Page 108 - Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 21st Century ISBN

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Relevance of Bhoodan and Gramdan
Dr. Parag Cholkar

With Vinoba’s 125th birth anniversary just a couple of years away, it is right time torevisit the
enormous and multifarious contribution of this great man who was not only a great sage and saint, but

also a social scientist and a social revolutionary, an educationist and a writer.
And he was also a philosopher in the true sense of the term. He was a philosopher of adifferent

kind. For him, philosophy was not restricted to metaphysical speculation divorced from life; it was the
basis for action, guide for the present and the future and a tool for bringing about change in individual

and society.
Marx had said, “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is
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to change it.” Vinoba was one of the philosophers who believed in and followed this dictum.
Philosophical contribution of Vinoba is not therefore limited to the field of theory; it is in the field of

practice also. Bhoodan-Gramdan Movement gave concrete shape to and provided a visible
demonstration of Vinoba’s philosophy.

Vinoba had not only a distinctive philosophy of life; he had a distinctive philosophy ofhistory, a
distinctive political philosophy, a distinctive economic philosophy and a distinctive educational philosophy

also.
‘Sarvodaya’ and ‘Samyayog’ are the two words that denote the essence of Vinoba’sphilosophy:

the first is an ancient word which Gandhi used in a specific sense and Vinoba popularized, while the
other is coined by him. Sarvodaya is the antithesis of utilitarianism— the doctrine of ‘the greatest good

of the greatest number’—which Gandhi attacked as a pernicious doctrine and stood for the good of
all, the rise of all—that is what Sarvodayameant. Vinoba fully subscribed to this view and held that

interests of individuals and that of society are not, cannot be opposed to each other: “Real self-interest
lies in caring for the society. Society, a form of the Lord, will also then care for us.” 2

Unity of life being the truth, Samyayog seeks to bring about perfect samya—equality and
equanimity—in all spheres of life, which Vinoba believes to be the demand of the age.

He has put in a nutshell the philosophy of a Samyayogi society, drawing upon some verses in
the Gita:

1. No power should rule over society. Society should be governed by noble thoughts.

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