In a seminar on bhakti in South India, a scholar from Mysuru reads out a short Kannada saying of the twelfth century. It mocks people who pour milk on a serpent carved in stone but shout for a real serpent to be killed, and who offer food to an image that cannot eat while sending away a hungry servant of the god. She then turns to two other developments of roughly the same period: a famous Sanskrit text that took in many ideas of the Tamil Vaishnava bhaktas, and the rise of bhakti traditions in a region north of Karnataka a century later.
The saying the scholar reads out was composed by:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Basavanna
Option (1) Appar — Incorrect. Appar was a Nayanar, a Tamil devotee of Shiva. His hymns are in Tamil and were gathered in the Tevaram.
Option (2) Basavanna — Correct. The saying is a vachana of Basavanna, leader of the Virashaivas. Such Kannada sayings mock empty rituals and are the main source on this tradition.
Option (3) Sambandar — Incorrect. Sambandar was another Tamil Nayanar who sang in Tamil.
Option (4) Sundarar — Incorrect. Sundarar was also a Tamil Nayanar whose image a Chola king set up in a temple.
NCERT (2026-27): “3. The Virashaiva Tradition in Karnataka … “Here is a vachana composed by Basavanna: When they see a serpent carved in stone they pour milk on it. If a real serpent comes they say: “Kill. Kill.” To the servant of the god who could eat if served they say: “Go away! Go away!” But to the image of the god which cannot eat they offer dishes of food.” |