Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1895-1982) is undoubtedly one of the greatest personalities of the last century. Acclaimed as 'Gandhi's spiritual successor' he was, in fact, a successor to most of the ancient spiritual traditions of the world. Philosophy, metaphysics, sociology, political science, pedagogy, economics-there was hardly any subject that his genius did not touch and in which he did not contribute novel, original and insightful ideas. Those ideas assume more importance in the light of the fact that Vinoba was not only a theoretician, but he also practised what he preached, and demonstrated the practicality of what he conceived. The Bhoodan-Yajna, which he initiated and led, gave more than 2.5 million acres of land to the poor agricultural labourers. This has no parallel in the history of the world.
Vinoba's books, most of which are compilations on different subjects culled from his speeches and writings, have been, and are being, published in various Indian languages. However, only a few of them have been published in English. Hence most of his writings have remained inaccessible in English. This is a serious deficiency, when English is the most widely known international language and the perplexed world urgently needs to become aware of Vinoba's experiential wisdom.
This is what prompted me to resolve to prepare a few books in English by editing and translating Vinoba's thoughts on different subjects, which have not been covered in Vinoba's available literature in English, despite being fully aware of my incompetence to do the job, simply because it has not yet been attempted. The attempt is to give a broad outline of some of Vinoba's thoughts with the hope that they would motivate the readers to delve into Vinoba's timeless wisdom.
The visions of the seers in the state of complete absorption in the Divine Consciousness constitute our glorious spiritual tradition. It is unique in the world not only on account of its antiquity, but also because of its profundity and the range of spiritual experiences it encompasses. It is not only India's heritage, but also of the whole world. No wonder, it has all along been attracting seekers from all over the world.
Such visions cannot be put in words. But attempts are made; and these attempts give us sacred texts, parts of which are bound to be abstruse because of their very nature and because of the time elapsed since their composition. They, therefore, need to be revisited from time to time. This is the task for spiritual masters who can have communion with the seers. Vinoba being such a master, it is a matter of satisfaction that his thoughts on our spiritual heritage, with which Indian readers are fairly acquainted, are being made accessible in English.
Vinoba studied the Vedas, the primal source of our spiritual wisdom, for more than fifty years. ars. He equally deeply studied the Upanishads and other sources. However, the essence of Rig-Veda (Rig-Veda-sar) is his only available work on the Vedas. Besides the selections from the Upanishads (Ashtadashi), his two works on the Upanishads are available-'Upanishadancha abhyasa' (Introduction to the Upanishads) and 'Ishavasya-vritti' (a commentary on the Isha Upanishad). However, although both are spiritual classics of the first order, they are extremely difficult to translate in English. One can only hope that some day some competent translator would undertake this task. Vinoba's Marathi translation of the Isha Upanishad in verse is also highly acclaimed.
Naturally, Vinoba formed opinions about the interpretation of the ancient texts. But in his active life of selfless service, he could not find time for writing them down.
Only stray references and comments are available besides a few essays and discourses. Introductions to his selections from the Bhagavata, Manusmriti and Shankaracharya's philosophical works provide some material. Shankaracharya was one of the three personages who influenced him the most; and he has naturally spoken or written on him with a rare intensity of devotion. The Vishnusahasranam forms a part of prayers in his ashram, and he has likened its recital with a purifying spiritual bath. Material from all these sources has been compiled in Vol. 1, 2, 5 and 6 (edited by Gautam Bajaj and Usha) of 'Vinoba Sahitya' (Selected works of Vinoba in Hindi). It is mainly on their basis that this book has been prepared. On the Gita, his two books are already available in English and the third one is being published in this series; therefore, his thoughts on the Gita have not been included in this book.
I am happy that Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan has taken initiative for the publication of this book as an e-book, while Paramdham Prakashan is publishing it in printed form. Vidarbha Bhoodan-Gramdan Sahayog Samiti and Bhoodan-yajna Mandal, Vidarbha have provided financial assistance to this project. I am grateful to them. I also take this opportunity to thank Shri B.J.K. Tampi, ex-D.G. Police for the pains he has taken in going through the manuscript and giving valuable suggestions. Responsibility of errors and deficiencies, of course, remains mine. Readers are welcome to point them out and suggest modifications.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (741)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1503)
Gods (1289)
Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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