By KV Raghupathi
Basaveshwara’s primary concern was not literary composition, but attainment of the highest goal of life and facilitation of the greatest good for the common man through kayaka, a concept that signifies honest manual labour; however, it encompasses much more than merely working for one’s living.
In the first place, it is an occupation for subsistence without exploiting others, be it a bhakt , a guru , or a Jangama , a ‘bread labour’ as Gandhiji calls it. Its underlying principle is that every human with no high or low distinctions should pursue their material and spiritual progress through their kayaka and that beggary and idleness have no place in society.
The second principle of kayaka is the democratic freedom of occupation. Basava did not subscribe to karm theory of predetermination based on birth; he condemned discrimination based on birth, sex, or occupation, and declared that no occupation was superior or inferior. He also asserted that honesty was the determining factor that merited means of livelihood.
The third principle of kayaka is that it should fulfil the needs of both the individual and society with absolute detachment, non-possession, and unselfishness.
The earnings should promote not only the earner’s material and spiritual progress but also the welfare of society in the form of triple dasoha or dedication to guru, linga and Jangama. It is only then that one’s profession can become kayaka, or holy work or worship.
The same idea was endorsed by Gandhiji. What Basavanna identified himself with the poor and insisted that all should voluntarily take up the labour that the poor do and eradicate poverty and social injustice.
The fourth principle of kayaka is that it attaches importance to bodily labour. The body’s requirements must be earned by the body. The principle that the life of labour is the life worth living, as suggested by John Ruskin, was exemplified by Basavanna through his doctrine of kayaka .
The Jangama was not a particular caste or sect. A true Jangama is one who annihilates his ego, embraces the entire universe, and transcends it. Thereby, the Jangama ceases to be an individual. Basaveshwara’s conception of the Jangama Dasoha encompasses the whole universe, including all its movable beings.
Money earned through one’s vocation should be surrendered for the welfare of society. Thus, his conception of kayaka envisaged and achieved the synthesis of the good of the individual and that of society, which are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
There are remarkable similarities between Gandhiji and Basavanna in social outlook. Gandhiji’s concept of bread-labour and Basavanna’s concept of kayaka are alike.
Based on his deepest convictions reflected in John Ruskin’s book, unto this last, Gandhiji introduced three principles:
(1) That the good of individual is contained in the good of all.
(2) That everyone has the same right to earn their livelihood from their work.
(3) That a life of labour is the life worth living. All these principles are the core of the doctrine of kayaka expounded by Basavanna.
What Gandhiji tried to expound and establish through ‘ Sarvodaya ’, Basavanna achieved through kayaka.
It can be posited that the kayaka of Basavanna is the core of Gandhiji’s ‘ Sarvodaya ’.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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