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He was
associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. In 1932
he was sent to jail by the British colonial government because of his fight
against British rule. There he gave a series of talks on the Gita, in his
native language Marathi, to his fellow prisoners.
These highly
inspiring talks were later published as the book "Talks on the Gita", and it
has been translated to many languages both in India and elsewhere. Vinoba
felt that the source of these talks was something above and he believed that
its influence will endure even if his other works were forgotten.
In 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. Bhave also participated in the Quit India Movement.
Shri Vinoba
Bhave called "Kannada" script as "Queen of World Scripts" - "Vishwa Lipigala
Raani."
Religious
and social work
Vinoba'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" which contains
symbols of many religions. He was also a scholar of many languages.
Vinoba
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 Sarvodaya (Awakening of all potentials)
movement. Another example of this is the Bhoodan (land gift) movement. He
walked all across India asking people with land to consider him as one of
their sons and so give him a portion of their land which he then distributed
to landless poor. Non-violence and compassion being a hallmark of his
philosophy, he also campaigned against the slaughtering of cows.
Vinoba spent the later part of his life at his ashram in Paunar, Maharashtra.
He controversially backed the Indian Emergency imposed by Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, calling it Anushasana Parva (Time for Discipline).
He died on
November 15, 1982 after refusing food and medicine a few days earlier. Some
Indians have identified this as sallekhana |
