Vinoba Bhave

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bhoodan Movement
HonoursRamon Magsaysay Award (1958)
Bharat Ratna (1983)
Websitevinobabhave.org

Vinayak Narahari Bhave, also known as Vinoba Bhave (pronunciation

Bhoodan Movement. He is considered as National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He was an eminent philosopher. The Gita has been translated into the Marathi language by him with the title Geetai (meaning 'Mother Gīta' in Marathi).[2]

Early life and background

Vinayak Narahari Bhave was born on 11 September 1895 in a small village called Gagoji (present-day Gagode Budruk) in

Baroda. Vinayaka was brought up by his grandfather, Shamburao Bhave and was greatly influenced by his mother Rukmini Devi, a religious woman from Karnataka. Vinayaka was highly inspired after reading the Bhagavad Gita, at a very young age.[3]

A report in the newspapers about Gandhi's speech at the newly founded

intermediate examination
. He wrote a letter to Gandhi and after an exchange of letters, Gandhi advised Bhave to come for a personal meeting at
Kochrab Ashram in Ahmedabad. Bhave met Gandhi on 7 June 1916 and subsequently abandoned his studies. Bhave participated with a keen interest in the activities at Gandhi's ashram, like teaching, studying, spinning and improving the lives of the community. His involvement with Gandhi's constructive programmes related to Khadi, village industries, new education (Nai Talim), sanitation and hygiene also kept on increasing.

Bhave went to

Harijans
to the temple.

Bhave was arrested several times during the 1920s and 1930s and served a five-year jail sentence in the 1940s for leading non-violent resistance to

British rule. The jails for Bhave had become the places of reading and writing. He wrote Ishavasyavritti and Sthitaprajna Darshan in jail. He also learnt four South Indian languages and created the script of Lok Nagari at Vellore
jail. In the jails, he gave a series of talks on the Bhagavad Gita in Marathi, to his fellow prisoners. Bhave participated in the nationwide civil disobedience periodically conducted against the British and was imprisoned with other nationalists. Despite these many activities, he was not well known to the public. He gained national prominence when Gandhi chose him as the first participant in a new nonviolent campaign in 1940. All were calling him by his short name, Vinoba. Bhave's younger brother Balkrishna was also a Gandhian. Gandhi entrusted him and
Urali Kanchan where Balkrishna spent all his life.[4][5][6][7]

Career

Freedom struggle

Vinoba Kutir at Sabarmati Ashram

He was associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. He stayed for some time at Gandhi's Sabarmati ashram in a cottage that was named after him, 'Vinoba Kutir'. He gave talks on the Bhagavad Gita in Marathi to his fellow ashramites. These were later published in book form, as Talks on the Gita, and it has been translated into many languages both in India and elsewhere. Bhave felt that the source of these talks was something from above and he believed that its influence would endure even if his other works were forgotten.

In the year 1940, he was chosen by Gandhi to be the first individual Satyagrahi (an individual standing up for Truth instead of a collective action) against the British rule.[8] It is said that Gandhi envied and respected Bhave's celibacy, a vow he made in his adolescence, in fitting with his belief in the Brahmacharya principle. Bhave also participated in the Quit India Movement.

Religious and social work

Gandhi and Bhave

Bhave's religious outlook was very broad and it synthesized the truths of many religions. This can be seen in one of his hymns "Om Tat Sat" which contains symbols of many religions. His slogan "जय जगत्" (Jay Jagat) i.e. "victory to the world" finds reflection in his views about the world as a whole.

Bhave observed the life of the average Indian living in a village and tried to find solutions for the problems he faced with a firm spiritual foundation. This formed the core of his

Non-violence
and compassion is a hallmarks of his philosophy, he also campaigned against the slaughtering of cows.

Bhave said, "I have walked all over India for 13 years. In the backdrop of the enduring perpetuity of my life's work, I have established 6 ashrams."

Brahma Vidya Mandir

The Brahma Vidya Mandir was founded in 1959 in Paunar, Maharashtra and is one of the ashrams established by Bhave. It was created for women to become self-sufficient and practice non-violence within the community. They used Gandhi's beliefs, which was heavily influenced by the Bhagavad-Gita, to aid in agricultural practices that were non-violent and produce sustainable food. The community performed prayers as a group every day, reciting from the Isha Upanishad at dawn, the Vishnu Sahasranama at mid-morning, and the Bhagavad-Gita in the evening. As of today, there are around 25 women who are members of the community and several men have also been allowed to join the community.[9]

BVM's existence demonstrates how a self sufficient community can apply non-violence and radical democracy to their own social and geographic context in food production. One mainstream narrative is that large-scale agriculture is "inevitable, necessary, and the sole possibility of feeding the world" and relies on expensive technology. However, BVM rejects this narrative and continues to use Gandhian principles in agriculture such as nonviolence. Unfortunately, BVM is a small community in India and does not hold much power to promote its beliefs and practices in the mainstream. Most agricultural practices in India has adopted US-style consumerism. BMV is still important as its ideals can help shape agriculture for the better and focus less on profit.[9]

Literary career

Vinoba Bhave was a scholar, thinker, and writer who produced numerous books. He was a translator who made Sanskrit texts accessible to the common man. He was also an orator and linguist with an excellent command of several languages (Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, English, and Sanskrit).

Bhave was an innovative social reformer. He called "Kannada" script the "Queen of World Scripts" (Vishwa Lipigala Raani).

Adi Shankaracharya, the Bible and the Quran
. His views of Dnyaneshwar's poetry and works by other Marathi saints are pretty brilliant and a testimony to the breadth of his intellect.

Bhave had translated the Bhagavad Gita into Marathi. He was deeply influenced by the Gita and attempted to imbibe its teachings into his life, often stating that "The Gita is my life's breath".[12]

Vinoba Bhave University, located in Hazaribagh district in the state of Jharkhand, is named after him.

Vinoba Bhave and Land Donation Movement

On 18 April 1951,

Bhoodan Movement
. He took donated land from landowner Indians and gave it away to the poor and landless, for them to cultivate. Then after 1954, he started to ask for donations from whole villages in a programme he called Gramdan. He got more than 1000 villages by way of donations. Out of these, he obtained 175 donated villages in Tamil Nadu alone. Noted Gandhian and an atheist Lavanam was the interpreter for Bhave during his land reform movement in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Orissa.[15]

Later life and death

Building in the Paunar ashram

Bhave spent the later part of his life at his Brahma Vidya Mandir ashram in Paunar in Wardha district of Maharashtra. He died on 15 November 1982 after refusing food and medicine for a few days by accepting "Samadhi Maran" / "Santhara" as described in Jainism.[16] Then the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, who was visiting Moscow to attend the funeral of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, cut short her visit to be at the Bhave's funeral.[17]

Criticism

Pra Ke Atre publicly criticised him and mocked him by writing an article titled "Vanaroba" which is a disambiguation of the name "Vinoba" and means monkey
.

Awards and recognition

In 1958 Bhave was the first recipient of the international Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.[19] He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1983.[20]

Vinoba Bhave, The Man, a documentary film on the social-reformer directed by

Films Division.[21] Indian film director Sarvottam Badami had earlier made another documentary on him, Vinoba Bhave, in 1951.[22]

Select bibliography

See also

References

  1. ^ Umarji, Vinay (13 June 2016), "Know Your Smart City: Gujarat", Business Standard
  2. ^ "Geetai".
  3. .
  4. ^ Kumarappa B. ed. (1954) Gandhi M. Nature cure. Navajivan Publishing House.
  5. ^ "The Nisargopachar Ashram – Naturopathic Centre Urulikanchan, Pune". aarogya.com.
  6. ^ "Desai, Manibhai Bhimbhai". rmaf.org.ph.
  7. .
  8. .
  9. ^ .
  10. ^ "Kannada Language: Check These 7 Amazing Facts About The Queen of Languages!". Jagranjosh.com. 28 April 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  11. ^ Chai, The Masala (3 June 2021). "Kannada Is Known As The 'Queen of World Scripts': Vinoba Bhave". Masala Chai Media. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  12. ^ www.mkgandhi.org
  13. ^ The Un-Gandhian Gandhi: The Life and Afterlife of Mahatma – By Claude Markovits
  14. ^ "The King of Kindness: Vinoba Bhave and His Nonviolent Revolution". Markshep.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  15. .
  16. .
  17. .
  18. ^ Biography of Vinoba Bhave. rmaf.org.ph
  19. ^ List of Bharat Ratna Awardees recipients accessed in January 2010
  20. ^ "Vinoba Bhave The Man - Films Division". Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
  21. . Retrieved 12 August 2012.

Further reading

External links