Vinoba was born in a Brahmin family on September 11, 1895 at the village of Gagoda in Kolaba district of Maharashtra. He was named Vinayak at birth and was influenced by his mother Rukmini Devi, a religious woman.
Vinoba, well-read in the writings of Maharashtra’s saints and philosophers at a young age and deeply interested in Mathematics. His two years in the college remained full of internal uneasiness and agitation. Early in 1916, he put his school and college certificate in a fire on his way to Mumbai in March 1916 to appear for the intermediate examination.
The report in the newspapers about Gandhiji’s speech at the newly founded Benaras Hindu University attracted Vinoba’s attention. He wrote a letter to Gandhiji. After an exchange of letters, Gandhiji advised Vinoba to come for a personal meeting in Ahmedabad.
Vinoba went and met Gandhiji on June 7, 1916. This meeting changed the course of Vinoba’s life. Over the years, the bond between Vinoba and Gandhiji grew stronger. Vinoba participated with keen interest in the activities at Gandhi’s ashram, like teaching, studying, spinning and improving the life of the community.
Asked by Gandhiji to take charge of the ashram at Wardha, Vinoba went to Wardha on April 8, 1921.
Later, when he was sick in 1938, he shifted to what he called Paramdham Ashram in Paunar, which remained his headquarters.
Vinoba involved deeply in the freedom movement. In 1923, he was jailed for months for taking a prominent part in the flag satyagraha at Nagpur. In 1932, he was jailed for six months to Dhulia for raising his voice against the British rule. In 1940, he was selected by Gandhiji as the first individual satyagrahi. He was jailed thrice during 1940-41 for individual satyagraha at Nagpur jails.
He launched Bhoodan movement in the early fifties. The response to the movement was spontaneous. He collected lot of lands from rich landlords and distributed it to the landless.
Vinoba knew the strength of the padayatra (march on foot). He walked for 13 years throughout India. He covered thousands of miles, addressed thousands of meetings and mobilized the people cutting the barriers of caste, class, language and religion.
Some dacoits from the notorious Chambal Valley surrendered themselves to Vinoba in May 1960. For Vinoba, it was a victory of nonviolence.
After traveling through India, he returned to Paunar on November 2, 1969 and on October 7, 1970, he announced his decision to stay in one place. He observed a year of silence from December 25, 1974 to December
25, 1975. In 1976, he undertook a fast to stop the slaughter of cows. His spiritual pursuits intensified as he withdrew from the activities. He breathed his last on November 15, 1982 at this ashram. He was awarded Bharat Ratna pothumously in 1983.
