The scholar Basavaraju compiled 1321 extant poems of Allama Prabhu in his work "Allamana Vachana Chandrike" (1960). These poems are known to cover an entire range, from devotion to final union with God. The poems give little information about Allama's early life and worldly experiences before enlightenment. In the words of the scholar Ramanujan, to a saint like Allama, "the butterfly has no memory of the caterpillar". His wisdom is reflected in his poems–only a small portion of which are on the devotee aspect ("bhakta", poems 64–112). More than half of the poems dwell on the later phase ("sthala") in the life of a saint, most are about union with god and of realization ("aikya", poems 606–1321). His poems use the phrase "Lord of the caves" or "Guheswara" to refer to Shiva, and this practice states Subramanian is because Allama Prabhu received his enlightenment in a cave temple. Allama was devoted to the worship of Shiva. He used his vachanas to spread Lingayathism, which is monotheistic and nondualistic, and has a strong egalitarian message. Its philosophy and practice is presented in the "Panchacaras", five codes of conduct, and the "Shatsthala", six phases or steps toward unity with Shiva. For the "vacanakaras" (Vachana poets), "first-hand 'seeing' was more important to their poetry than theological formulations." Nevertheless, the Shatsthala system provides a narrative structure to the vachanas, portraying a progress toward the union with Shiva. Later anthologies, with the notable exception of the "Shoonya Sampadane", followed this scheme in their arrangement of the vachanas. Although Allama Prabhu and the Vacanas have been qualified as bhakti poets, D.R. Nagaraj notes that Allama Prabhu was not a bhakti poet. Nagaraj explains that Allama's "insistence on opaque and mysterious modes of metaphor is in stark contrast with the emotionally transparent model of bhakti." Allama Prabhu used poetry, now part of "Vachana Sahitya" literature, to criticise rituals and social conventions, to breakdown social barriers and to emphasize moral values and devotional worship of Shiva. The vacanakaras, of which Allama was a prominent spokesman, rejected both the 'great' traditions of Vedic religion and the 'little' local traditions, and questioned and ridiculed "classical belief systems, social customs and superstitions, image worship, the caste system, the Vedic ritual of yajna, as well as local sacrifices of lambs and goats."