Page 85 - Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 21st Century ISBN

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Vinoba was perhaps the only person to relate craft with Brahma-Vidya. We need to be reminded that
he set up the Brahma Vidya Mandir at Paunar where the inmates learned rushi krishi. He has

categorically stated that the children had to be taught both the Brahma Vidya and the craft. Combining
both was the key to Nai Talim. He wrote, “Education…must include these two things, Brahma-vidya

and craft. Brahma-vidya will give self-knowledge, and body, mind and senses will be brought under
control. The individual greed for possession, which cries “my house,” “my field,” will be overcome by

the growth of a universal and caring…every boy will work with his hands and becomes self-reliant.” 18
Vinoba clearly takes a position and lends full support to Gandhi’s ideal of education when he

says that Nai Talim was called new education because it for building a new society. Gandhiji gave
eleven vows to be practiced by every individual and one of them was bread labour. Vinoba explained

bread labour in the context of building new society. A principle to be accepted under Nai Talim was
that of bread labour. He said, “This principle is that everyone ought to do manual labour for his food,

and that it is not an ideal arrangement that bodily food should be earned by intellectual work. It is
certainly a possible arrangement, but nevertheless it is not the best way. The body ought to be fed by

the work of the body, and this is the meaning of phrase “bread labour.” 19
It must be emphasised that Vinoba did not make the above comment merely as an extension of

what Gandhiji had said. Vinoba has noted that he conducted his own life for more than thirty years by
working for eight hours every day. He was engaged in drawing water, grinding grain, scavenging,

spinning, weaving carding, carpentering etc. By engaging in such toil on the soil he observed that his
intellectual prowess did not diminish. He was also categorical in saying that labour without applying

mind and intellect was sheer drudgery and applying mind only and living of others labour was parasitic.

Vision and Social Purpose of Nai Talim
Vinoba described threefold vision of Nai Talim. First was that a society built by Nai Talim

Education would be celebrating the principle of equality. He argued that the philosophy of Nai Talim
did not accept the unequal values assigned by the Indian peasant society with respect to physical and

mental work. The Nai Talim philosophy takes the position that every kind of service rendered by a
man, whether physical or mental, was ethical in its nature. The value of ethical act could not be calculated

in economic terms. Vinoba notes, “The economic aspect of Nai Talim is that the class distinction
between physical and mental work should be broken down.” 20

The second principle was the logical corollary of the first. If no distinction was made between
the physical and mental work then knowledge and work were to be treated equally. Everyone has to

work to live and learn to work. This was the Satya. The work generates knowledge and the work that
did not generate knowledge was drudgery and hence there was no joy. Working and learning therefore

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