The hunger for food, the thirst for drink,
The wild fire of sorrow, the agitation of sense-bonds,
The delusions of three kinds of suffering, I’ve overcome.
What else, O, what more do I need!
I won’t turn away from you,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender, I will not.
The three kinds of suffering: psychological, cosmological and theological.
153
Not if you wander, searching, not even if you keep vows,
Not if you beg in longing, not if you burn in penance,
It will not happen unless it’s the right time,
It won’t be attained till Siva is pleased;
As Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender, is pleased with me,
I saw the holy feet of Basava of the confluence,
I am saved.
The divine factor/Chance/Time has an important role in the fruition of the search, missed by egoistic, one-sided effort. Surrendering to/serving gurus and the following of their path is indicated by the reference to the ‘holy feet of Basava’.
Basava of the confluence: Kudalasangama, the confluence of the Krishna and Malaprabha rivers; an important centre of pilgrimage for the poet-saint Basava.
154
Even if I want to stay apart,
Your maya will not leave me;
Even if I struggle against it, this maya stays unbroken;
Your maya doesn’t leave even if one stands firm;
Those striving to break this maya
Are themselves broken.
To the yogi, your maya became the yogini;
To the ascetic, maya was the fair woman ascetic.
For the god, the assumption of monthly
Offerings was the illusion;
If one climbed the mountain, maya,
Restless, climbed after.
If one walks deep into the forest, maya goes along;
O samsara, it does not leave my back, my hands;
It gives me faith and then makes me forget.
O mercy maker, I am afraid of your maya,
O supreme master, Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Have mercy.
What else, O what shall I do, O great god.
O snake-adorned one, do have mercy, O god.
A vacana found only in the edition compiled by Dr L. Basavaraju (Mysore: Geetha Publishing House, 1995).
155
O god, when will I be rid of attachment to the worldly one, O father?
When will I be able to delight in true devotion, unmixed, my father?
When will you release my mind
Which does not really merge in its devotions, O lord?
When will you pluck out my eyes
Fixed (on others), my lord
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender?
A vacana from the edition cited on page 154.
Eyes fixed (on others): literally ‘eyes fixed in the worship’; may mean caught up in the external ritualistic show as opposed to true worship, becoming one with the object of worship.
156
How to please you, O lord, with the eight-fold offerings?
You are beyond all external transactions.
How to please you with meditating in inner space?
You are beyond word and mind.
How to please you with chants and praises?
You are beyond sound.
How to please you with the knowledge of your becoming?
You are beyond the intellect.
How to please you by placing my love in the middle of the heart-lotus?
You fill every part.
It is not for me to please you, O lord;
Your grace is well-being.
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
The eight-fold offerings: performed with the following articles of worship: unbroken rice, sandal paste, water, betel leaf, waving of lights, incense, bilva leaves and food. Siva is beyond the reach of such materialistic forms of worship.
157
Climbing the sapphire hill,
Clasping the moonstone image close,
Blowing the antler horn, when will I get to sit, O Siva?
The brokenness of the body and mind easing,
When will I get close to you, just once,
O lord, Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender?
A vacana that refers to the practice of Yoga.
Antler horn: Siva the hunter is often shown with such a horn, sometimes holding an antelope.
158
The hill is empty of content, they say;
How then are the trees born?
Coal has no essence, they say;
How then does iron melt in it?
I am bodiless, they say;
How then will Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Love and join you?
A vacana that refers to the means of transcending the body by fusion, through union with Siva.
159
See the wonderful way love has set its firm seal:
Arrow shot, even the feather shouldn’t be seen;
Embracing, the bones should crack and powder;
Coupling, the joint should never come out;
Desire was fulfilled.
The love of Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Was firmly fixed, O mother.
160
Stepping on the root of the primal centre,
I climbed the space in the eyebrows;
Holding on to the root of practice,
I ascended the peak of oneness;
With dispassion for a stepping stone,
I climbed the holy mountain;
Hold my hand and lift me up,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
A vacana that refers to the ascent of vital energy through the cakras, common to all types of Yoga.
161
Dispassion itself is passion;
Don’t call yourself dispassionate, O brother,
Till the heart of sight is cut out,
Till the earthenware of doing is all broken,
Till the eight delusions are milled and husked,
Till the doubts running between yes and no are all done with,
Don’t call yourself dispassionate, O brother.
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
The lord of the holy mountain,
Alone is dispassionate;
See, O brother.
162
Changing bondage into liberation,
Making the mind a diamond horse, and the soul the rider,
Not letting it jump up, or leap forward,
Holding back the horse close, and dragging it somehow to stand
still on the beautiful petal:
They don’t know this
And keep slipping on the coral stone into the mire.
The jeweller does not see the shining jewel fallen
On the royal road of the marketplace,
And weeps for himself, O lord.
Over the incense burner of the prime basis,
Placing embers of the heart centre,
And stopping the wind by the breath,
The heat of that fire goes and touches the crown crevice;
The pot of ambrosia kept there breaks and showers onto the
heart centre,
Then the light of the wonderful jewel can be seen.
Who is there to know this, O lord, other than the egoless devotees,
The devotee who knows the here and hereafter,
And knows what the five senses need?
Only the devotee who has left the body.
All these others, killers of life,
Whoever will know you,
Other than your devotee, Basava,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender
Lord of the holy mountain?
Bondage … liberation: samsara and nirvana. The whole vacana refers to the practice of Yoga.
163
The limitations of t
he heavy weight of births he took away, O mother.
The illusions of gold and land he removed, O mother.
Taking off the shame of my body,
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Removed the darkness of my mind
And I have gone inside him
What will you make speak, O mother?
The soul passes through many births before it attains human birth.
gold and land: gold (wealth), land and sex constitute the sum total of all worldly attachments in the tradition.
164
Devotion is the cause of wisdom.
Wisdom is the great cause of devotion.
Devotion and wisdom are like the crow’s eyes.
Devotion and wisdom,
O lord of my longing
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Are like you, yourself.
Crow’s eyes: The crow turns its head from side to side, hence alternating.
165
You won’t accept ritual bath from those of unmelted body,
You won’t accept flowers from those of undissolved mind,
You won’t accept grain offerings from those who are not joyful,
You won’t accept the waving of lights from those with their wisdom-eyes unopened,
You won’t accept incense smoke from those not pure in their hearts,
You won’t accept food offerings from those who do not undergo transformation,
You won’t accept betel leaves from those not pure in thought, word and deed.
You will not have being in those with heart lotuses unblossomed.
What did you think I have, that you loved my palm,
Tell, O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender?
A vacana that refers to different stages in ritual worship.
166
The body was dedicated, the mind kept reserved,
The mood was firmly sealed.
The love of the wonderful one, agreement without falsehood,
When they become inseparable like soldered metal,
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Becomes solidified inside, O mother.
167
If one tries to break a hole in the wall in the daytime,
Because of one’s haste, the hole is not made, the goods not stolen.
As the monkey climbing the thorn tree
Did not get the fruit, or place to sit,
I am not one who has given up everything,
Nor have I, joining you, become clanless,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
Clanless: the devotee must give up all limited identities.
168
In the burnt-out ashes, I saw the ash that was not burnt;
Nobody knows the secret of the one
Who made the unburnt ashes into a mountain.
Knowing him, taking shelter in him, I am saved.
Seeing various things on that mountain top,
I keep moving,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
169
Before knowing right and wrong
I came through many births.
Coming through them, I was hurt and burnt,
Then I came to you in faith and took refuge.
Please see that I do not stray away from you; of your grace,
I would beg just one thing
Please undo my binding,
Do, O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
170
In front of man, maya
Becomes the thought ‘woman’
And troubles him.
In front of woman, maya
Becomes the thought ‘man’
And troubles her.
To the maya of the world,
The pure ways of the devotee
Seem foolish.
The devotee in whom
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender, is pleased
Has no maya, no forgetfulness,
And no such differentiating thoughts.
171
I look at the path, thinking he has come;
When he does not, I melt in misery, O mother;
If he delays, I am ruined;
Away from Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
I become like the cakravaka bird
Separated from its mate.
Cakravaka bird: the ruddy goose or Brahmany duck, known for lifelong fidelity to its mate.
172
The mother called ‘the beyond’, born of space,
Gave birth to five children:
One had becoming for form, another vital breath for form;
The third, of five faces, took the form of the body;
Two others were the cause of creation and preservation.
Seeing no happiness in the palace of the five-faced one
I will go away to Kailas, won’t step into the mortal world,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
You are my witness.
Beyond … space: para in the original ‘beyond’, ‘transcendent’; bayalu (‘void’) has been rendered as ‘space’.
One had becoming … another vital breath for form: the original has bhava, the mind (from bhav, ‘to become’), and prana, vital breath.
Five faces … body: the five senses.
Kailas: the abode of Siva, the supreme state.
173
United with the joy of the form,
The mind became known.
Where, now, will I be limbless in you?
Where, now, will I be joined to you?
Speak to me of the place where the transformation
Coming from ultimate joy
Tears down the mind’s fences,
Won’t you, Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender?
United with … form: literally ‘associating with the joy of the linga’.
Transformation: parinama, inner change arising out of understanding the real, like ‘conversion’ in its pure inner sense.
Tears down the mind’s fences: so that the mind can transcend its bounds and identify with Siva.
174
When the Siva-linga flies off its pedestal
And comes to the palm of the hand,
To be scattered to dust in light
Which becomes ever brighter,
To be powdered to dust with body,
mind and sight fixed on the linga,
Swinging in the joy of Siva-love,
Uniting with the truly devout;
I become shameless and join you,
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
The overwhelming nature of the union, and its strong erotic content, are to be noted.
175
The four watches of the day
I am anxious for you.
The four watches of the night
I wane, missing you;
Day and night I remain in your desire,
Forgetting myself
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Planting your love,
I have banished hunger, thirst and sleep.
176
Born in the hands of the guru,
I grew up in the kindness of innumerable devotees.
The milk of creative imagination, the ghee of right knowledge,
And the sugar of ultimate meaning, they fed me;
Feeding me this threefold nectar till I was full they brought me up.
They gave me in marriage to a husband who was as myself;
To send me home, the devotees all came together.
I will live there to please Basavanna.
I will take the hand of Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender.
Bring only flowers for your head, not grass,
Please go back, all you holy ones,
I bow to you.
This vacana is supposed to have been said at the time of Akka’s departure from the assembly of devotees for her final journey to the holy mountain.
Born in the hands of the guru: reborn into
the pure ways of wisdom by initiation.
Bring only flowers … grass: will not bring you into disrepute.
Basavanna: older brother Basava; from anna, the masculine of akka, ‘older sister’.
177
The body breaking through the linga of action
Inhered in the linga;
The mind, mixing with knowledge, serving the mendicant,
Inhered in the linga of the moving one.
The mood, merging with the linga of the guru, enjoying great grace,
Became one with the linga of the guru.
O Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
By your love, becoming differenceless,
I myself became the linga, O lord.
The three lingas refered to are linga, jangama and guru; see Introduction.
178
Clad in clothes of fire
And thrown out of the village,
I still met the friend as arranged, O mother!
In that ultimate fourth state, swinging,
Wonder-struck, impossible to stay, O mother,
Breaking up from the state, I burned in pain.
When the hill burns, leaving the tree,
And the golden bodhi tree writhes,
Channamallikarjuna, jasmine-tender,
Will condescend
To come and join me.
Ultimate fourth state: the transcendent, silent, absolute state of consciousness.
Hill burns … tree writhes: another reading is ‘when the elephant burns, and the hill too, and the golden bodhi tree burns/remains’. A reduction to pure being and verticality is perhaps meant.
Songs for Siva Page 8