All revolutions are spiritual at the source. All my activities have the sole purpose of achieving a union of hearts
Who is Vinoba Bhave? What are they Interests and Education, Childhood, Family
Vinoba Bhave was reverently called as Acharya Vinoba Bhave. He was considered as Mahatma Gandhi’s Spiritual Successor. His Bhoodan (Gift of the Land) movement started April 18, 1951 attracted the attention of the world.
Vinoba Bhave’s original name was Vinayak Narahari Bhave. He was born on September 11, 1895 in Bramhin family at the village of Gagoda in Kolaba district of Maharashtra’s saints and philosophers. He was also deeply interested in Mathematics.
In 1916, while, while on his way to Mumbai to appear for the intermediate examination, he took a detour and reached Varanasi. He was motivated by his desire to attain the imperishable and all pervading Brahma. Vinoba Bhave studied the ancient Sanskrit texts in Varanasi.
Met Gandhi ji
Gandhiji’s speech at the Benaras Hindu University inspired Vinoba Bhave a lot which made him write a letter to Gandhiji and after a few exchange of letters, Gandhiji advised to come for a personal meeting at Kocharb Ashram in Ahmadabad.
Vinoba Bhave went and met Gandhiji on June 07, 1916 and his meeting changed his life completely. He developed a deep bond with the Mahatma Gandhi and Participated with keen interest in the activities at Gandhi’s ashram, like teaching, studying, spinning and improving the life of the community.
Gandhi ji asked him to take the charge of the ashram at Wardha in 1921. After a year, Acharya Vinoba Bhave bought out Maharashtra Dharma, a monthly in Marathi, which had sis essays on the Upanishads, he. He increased his involvement with Gandhiji constructive programmes related to Khadi, village industries, new education, sanitation, and hygiene.
Went to Nalwadi
In December 23, 1932, Vinoba Bhave shifted to Nalwadi from where he supported himself by spinning alone. Later when he was sick in 1938, he shifted to what he called Parmdham Ashram Paunar, which his headquarters. In 1940, he was chosen by Gandhi to be the first individual Satyagrahi. Vinoba Bhave also took part in the Quit India Movement.
After independence, he initiated and got himself engaged in many social reform movements such as Bhoodan Movement and the Sarvodya Movement. He also made some notorious dacoits of Chambal to surrender.
Vinoba’s religious outlook was very board and it synthesized the truths of many religious. This can be seen of his hymns, “Om Tat” which contains symbols of many religious. He was also scholar of many languages.
Spiritual Foundation, Non-violence
Vinoba observed the life of the average Indian living in a village and tried to find solutions to the problems he faced with firm spiritual foundation, which formed the core his Sarvodya ( Awakening of all Potentials) movement and Bhoodan (land Gift) movement.
He walked all across India asking with land consider him as one of their sons and so, give him a portion of their land which he then distributed among the landless poor. Non-violence and compassion being a hallmark of his philosophy, he also campaigned against the slaughtering of cows.
In 1970, Acharya Vinoba Bhave announced his decision to stay at one place. He observed a year of silence from December 25, 1974 to December 25, 1975. He then breathed his last on November 15, 1982, after refusing food and medicine a, few days earlier. In 1958, Vinoba was the first recipient of the international Ramon Magsaysay Award for community Leadership. He was posthumously honored with Bharat Ratna in 1984.