A Democrat of Devotion (A Novel)

A Democrat of Devotion is a short novel, which depicts the extraordinary life of a utopian visionary, Basaveswara, who, though born in a traditional brahmin family, rebelled against the evils of agrahara-culture, temple-culture with its attendant devadasi system, priestly exploitation, caste-discrimination (or varnasrama system), and struggled to bring in religious equality, social equality and gender equality in life through his missionary agenda preached and practiced in his famous Anubhava Mantapa or Mystic Academy, (also known as the first Parliament of India) resembling Plato's Academy. His mystic lyrics known as vacanas are known for their social satire and intensity of his devotion to God. He was known as the Treasurer of Faith (Bhakti Bhandari) and Elder Brother of Mankind. He is easily comparable to the other great free thinkers of the world like Jesus Christ, Bhagawan Buddha, St. Augustine, Swedenborg, Karl Marx, Martin Luther King, William Blake, George Herbert, Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar among others in different aspects.