Siddarama Swami of Gadag Tontadarya Mutt said that followers of ‘Santana’ were deliberately trying to distort the objectives and aspirations of the twelfth-century vachanas by publishing books like ‘Vachana Darshana’ to mislead the followers of Basavanna.
He was speaking at the release of book ‘Vachana Darshana: Mithya vs Satya’ organised jointly by Lingayat Mathadipathigala Okkuta, Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha, Akhil Bharat Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha, Lingayat Dharma Mahasabha, Rashtriya Basava Dala, Basava Samiti and Basava Kendras at ‘Lingayat Bhavan’ in Dharwad on Saturday. The book is a rebuttal of the views expressed in the book ‘Vachana Darshana’.
The seer called on the Lingayats to unite and take forward the message of the twelfth-century sharanas led by Basavanna, conveyed through the vachanas, and thereby protect the Lingayat religion. “Otherwise, vested interests would distort the meaning of vachanas to mislead people and achieve their goal of continuing discrimination based on colour, caste and gender,” he said.
“Their objective is to deliberately hide the intellectual thought process and scientific nature of the vachans, and for this purpose book like ‘Vachana Darshana’ has been published to again push people towards superstitions. The present book is aimed at revealing the hidden agenda and exposing the false propaganda,” the seer said.
Gurusiddha Rajayogindra Swami of Moorusavir Mutt, Hubballi, said that while analysis of the vachanas was required, the intention behind it should be pure and academic. “However, the intention behind bringing out the book ‘vachana darshana’ seems to be malafide. So we have strongly opposed it, and the present book has been brought out to reveal the truth and expose the fake narratives,” he said.
The seer termed the book a befitting reply to the distorted inferences of vachanas presented in ‘vachana darshana’ book. “One should be committed to Basava philospophy and when the religion is disgraced, everyone should unite to raise voice against it”, he said.
National general secretary of Jagatika Lingayat Mahasabha, Shivanand Jamdar, said that the controversial book ‘Vachana Darshana’ had been brought under the editorship of an anti-Lingayat seer who had joined hands with followers of ‘Sanatana’ solely with the intention of misleading the followers of Basavanna. “All the seers and followers of Basavanna will meet the chief minister, urging him to seize the copies of the book and not to allow reprint of it,” he said.
Mallikarjun Swami of Murugha Mutt, office bearers of various Lingayat organisations and scholars including C.M. Kundagol, Mahanthesh Patil, G.V. Kongawad, M.V. Gongadashetty spoke.
Published – April 19, 2025 08:39 pm IST
