of disciplining the body -mind complex in a particular way. Therefore, if it is attained it must be attained in an embodied state and never otherwise. Vachana-writers always deride those who want to go to Vaikuṇṭha [ವೈಕುಂಠ ](abode of Visṇu [ವಿಷ್ಣು ]) or Kailāsa [ಕೈಲಾಸ ](abode of Shiva [ಶಿವ]) after death.

Bliss is a very important characteristic of sāmarasya. The bliss he enjoys is not new, but only the original quality of the pure soul. Nor is it qualitatively or quantitatively like any pleasure we know of. It is a state of mind, which is free from tumultuous emotions like anger, infatuation, hatred and the like and from all kinds of sufferings. The anga has achieved the highest goal and therefore does not strive for smaller ones; he has no desire to achieve any more. Therefore, he has a permanent sense of fulfillment, or bliss. Bliss does not come from anything he has, but from sacrificing everything.

Lingānga-sāmarasya does not drop from above like a flash. It is the result of the aspirant's long and strenuous spiritual discipline running through six stages (Shat-sthala) [ಷಟಸ್ಥಲ], which may be, for our purpose, classified into three. In the first two stages (bhakta and mahēsha) [ಭಕ್ತ ಮತ್ತು ಮಹೇಶ] the aspirant learns the ways of worshipping Linga, respecting the gurus and Jangamas, moral discipline and honest way of earning his livelihood, etc. It is more practically oriented. In the third and fourth stage (prasādi and Prānalingi) [ಪ್ರಸಾದಿ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರಾಣಲಿಂಗಿ] he learns to treat everything as Prasāda of Parashiva and the way of establishing Linga at the gate of every sense by means of meditation. In the fifth (Sharana) [ಶರಣ] and sixth (aikya) [ಐಕ್ಯ] stage he surrenders himself completely and becomes one with Parashiva.

It may be noted that for the anga the union is consubstantial. Consubstantial union is possible only if the substance of Parashiva and that of anga are identical. Water of the river can merge in that of ocean because both are substantially identical; but no stone can become one with water in spite of the fact that it is in water for thousands of years. The anga and Linga are both consciousness, the difference being the former is a part while the latter is whole.

However, it must be noted that just because the union of the individual soul with the universal soul is compared to that of a river with an ocean, it does not mean that the soul comes from one direction and merges in the universal soul which is in another direction and hence forth the two will be one. Nor does it mean that after the union, the size of Parashiva swells, as does an ocean after the union of a river. Parashiva, according to Lingayathism, is omnipresent. Once the individual soul frees itself from all impurities, Parashiva who is in it becomes manifest to the anga. He immediately realizes that he has been an inseparable (and an indistinguishable) part of Parashiva, and he had forgotten it because of his impurities.

LINGA-PATI-SHARANA-SATI-BHAVA: [ಲಿಂಗ ಪತಿ- ಶರಣ ಸತಿ ಭಾವ]

As the aspirant progresses spiritually, his conception of offering also progresses. In the beginning he offers food, etc. to Parashiva; then he offers all that he smells, tastes, sees, etc.; then he offers his own senses organs, motor organs, internal instruments, etc. and finally his own self. When he is left with nothing to offer, he begins to think that he talks, thinks, acts, not for himself, but for Parashiva. This is comparable to the attitude (bhāva) [ಭಾವ] of a dedicated wife. The aspirant regards himself as a sati [ಸತಿ] (wife), and Linga (Parashiva) as pati [ಪತಿ] (husband). This is attitude (bhāva) of one who has reached the penultimate stage of spiritual progress, namely, Sharana-sthala [ಶರಣ ಸ್ಥಲ] (see BHAKTI).

LINGA-TATTVA: [ಲಿಂಗ-ತತ್ವ]

Strictly speaking, the term "Linga-tattva" [ಲಿಂಗ ತತ್ವ] refers to eleven Tattvas, namely, Nishkala-Linga [ನಿಷ್ಕಲ ಲಿಂಗ] and five Sādakhyas and five Shaktis. In the shūnya [ಶೂನ್ಯ] state Parashiva is indescribable, and once he decides to create he is called Linga-tattva (see SADAKHYAS and Shakti).