Acharya Vinoba Bhave

Acharya Vinoba Bhave was one of India’s best-known social reformers and a widely acclaimed disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the founder of the Bhoodan and Gramdan movements. Read here to learn more about his life.

Vinoba Bhave was an Indian proponent of human rights and nonviolence. He is referred to as Acharya (Teacher) frequently and is most recognized for starting the Bhoodan Movement.

He is regarded as Mahatma Gandhi’s spiritual heir and India’s national teacher. A renowned philosopher, he was. He translated the Gita into Marathi under the name Geetai, which is Marathi for “Mother Gita.”

He dedicated his life to serving the poor and the downtrodden and stood up for their rights. For most of his adult life, he led an ascetic style of existence centered on spiritual beliefs.

The early life of Vinoba Bhave

Born Vinayak Narahari Bhave, at Gagode in Kolaba district, Maharashtra on 11 September 1895, he was the eldest son of Narahari Shambhu Rao and Rukmini Devi.

He had four other siblings, three brothers, and one sister. His mother Rukmini Devi was a very religious person and instilled in Vinoba a deep sense of spiritualism.

As a student Vinoba was quite fond of mathematics. He also developed a spiritual conscience quite early having studied the Bhagavad Gita under the tutelage of his grandfather.

He abandoned his high school studies in 1916 to join Gandhi’s ashram at Sabarmati, near Ahmadabad. Gandhi’s teachings led Bhave to a life of austerity dedicated to improving Indian village life.

The name Vinoba (a traditional Marathi epithet signifying great respect) was conferred upon him by Mama Phadke, another member of the Ashram.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave and Gandhi ji

Vinoba was attracted to the principles and ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi and he considered Gandhi his guru, from both political and spiritual points of view.

He followed Gandhi’s leadership without question. Over the years, the bond between Vinoba and Gandhi grew stronger and his involvement in constructive programs for the society kept increasing.

Vinoba worked on the many Gandhian programs in the ashrams the leader established throughout the majority of his life.

• By Gandhi’s instructions, Vinoba traveled to Wardha on April 8, 1921, to take leadership of a Gandhi ashram there.
• Bhave also published a magazine in Marathi called “Maharashtra Dharma” while he was staying in Wardha. His essays on the Upanishads were included in the monthly.
• His political beliefs were based on the idea that freedom could only be attained via principles of nonviolent peace.
• He participated in every one of Gandhi’s political initiatives, even going so far as to attend them.
• He shared Gandhi’s social ideals, such as the equality of Indians and respect for all religions.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s Role in the Freedom Struggle

Vinoba joined the Indian freedom struggle as a result of Mahatma Gandhi’s influence.

• He participated in non-cooperation campaigns, especially the one that encouraged using Swadeshi products rather than imports from abroad.
• He started using the spinning wheel to produce Khadi and encouraged others to do the same, which led to the large-scale manufacture of the fabric.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave was imprisoned in Dhulia for six months in 1932 after the authorities accused him of plotting to overthrow the British.

• He spoke Marathi with the other convicts there while he discussed the many topics of the “Bhagwad Gita.” A book containing all of his Gita lectures delivered in the Dhulia jail was eventually published.

Vinoba Bhave was only known to those close to him until 1940. On October 5, 1940, Mahatma Gandhi made a statement introducing Bhave to the country. Gandhi himself chose him to be the first “Individual Satyagrahi.”

Bhave also participated in the Quit India Movement.

Religious and social work

Vinoba Bhave put in a lot of effort to combat social ills like inequality. He took up the cause of those who were affectionately referred to as Harijans after being inspired by Gandhi’s example.

His goal was to create the kind of society Gandhi had envisioned for a free India.

Gandhi coined the phrase “Progress for All” (Sarvodaya), which he adopted.

The Bhoodan Movement was the main initiative of the Sarvodaya movement, which he led, throughout the 1950s.

Bhoodan movement

• Vinoba Bhave began his peace trek through the violence-hit area of Telangana on foot in 1951. The Pochampalli village’s Harijans asked him to give them about 80 acres of land so they could support themselves.
• Vinoba pleaded with the village’s landowners to step up and help the Harijans. Unexpectedly, a landlord stood up and gave the needed land. A fresh chapter in the story of sacrifice and non-violence was added by this incident.
• The Bhoodan (Gift of the Land) movement was just getting started at the time. Vinoba traveled the entire country, covering a distance of 58741 km, during the thirteen-year movement.
• The Gramdan Movement, also known as the village gift movement, was the next stage of the Bhoodan movement. It attempted to establish community land ownership, resulting in self-sufficient settlements.
• For the village council to manage and distribute the donated land to the inhabitants, the Gramdan movement persuaded the villagers to surrender their land to the council.
• Many political figures supported this campaign, which they saw as a solution to the issue of unequal land distribution in rural India.

Vinoba Bhave set up several Ashrams to promote a simple way of life, devoid of luxuries that took away one’s focus from the Divine.

• He established the Brahma Vidya Mandir in 1959, a small community for women, aiming at self-sufficiency on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings.

As a result of a fast in 1979, he secured the government’s promise to enforce the law prohibiting the killing of cows throughout India.

Death

Bhave lived out the last years of his life at his ashram, the Brahma Vidya Mandir, near Paunar, Wardha, Maharashtra. He rejected food and medication for a few days before succumbing on November 15th, 1982, accepting “Samadhi Maran” / “Santhara” as it is defined in Jainism.

Legacy of Acharya Vinobha Bhave

His important literary works were Swarajya Sastra, Geeta Pravachane, Teesri Shakti, The Third Power, etc.

Vinoba Bhave was criticized for excessive imitation of Gandhi, and blindly following the latter without rational reasoning.

He controversially backed the Indian Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, calling it Anushasana Parva (Time for Discipline).

The international Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership was first given to Bhave in 1958.

In 1983, the Bharat Ratna was bestowed upon him posthumously.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s original project and his philosophy of life are explained in a series of articles collected and published as Bhoodan Yajna (1953, reprinted 1957).

-Article by Swathi Satish