Chapter - 3: The Temple and the Body (Vachana)
— By Basavana
Comprehension Questions
I. Answer briefly the following questions.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
a) What opposite ideas are suggested in ‘things standing shall fall’?
Answer:
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.
“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. ”
Answer:
II. 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.
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. 2) What is the figure of speech used here? Answer: The figure of speech used here is a metaphor. 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.
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 for a 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.
2) Vachana Poem Summary in English 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’.
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