SYLLABUS

GS-1: Literature, personalities of the modern times

Context: The Prime Minister of India paid homage to Acharya Vinoba Bhave on his 130th birth anniversary, recalling his towering contributions to India’s spiritual, social, and political landscape.

About Vinoba Bhave

• Vinayak Narhar Bhave, who was revered as Acharya Vinoba Bhave, was a freedom fighter, social reformer, and spiritual teacher.

• He was born on 11 September 1895 at Gagode village, Maharashtra, to Narahari Shambhu Rao and Rukmini Devi.

• In 1916, he met Mahatma Gandhi in Ahmedabad and joined the Sabarmati Ashram, where Gandhi named him Vinoba.

• At the Ashram, he immersed himself in khadi, education, sanitation, and village service.

Contribution to the Freedom Struggle

• In 1921, Gandhi sent him to Wardha to run an Ashram branch.

• He 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.

• His writings in Maharashtra Dharma journal (1923–27) and  Marathi translation of the Bhagavad Gita (1930–31) gained wide recognition.

• In 1940, Gandhi selected him as the first individual satyagrahi during the Individual Civil Disobedience campaign, bringing him national prominence.

• After Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, Vinoba emerged as the leader of the Sarvodaya movement, advocating for social and moral upliftment.

Bhoodan Movements

• In 1951, during a tour of Telangana, Bhave launched the Bhoodan Movement at Pochampalli, where villagers donated 100 acres of land to the landless Dalits.

• Between 1951 and 1964, he walked 65,000 km across India, collecting about 4.8 million acres of land, of which nearly 2.5 million acres were distributed.

• He later expanded this idea into Gramdan (voluntary donation of entire villages).

Recognition and Awards

• In 1958 Vinoba was the first recipient of the international Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.

• He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1983

• A University has been named after him, Vinoba Bhave University, located in Hazaribagh district in the State of Jharkhand

Ideology and Later Life

• Vinoba Bhave consistently advocated non-violence, self-sufficiency, compassion, and spiritual transformation in social life.

• In the mid-1970s, he controversially supported Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, calling it Anushasan Parva (Time for Discipline).

• He spent his final years at the Pavnar Ashram in Wardha and died on 15 November 1982 after refusing food and medicine for a few days by accepting "Samadhi Maran" / "Santhara" as described in Jainism.

Books and Writings of Vinoba Bhave

• Translations & Commentaries

• Gitai (Marathi verse translation of Bhagavad Gita)
• Gita Pravachane (Talks on the Gita in prison) 
• Sthitaprajna Darshan
• Ishavasyavritti
• Jnanadevanchi Bhajane
• Gitai Chintanika

• Social & Political Thought

• Swarajya Shastra
• Vichar Pothi
• Maharashtra Dharma (journal)

• Essence of Religions

• The Essence of Quran
• The Essence of Christian Teachings
• Rearranged Dhammapada
• Comparative studies of major Indian saints and Adi Shankaracharya.

UPSC Mains Practice Question

Q: “Vinoba Bhave carried forward Gandhi’s vision of Sarvodaya and transformed it into practical movements like Bhoodan and Gramdan.” Critically examine the significance of Vinoba Bhave’s contribution to India’s socio-political landscape.

Source:
PM India
Acharya Vinoba Bhave