Saints like Basavanna should return to reform society, now driven by greed and materialism, Justice A S Pachhapure said on Friday.
Speaking at the Basava Jayanti celebrations organised by Basava Samiti, the High Court judge said, “It is easy to learn the vachanas of Basavanna by heart and deliver lectures on them. But it is difficult to practise them.”
He said he had been trying to live by what Basavanna said in just one vachana (Kalabeda, kolabeda), but that had not been easy.
“Basavanna says don’t steal or harm others, don’t lie, don’t discriminate between your people and others. But, every day, when I retrospect, I feel I have failed this vachana in some way or the other,” he said.
He said people can overcome their problems if they practise what Basavanna preached.
“He says don’t ask who that stranger is, but embrace him as your own. Despite claiming to be followers of Basavanna, we spend all our lives asking people about their caste,” Pachhapure said.
At the conclusion of his speech, the judge sang a hymn he had written on Basavanna, praying for his return to rid society of its evils.