Bhave, Vinoba
BHAVE, VINOBA (1895–1982), Indian social and religious reformer. Vinayak Narhari Bhave was closely associated with Mohandas Gandhi, who bestowed upon him the affectionate epithet Vinoba (Mar., "brother Vino"). He is generally acclaimed in India as the one who "stepped into Gandhi's shoes." As a young man Bhave studied Sanskrit and the Hindu religious tradition in Varanasi. It was here that he read accounts of Gandhi's patriotic speeches. Attracted by Gandhi's ideas, Bhave joined Gandhi as his disciple in 1916 and soon became one of his close associates. In 1921 Gandhi had Bhave move to a new ashram (retreat center) in Wardha in the state of Maharashtra. Here he began experimenting with many Gandhian ideas designed to implement self-rule for India. His main goal was to engage in village service for the benefit of the Indian masses. As a result, he became a skillful farmer, spinner, weaver, and scavenger. Many of these activities were later incorporated into several of his plans for the moral and spiritual uplift of all humanity. Impressed with his political and religious dedication, his spiritual way of life, and his belief in nonviolent methods of social action, Gandhi chose him in 1940 as the first satyāgrahī (one who uses nonviolent means to bring the opponent to the point of seeing the truth) in a protest against British rule.
After India's independence Bhave emerged from the shadow of his teacher as he began his pad yātrā ("journey on foot") to meet the people of India. The famous Bhoodān ("land gift") movement was born when on one such journey he sought a donation of land in order to distribute it among the landless poor. Later he designed a program to collect fifty million acres of land for the landless. For the rest of his life, he tirelessly worked for grām swarāj ("village self-rule") to free the people from the rich and the powerful. He retreated to his ashram in Paunar, near Wardha, in 1970 and died there in 1982.
Influences
Bhave's influence was greatest in his promotion of Gandhian principles. He became the chief exponent of the Sarvodaya ("welfare of all") movement and executed Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy through a series of activities known as "constructive works." These included such programs as promotion of khādī ("self-spun cloth"), naī talīm ("new education"), strī śakti ("woman power"), cow protection, and śānti senā ("peace brigade"). He created the Sarva Seva Sangha ("society for the service of all") in order to carry out the work of Sarvodaya, and served as its spiritual adviser. Bhave also launched a series of movements connected with the Land Gift movement in order to tackle the problem of exploitation of the farmers by their landlords. Although through these movements he sought to accomplish socioeconomic reform, for him they were part of a spiritual struggle to establish rām rāj ("kingdom of God") through grām swarāj. To this end, he adopted and promoted the Gandhian model of Sarvodaya. Bhave took the concept of "giving" (dān) further and asked that people donate their money, labor, intellect, and life for the work of Sarvodaya.
Bhave organized village councils (grām sabhās) to oversee the village development program. His aim was not only to bring self-sufficiency to the villages but also to establish a nonviolent society based on religious ideals. Through the constructive programs of Sarvodaya, Bhave sought to create a moral force in Indian society. The aim of his movement was not to promote the greatest good for the greatest number, but the greatest good for all people. The goal of Sarvodaya philosophy can be summarized as follows: in the social realm it advocates a casteless society, in politics it shares a democratic vision of the power of the people, in economics it promotes the belief that "small is beautiful," and in religion it asks for tolerance for all faiths. Its final goal is to promote peace for all humankind.
The failure of many of Bhave's plans to come to fruition ultimately led to dissension in the Sarvodaya. In the 1960s Jai Prakash Narayan, a Marxist-turned-Gandhian activist and an associate of Bhave, sought to steer the Sarvodaya movement in other directions. The controversy arose over the issue of whether Sarvodaya workers should participate in politics in order to initiate change in Indian society. Disenchanted with Bhave's nonpartisan religious approach and the slow moving program of grām swarāj, Narayan began taking an active part in contemporary politics. By the 1970s this led to a serious split within the organization of the Sarva Seva Sangha (the work agency of Sarvodaya) and the parting of ways of these two giants of the Gandhian movement. The conflict brought into focus various ideological differences that existed within the Sarvodaya movement. However, Bhave's supporters continued to maintain that his was a movement to "change the hearts of the people" through moral force and nonpartisan alliances. Since Bhave's death, many programs for social reform are still being carried out within the Sarvodaya movement by the lok sevaks ("servants of the people") whom he inspired.
Gandhi, Mohandas.
Bibliography
Vinoba Bhave wrote relatively few books. However, many of his talks and speeches have been compiled into books and pamphlets. Most of these works are published by the Sarva Seva Sangha. The majority of his writings deal with the Bhoodān and Gramdan movements, but he also wrote on a variety of topics related to Sarvodaya. His major English titles include Bhoodān Yajna (Ahmadabad, 1953), Swaraj Sastra: The Principles of a Non-Violent Political Order, translated by Bharatan Kumarappa (Wardha, 1955), From Bhoodan to Gramdan (Tanjore, 1957), Thoughts on Education, translated by Marjorie Sykes (Madras, 1959), Talks on the Gita (New York, 1960), Democratic Values (Kashi, 1962), and Steadfast Wisdom, translated by Lila Ray (Varanasi, 1966).
There are numerous secondary sources on Bhave. For a detailed biography, Vinoba: His Life and Work (Bombay, 1970) by Shriman Narayan is considered most authoritative. Vinoba and His Mission (Kashi, 1954) by Suresh Ramabhai is less biographical, but it gives a thorough description of the origin and progress of the movement started by Bhave. Vasant Nargolkar's The Creed of Saint Vinoba (Bombay, 1963) attempts to analyze Sarvodaya as interpreted by Vinoba. Among recent works, Selections from Vinoba, edited by Vishwanath Tandon (Varanasi, 1981), presents the "essential Vinoba." Finally, Vinoba: The Spiritual Revolutionary, edited by R. R. Diwakar and Mahendra Agrawal (New Delhi, 1984), presents Vinoba Bhave as others see him. It contains a series of articles by several scholars and close associates of Bhave covering a variety of topics dealing with Vinoba Bhave's thought.
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