Saturday, July 27, 2013
Vinoba stands as a symbol for the struggle of the good against the evil, of spiritual against the mundane. He was a spiritual visionary, whose spirituality had a pragmatic stance with intense concern for the deprived. He was a brilliant scholar who could knowledge accessible to ordinary people. He was Gandhi's ardent follower, who could retain originality in thinking. As S. Radhakrishnan pointed out, "Indeed his life represents harmonious blend of learning, spiritual perception and compassion for the lowly and the lost." His Bhoodan (Gift of the Land) movement started on April 18, 1951, he attracted the attention of the world. Untouched by publicity and attention, Vinoba had continued his efforts for a just and equitable society. In fact, his life is a saga of his commitment to nonviolent ways of bringing change, his yearning for the highest level of spirituality and his unwavering faith in human values and love.
Vinoba was born in a Brahmin family on
September 11, 1895 at the village of Gagoda in Kolaba district of
Maharashtra. He was named Vinayak at birth and was influenced by his
mother Rukmini Devi, a religious woman. His younger brother, Balkoba
Shivaji, remained unmarried and adopted a life of renunciation and
service to humanity like him.
Vinoba, well-read in the writings of
Maharashtra's saints and philosophers at a young age and deeply
interested in Mathematics, was attracted to the core of learning.
Naturally, the routine course-work was not enough to quench his thirst
for knowledge. His two years in the college remained full of internal
uneasiness and agitation. Early in 1916, he put his school and college
certificate in a fire on his way to Mumbai in March 1916 to appear for
the intermediate examination. He took a fateful decision not to reach
Mumbai, but to reach Varanasi (also called Kashi, then called Benaras).
This decision was motivated by his longing to attain the imperishable
and all pervading Brahma. He got into the study of ancient Sanskrit
test.
The report in the newspapers about
Gandhi's speech at the newly founded Benaras Hindu University attracted
Vinoba's attention. He wrote a letter to Gandhi. After an exchange of
letters, Gandhi advised Vinoba to come for a personal meeting at Kochrab
Ashram in Ahmedabad.
Vinoba went and met Gandhi on June 7,
1916. This meeting changed the course of Vinoba's life. He had said
later "When I was in Kashi, my main ambition was to go to the Himalayas.
Also there was an inner longing to visit Bengal. But neither of the two
dreams could realise. Providence took me to Gandhi and I found in him
not only the peace of the Himalayas but also the burning fervor of
resolution, typical of Bengal. I said to myself that both of my desires
had been fulfilled. Over the years, the bond between Vinoba and Gandhi
grew stronger. Vinoba participated with keen interest in the activities
at Gandhi's ashram, like teaching, studying, spinning and improving the
life of the community.
Asked by Gandhi to take charge of the
ashram at Wardha, Vinoba went to Wardha on April 8, 1921. In 1923, he
brought out `Maharashtra Dharma', a monthly in Marathi (regional
language), which had his essays on the Upanishads. Later on, this
monthly became a weekly and continued for three years. His articles on
the Abhangas of Sant Tukaram (a saint poet) published in it became
popular. A time passed Vinoba continued his search for the self which
task him to spiritual heights. His involvement with Gandhi's
constructive programmes related to Khadi, village industries, new
education (Nai Talim), sanitation and hygiene also kept on increasing.
In December 23, 1932, he shifted to
Nalwadi (a village about two miles from Wardha town), from where he
experimented his idea of supporting himself by spinning alone. Later,
when he was sick in 1938, he shifted to what he called Paramdham Ashram
in Paunar, which remained his headquarters.
Vinoba's involvement in the freedom
movement during this period remained. In 1923, he was jailed for months
at Nagda jail and Akola jail for taking a prominent part in the flag
satyagraha at Nagpur. In 1925, he was sent by Gandhi to Vykon (in
Kerala) to supervise the entry of the Harijans to the temple. In 1932,
he was jailed for six months to Dhulia for raising his voice against the
British rule. In 1940, he was selected by Gandhi as the first
individual satyagrahi. He was jailed thrice during 1940-41 for
individual satyagraha at Nagpur jails; first time for three months,
second time for six months and third time for one year. Vinoba was not
known nationally when Gandhi selected him for individual satyagraha.
Gandhi had issued a statement on October 5, 1940 introducing Vinoba. It
was stated there that "Vinoba believes in the necessity of the political
independence of India. He is an accurate student of history. But he
believes that real independence of the villagers is impossible without
the constructive programme of which khadi is the centre." Vinoba took
part in the Quit India movement of 1942 for which he got an imprisonment
of three years at Vellore and Seoni jails.
The jails for Vinoba had become the places
of reading and writing. He saw the proofs of his book `Gitai' (Marathi
translation of Gita) in the Dhulia jail. Lectures given by him on Gita
to the colleagues in the Dhulia jail collected by Sane Guruji were later
published as a book. Writing of the book "Swarajya Shastra" (the
treatise of self rule) and the collection of the bhajans (religious
songs) of the saint Gyaneshwar, Eknath and Namdev were completed. In
Nagpur jail, `Ishavasyavritti' and `Sthitaprajna Darshan' were written
in the Seoni jail. Four languages of the South India were learnt by
Vinoba at Vellore jail and the script of Lok Nagari was also created
here after research. His writings covering diverse areas of religion,
philosophy, education and Sarvi are thought provoking and yet accessible
to the common people. The popularity of his writings has proved his
ability to relate to the people. The competence of this multi-lingual
scholar as an editor was also of high order as displayed by his editing
of `Maharashtra Dharma' (mentioned earlier), Sarvodaya(in Hindi) and
Sevak(in Marathi).
In March 1948, Gandhi's followers and
constructive workers met at Sevagram. The idea of Sarvodaya Samaj
(society) surfaced and started getting acceptance. Vinoba got busy with
activities which would sooth the wounds of the partition of the nation.
In the beginning of 1950, he launched the programme of kanchan-mukti
(freedom from dependence on gold, i.e. money) and Rishi-Kheti
(cultivation without the use of bullocks as was practised by Rishis,
i.e. the sages of ancient times). In April 1951, after attending the
Sarvodaya conference at Shivnampalli, he started his peace-trek on foot
through the violence-torn region of Telangana(now in Andhra Pradesh).
The disturbances were caused by the communists. On April 18, 1951, his
meeting with the villagers at Pochampalli opened a new chapter in the
history of non-violent struggle. The Harijans of the village told him
that they needed 80 acres of land to make a living. Referring to this,
Vinoba asked the villagers if they could do something to solve this
problem. To everybody's surprise, Ram Chandra Reddy, a landlord, got up
and showed his willingess to give 100 acres of land. This incident,
unplanned and unheard, showed a way to solve the problem of the
landless. The Bhoodan(Gift of the Land)movement was launched.
The response to the movement was
spontaneous. In Telangana, the gift of land averaged 200 acres of land
per day. On the journey from Pavnar to Delhi, the average gift was 300
acres a day. Vinoba had put five crore acre as the target. While walking
in Uttar Pradesh in May 1952, Vinoba received the gift of the whole
village of Mangrath. This meant the people were prepared to all their
land for the benefit of all the villagers, not as individual bhoodan,
but as community Gramdan (Gift of the Village). Vinoba received 23 lakh
of land in Bihar, while walking from September 1952 to December 1954.
Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala contributed significantly to Gramdan.
Vinoba firmly believed that, "We must establish the independent power of
the people - this is to say, we must demonstrate a power opposed to the
power of violence and other than the power to punish. The people are
our God." Connected with Bhoodan and Gramdan, there were other programs.
Important of these were Sampatti-Dan (Gift of the Wealth), Shramdan
(Gift of the Labour), Shanti Sena (Army for Peace), Sarvodaya-Patra (the
pot where every household gives daily handful of grain) and Jeevandan
(Gift of Life). Jayprakash Narayan in 1954 gave the gift of his life.
Vinoba acknowledged it by giving the gift of his life.
Vinoba knew the strength of the padayatra
(march on foot). He walked for 13 years throughout India. He had left
Paunar on September 12, 1951 and returned on April 10, 1964. He started
his Toofan Yatra (journey with the speed of high-velocity wind), using a
vehicle, in Bihar in July 1965, which lasted for almost four years. He
covered thousands of miles, addressed thousands of meetings and
mobilized the people cutting the barriers of caste, class, language and
religion. Some dacoits from the notorious Chambal Valley (a hideout of
dacoits in the northern India) surrendered themselves to Vinoba in May
1960. For Vinoba, it was a victory of nonviolence.
On June 7, 1966, 50 years after his
meeting with Gandhi, Vinoba announced that he was feeling a strong urge
to free himself from outer visible activities and enter inward hidden
form of spiritual action. After traveling through India, he returned to
Paunar on November 2, 1969 and on October 7, 1970, he announced his
decision to stay in one place. He observed a year of silence from
December 25, 1974 to December 25, 1975. In 1976, he undertook a fast to
stop the slaughter of cows. His spiritual pursuits intensified as he
withdrew from the activities. He breathed his last on November 15, 1982
at this ashram.
Vinoba's contribution to the history of
nonviolent movement remains significant. It has to be admitted, however,
that the achievement of Bhoodan - Gramdan movement in the material
terms was much below the expected target. According to an estimate in
total 41,94,270acres was obtained, and the land actual distributed
according to 1975 statistics was 12,85,738 acres. 18,57,398 acres was
found unfit for distribution. Some of the remaining land got entangled
in legal hassles and some was deserved to be written off. As against it
has to be noted that Vinoba's movement rekindled faith in non-violence
and human values advocated by Gandhi. It presented an alternative to
violence and a vision of non-violent society. It raised important
questions regarding inequality prevalent in the society. Vinoba saw the
land as the gift of God like air, water, sky and sunshine. He connected
science with spirituality and the autonomous village with the world
movement. He regarded the power of the people superior than power of the
state. Many of his ideas remain relevant and inspiring in the
strife-ridden modern times.
