Lord Basaveshwara is a great social reformer and a great thinker of the 12th century. Around the year A.D.1105, Basaveshwara was born in a Brahmin family at Bagevadi situated presently in the Bijapur district. His parents were Madiraja and Madalambike. Kudala-Sangama was an ideal place, where there was a confluence of the sacred rivers of Krishna and Malaprabha ; the surrounding beauty of nature and god Sangmeshwara constantly inspired Basaveshwara to seek spiritual bliss and transformed himself.
His life and teachings have been a source of inspiration to millions of people in India and abroad. Basaveshwara's greatness lies in the fact that he lived up to every word of his teachings. His thoughts and message are applicable to all people anywhere in the worl and of all times.
Man in quest of Truth looking at the world with eyes open and being astonished to see its nature, aspires and attempts to know its mystery. Rationalism, Empiricism and Mysticism are the three ways attempted to discover the truth. Mysticism is defined as the immeduiate feeling of the unity of the self with God. Some unseen spirit inaccessible to the intellectual pursuits and experiments wakes up the heart. The seeker then realises that this spirit can offer genuine solutions to the serious problems of life.
Sipirituality, was the soul of Basaveshwara and God's realisation his life's mission. He gathered around him a galaxy of same persons with same idealism, who were much intersted in accomplishing their spiritual goal; for, they believed in the unity of humanity through divinity. Basaveshwara and other associate Saranas couched their teachings in simple verse forms of rare felicity in kanada known as Vachanas, which are nothing but spontaneous expressions of their deep felt feelings and understandings of life here and herafter.
The Vachana:
"Even where he speaks or looks,
Diverts himself or handles a thing,
Where he enjoys himself or tates a joy,
Or leaves his body behind,
When once the union has occured
With Linga-Light and LInga Quality
And the Linga Absolute,
How can I name this great-souled one?
O Lord of Parvati!"
It means that he is the Sarana who believes that, while talking, seeing playing, receiving enjoying a thing and dying-on all these occasions Mahalinga is his master and he has nothing of his own, and experiences the joy of partaking of Linga-Prasada.
Thus one clearly witnesses in the Saranas' mystic way, the secret of livibng in the world "though living yet unbound, though moving yet unpolluted".