BASAVANNANAVARA VACHANAGALU

 

  1. The Poems of Basavanna (ಬಸವಣ್ಣನವರ ವಚನಗಳು)
  2. Basavanna (basavaNNa)
  3. 12th Century (approximately 1131 A.D.)
  4. Basavana Bagevadi, Kudala Sangama, Mangalavada, Basava Kalyana
  5. Shaiva, Veerashaiva (Rejected the very concept of caste system)
  6. Kalachurya Bijjala
  7. Bhakti Bhandari, Basaveshvara
  8. Poetry
  9. Vachana (Free Verse)
  10. Palm Leaf Manuscripts and Paper
  11. 1889
  12. Marishankara Dyavaru
  13. Grantha Ratnakara Mudrakshara Shale, Bellary
  14.    1. Sri Basaveshvarana Vachanagalu, Ed. by P.G.Halakatti, 1926, Shivanubhava Granthamale, Vijapura

2.   Hosa Paddhatiya Basaveshvarana Vachanagalu

3. Basavannanavara Vachanagalu Ed. R.C.Hiremath, 1971, Karnataka University, Dharawada

4. Basavannanavara Shatsthalada Vachanagalu, Ed. by Basavanala Shi.Shi., 1962, Lingayatha Vidyabhivruddhi Samsthe, Dharawada

5.  Basaveshvara Vachana Sangraha, Ed. by L.Basavaraju, 1952, Pustkabhandara Male, Mysore

6. Basavannana Lokapriya Vachanagalu, Ed. by Bhusanurumatha Sam.Shi. and Karki D.S., 1952, Vachanamantapa, Belagavi

7. Basavannanavara Vachana Samputa, Ed. by M.M. Kalburgi, Goverment of Karnataka, Bangalore

8. Basavannanavara Vachanagalu, Ed. by L.Basavaraju, 1996, Geetha Book House, Mysore.

9. Basaveshvara Vachanadeepike, Ed. by H. Thipperudraswamy; Jagadguru Shri    Shivaraathreeswara Granthamaale, Mysore-570004.

(For a more detailed version please refer: Basavannana Vachanagalu Samskritika Mukhamukhi, Ed. by Amaresha Nugadoni, 2004, Kannada University, Hampi, Pages 224-239, Satish Patil)  

15.       This short note is confined to an introduction to the Vachanas of Basavanna. Browsers are requested to refer to the entry on ‘Basavanna’ for an account of his biography, achievements and social significance. It is almost impossible to separate the man and his works particularly in the case of Basavanna because of their interrelated nature. The works of Basavanna could be studied in isolation. However one should be aware of the fact that they have sprung to life as a part of a socio-cultural movement which was unique in the annals of Indian history.More than one thousand vachanas are attributed to Basavanna. ‘kUDala sangamadEva’ is the ‘ankita’ that is appended to all of them. They may be divided in to different categories based on their themes. However scholars have classified them on the basis of Veerashaiva theology in to six different states of mind(Shatsthala) such as Bhakta, Maaheshvara, Praeaadi and Pranalingi.  

   The themes, form and the modes of stylistic narration of Basavanna’s poetry are dictated bythe fact that they are addressed to the common man. Basavanna and his peers did not want to produce a body of literature which would be a continuation of Kannada literary tradition set in motion by their predecessors. They acquired literary significance because  they focused on the spectrum of subjective human experiences and they employed many literary devices in a guileless manner. They did have a world view, a philosophical core and a literary theory. The poetry of Basavanna has some unique features that are not pre dominant in his contemporaries. Firstly, his zeal for social reform caused him to convert his poems in to a critique of the social situation that was prevalent at that time. This was inevitable because change cannot be envisaged unless there is an intense dissatisfaction with the present. Secondly there is a strong streak of self criticism and analysis which is not present to the same degree in his fellow poets. Basavanna is not a votary of obscurantism in any of his writings. Mysticism assumes secondary importance and philosophy if any is highly communicable because of the metaphors and images used by the poet. Most of the figures of speech used by Basavanna draw their content from the external world rather than the worn out usages of the ancient poetry. He creates his Vachanas in different mindsets which are not chronological but concurrent. These are called ‘Sthalas’ in Veerashaiva theology. For instance he could be very hard and critical of other deities and religions in Maheshvara Sthala. But he adopts a very liberal outlook and avers that all religions and Gods are alike in some other ‘sthala’. These are various manifestations of the same personalities in different situations. Vachanas of Basavanna do not have only human beings at their nucleus. He is genuinely concerned for all living things. (sakala jeevaatma)    

16 1. Basavannana Vachanagalu Samskritika Mukhamukhi, 2004, Kannada University, Hampi.

    2. Basavannanavara Upamegalu, Hardekar Manjappa, 1944,Kalmatheshvara Granthamale.  

 3. ‘Anubhavigala Kranthi’, Translation of the English original by T.R.Chandrashekhara, 2000, Veerashiava Adhyayana Samsthe,           Tontadarya Matha, Gadag                                                  

(For a more detailed version please refer to the article by Satish Patil in ‘Basavannana Vachanagalu Samskritika Mukhamukhi, Ed. by Amaresha Nugadoni, 2004, Kannada University, Hampi, Pages 224-239’.)

17 1. Download Vachana Software - Win95/98

           

18 1. FOREVER SAINTS — Selected Vachanas of Basavanna, Allama and Akka Mahadevi: Translated with Introduction and Notes by D.A. Shankar; Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeswara Granthamala, JSS Mahavidyapeetha, Mysore.                                  

       2. Speaking of Siva, A.K.Ramanujan, Thomas Wyatt, Anonymous, 1973, Penguin Books, Hammondsworth, U.K.

  

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