21st October, 1990
My dear Pranav, : So far, I have always written to yo
said or did and argued. I have not written a great influence of Gandhiji on Vinoba. Gandhi and Vinoba were a unique pair of very different men who became a continuum. Vinoba is called the spiritual successor of Gandhi.
What did Gandhi think of Vinoba? Gandhi told F.C.Andrews as early as in 1917 Gust one year after Vinoba joined his Satyagraha Ashram at Ahmedabad), that “He (Vinoba) is a rare gem. He has come to enrich us (inmates of the then Satyagraha Ashram at Sabarmati, Ahmedabad) with his virtue. He has come not to receive but to give.” This turned out to be prophetic. After Gandhiji’s death, all Gandhian thoughts and ideas were enhanced and used by Vinoba through bhoodan, gramdan, trusteeship, etc. He gave deeper meanings to the actions and ideas of Gandhi.
What was Vinoba's attitude towards Gandhi? “It was indeed God’s boundless grace that brought me to Gandhiji, impelled me to sit at his feet. It would be impossible indeed to try and describe what I have gained under him at the ashram. It gave me the eye to see. It has been the source of all my inspiriation and vision. My inner self witnesseth that | have striven conscientiously and diligently to act upon Gandhiji’s path of non-violence to my best... Whatever of his thought and teachings I have been able to like and assimilate, I have been trying to practise in full awareness each and every moment of my life. I have no doubt that after his passing away, I am doing only his work. I also believe my line of thinking reflects his line of thinking in essence.”
According to Rang Rao Divakar, another Gandhian, Vinoba was not a blind follower of Gandhi, nor even an obedient disciple or a devoted imitator.
uu about what Vinoba dequately about the
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