^{page 335 note 1} Vīraśaivism literally means the brave, intrepid or heroic form of Śaivism, a reform movement within the Śaiva branch of Hinduism. It became increasingly popular in medieval times (tenth to fifteenth centuries A.D.), championed by a host of fervent devotees of Śiva. The saints also spearheaded a social revolution, fought against the tyranny of the caste system and boldly insisted on the equality of men and women. The movement gained an unprecedented momentum in the Karnataka area of southern India and is strong there even today. Basava (1106–68) was one of the leading saints of the movement.

^{page 335 note 2} The upanayana ceremony is an initiation rite reserved for the three upper classes of Hindu society. A Hindu boy becomes twice-born (dvija) after the ceremony, once through the natural birth and a second time through initiation. For a member of a Brahmin caste, the ceremony usually takes place in his eighth year, after which he becomes a full member of the society. He can now study and teach the scriptures, offer sacrifices and give and receive gifts. An important part of the ceremony is the investiture of the sacred thread, which hangs from the right shoulder to the left hip. This symbolizes his belonging to the Aryan society with all its rights and extra-ordinary privileges.

^{page 335 note 3} For instance, Hardekar Manjappa, one of the present-day followers of the sect seems to be in complete agreement with the poets in their presentation of Basava's upanayana ceremony. The poets portrayed Basava as extraordinarily perceptive at the age of eight about the crucial religious questions of his time. They uphold the view that the boy's rejection of the upanayana was grounded on his solid arguments based on scriptures. Defending this view Manjappa says, ‘Sri Shankaracharya was well versed in the Vedas when he was eight years old and deliberately chose sanyasa for his future. John Stuart Mill had acquired sound scholarship in English and working knowledge in Greek and Latin when he was eight. Such instances are numerous. It is wrong to measure the talents and attainments of such great men with the yardstick of common men.’ Basava: The dimension of universal man, translated Rao, A. Mylar (Dharwar, 1966), pp. 33–4.Google Scholar

^{page 335 note 4} Ramanujan, A. K., one of the leading scholars in the field recognizes this problem when he says, ‘The biography of Basavanna has many contradictory sources: controversial edicts, deifying accounts by Viraśaiva followers, poetic life-histories, pejorative accounts by his Jaina opponents mentioned in the vachanas of contemporary and later saints … it is not surprising that he should have been praised as a prophet by followers and condemned as a zealot and conspirator by his enemies, of whom he had many.’ Speaking of Śiva (Baltimore, Md.: Penguin Books, 1973), p. 61Google Scholar. In spite of Ramanujan's awareness of the problem, he sets aside many controversies and discrepancies related to this saint's life. His purpose is to present the sayings of Basava and therefore he settles for a generally accepted version of Basava's life.

^{page 336 note 1} The Vachanas of Basava are perpetuated in the Kannada language for several centuries. These sayings have a unique literary style. They are neither prose nor poetry. They read like prose, yet they have their own rhyming scheme. The length of each vachana varies. Some have rhyming patterns in the beginning, some in the middle and some in the end. In some cases there is a rhyming scheme in the first three lines and the rest of the lines are free prose. Sometimes there is a rhyme between the first and last lines or three middle lines, and so on. Vachanas synthesize a large amount of information in a few terse sentences. They convey complex ideas of the saint in a succinct style all their own. Every vachana of Basava ends with the name of his favourite deity, Kindala Sangama Deva which means the Lord of the Confluence. Basava worshipped the Siva Deity which dwelt in the temple where the rivers Krishna and Malaprabha join together. All the vachanas used in this paper are my translations from the Kannada language. More importance is given to the meaning than attempting to reproduce the rhyming scheme. The text used here is by Hiremath, R. C., ed. Basavannanaoara Vachanagalu (Sayings of Basava), (Dharwar, 1968).Google Scholar

^{page 336 note 2} Ibid., no. 247, third line.

^{page 336 note 3} Ibid., no. 139, fifth line; p. 63.

^{page 336 note 4} Ibid. no. 590, p. 237.

^{page 336 note 5} These are somewhat like the personal confessions of Jeremiah which reveal the innermost spiritual struggle of the prophet. See Jeremiah, 11.18–6; 15.10–21; 17.14.–18; 18.18–23; 20.7–13; 20.14–18. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (New York 1973).Google Scholar

^{page 337 note 1} Basavarājadevara Ragaļe, ed. by Venkannayya, T. S. (Mysore: Talukina Venkanņayyanavara Smaraka Granthamale, 1965)Google Scholar. Basava Purāņa, ed. by Hiremath, R. C. (Dharwar: Lingayata Vidyabhivriddhi Samsthe, 1958)Google Scholar. Basavarāja Vijayam, ed. by Hiremath, R. C. (Dharwar: Karnataka University Publication, 1968).Google Scholar

^{page 337 note 2} This is similar to the gospel-writer Mark who provides the chronological and topographical connective links such as: ‘Now after John was arrested’, 1.14; ‘One sabbath’, 2.23, 3.1, 8.1; ‘By the sea of Galilee’, 1.16, 1.35, 2.13, 2.23, 3.7, 6.1; see Connick, C. Milo, The New Testament: An Introduction to its History, Literature and Thought (Encino: Dickenson Publishing Company, 1972), P. 93.Google Scholar

^{page 338 note 1} Basavarājadevara Ragale Sthala 1, padas 58–64.Google Scholar

^{page 338 note 2} kāma lust; krōdha, anger; lōbha, greed; mōha, attachment; mada, pride; and matsara, hatred.

^{page 338 note 3} Basavarājadevara Ragale, Sthala I, padas 1āna, Sandhi 1, pada 61.Google Scholar

^{page 338 note 5} Basavaraja Vijayam, Ashvasa 2, pada 18.

^{page 338 note 6} Basava Purāna, Sandhi 3.Google Scholar

^{page 338 note 7} Ibid. Sandhi 3, pada 29.

^{page 339 note 1} Shadakshari Deva tries his best to tailor this incident to the upanayana ceremony. Since the upanayana is performed jointly by father and mother he improves on Bhima Kavi's story and says that giva came with his consort Pārvati. See Basavarāja Vijayam, Ashvasa 3, pada 19. Three major steps may be noticed in the diksha: first, the act of prayer and homage to the guru; secondly, the test of the candidate's knowledge in the doctrines of the sect; and thirdly, the whispering of the mantra in the ears of the boy. See Walker, Benjamin, The Hindu World (New York, 1908), 1, 485–6Google Scholar. This particular act seems to have fulfilled the entire ritual of initiation in detail: first, there is the instrumentality of Śiva as the guru; secondly, symbols of linga and vibhuti mark the admittance of the child as a regular member of the Śaivite community; and thirdly, there is the uttering of the mantra in the ears of the child.

^{page 339 note 2} Basava Purāna, Sandhi 3, padas 42 and 43.Google Scholar

^{page 339 note 3} Ibid. Sandhi 3, pada 44.

^{page 340 note 1} Basava Purāna, Sandhi 3, padas 43–86.Google Scholar

^{page 340 note 2} Ibid. Sandhi 3, pada 43; Basavarāja Vijaya, Ashvasa 3, padas 32–3.

^{page 340 note 3} See Bühler, G., trans. The Laws of Manu, II, 36 in Muller, F. Max, ed., Sacred Books of the East (Oxford, 1886), xxv, 36Google Scholar. Also see Stevenson, Sinclair, The Rites of the Twice Born (London, 1920), pp. 27–8.Google Scholar

^{page 341 note 1} Basavarāja Vijayam, Ashvasa 3, pada 63.

^{page 341 note 2} Basavarājadevara Ragale, Sthala 2, padas 36–7. Sangama Kshetra means the place of confluence. The Krishna and Malaprabha rivers join in Kudala Sangama Kshetra. The deity in the Śiva temple there is known as Kudala Sangama Deva. Basava addressed Śiva by that name which marks the ending of every vachana he composed.

^{page 341 note 3} Mahadevan, T. M. P., ‘Saivism’, in the History and Culture of the Indian People, ed. by Majumdar, R. C. and Pusalkar, A. D. (Bombay: 1957), 445.Google Scholar

^{page 341 note 4} See Śūnya Sampādane (Accomplishment of Void), ed. by Nandimath, S. C., Hiremath, R. C. and Menezes, L. M. (Dharwar, 1965), pp. 192–3.Google Scholar

^{page 342 note 1} Basavannanavara Vachanagalu, no. 20, p. 11.Google Scholar

^{page 342 note 2} Ibid. no. 13, p. 8.

^{page 342 note 3} Ibid. no. 8, p. 6.

^{page 342 note 4} See Ch'en, Kenneth K. S., Buddhism: The light of Asia (New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1968), pp. 20–1.Google Scholar

^{page 342 note 5} A Source Book of Indian Philosophy, ed. by Radhakrishnan, S. and Moore, Charles A. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1957), p. 44.Google Scholar

^{page 342 note 6} Basavannanavara Vachanagalu, no. 11, p. 8.Google Scholar

^{page 342 note 7} Ibid. no. 35, p. 18.

^{page 342 note 8} Basavarājadevara Ragale, Sthala 2, padan 16–35.Google Scholar

^{page 343 note 1} Basavarājadevara Raga, Sthala 2, padas 70–3. For the entire story see the second sthala.Google Scholar

^{page 343 note 2} Basava Purāna, Sandhi 4, padas 56–76.Google Scholar

^{page 343 note 3} Basavannanavara Pachanaga, no. 832, p. 338Google Scholar. The traditional Śaivite path was called sat sthalas (six stages): bhakta (devotee), maheshvara (great lord), prasādi (receiver of grace), prānalingi (one whose life is linga), Śarana (one who has completely surrendered), and aikya (union). Basava did not originate this system but shared in it as seen in his vachanas (no. 509). In addition to that he was also aware of the ashtāvaranas (eight aids of faith) to which he refers constantly in his vachanas These are: linga (vachanas 37, 67, 72, 80, 97, 109, 113, 118, 125, 128, 137, 142, 150, 152, 177, 183, 229, 239, 268, 273, 306, 313, 318, 355, 372, 394, 398, 403, 405); jangama (a wandering teacher who initiates and strengthens the devotees, vachanas 153, 187, 300, 371, 372, 379, 380, 394, 410, 411, 418, 419, 420, 423); guru (Preceptor, vachanas 70, 71, 72); prasāda (consecrated food, token of God's grace, vachanas 4, 104, 118, 285, 387, 399, 457, 505, 509, 676, 730, 759, 766, 776); pādodaka (water from guru's feet, vachana 104); vibhuti (holy ash, vachanas 74, 87, 88, 205, 451, 454); rudrakshas (beads worn by the Śaivites used for counting prayers, vachanas 269, 451, 454) and lastly the mantra (sacred syllable, vachanas 79, 80, 81).

^{page 344 note 1} Ibid. no. 32, p. 16.

^{page 344 note 2} Ibid. no. 34, p. 17.

^{page 344 note 3} Ibid. no. 23, p. 13.

^{page 344 note 4} Ibid. no. 26, p. 14.

^{page 344 note 5} Ibid. no. 1, p. 1.

^{page 344 note 6} Ibid. no. 951, p. 395.

^{page 344 note 7} Ibid. no. 6, p. 5.

^{page 344 note 8} Ibid. no. 267, p. 110.

^{page 344 note 9} Ibid. no. 99, p. 47.

^{page 344 note 10} Ibid. no. 101, p. 48.

^{page 344 note 11} Ibid. no. 6, p. 5.

^{page 345 note 1} Ibid. no. 99, p. 47.

^{page 345 note 2} Ibid. no. 25, p. 8.

^{page 345 note 3} Ibid.

^{page 345 note 4} Ibid. no. 26, p. 14.

^{page 345 note 5} See Underhill, Evelyn, Mysticism (London: Methuen, 1912), pp. 451–93.Google Scholar

^{page 345 note 6} O'Brien, Elmer, Varieties of Mystic Experiences (New York, 1965), p. 222Google Scholar. See also Cruz, San Juan de la, The Dark Night of the Soul, trans. by Graham, Gabriela Cunninghame (London, 1905).Google Scholar

^{page 346 note 1} Nikhilananda, Swami, trans. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (New York, 1942), p. 14.Google Scholar

^{page 346 note 2} Hiremath, , op. cit. no. 64, p. 30.Google Scholar

^{page 346 note 3} Ibid. no. 63, pp. 30–1.

^{page 346 note 4} See Underhill, Mysticism, pp. 469–82.Google Scholar

^{page 346 note 5} For Dhritharashtra's eagerness for a vision of Lord Krishna, see Puttappa, K. V. and Iyengar, Masti Venkatesha, ed., Karnata Bharata Katha Manjari (Bangalore, 1958), Udyoga Parva, Sandhi 10, padas 57–76; Pp. 339–41.Google Scholar

^{page 346 note 6} Hiremath, , op. cit. no. 517, pp. 203–4Google Scholar. Kālidasa was a famous Sanskrit poet. Since he did not have the vision of Śiva, he decided not to see anything else. So he plucked out his eyes and offered them to Śiva. The Lord being pleased, restored Kdlidasa's eyes and blessed him with the spiritual vision. Ohilayya was a devotee who worshipped Siva with diligence for twenty-four years, at the end of which he found favour in Śiva's sight. Telugu Bommayya was a hunter but served Śiva in his own way. When other Śiva devotees doubted his sincerity because of his profession, Śiva miraculously displayed Bommayya's true devotion.

^{page 347 note 1} 1 Ibid. no. 63, pp. 30–1.