Basava Jayanti: Birth Anniversary of Jagat Guru Basaveshwara

Basava Jayanti’, an auspicious day when Lord Basaveshwara was born, is celebrated on Vaishaka Shudda Tritiya, Rohini Nakshatra and this year it is celebrated on 14th May, 2021. This year marks the 890th birth anniversary of Lord Basaveshwara (also referred to as Basavanna), 12th century leading social reformer, thinker, poet, philosopher and a saint, who was born in 1131 AD in a small village in Ingaleshwar,  near Bagewadi (now Basavana Bagewadi) in Bijapur District in Karnataka. He is known for the establishment of a Parliament type edifice - the Anubhava Mantapa, besides being revered as a saint by the Veerashiva (Lingayat) sect, a dominant community in Karnataka, which Basavanna established to create an egalitarian society in the true spirit of humanity. Almost 900 years ago, he imagined a society of equals, which could mirror modern day democratic traditions. An idea, which is so difficult to imagine but was not just dreamt but practiced by Basavanna, in the 12th century. 

Unfortunately Basavanna is one among those leading lights of India whose life and works have been mostly confined to one region of the country - Karnataka. This is because Basavanna’s works have been brushed under the carpet, or at most his name may find a mention or two as foot mark reference, in the history that we have been taught based on the history books written by the colonial rulers themselves or by those so called Macaulay’s children, who were ‘Indian in colour but English in thoughts’. This could also be because most early British historians, and so also the ones who followed them, depended mostly on those minuscule English literature and such other written sources to suit their points of view to write history. Fortunately from near obscurity -  from the national point of view - Lord Basavanna, suddenly came to the lime light when the Honourable Prime Minister started speaking about him and so also Nirmala Seetharaman, the union Finance Minister, quoted him in her maiden budget speech, in 2019 and invoked two of the most simple but immensely profound preachings of Basavanna ; ‘Kayaka and Dasoha sacraments’, which are profoundly related to economics.

Kayaka, meaning work is equated with Kailash -  Heaven. Basavanna dreamt of building an ideal society where all individuals must have equal opportunities for religious pursuit or spiritual development, irrespective of their vocation in life. He had to change the prevailing social attitude of estimating the worth of a man by his profession. He proclaimed that there was nothing high or low in occupations, it was honesty and sincerity that decided the merits of the means of livelihood, which he described as ‘Kayaka'. This new concept of work (Kayaka), introduced by Basavanna, with no differentiation, had started a new movement and people of all walks of society, not only got themselves involved in their respective works but they also started loving their work, which helped in the overall development of society.  Basavanna addressed the workers as Kayakajeevi’s, and appealed them to lead their day-today lives with their hard earned income. He also appealed that they should not preserve the money or property for tomorrow. He urged them to donate or utilise the surplus money for the benefit of human society, particularly helping the poor. He called this concept of returning back to the society – “Dasoha”. Dasoha is now a very famous concept in most of the Lingayat / Veerashaiva Maths that are spread across Karnataka, where food and education are served free to the needy section of society, irrespective of their caste, creed, or religious identities. 

Shri Narendra Modi, our Honourable PM, was aware of the profound contributions of Basaveshwara including the two concepts of ‘Kayaka and Dasoha’ about which he had spoken in public. Therefore, it was not surprising that Nirmala Seetharaman, invoked the name of Basavanna in her maiden budget speech in the parliament and cited two important concepts of  ‘Kayaka and Dasoha’ policies that were enunciated by Basavanna to the field of economics. Four years before the name of Basavanna was taken by the Hon. FM in her maiden union budget in 2019, in the year 2015, the Honourable Prime Minister had unveiled a statue of Basaveshwara, on his birth anniversary on the banks of River Thames, in London. Subsequently PM Modi had also joined another celebrations of the birth anniversary of Basavanna in Delhi, and during his speech, PM Modi had invoked two other important concepts of Basavanna, ‘static and dynamic’, which were uniquely defined by Basavanna. Incidentally this speech of PM has now gone viral in the social media. The essence of what PM wished to state can be appreciated by understanding what Basavanna says. ‘The standing will perish and the moving will stay on’. By saying so, Basaveshwara introduces two novel concepts and extraordinary thoughts “ Sthavara ’’and “Jangama’’, the meaning of which is “Static’’ and ‘’Dynamic’’- respectively. He compares the physical structure of the temple, which is perishable as static while giving a completely new definition to the human body and soul  and referring human body to be Dynamic and a living God in itself, where each parts of the living body are compared to the static parts of the physical structure of a temple. Such was the profoundness of Bsavanna’s thoughts, which he wrote as vachanas, which are far too ahead of his times.

It appears that Nirmala Seetharaman, the Finance Minister, was in attendance when  PM spoke so highly on the thoughts of Basavanna and perhaps this may have prompted her to invoke the name of Basavanna in her maiden union budget speech not once but multiple times, while connecting some of the schemes of the government with the ideals and thoughts of Basavanna. In her speech, Sitharaman referred to Basaveshwara, saying, "Implementing Kayakave Kailasa, the government enables about 10 million youth to take up industry relevant skill training through the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)." She further invoked ‘Dasoha’ preachings of Basavanna and said, "'Give It Up' and joined hands with PM in appealing to the well to do section of society for giving up LPG subsidy,  for the wellness of the society." Both Kayaka and Dasoha  philosophy, owe their genesis and allegiance to Basaveshwara and his preachings. 

Lord Basavanna, though born in to a high caste society to the Brahmin parents, worked towards uplifting the underprivileged classes and women, and believed that all human beings are equal, irrespective of class, caste, creed, and gender, the concepts of which, in the 12th century, were considered to be sacrilegious. He strived to abolish caste system through some kind of a freedom of speech and reason, which is embodied in the ‘Anubhava Mantapa’, a remarkable democratic edifice,  which he established, while serving as Minister of Finance (Bhandari) under king Bijjala of Kalachurya Dynasty, at Kalyan ( now Basava Kalyan), in Bidar District, Karnataka. Basavanna is the first Indian thinker, much before the famed Magna Carta charter,  who developed an institution ‘ Anubhava Mantapa’ where the system of deliberation and discussion could be held, which mirrors its thoughts to the modern day parliaments. In that sense, one could address Basavanna as the architect of modern consultative and participating democracy. His ‘Anubhava Mantapa’ was the perfect example of a legislative body, which had members from all walks of life. Basavanna referred to each of these members as ‘Sharana’s and Sharani’s, the noble citizens, who were free to air their views during deliberations and discussions at the Anubhava Mantapa. All the Sharana’s and Sharani’s used to participate actively in the proceedings of Anubhava Mantapa. Basaveshwara was one among the leaders of this spiritual body, which was headed by a low caste, Sharana, Allamaprabhu. The Anubhava-Mantapa established by Basavanna attracted hundreds of saints and spiritual aspirants from all over the country who included among others its chief, Allama Prabhu, Siddarama, Madivala Machayya, Ambigara Chowdaiah and others from different parts of Karnataka; Urilingadeva from Maharashtra; Bahurupi Chowdaiah, Sakalesa Madarasa from Andhra; Adaiah, Soddala Bacarasa from Saurashtra (Gujarat), Moligeya Marayya and his wife Mahadevamma from Kashmir. They deliberated on several socio economic issues and the leaders, Allamaprabhu & Basavanna, listened to the opinions of all sharana’s, irrespective of their social standing, which exemplifies the path followed in modern day democracies all across the world and in this sense Basavanna can be referred to as a visionary for democratic traditions of not just India but the world. 

Basavanna firmly believed and advocated that by birth everyone is equal and that all the societal divisions of people based on their birth are misgivings established by the society, which need to be stopped. Basaveshwara’s concept of equality is embodied in one of his Vachanaas where he advocates that no one is inferior to him and that no one is superior to the Sharana or Shivabhakta.He summarises his thoughts in his vachana, which says ‘Enagintha kiriyarilla Shivabhaktarigintha hiriyarilla, (ಏನಗಿಂತ ಕಿರಿಯರಿಲ್ಲ, ಶಿವ ಭಕ್ತರಿಗಿಂತ್ ಹಿರಿಯರಿಲ್ಲ), meaning ‘nobody is inferior to me and nobody is superior to the disciple of God’. This shows his profound thinking and concern for equality. His basic intention was to establish a society of equals through his vachana’s. Basavanna faced a lot of challenge and opposition from the priestly class while trying to advocate his thoughts. But then he was steadfast in his beliefs and went about implementing and spreading them in society. He firmly believed in the over all welfare of human society with no discrimination and this belief is central to all of 1000 odd Vachanas (poetry), which he has written and so also the vachana movement, which was led by Basaveshwara. He proclaimed welfare for all by saying “Sakala jeevatmarige lesu”(welfare of all).

Basavanna was also among the first to advocate for equal rights for women, by emphasising that they are in no way inferior to men. One of his Vachanaas very profoundly presents his thinking in the simplest of language that is understandable to even the most common man. He says, ಇವನಾರವ, ಇವನಾರವ, ಇವನಾರವನೆಂದೆನಿಸದಿರಯ್ಯಾ.ಇವ ನಮ್ಮವ, ಇವ ನಮ್ಮವ, ಇವನಮ್ಮವನೆಂದೆನಿಸಯ್ಯಾ.ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮದೇವಾ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯ ಮಗನೆಂದೆನಿಸಯ್ಯಾ. Meaning; Never ask who is this who is this, always believe that he is our person he is our person, Kudala Sangmadeva, take him to be a son of your home, which clearly embodies his intent for the establishment of society of equals. His conviction in an egalitarian society is also seen in the way he addressed his fellow Sharanas. Irrespective of their social background or upbringing Basavanna addressed all the sharana’s as ‘Aiyya, Appa, Akka, Avva, Kakkayya, Haralayya, Madayya, Muktayakka, Sankavve - reverential epithets, which he gave to every member of the society, including women. 

It must be noted that in early 12th century the Indian society practised a system of Chaturvarna. The fourfold sections of society was divided into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras. This varna system may have served the Indian society well in the beginning, when its spirit was properly understood. But in course of time, unfortunately this varna system led to a fragmentation of society, defeating the original form, which perhaps envisaged a doctrine of social solidarity in its original form. But then this system had moulded itself into a decadent caste system, the division of which was based on birth of an individual and not by their deeds. It was also the period when women were restricted to the four walls of the house and there was absolutely no social status for women in any part of the world and to whichever society they belonged to. Even while living in such sociocultural conditions in the early 12th century, Basavanna appealed to women to be a part of his Bhakti movement and to participate in the proceedings of the Anubhava Mantapa. Basavanna, who was a Minister under Bijjala, ensured that women too were given an equal opportunity, which men got in society. His success can be seen from the fact that there were 35 women members - Sahrani’s - in the Anubhava Mantapa. Some of the famed women ‘Sharini’ members of the Anubhava Mantapa included Akkamahadevi, Gangambike, Nilambike, Muktayakka, Kadire Remmevve, Kottanad Somavva, Sule Sankavve. The involvement of women and that too in quite large numbers can be contextualised with the number of women members seen in most legislative assemblies and the Loksabha in modern times in India. This reveals how far ahead of his times Basavanna was, when it comes to gender equality, which does not exist in our elected members even today almost 900 years after Basavanna.

In order to attract people of all sections of society and towards  fulfilling the concept of oneness among people and introducing equality among all sections of society, Basavanna started  a new concept of ‘Ishta Linga’ and urged his followers to sport this ‘Ishta Linga’ and emphasised that all those who wear it are equals and that they can eat together and marriage among them was considered to be valid in the society. (The followers of this Ishta Linga traditions are now referred to as Lingayats, who are mostly found in Karnataka and small parts of Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh). Like most religious leaders and other philosophers who are far ahead of their times, Basavanna too faced problems from the traditionalists, who believed that he was destroying well established societal norms that existed for several centuries. His revolutionary thoughts and ideas created a sensation among the orthodox. They organised themselves to oppose him. They framed many allegations, concocted tales about Basaveshwara and tried to lower him in king Bijjala's eyes. Basaveshwara was accused of misappropriation of the State funds. But then Basaveshwara was impeccably honest and integrity to him was central to his existence. He placed the entire accounts of the State before the King, who was infuriated by the false allegations made against Basavanna by his detractors and warned them of serious consequences for making false and baseless allegations.

Basavanna’s all encompassing knowledge and his magnetic personality could overcome several such obstacles created by his detractors and he continued his mission for an egalitarian society with even greater zeal. His idealistic thoughts for establishing a class less society reached its final goal, which culminated in the unimaginable marriage between the daughter of Madhuvarasa - one of the Sharana’s associated with Anubhava Mantapa - who had formerly been a Brahmin, and the son of Haralayya - another Sharana, associated with the same movement - who had formerly been an untouchable. This marriage, according to the orthodox and traditionalists and detractors of Basavanna, was sacrilegious and an assault on Hindu Dharma. His detractors conspired to raise a battle against him. They complained against Basavanna and his followers to the king, who was expected to be the custodian of Varna-Dharma. It resulted in Basavanna being asked to leave Kalyana. After the exit of Basavanna from the scene the innocent Haralayya and Madhuvarsa were mercilessly persecuted. They were chained to the legs of an elephant, which dragged them to their death. This was also the beginning of the end of the Anubhava Mantap. The Sharanas were infuriated with this atrocity against two of their men. This also gave an opportunity for the opponents of the king to conspire against him. Bijjala was murdered, probably by his political opponents. But the blame for murder was thrown upon the Saranas, who then decided to en mass leave Kalyan and spread to different parts of Karnataka and also to Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Thus ending an extraordinary democratic traditions of Anubhava Mantap, which was established by Basavanna. 

Basavanna on his exile from Kalyan went back to his favourite place, Kudala Sangama, the place where he had met his spiritual Guru, at an young age of 8 years. It was at this place that he studied extensively, the Vedas, the Upanishads the Agamas, the Puranas and the Kavyas and so also the texts of various religious faiths and philosophies. It was here that seeds of his revolutionary thought and mind were sown. He had engaged with his guru to seek means for translating his ideas and ideals into deeds at this place. He had also learnt with keen interest the devotional songs of Shivaa saints at this place. Therefore when the conspiracy to defame him succeeded and he was asked by the King Bijjala to leave Kalyana, he returned back to Kudala Sangama. On returning back to Kudala Sanagama, which is at the confluence of the two rivers Krishna and Malaprabha, Basavanna believed that  his mission in this world was over, and that he could return to Lord Sangameswara from whom he had received the mandate to be the instrument of the Divine Will. He attained Linganga Samarasya with Lord Sangama, at Kudala Sangama in the year 1167, when he was only 36 years old. 

Today the place where Basavanna achieved his samadhi in Kudala Sangama has become a reverential place, which continues to draw his disciples from all across the country. The celebration of Basava Jayanti is focused on spreading the message that Lord Basavanna preached - for an egalitarian society. The day is celebrated by reciting the Basava Vachanas and offering their prayers to the Lord. I earnestly hope that this Basava Jayanti helps us to go back to the wise and much-needed teachings of Lord Basavanna on spiritual democracy, peace and brotherhood, which is so essential in the world and times that we live in.

I end this tribute to Basavanna with one last Vachana in the original language that he wrote, without any translation

ಕಳಬೇಡ, ಕೊಲಬೇಡ, ಹುಸಿಯ ನುಡಿಯಲು ಬೇಡ,

ಮುನಿಯಬೇಡ, ಅನ್ಯರಿಗೆ ಅಸಹ್ಯಬಡಬೇಡ,

ತನ್ನ ಬಣ್ಣಿಸಬೇಡ, ಇದಿರ ಹಳಿಯಲು ಬೇಡ.

ಇದೇ ಅಂತರಂಗಶುದ್ಧಿ, ಇದೇ ಬಹಿರಂಗಶುದ್ಧಿ

ಇದೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಕೂಡಲಸಂಗಮದೇವರನೊಲಿಸುವ ಪರಿ.