Page 31 - Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 21st Century ISBN

21oha “krkCnh esa vkpk;Z fouksck Hkkos dh izklafxdrk

mind and matter are dependent. Thus Vinoba thinks that since man is basically the Spirit, he is free to
shape his destiny. He has the power to affect the course of societal processes and bend them to his will.

Such is the power of the Soul. And since the Soul is a unity, that is, it is the same in every human being,
Vinoba perceives the unity of all mankind. In this unity, there is no place for division, no place for

discord. If division and discord exist, it is because of the misperception of the reality, the reality of
oneness of the spirit which binds all human beings into an indivisible whole. Vinoba’s theory of revolution

emanates from the realization of the unity of mankind. Given this unity and its perception, man must
widen the horizons of his own self, the Atman. He says, “the mother experiences the joy of renunciation

and sacrifices for the sake of her children and gets happiness thereby. Vinoba wants us to widen the
area of family love to the whole village community on the basis of unity of Atman. He states that

Bhoodan-Gramadan is only a small effort in that direction. During the Bhoodan movement, Vinoba
used to explain to the people that if there were five brothers in a family, you should add one more as the

sixth from outside and give him his right of succession to land. He used to exhort people to make the
community a part of their widened family. This principle is not applicable to only distribution of land,

but to all wealth including physical capacity and talents. 17 Thus, his idea of self-reliant (gram-swarajya)
on one hand and Victory of the whole world (jai-jagat) on the other hand help us to realize the goal of

THINK GLOBALLY AND ACT LOCALLY.

References:
1. M. K. Gandhi, All Religions are True, Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan; 1962; p. 176.
2. Vinoba Bhave, Prerana Pravah (Hindi), Varanasi: S.S.S. P.; April, 1963 p. 20.
3. Vinoba Bhave, Random Reflections, No. 127, Varanasi: S.S.S. P.;March 1971, p. 28.

4. Ibid; Introduction p. XVIII.
5. Ibid; No. 138, p. 30.
6. Ibid; No. 167, p. 36.
7. Vinoba Bhave, Ahimsak Shakti ki Khoj (Hindi), Varanasi: A. B. S. S. P. May 1963, pp.23-

24.
8. Vinoba Bhave, Talks on Gita, Varanasi: S.S.S. P. January 1982, p.136.
9. Vinoba Bhave, Vichar Pothi (Marathi), Wardha: Gramseva Mandal; 1954, No. 248, p.41.
10. Vinoba Bhave, Random Reflections, op cit., No. 243, p. 51. 4

11. Ibid; No. 172, p. 37.
12. Vinoba Bhave, Vichar Pothi (Hindi), Delhi Sasta Sahitya Prakashan: 1952. No. 528, p. 77.
13. Vinoba Bhave, Ahimsa Vicara Aur Vyavahara (Hindi).Patti Kalyana Gram Bhavana
Prakashan: 1970, P. 9.

14. Vinoba Bhave, Random Reflections, op cit., No. 62, p. 15

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