It was an age of the Renaissance and Revolution in India. It was an age where seekers, saints and revolutionaries; great thoughts, words and deeds were often glorified and criticized. There were giant men of great honor, dignity and resolution, who strode through fire and mire with equanimity. One such revolutionary was Acharya Vinoba Bhave.
His Birth and a Beginning
His forefathers hailed from Ratnagiri and were high caste Brahmins. They had settled in Limb village of Satara in Maharashtra, India. In 1807, the Britishers handed over the village of Gagoda, in Kolaba district of Maharashtra to Vinoba's forefather Narsingh Rao Bhave. There, they built a small temple in honor of Shiva - Koteshwar. Vinoba's grandfather Shambhu Rao and grandmother Gangabai devoted themselves to the work in the temple and on their land. They had three sons : Narhari Rao, Gopala Rao and Govind Rao.
Once Shambhu Rao invited a Muslim musician to stay in the temple and sing bhajans and classical songs. The conservative families objected to this act as a violation of the sanctity of the temple, but Shambhu Rao ignored their protests and had his way. He abhorred baseless orthodox notions and communal discrimination. His wife Gangabai too was a spirited lady. She was an enthusiastic lady and at the age of 55, she wanted to learn to read and write. So, she asked her son Govind to write the Marathi alphabets on the kitchen wall as she taught herself to read and write between her various household chores.
Narhari Rao was very intelligent and studious. After passing his matriculation examination, he wished to go for further studies to college. His father was against English education, so Narhari Rao joined Kala Bhavan at Baroda. He learnt dyeing, getting a diploma in textile technology and took up a clerical job. He was then married to Rukminibai of the Godbole family of Sangli. A son named Vinoba was born to them on September 11, 1895.
Childhood
Mighty Prophet Seer, blest
In whom those truths do rest
That we are toiling all our lives to find.
- Wordsworth
He and his three brothers - Balkrishna, Shivaji and Dattatreya spent their early childhood in the lap of nature, in the hills, forests and fields of Gagoda. They had one sister too, who was married off early, according to the then prevalent customs in rural India. Vinoba grew up in an atmosphere of discipline, loving care, revolutionary ideas and religious intensity.
His mother Rukminibai was a pleasant hardworking lady who chanted Marathi bhajans amidst her daily chores. She was loving and giving by nature and was steeped in tradition and culture. She rendered at home, selfless and devoted service to all who lived with them. In his accounts, Vinoba recollects how he remembered a blind old man, whom they called Andhe Chacha, who lived in their house. He used to make ropes to draw water from the well and do odd jobs in the field. His mother served him with the same devotion as she did the other members of the house. Until he died, Vinoba never knew that he was no relative of theirs. It was his mother who inculcated in him the daya-dharma (mercy & religiosity) highlighted in the Vedas. She imbibed him with compassion, fellow feeling and a high sense of duty.
She also gave him the ascetic and altruistic bent of mind.
The fearlessness with which Vinoba met the bloodthirsty dacoits of the Chambal Valley later, also came to him from his mother.
His mother told him in early childhood that those who love Lord Ram need not fear anyone. The clam serenity that impressed the dacoits and convinced them to accept the principles of non-violence and self-discipline, had its seed in his childhood. They surrendered their arms to him and joined his ashram.
It was once again his mother who encouraged Bramhacharya (celibacy) in him. From his father Vinoba got a sense of dutifulness, detachment and clear and free thinking. He also inherited from him his love of science and maths. His early learning was at home in Gagoda. He learnt to read and write Marathi, his mother tongue at home. From his uncle he learnt about agriculture.
It is said that once as he was going to Konkan, his mother gave him some money to buy mangoes and eat. Vinoba was so detached from his early childhood that he returned from Konkan after his mission without eating anything on the way back. Only when his mother asked him if he had eaten some mangoes, he remembered the money, searched his pockets and returned it to her.
At School
At nine, Vinoba attended school at Baroda. Being a favorite subject, he devoted much time to maths. Not only did he solve his exercises, he often solved the problems for his friends. Once his teacher caught him at it while dictating some notes. Vinoba was engrossed in solving problems for his friends. The teacher noticed this and to test him asked him to read what he had written. Without any hesitation he stood up and repeated the teacher's dictation verbatim. His memory was so sharp that he could repeat whatever he heard, once. He always stood first in his class. In Marathi, he used to get 99 per cent marks. In matriculation, he got 85 per cent marks on the aggregate.
During school life, an incident that stands out, as a remarkable example of non-violence, non-co-operation and his strong will, was the celebration of Shivaji Jayanti commemorating the birth of the great Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji. Vinoba and a group of his friends decided to celebrate Shivaji Jayanti in the ambience of the surrounding hills. They thought that as Shivaji was a noble example of freedom in Indian History, it wouldn't matter if they skipped the history class. They went according to their plans.
The next day as expected, the teacher asked Vinoba why he and his friends had missed their class. They could have easily held the celebrations at school. Vinoba stood up promptly and boldly declared, "Can independence be celebrated in a gaol?" The teacher was very angry and threatened to punish him. Vinoba was prepared for this. He had asked his friends to produce the 25 paise that they had brought as fine for missing the class. He collected the money and handed it over to the teacher without a word.
A Sage in the Making
The internal agitation grew as he turned into a youth. As a college student, he was good at discourse and often had discussions with friends. He hated bad habits in himself and in others as well. He was therefore, selective in his friendship. He was witty. Whenever he was made the target of criticism, he could wittily get out of it and have the proverbial last laugh. Once, someone remarked on his long hair and nails. Prompt came the response, "Why ? Are you a barber ?"
Being brought up in nationalistic atmosphere at home, he deeply loved his motherland and eschewing the ideals of Bramhacharya and for lifelong dedication at her service. To prepare himself for complete detachment, he slept on the floor on a blanket. He never wore chappals. The first chappals he wore were at Wardha when he made them himself in wood.
Before his intermediate exams, he decided to stop studying for graduation and left for Benaras. He had decided to render selfless service to India. What was the need to study for a vocation ? He burnt his certificates and went to Benaras to learn Sanskrit.
A Search and a Finding
The turmoil in him was great. The sage within, drew him to the Himalayas and the revolutionary in him dragged him to Bengal. At about this time, Gandhiji came to Benaras. When Vinoba heard Gandhiji's speeches, he was highly impressed by him. In his speeches, two points highly impressed him. One was to abstain from violence, while the other related to agriculture. According to Gandhiji, violence was the result of fear and suspicion. Those who threw bombs were cowards. They were afraid to come out in the open and to be brave one must be non-violent. Gandhiji exalted farmers and their noble profession because they toiled to feed hungry mouths. Vinoba wrote to him and first met him on June 7, 1916. He and his friends decided to join Gandhiji's ashram after exams. But Vinoba could not hold on so long. He went to Ahmedabad and joined Gandhiji at the Kochrab Ashram, on October 1, 1917, at the age of 21, despite his friends' disagreement.
He wrote later, "Providence took me to Gandhiji and I found in him not only the peace of the Himalayas but also the burning fervor of revolution typical of Bengal. I said to myself, both my desires have been fulfilled."
From Sage to Saint
At the ashram, he lived in rigorous discipline and led a life of extreme austerity. He learnt spinning and left no stone unturned to acquire perfection in it. He decided to live on what he could earn from spinning and spent hours at it besides cooking and fetching water. Scanty food and hard work affected his health. He took one year's leave from the ashram.
During this one year, he lived a rigorously disciplined life. To improve his health, he started walking 10 to 12 miles a day and grinding about 8 kgs of grain everyday. He did 300 Suryanamaskars everyday. Vinoba though revolutionary in spirit, was a scholar with a "tireless striving towards perfection". The first six months of this leave were spent in learning Sanskrit from Shri Narayan Shastri Marathe. He studied the Brahma Sutra and Gita was, of course, his constant companion from those days when he read it to his mother. For the remaining six months, besides practicing Sanskrit, he also walked from one village to another, speaking to the villagers about the Gita. During this time he covered Rajgarh, Sinhagarh and Torangarh. He walked for about 400 miles, preaching the Gita.
He regulated his diet too. His daily diet consisted of 1 kg milk or curd, 2 bhakris, four to five bananas and one lemon sometimes with honey early in the morning. Just as the year was about to end, Vinoba walked to Bombay from Wai and took the train from there, for Ahmedabad. Exactly one year later, Vinoba quietly reached Sabarmati Ashram and joined in the routine work as if he had never been away.
He was a silent worker and more of a recluse. Once again, he was back to spinning, watching the plants and cooking as his daily chore. Once a Harijan boy who cleaned the toilets fell sick and was absent for long period of time. One of Vinoba's friends started sweeping and cleaning the toilets.
Vinoba joined him to keep the ashram clean. Their other inmates of the ashram did not like the idea.
They refused to eat with them at the same place. When Gandhiji came, they complained to him. Gandhiji approved and appreciated Vinoba and his friend's voluntary service. They continued to do so even after the Harijan boy resumed service. This gradually became one of the ashram's disciplines.
On April 8, 1921, Vinoba was deputed to Wardha Ashram by Gandhiji. He later said of him that Vinoba understood him more than he himself could.
Gradually it became a weekly magazine. These editions contained Vinoba's articles on Saint Tukaram's Abhangas (couplets) and essays on the Upanishads. Beside his manifold self-imposed functions, he wanted to realize his inner self. He thought it absolutely necessary for Chitta Shuddhi (purification of the soul). As he says in his talks on Gita; the very fact that there is something within us that is at interest when we do something wrong, indicates that our inner self does not approve of it. That is God, we must realize this through meditation.
In and Out of Jail
It is from here, in 1925, Gandhiji chose him to lead the Flag Satyagraha. But even before he could set it off, he was put behind bars for one month at Nagda. As soon as he came out of prison he took up the leadership of Flag Satyagraha again. He was, as was expected, put into prison at Akola for four months. Undaunted, he came out and left for Satyagraha once again. This time he was jailed for one year. In jail too, he wanted no distinction. His friends were put in C type cells and he was put in B type. He opted to be with his friends and chose to do hard labor with them.
The Freedom Fighter
Thus, began his career as a freedom fighter. In 1925, he was sent to Vykon in Kerala to support Harijan (lower castes) entry into temples. In 1932, he protested against British Rule through his writings. He was therefore jailed at Dhulia for six months. At Dhulia jail, he gave lectures on Geeta to his fellow prisoners and edited the proof of Gitai, which was soon published in simple Marathi for common people to read and understand. Seeing his mother finding it difficult to understand the concepts of Geeta, he had vowed to himself to do so.
Between 1940-41 he was jailed thrice at Nagpur for Individual Satyagraha. He spent about two years in jail. In 1942, he took part in Quit India Movement and was jailed for three years.
His Multilingual Power and Writings
Acharya Vinoba used these intermittent jail periods to read and write. His books on Swarajya Shashtra, Ishavasyavritti and Sthitaprajna Darshan were published during this period.
He also wrote on Sant Gyaneshwar, Eknath and Namdev and compiled devotional songs.
At Vellore jail, he learnt four South Indian languages. By this time he had acquired knowledge of 18 Indian and foreign languages. He learnt Arabic to read the Koran in its original form. He devoted one year to read and thoroughly comprehend the Koran. Besides, he knew French, Persian and English. He also learnt a bit of German. This multilingual power enabled him to read a lot and converse in 15 Indian languages and thus brought him closer to the masses. His reading was centered round philosophical writings, hymns and poetry.
Besides reading various religious and revolutionary texts of the East and the West, he studied Tagore's poetry in depth in Bengali and translated and explained many of his hymns. He loved Shakespeare and Milton and often quoted
'There is a tide in the affair of men' by Shakespeare and 'They also serve who only stand and wait' by Milton. The latter he used to quote with a slight change, to suit his philosophy of faith and dedication - 'They alone serve who only serve and wait'.
The Kritayogi
After Gandhiji's death in 1948, Gandhiji's followers split into two groups - Political Gandhism and Revolutionary Gandhism. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru led the former and brought about changes in India's polity and economy, while the latter was led by Vinoba. He was rightly acclaimed as the spiritual successor of the Mahatma.
In March 1948, Vinoba and some constructive workers of Gandhi met at Sevagram and charted out a programme of Sarvodaya Samaj with the aim of welfare of all, love and non-violence.
The Concept of Sarvodaya
Gandhiji had envisaged a society in which there would be no exploiter and the exploited. All would be equal. Each would work for all and all for each. Gandhi, at first, could not find a naturally, recognized leader who had the charisma to move the masses of India.
The Man of Action
A Sarva Seva Sangh, a charitable organization was formed. Vinoba developed a plan of action so far for 30 years of his life. He was a sage, studying, meditating and writing. With the coming of Sarvodaya (uplift of all) and Bhoodan (gift of land) Yagna, he became a myth maker, a man of action, full of creative ideas on fighting injustice and social evils. His thoughts and ideologies were expressed in his various talks and speeches given between 1950 to 1975. He himself wrote Bhoodan Yagna (1953), Third Power (1972) and Women's Power (1975). His speeches given between 1951-1956 were collected by Nirmala Despande and published by Paramdham Prakashan in 1958. The resolutions passed by Sarvoday Samaj between 1950 to 1960 at the various conferences were also published.
The third meeting of Sarvoday Samaj was held at Hyderabad in 1951. By this time, the poverty stricken hungry people had become restless and frustrated. Communism was gaining grounds in the south. The Nizams had unleashed a reign of terror. The Marxists Communists retorted with vengeance and violence. The common people distressed and pressed between the two craved for peace. After the meeting, Vinoba toured through the villages in Andhra Pradesh, talked to the villagers and the communist prisoners. He learnt from them that 80 per cent of the poverty-stricken population of India were agrarian. They were craving for an economic revolution. Looking for a Messiah who would give them at least five acres of land to feed their hunger. The Government had abolished the Zamindari system legally. But the evil was so ingrained in the Indian social structure that law could not solve the problem.
Bhoodan Yagna
It happened at Pochampalli (Telangana) about 40 Harijan families appealed to Vinoba to give them just two acres of land each so that they could till, toil and eat. Their demand was just. Casually he asked at the meeting, "Is there anyone who can give me 80 acres of land ?"
To the great surprise of all present, a rich farmer Ram Chandra Reddy declared that he would donate 100 acres of land to the Harijans. This was on April 18, 1951. Vinoba was still more surprised when the Harijans said they needed only 80 acres and would thankfully return the remaining 20 acres to him. This was the initiation of the Bhoodan Movement and then began the great foot march of the great Saint.
For 51 days he walked through 200 villages of Telangana, collecting an average of 300 acres of land per day. At the end of this period, he had 12,201 acres of land in his kitty. Before he left the village, he left behind him a three-member committee of Sarvodaya Sevaks to distribute the land among the landless and help them develop according to the plans of Sarvodaya. After his departure, Sarvodaya workers collected another 1,00,000 acres in his name.
Thus, he plodded on from one state to another, begging for the landless for over 13 years. Wherever he went he worked round the clock. His day began at 3.30 am and after a session of prayers and hymns at 4.30, the day would see the saintly old man clad in a loincloth, a shawl and sandals striding from village to village in his quick, firm gait. He was usually silent in the first half hour, which he set out for thinking.
In their Annual Sarvoday Conference in 1953, in Bihar he declared his target to be 50 million acres of land by the end of 1957. He had set out from Paunar Ashram on September 12, 1951 and for 13 years he trudged through mud and mire, dust and heat, cold, hail, rain or sunshine, undaunted and returned on April 10, 1964. The result of this marathon run was a collection of 4,381,871 acres of land by the target date, and the distribution of 654,641acres of land. He walked through Bihar and collected 23 lakh acres of land. He also walked through UP, Orissa and Kerala.
During this period his outlook and output had also changed. He had moved from Atma Shuddhi (self-purification) and Chitta Suddhi (purifying and recognizing the God within) to God in the masses.
Just as Bhoodan was waning, Vinoba started the campaign of Gramdan (village donation). This encouraged the landlords to hand over their land as the property of the whole village. It gave a new impetus to the movement. By 1969, he had collected 10,000 villages, 7000 blocks and 17 districts. Vinoba believed that like air, water and sunshine, land too was a gift of God. When a landlord was giving his land, he was not giving it away, the land was God's and going to God from a self to a larger self. It was a weaponless war. About the success of non-violence, over the violence of Marxism and Maoism, Vinoba said, "We do not believe in acts of kindness but are creating a kingdom of kindness". By the end of 1970, the Gramdan movement had collected 1,60,000 villages, almost 1/3 of the total number of Indian villages. Never had a movement been so successful during which he had walked more than 2,00,000 miles.
Along with Bhoodan, he had launched in all 65 other programs, all related to the upliftment of Indian masses - through Sarvodaya. The chief among them was Kanchan Mukti (freedom from love of gold). In this, Vinoba asked the people to be free from the greed of gold and give Sampattidan (donation of wealth).
If they had no money or property, Vinoba requested them to donate their labor to cultivate and make their land productive - Shramdan. He also accepted Snyanjali or gift of thread to encourage spinning. With Jayprakash Narayan vowing to devote his life to the cause of Sarvoday, Jeevandan (devoting of life for non-violent revolution) was introduced. Many youths and retired strong men gave Jeevandan and joined Sarvodaya movement.
Shanti Sena
Vinoba also created the Shanti Sena to look after the donated villages, distribute the land and promote non-violence. They were to render their services to all men without distinction. They were to acquire untainted character, fearlessness, trust and freedom from partisanship.
In their primary training of the army, they had to do drills, follow discipline, pray and sing chorus songs together. There was to be a Sarvodaya Patra. As was customary in India, a housewife habitually kept the first 'Chapati' for a cow, the next for a dog. Vinoba appealed to them to put what they wanted to give away in the Patra. The youngest member of the family was to put it in the Sarvodaya Patra, and a Shanti Sainik was to collect it at the end of the day. This made the Sarvodaya Patra an active vote for the approval of Sarvodaya Program. It was also a decentralized system winning the common support of the peace army. The Shanti Sena was to give full time service in removing the causes of dissension and to find peaceful solution to national problems at the village level. In this way Vinoba prepared 9,000 full time workers and 20,000 others to give part time service to the cause of Sarvodaya.
In Bhoodan Yagna he says, "My movement is primarily a moral movement for the regeneration of our people and the reorientation of the socio-economic values of life." He left behind more than 100 Gramdan pockets; some consisting of 100 villages approximately, where Gandhians settled for long-term developmental efforts.
Vinoba returned to his Paunar Ashram in June 1970. From there, he continued to sponsor new programs. Chief among them was awakening of women and opposition to cow slaughter. He went on fast unto death against cruelty to cows and finally got it legally banned in 1979. He took Sanyas thereafter, and observed a vow of silence from December 25, 1974 to December 25, 1975.
Unfortunately this period clashed with Indira Gandhi's imposition of emergency. People like Jayprakash Narayan and N G Gore criticized him for avoiding an issue of such magnitude by keeping silence when India was looking at him for guidance. But Vinoba never claimed to be a politician. Though he was not in favor of autocratic rule he asked the people to impose self-discipline, and then there would be no need for discipline from outside. After suffering a heart attack in 1982 Vinoba took Samadhi. He stopped eating. He light-heatedly declared that he wanted to leave his body before his body left him. He died on November 15, 1982.
The Man and his Morals
Judging Vinoba through, mortal standards would be injustice for basically he was a man of God. The Gita recognizes 3 kinds of yoga : Gyan Yoga, Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. Vinoba added the fourth - the Sanya Yoga. According to him, if God is there in everything and everyone, then if you hurt another, you hurt yourself. The stone that was hit, was hit by God and it was God who was hit. Thereby class, caste, creed, communal hatred, racial prejudices all become meaningless.
Egolessness
At the roof of these evils were Ignorance, Disunity, Oppression, Stagnation, Poverty and Disease. Therefore, according to Vinoba one must develop Sarvodaya Thought which aimed at Spiritual, Cultural, Economic, Health, Educational and Organizational Development. It was God oriented and encouraged psychological oneness.
The path that would lead one to the above achievement would be through Hope, Egolessness, Equality, Constructive Activity, Love, Co-operation and Sharing.
Vinoba suggested that since man often prefers to sacrifice himself and suffer privations for others, Man is something higher than a mere physical body.
Freedom
He thought that Gramdan would lead to Gramswaraj or decentralized self-governing states. He told the people that freedom doesn't mean depending on the government in a democratic state. Real freedom was complete self-sufficiency. If we depend on Government there could be no true democracy. He basically believed in changing man's environment rather than his law and institutions. With inner change, law and institutions would automatically change. Gandhiji called him a Kritayogi because he did what he believed in. Therefore, for the first 30 years of his life in ashram, he read, meditated, relentlessly disciplined himself by hard work and self-imposed privations. He came out only when he realized that he believed what he said and had practiced what he was going to preach. Geeta was his constant companion and Gandhi his idol.
One cannot be a good leader, who cannot be a good follower. He was no blind follower. He had a sharp clear intellect and an independent mind. According to him, to Gandhi, egoism was the root of all evil. It led to Possession, Competition, Hatred, Harsh Speech, Destructive Activity and Inequality. This in turn led to decadent villages. All the above gave rise to it meant another kind of slavery. One must get rid of this slavish mentality, to be truly democratic.
Power
Passion for power he thought showed the incompetence of man. All organized life required distribution of power or decentralization. This would come from inner change - bringing a sea change in the minds of men.
Rajniti and Lokniti (Politics and Humanitarianism)
Political parties and Rajniti are bound to bring passion for power and prejudice. The only solution to this was lokniti or decentralization and self-control. His concept was the concept of moral and communal man. A real sanyasi according him was one who could identify himself with the community. His idea of Gram Swaraj has been criticized as rather impractical and Utopian. But Vinoba says "We have no ambition to reconstitute all the villages of India into Gram Swaraj by ourselves on the basis of a single model" but he deeply believed that Dharma together with science and self-knowledge could make it fruitful.
Educator and Education
He considered learned Acharyas (teachers) as superior to the government. According to Vinoba, education should be free of Government intervention and acharyas should impart only that education, which makes a child fearless, self-controlled and confident enough to think freely. He also stressed that education should be imparted in the pupil's mother tongue and teachers should themselves be above board, fearless, non-malicious and unprejudiced. They should not be influenced by partisanship. "Only that country, said Vinoba, is educated where fearlessness, self-control and free thought give expression."
Spinning
He thought that spinning was the one handicraft, which should be preached and practiced by all Sarvodaya workers, including Shanti Sena. It was to him the only answer to the growing unemployment and the resulting physical and mental deterioration. Khadi was also the answer to the unclothed millions of India. During Bhoodan, he also accepted Sutanjali or the gift of hand-woven thread.
Women
He idealized women as Shakti - the mother. He venerated them for divine qualities of restraint, modesty and mother power. Being mothers they were compassionate so they could bring about a rule of compassion. Men he said were violent by nature. Women were strong and they could suffer privations yet remain non-violent. Therefore he encouraged women to enroll as Gram Sevaks and run the Gram Swaraj. He also encouraged women to remain Brahmacharins or female ascetics and divide their time to of the quest for Brahma (creator of the world) and do missionary propaganda for Sarvodaya.
His methodical way of working out plans; Original and novel way of interpreting and applying the Vedantas, Gita and Upanishads; his analytical method of understanding problems and providing solutions, all show him as Creative and Original. He had tremendous strength and determination that won him laurels and honor from India and abroad. When the world was torn by violence and dissension he gave us the cry of Jai Jagat (victory to the world). He was the very epitome of Peace, a prophet of Humanitarianism.
Sarva Dharma Samanway
He deeply studied Islam and Christianity beside all the Hindu religious tenets and came to the conclusion that we are all of one family. India is a land of synthesis and fusion. The ethics taught in the Hindu texts are also preached by Christ, Buddha, Mahavira and Islam. Only they have stressed more on ethics. They have all preached Peace and Brotherhood. Islam meant Peace and Vinoba thought that Charity and Economics were more developed in Islam than in Hinduism. Vinoba particularly liked this Islamic Kalma - "There is no other God except God and Mohammed is the Prophet of God." He interpreted it as there is only one God. All religions believe in that. The latter part he says, means, Mohammed is the prophet of God.
Of the three Gunas in the Gita : Satva (divine), Rajas (dynamism) and Tamas (ignorance); Vinoba says that Tamas is the lowest because it signifies laziness. It is no doubt the root of all evils. It corrupts everyone and destroys all peace and happiness. To shake off laziness one must labor (bodily labor) and conquer sleep. Sleep does not bring rest if dreams or restlessness torment it. A short sleep but a tranquil one is good Swadharma (self religion) means devoting all our energies to the work at hand and Karmayoga means Chitta Shuddhi, which we get by performing all actions without craving for the fruit. The third quality Satva is self-realization and refuge in Bhakti.
Satyagraha and Non-violence
To Vinoba, Satyagraha was a way of life, a way of doing and remedying things. The only way to achieve it was through continuous service and self-purification. A true Satyagrahi is not a threat to Government or society. He is truthful, positive, gentle, happy and leads people to happiness and truth. It paves the way for democracy and can ultimately save the world. It preaches change of heart without external pressure. Non-violent resistance and assistance can only arise from right thinking. A Satyagrahi must keep oneself detached from politics and public opinion.
In the context of the reign of violence and terrorism, he said, "It is a delusion that only when all nations are armed and strong will there be peace among men. That was the belief in early India when Brahmins like Valmiki and Vashishtha did not think in using the armed Kshatriyas like Lord Ram to protect them from evil."
They themselves abstained from all kinds of violence and adopted vegetarianism, but did not think it wrong to seek protection from violent king. Vinoba like Gandhi, believed that at no cost or condition should a non-violent warrior resort to violence or encourage others to be violent. He should be able to maintain absolute calm and equanimity in most fearful situations.
'Nonviolence', said Vinoba, is "the creed of the most courageous not cowards". Like a prophet he says, "The efforts to establish non-violence through violence, have failed innumerable times, and they shall not only fail in future too but make the whole humanity unsuccessful."
Standing at the crossroads of terrorism and the impending world war, the words of Vinoba ring true, loud and clear, now, more than ever before. According to him, as to Gandhi, a nation will become really strong if it is free from inner conflicts. A country should be defended not by arms but fearlessness, ethical behavior and unity.
Vinoba Bhave was defined by various enlightened men as Man of God, spiritual revolutionary, one man university and the reckless fakir. The saint, who was the spiritual heir of Gandhi and the moral anarchist, are still too few phrases to define the magnanimity of his personality. Vinoba stood as a symbol of struggle of good against evil, of spiritual against mundane. He was a spiritual visionary, whose spirituality had a pragmatic stance with intense concern for the deprived.
At Sabarmati Ashram, he silently, yet deliberately and persistently cultivated his saintliness, and as a spiritual successor of Gandhi he contributed greatly to solve the socio-economic problems of post independent and post-Gandhian era. Where Marxism failed, Vinoba won in defeating feudalism and capitalism through non-violence.
September 11, 1895
Vinoba was born in Gagode, Maharashtra.
1904
Joined school at Baroda.
1913
Passed his matriculation examination.
March 1916
Dropped Intermediate examination and went to Varanasi to study Sanskrit.
June 7, 1916
Joined Gandhiji at Kochrab Ashram.
April 18, 1921
Sent by Gandhiji to Wardha Ashram.
1923
Brought out a Marathi monthly - Maharashtra Dharma.
1932
Jailed for three months at Dhulia.
1940
Headed Individual Satyagraha
1942
Jailed for three years at Vellore and Seoni.
1948
Moved to Sevagram.
Edited Maharashtra Dharma
1950
Launched Kanchan Mukti (freedom from love of gold and money).
April 1951
Attended Sarvodaya Conference at Shivnampalli and started peace march through Telangana.
September 12, 1951
Launched Bhoodan Yagna.
1952
Foot marched through Andhra Pradesh and collected 300 acres of land per day.
1952-1954
Walked through Orissa, Tamilnadu and Kerala and collected 25 lakh acres of land.
1954
Jayprakash Narayan gave Jeevandan to Sarvodaya movement.
May 1960
Dacoits of Chambal Valley surrendered to Vinoba.
October 7, 1970
Decided to stay at his Ashram.
December 25, 1974 to December 25, 1975
Observed a vow of silence.
1976
Observed a fast unto death to stop cow slaughter.
November 15, 1982
Took Samadhi (died).
• The worth of a society is judged by the individual.
• I believed if man tries to be like Christ then he becomes genteel. If a woman tries to acquire Christ like qualities she will not only retain her own gentle qualities but also the qualities that she has acquired will become more forceful than man's.
• Anger is dangerous but jealousy is still more dangerous.
• The way of women is the way of compassion.
On Science and Scientist
• "Science has power, dynamism and flow but it does not have a direction - only Adhyatman (pervader of self) can provide the direction."
The Rich and the Poor
• It is a curious phenomena that God has made the hearts of the poor, rich and those of the rich, poor.
On Gandhi and Marx
• For the first we must cook a meal for the second we must light a funeral pyre.
On Man and Government
• What we should aim at is the creation of people power, which is opposed to the power of violence and is different from the coercive power of state.
On Education
• Education should be able to claim that it can guard our nation with non-violence. Education which fails to cultivate this confidence is slavish education. It can only teach dependence.
• We must make English an instrument for gaining knowledge, but not with eyes blindfolded.
• It is no exaggeration to say that a human being without education is not far removed from an animal. Education is therefore necessary for women as it is for men.
On War and Peace
• The whole world is in a terrible dilemma while the search is for peace preparations are going on for war.
