Certain gods
always stand watch
at the doors of people.
Some will not go if you ask them to go.
Worse than dogs, some others.
What can they give,
these gods,
who live off the charity of people
O lord of the meeting rivers?

— Basavanna (translated in Speaking of Siva)

The rich
will make temples for Siva.
What shall I,
a poor man,
do?
My legs are pillars,
the body the shrine,
the head a cupola
of gold.
Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.

— Basavanna (translated in Speaking of Siva)

They plunge
wherever they see water.
They circumambulate
every tree they see.
How can they know you
O Lord
who adore
waters that run dry
trees that wither?

— Basavanna (translated in Speaking of Siva)

Nimbavve’s my mother: she lives
By fetching water,
Cennayya is my father:
He fetches fodder for the royal stable…

— Basava Vachanajali

The son of the slave in Untouchable Channayya’s house,
The daughter of the maid in Butcher Kakkayya’s house.
Those two went to the fields to gather dung
and fell in love.
I’m the son born of these two;
the lord of the meeting rivers is my witness.

—The Lord of the Meeting Rivers

Look here, dear fellow:
I wear these men’s clothes
only for you.
Sometimes I am man,
sometimes I am woman.

— Basavanna (translated in Speaking of Siva)

How can I feel right
about a god who eats up lacquer and melts,
who wilts when he sees fire?
How can I feel right
about gods you sell in your need,
and gods you bury for fear of thieves?

— Basavanna (translated in Speaking of Siva)

“Let what could happen tomorrow come to us today,
Let what could happen today come to us here and now,
Who is afraid of this?
A person born will also die
Neither Hari nor Brahma can override what my Koodala Sangama Deva has written.”

— Kanavi

Earth is one and the same
For pariah street
And Shiva temple;
Water is one and the same
For washing shit and ritual cleaning;
All castes are one
For a man with self-knowledge…

—Basavanna (translated in I Keep Vigil of Rudra)