Context

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Vinoba Bhave on his birth anniversary, saying he carried forward the noble Gandhian principles after India attained independence.

About

About Vinoba Bhave 

• Acharya Vinoba Bhave’s original name was Vinayak Narahari Bhave.
• Birth: September 11, 1895, in a Chitpavan Brahmin family
• Birth Place: Gagoda village of the Konkan area of Maharashtra
• Nayak Narahari Bhave better known as Vinoba Bhave is regarded as the National Teacher of India.
• Vinoba Bhave had a deep sense of spiritualism instilled in him at a very young age by his religious mother.
• He learnt various regional languages and Sanskrit along with reading the scriptures.
• ??His mother, who hailed from Karnataka, had a major influence on him. He was inspired by her to read The Gita.
• Instead of appearing for an exam in Bombay in 1918, Bhave threw away his books in the fire. This happened after he read an article by Mahatma Gandhi.
• In 1940, Bhave was selected as the ‘First Individual Satyagrahi’ against the British Raj by Gandhi in India.
• Bhave played an important role in the Quit India Movement.
• Bhave took the vow for celibacy and followed it all his life. He dedicated his life to religious work and freedom struggle

Major contributions in independence journey

• He worked towards eliminating social inequities. He started the Sarvodaya Movement which meant ‘Progress for all’.
• Took part in programs of non-cooperation and especially the call for use of Swadeshi goods instead of foreign imports.
• He also took part in nonviolent agitations against the British government, for which he was imprisoned.
• Bhave was imprisoned several times during the 1920s and ’30s and served a five-year prison sentence in the ’40s for leading nonviolent resistance to British rule. He was given the honorific title acharya (“teacher”).
• He created the Brahma Vidya Mandir which was a small community of women that was created in order for them to become self-sufficient and non-violent in a community.
• He authored several books and was well-versed in many languages including Marathi, Gujarati, Sanskrit, English, Urdu and Hindi.
  • He learnt various regional languages and Sanskrit along with reading the scriptures.
• He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1958. 
• He received the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1983.
• Vinoba Bhave died on 15 November 1982 due to a serious illness. 

How were Vinoba Bhave and Mahatma Gandhi related?

• Attracted towards the principles and ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi and considered Gandhi his guru Mahatma Gandhi in 1916, from both political and spiritual point of view.
• Abandoned his high school studies in 1916 to join Gandhi’s ashram (ascetic community) at Sabarmati, near Ahmedabad.
• Gandhi’s teachings led Bhave to a life of austerity dedicated to improving Indian village life.
• Bhave played an important role in the Quit India Movement.
• In 1940, he was chosen as the first Individual Satyagrahi (an Individual standing up for Truth instead of a collective action) against British Raj by Gandhi in India.
• After this event, the unknown Vinoba Bhave became known to the whole country.