ACHARYA VINOBA BHAVE April 18, 1951 - He started his famous BHOODAN ANDOLAN (Land Gift Movement) Vinayak Narahari "Vinoba" Bhave (11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982) He  was an Indian advocate of non-violence and human rights. Often called Acharya (Sanskrit for teacher). His Bhoodan (Gift of the Land) movement, started on April 18, 1951, attracted the attention of the world. He is considered as a National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mohandas Gandhi. He was highly inspired after reading the Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharat, Ramayan at a very early age. He was a freedom fighter and a spiritual teacher. Vinoba Bhave had once said, "All revolutions are spiritual at the source. All my activities have the sole purpose of achieving a union of hearts." In 1958, Vinoba was the first recipient of the international Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership. He was also conferred with the Bharat Ratna (India's highest civilian awards) posthumously in 1983. During his stay at Wardha from April 1921 onwards, Bhave brought out a monthly in Marathi, named, `Maharashtra Dharma'. The monthly consisted of his essays on the Upanishads. In 1932, accusing Vinoba Bhave of conspiring against the colonial rule, the British government sent him to jail for six months to Dhulia. There, he told the fellow prisoners about the different subjects of 'Bhagwad Gita', in Marathi. All the lectures given by him on Gita in Dhulia jail were collected and later published as a book. On 5 October, 1940, Mahatma Gandhi introduced Bhave to the nation by issuing a statement. He was also chosen as the first Individual Satyagrahi (an Individual standing up for Truth instead of a collective action) by Gandhi himself. Vinoba observed the life of the average Indian living in a village and tried to find solutions for the problems he faced with a firm spiritual foundation. This formed the core of his Sarvodaya (Awakening of all potentials) movement. He also campaigned against the slaughtering of cows. Vinoba Bhave called "Kannada" script as "Queen of World Scripts". A University named after him, Vinoba Bhave University, which is located in Hazaribagh district there in the State of Jharkhand. He died on November 15, 1982 after refusing food and medicine for a few days. Click on the following links to see further details: PROFILE     CROSSWORD     QUIZ     VIDEOS