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Karnataka State Syllabus Class 10 English Poem Chapter 3 Vachana
Vachana Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes
Pre – Reading Activity:
Who is God? Can you define Him?
Answer:
This is the question saints, philosophers, poets and religious leaders all over the world have been trying to answer, and have succeeded only to a certain extent. The questions are difficult to answer because human beings have great imagination, the capacity to think for themselves and the ability to engage in abstract thinking. Thus, each person’s concept of God, someone whom nobody has seen but many are said to have realized, can be different in many aspects,- and yet same in some aspects.
The typical analogy for God can be an elephant that is touched and described by five blind men. Each blind person can describe the part he has touched accurately, but cannot describe the whole, being blind. Human beings, by definition, are such ‘blind people’ who are capable of understanding only a part, not the whole, unless they themselves become Gods.
II. Comprehension Questions
A. Answer briefly the following questions:
Question 1.
The lines The rich / will make a temple for Siva’, implies that
a. they want to please the Lord.
b. they can afford to build temples
c. they believe that this is how they can serve God
d. they believe that the temple is the only place to feel the presence of God.
Answer:
(c) they believe that this is how they can serve God.
Question 2.
Which of the following statements are true?
a. the speaker is against building any structures for worshiping God
b. it’s not possible for the speaker to build a temple.
c. it’s only an excuse given by the speaker for not being able to build a temple.
d. the speaker believes that God is present within ourselves and not in any temple.
Answer:
(d) the speaker believes that God is present within ourselves and not in any temple.
Question 3
What are the feelings of the speaker, suggested in the question, “what shall I, a poor man, do?”
a. helplessness
b. doubt
c. humility
d. anger
e. pride
f. anguish.
Answer:
(f) anguish
Question 4.
The word ‘Listen’ in the last stanza is
a. an order
b. an appeal
c. a request
d. an advice
Answer:
(d) an advice
Question 5
The expression Things Standing’, suggests
a. any man-made temple
b. anybody who is standing
c. anything which is static
d. the human body
Answer:
(c) anything which is static.
Question 6.
There are two examples of paradox in the last two lines (A paradox is a statement containing opposite ideas)
a) What opposite ideas are suggested in ‘things standing shall fall’?
Answer:
Things standing shall fall’ can be interpreted in various ways. The poet laments his inability to build temples, hence the phrase can refer to temples which are subject to nature’s fury and destruction over a period of time. It can also refer to pride and arrogance which can make a person stand erect in front of God when he should be bowing before Him. It may also mean that static objects that are moved by piety and devotion, are subject to destruction and decay while the heart that is filled with devotion is blessed and becomes immortal.
b) What opposite ideas are suggested in ‘ the moving shall ever stay’?
Answer:
The moving shall ever stay’ – this phrase too can be interpreted in many ways. The ‘moving’, i.e., the human heart which is a ‘moving temple’ cannot be destroyed by nature’s fury unlike a temple that can be damaged easily by nature, ‘the moving’ can also refer to humble beings who are swayed by devotion and move according to God’s will unlike the ‘static’ that stand erect against God’s wishes and get destroyed.
These two phrases repeat the message of the line from the Bible:
“Be not like the mighty oak which can be filled, with a single stroke; Be like the humble reed which bends with the wind and stays. ”
Question 7.
What final message do the last two lines convey?
Answer:
The poet is consoling himself that the temple which he would never be able to construct, would any day be destroyed, whereas the ‘moving temple’ that he carries in his heart would be immortal and intact. The lines can also mean that the one who ‘stands’ in front of God without bowing down to Him, will surely ‘fall’ or be destroyed, whereas ‘the moving’, the one who bows down in front of Him and acts according to His wish, would stay ever. The poet finds consolation in his modest circumstances and his devotion to God.
B. Close Study
Read the following extract carefully. Discuss in pairs and then write the answers to the questions given below it.
My legs are pillars,
the body the shrine,
the head a cupola of gold.
Question 1.
How is the human body compared to a temple?
Answer:
The whole body is compared to a temple, with the legs being pillars, the body the shrine with the idol of God secure in the heart, and the head, a cupola of gold with serene thoughts protecting the God in the heart.
Question 2.
What is the figure of speech used here?
Answer:
The figure of speech used here is a metaphor.
Question 3.
Why is the speaker comparing the human body to a temple?
Answer:
The speaker wanted to construct a temple like the rich people do, and thereby please God, but he is very poor and cannot do so. Hence he decides to treat his own body as a temple with the God secure in his heart. – He also realizes that the temple built of brick and stone can be damaged by nature one day, whereas the ‘moving temple’ in his heart can never be.
III. Paragraph Writing:
Discuss in pairs/groups of four each and answer the following question. Note down the important points and then develop the points into a paragraph.
Question 1.
What ideas of spirituality emerged from the study of this well-known Vachana?
Answer:
- Building temples for Siva is considered a good way to please the Lord.
- However, everyone cannot build temples.
- Temples built of stone and brick can be destroyed.
- God is found not just in temples but also outside.
- Carrying God in one’s own heart is the best way of worshipping Him.
- This ‘moving temple’ cannot be destroyed at all.
Paragraph: In this poem, Basavanna tells us that a rich man can afford to build grand temples in honour of gods, but poor man can’t. However, with his devotion, i.e., with pure thoughts, actions and deeds, he can turn his body into a temple. He may offer his legs for pillars, his body fora shrine and his head for a cupola. A temple of faith is immortal as human beings live on generation after generation, but a temple of stone will perish sooner or later. With this analogy, the lyricist is telling us that faith in the heart is more important than cold stone structures dedicated to a God. To him true faith is more important than display of wealth by the rich who put up such structures.
Points to Remember:
- The poet desires to please God by building a temple for him but is a poor man, and hence cannot do so.
- He wonders in anguish whether he will ever be able to please God.
- He decides to treat his own body as a temple, with his legs for pillars, body for the shrine and the head for a cupola of gold.
- He consoles himself saying that ‘things standing shall fall’, meaning that buildings will be destroyed by wind, rain and sunshine.
- He is happy that ‘the moving ever shall stay’, meaning that he will be able to carry the ‘temple’ and his ‘God’ forever with himself, and so it will never be destroyed. It shall‘stay’.
- The poem or vachana was written by Basavanna at a time when people other than high caste people or Brahmins could not enter temples.
Vachana by Basavanna About the Author:
BASAVANNA (1106 – 1167/1168) was a great social reformer, who strove to build a new social order, free from caste, class and orthodoxy. “He was the leader of the medieval religious movement, Veerasaivism of which the Kannada Vachanas are the most important texts.
If one were to choose a single poem to represent the whole extraordinary body of religious lyrics called the Vachanas, one cannot do better than, choose the above poem of Basavanna. It dramatizes several of the themes and oppositions characteristic of the movement called Veerasaivism”. Akkamahadevi, Allama Prabhu, Devara dasimayya are some of the other great Veerashaiva poets.
A Note on the Translator: A.K.Ramanujan (1929-1993) a renowned poet in English and Kannada, has translated the Vachanas into English.
Vachana Poem Summary in English
This vachana encapsulates the essence of Veerashaivism which revolted against idol worship and the building of temples which people from certain sections of society could not enter. It was also a revolt against the caste system which laid down that only some people could ever hope to ‘realize’ God or find salvation through following the paths of jnana. bhakti or karma (knowledge, devotion or duty). The ‘others’ could only hope to serve the ‘upper’ classes dutifully.
Here the poet wants to please God by building temples for Him like the rich people do, but doesn’t have the resources to do so. Hence he dedicates himself to the service of God by treating his legs as the pillars of the temple, his body the holy shrine, his head the cupola or the golden dome of the temple.
Since he is not allowed to worship in the temples, he decides to worship the Lord in his own – heart and yield to His every’ wish. He declares that he will move (or obey) to the commands of the Lord because that is the way in which he can be closest to the Lord. ‘Things standing shall fall’ refers to the temples which can be destroyed by earthquakes, floods or the wind, whereas the heart filled with devotion towards the lord shall ever stay immortal.
Vachana Poem Summary in Kannada
