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A true visionary with ideas ahead of his time; he envisioned a society that flourished enriching one and all. He was a great mystic,of his time and originated a literary revolution through his literary creation called Vachana Sahitya. He was a mystic by temperament, an idealist by choice, a statesman by profession,(He was the Prime Minister of the Southern Kalachuri Empire in South India) a man of letters by taste, a humanist by sympathy, and a social reformer by conviction. Many great yogis and mystics of his time joined his movement enriching it with the essence of divine experience in the form of Vachanas (Lit. sayings - sacred hymns in Kannada) Basava fought against the inhuman practice of caste system,which discriminated people based on their birth, and certain rituals in Hinduism. He spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as as Vachanaas. These are rational and progressive social thoughts coupled with established perception of God in Hindu society. "Brahminical thought" interprets the Vachanas as essence of vedic knowledge while attempting to explain the social revolution, Basava was able to bring in. But this theory however fails to explain why other well known religious cult leaders like Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Madhwacharya, who were very well acquainted with vedic knowledge, did not address the issues, which Basava did in later part of the history in 12th century. Basava, like Gautama Buddha, did not preach people the intricate aspects of spirituality; but, he taught people how to live happily in a rational social order later came to be known as veerashaiva Dharma, "Sampradaya") or Lingavanta Dharma; which is also known as Lingayata. Other synonyms for lingayata are: Basava Dharma, Sharana Dharma, Vachana Dharma. Unfortunately, later, the Lingayatha or Veerashaiva Dharma has turned out be another exploiting caste in Casteist Hindu society, washing away the efforts of Basava. Basavanna now, has been reduced to another deity. |