How Vachana Darshana became a pivot point in Lingayat-RSS animosity

Many Lingayat groups recently protested in Bengaluru against Vachana Darshana, a book published by a Sangh Parivar affiliate, Prajna Pravah, and burned its cover.

Vachana Darshana publishers have been holding events in different cities since late June, when the book was launched. The events, which have been attended by senior RSS functionaries such as BL Santosh and CR Mukunda, have triggered a wave of protests from Lingayat groups.

Over the past three weeks:

1. Police detained 50 people in Kalaburagi after they tried to storm a book release event

2. An activist tore up the book during a TV debate

3. A group interrupted a programme in Davanagere and distributed protest letters

4. Lingayat organisations held press meets demanding a ban on the book

5. They met government officials and made a formal request for the ban

Fight for separate religion

Vachana Darshana, a collection of 20 articles, seeks to reiterate Lingayats as a Hindu community, and the Vachanas, the Lingayat holy text, as an extension of the Upanishads. It seeks to tone down the anti-Vedic sentiments in the Vachanas and present them as expressions of bhakti.

The Lingayat groups that are fighting for a separate religion find the book offensive and see it as an attempt to force them back to the fold of the majority community.

Lingayats are descendants of Sharanas, a band of 12th Century working class reformers led by a Chalukya minister, Basavanna. The Sharanas broke away from the Vedic religion of the time and tried to set up a parallel community without caste and gender restrictions.

Haunting poetry

They evolved their own philosophy, ways of worship and simple rites of passage in Kannada. Sharanas wrote haunting poetry, the Vachanas, sharing their lived experiences.

Lingayats reject all Hindu texts, including the Bhagavad Gita and the epics, and see only the Vachanas as sacred.

There is no Lingayat home without a few collections of Vachanas. There is no Lingayat — in fact no Kannadiga — who cannot recite a few Vachanas from memory.

Though down the centuries, the influence of Vedic religions made significant inroads into the community, Lingayats were still distinct enough to be counted separately from the Hindus in the mediaeval and colonial times.

Return to roots

In the modern era, the spread of education, communication and employment accelerated the spread of Hindu influence and prompted elite Lingayats to competitively call themselves ‘Lingi Brahmins’. The Lingayat mathas started promoting Sanskrit and built close links with Hindutva organisations.

But, over the past century, several accomplished scholars, from Phakirappa Halakatti to Prof MM Kalburgi, have discovered and sought to interpret the Vachanas in the context in which they were written.

Over the past two decades, a growing number of Lingayats have begun to return to their roots and started agitating for a separate religion.

Many Lingayats are replacing Hindu gods in their homes with photos of Basavanna, other Sharanas, and Shatshala, a simple construction of six steps, which have a distinct meaning in Lingayat theology.

‘Separatist’ sentiments

The growing influence of the breakaway group has possibly made the Sangh Parivar wary and made it contest the ‘separatist’ sentiments in the Lingayat community.

Vachana Darshana argues that Lingayats are an offshoot of the Bhakti movement, not a full-fledged rebellion against Hinduism, and that the Vachanas have to be read in line with the Vedas and Upanishads.

Further, the book blames Western and Marxist influences for promoting a radical reading of the Vachanas and the origin of Lingayats.

“Sharanas composed the Vachanas to show devotion to Lord Shiva. That was what they did. The social concerns you find in the Vachanas are found in other Bhakti traditions also; there is nothing unique about that,” an individual from the book’s publishing team, who declined to be named, told The Federal.

Radical movement

Lingayat activists argue that the Sharana movement was radical at the very moment of its birth.

Basavanna and his followers challenged the orthodoxy, tried to create a new social order based on absolute equality and paid a heavy price for that.

Bengaluru-based auditor H Shivakumar told The Federal: “The book does not talk about the 12th Century revolution. They want to ignore the social turmoil that followed and Basavanna’s all-out quest for an egalitarian society.

"These are the people who have not accepted him as the cultural icon of Karnataka.”

Basavanna as cultural icon

In January this year, the Karnataka government declared Basavanna as the cultural icon of the state, giving him the official status that Shivaji enjoys in Maharashtra.

“It is a travesty to view the Vachanas as an extension of the Upanishads. The Vachanas were composed by unlettered working class, lower caste men and women. How many of these Sharanas would have been allowed to study the Vedas and Upanishads?” Shivakumar remarked.

Taking part in a debate on Suvarna TV, Shivananda Gundannanavar, a cyber security expert, said: “Lingayats have been persecuted in history for seeking to be different. In the 16th Century, 700 Lingayats were massacred in Nanjangud. From Prof Kalburgi to Gauri Lankesh, everyone who has asked for a separate religion has paid a heavy price. But we will not stop till we get a separate religion.”

As he was not allowed to speak further, he tore up the book and left. Suvarna TV is owned by former BJP minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

Hindu saint on book cover

Lingayats are also furious over the cover of the book, which has a picture of a Hindu saint. Speaking with The Federal, Nandish Patil, a lawyer in Chincholi, asked: “What is a Hindu saint doing on the cover of a book on the Vachanas? Could they not find a photo of a Sharana?”

“They don’t say it is a picture of Basavanna, but they want us to see it as a picture of Basavanna. They are playing a mind game here,” he added.

Academic and activist Meenakshi Bali, who led the agitation in Kalaburagi, has analysed all the 20 chapters of the book. She says the book is juvenile and has no academic worth.

“It is so biased, they have ignored the Vachanas that criticised the Vedas and dealt with social issues. We held a press conference calling for a debate on the book. They can give us any day, any time and call us anywhere, we will go. But there has been no response.”

Not biased: Publisher

The publishing team member quoted earlier said the book is not biased as there is one chapter by GR Jagadish on the social concerns found in the Vachanas.

“Our concern is not to create differences between communities but promote harmony between them,” he added.

On the controversial cover, he said the publishers intentionally did not use the picture of a Sharana on the cover. “The Vachanas are not limited to Lingayats. We wanted to give them a universal appeal, so we chose a non-Sharana picture for the cover,” he said.

Did they have to choose a picture soaked in Vedic tradition to universalise the Vachanas, this writer asked. “What is wrong with that,” he shot back, dismissing the protests as staged by a handful of individuals seeking publicity.

Caught in crossfire

The book has turned into a pitched battle between the Sangh Parivar and Lingayat groups. In the run-up to the book release, the publishers invited Lingayat swamis and organisations in different cities to take part in events.

Lingayat groups began contacting the same organisations and swamis, prevailing upon them to boycott the function. Kumaranna Patil, an activist in Huballi, told The Federal: “We met the people they had invited and tried to stop them from attending. Many agreed, though some still went under pressure.”

The swami of the Mooru Saavira matha, a prominent Lingayat institution that traces its roots to the 12th Century, was caught in the crossfire. The swami, who has been traditionally close to the Sangh Parivar, had agreed to preside over the book release event in Hubballi and an invitation card was even circulated with his name in print.

But he came under pressure from different Lingayat groups and ultimately backed off.

Swamis stay away

In Bengaluru, the swami of Beli matha, a VHP activist himself, came under pressure and backed off after invites were sent out with his name. The swami said he had a prior engagement and did not attend the book release event.

With prominent swamis staying away, the publishers have enlisted two lightweight Lingayat swamis in support of the book.

These swamis are appearing in the media, saying Lingayats are Hindus and there was nothing wrong with the book, triggering a backlash from the community.

Gundannanavar, during the Suvarna TV debate, asked one of these swamis how much money he had been paid to work against the Lingayat religion. “Sir, if you need money, we can give you more,” he offered the shocked swami.

New cycle of confrontation

Many see the Vachana Darshana as the beginning of a new cycle of confrontation between the Sangh Parivar and the Lingayats, who share an uncomfortable relationship, rather than a one-off event.

Lingayats powered the BJP to prominence in Karnataka, but given their heritage, they remain deeply suspicious of the RSS.

The power struggle between the RSS and BS Yediyurappa, former Karnataka Chief Minister and the most influential Lingayat leader, has bogged down the BJP in Karnataka.

The strained ties between Lingayats and the RSS is now entering uncharted waters with more turbulence ahead.

Distinct Lingayat identity

Over the past few decades, there has been a hardening of the distinct Lingayat identity.

A host of unrelated factors — improving access to the Vachanas, the role of a few prominent swamis and activists, the spread of social media, assassination of scholar Prof Kalburgi and journalist Gauri Lankesh, agitation for separate religion, and most recently acknowledging of Basavanna as the cultural icon of the state — have come together to prompt Lingayats to embrace their heritage dating back to the 12th Century.

“Thanks to tireless editing and publication of the Vachanas, now everyone has access to them. People are reading and discussing the Vachanas. They are imbibing their true spirit and have begun to ask questions.

"The people behind Vachana Darshana are obviously not happy with this…they want to turn the Vachanas into a book which you worship without any discussion,” said activiist Bali.

Nature of the religion

The nature of the Lingayat religion, which is as focused on the community as the individual, is further prompting the community to chart a new course.

Lingayats revere the over 700 Sharanas who led the 12th Century movement, so the community calendar is dotted with a never-ending stream of anniversaries of prominent Sharanas.

The 12th Century Sharanas identified with their profession more than any caste. Their anniversaries are big events for the social groups which are identified with these trades – washermen, potters, barbers, stone cutters and so on.

Besides a few state-level organisations, there are thousands of community organisations working in towns and villages organising Vachana recitations, lectures, sermons and online meetings round the year.

Devotion to Basavanna

An activist in Kalaburagi told The Federal: “You put a few Lingayats together, they will soon have an event around the Vachanas, Basavanna and other Sharanas. This happens every week of the year across the state. In terms of the sheer number of events held, no other community comes even close. And none of this is centrally organised.” The activist, a government employee, did not want to be named.

Basavanthappa Thotad, the head of the Basava Kendra in Dharwad, said that in the month of Shravana, his organisation held Vachana recitations in 500 homes across 15 localities through 100 volunteers.

Each event had a tiny gathering of about 20 people and, over a month, the prayer meets reached thousands of people. “In every prayer meeting we recited the Vachanas and read a chapter from a book of Veeranna Rajur,” he said. Rajur is seen as an intellectual successor of Kalburgi.

Turbulence and aspirations

Many activists like Thotad appear to be driven more by devotion to Basvanna than an urge to radicalise the community. But it is difficult to read the Vachanas seriously without sensing the turbulence and the aspirations still resonating in them.

Any prolonged discussion of the Vachanas and the Lingayat religion frequently turns to the tragic fate of the city of Kalyana and its hero Basavanana, and the audience grows quiet, becoming more attentive.

The Kalaburagi activist said the tragedy of Kalyana is burnt into Lingayat minds. They will never stop grieving and, as long as the memory of Kalyana is alive, Lingayats can never accept Brahmanical orthodoxy, the activist added.

The activist, who also heads a Lingayat organisation, said many Lingayats who join his outfit are soaked in the worship of Hindu gods. “But the moment they start reading the Vachanas seriously their devotion shifts to Basavanna and other Sharanas,” he observed.

Lingayat mode of worship

Though Lingayat swamis have traditionally been comfortable with the Hindutva establishment, a growing number of them are calling upon the community to remove Hindu gods from their homes and switch to the Lingayat mode of worship.

The outspoken and highly regarded Sanehalli Swami was in the news last year for urging Lingayats to stop worshipping Lord Ganapati.

In July, his matha held a weeklong workshop to train Lingayat swamis in nijacharane or Kannada Lingayat rituals, which replace Vedic rituals in Sanskrit for various occasions. Over 50 swamis attended the workshop.

Like the Sangh Parivar, the Lingayats are also in a perpetual state of mobilisation, but without a central command. A prominent swami said the Lingayat religion is like an orphan child — it belongs to anyone who picks it up and even a cursory look at the events calendar of the community suggests that there is no dearth of volunteers.

Influential mathas join protest

The activist quoted above said the Vachana Darshana protest marks an important shift in the community. “Initially, the big organisations, mathas and politicians tried to ignore the book. For the first time, ordinary Lingayats are leading the protest and setting the agenda. The guy who organised the protest in Bengaluru runs a small computer shop,” he said.

Many swamis heading powerful mathas have joined the protest now. Influential Lingayat organisations have come under pressure to step in.

“This is a confrontation that will only grow and spread. The right wing’s new found power is behind the assault on Vachanas. They should know that we will fight with our lives to save Vachanas,” said Bali.

Sangh Parivar view

Sangh Parivar supporters say that Lingayats have appropriated the Vachanas and Basavanna, who was a Brahmin by birth.

“We are trying to broaden the appeal of Vachanas and take Basavanna beyond the Lingayats,” said a Sangh Parivar leader who spoke at one of the book release events.

“If they want to broaden Basavanna’s appeal they should teach the Vachanas in Brahmin mathas and hang Basavanna’s photos there,” said JS Patil, a Lingayat activist.