Osho on Vinoba Bhave

 

 

The Socialist Party of India is known all over the world as a revolutionary party, but they are paid by the capitalists and they are the agents of the capitalists. One of Mahatma Gandhi's closest disciples, Vinoba Bhave... it is said that Gandhi had two successors. One was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, his political successor, and one was Vinoba Bhave, his spiritual successor.

 

Vinoba Bhave created a very great movement. He walked all over the country for almost twelve or thirteen years, and he created the idea in the mind of the people that this was real revolution, because he was asking from the landlords.... Eighty percent of India is in the villages, and eighty percent of its poor people are in the villages. So Vinoba Bhave would approach the village, sing devotional songs, his disciples would sing devotional songs... and he was considered to be Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual successor, almost a "mini-mahatma."

 

So people would gather, the landlords would gather, and he would talk about VEDAS and UPANISHADS -- which are appealing to the people -- he would talk about Ramayana, and give interpretations which are absolutely wrong, but appealing to the people.

 

And he would ask, after he had talked to people, that "Those who have lands -- if you have five children, let me be your sixth child. Give me the sixth part of your land and I will distribute it to the poor." And he collected millions of acres of land. But he became very much disappointed....

 

He was supported by all the landlords, capitalists, the government -- even Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who never liked the man before India became independent, because Jawaharlal was an ultra-modern man, educated in the West. Although he was a brahmin, he was not a vegetarian; he was eating meat, he was drinking alcohol. He was an ultra-modern, Western man, and Vinoba Bhave is absolutely antique. So Jawaharlal never liked the man, but he was very close to Gandhi so he had to suffer his presence.

 

But after freedom Jawaharlal started going to Vinoba Bhave. Whenever Vinoba Bhave was having annual conventions, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was present there, because thousands and thousands of people would gather. He could not miss the opportunity to show them that he was in support of Vinoba Bhave, and Vinoba Bhave would feel great that the prime minister comes to his every conference.

 

So it was a mutual conspiracy. And it was said even by the capitalists that Vinoba Bhave had to be supported because he was diverting the poor people from the communists. Poor people were thinking that if just by being asked, the landlords are giving their land, what is the problem? Why unnecessary violence? Why does revolution have to be violent when without violence people are giving their land?

 

And they thought, if people are giving land, they will also give money... because Vinoba Bhave was not yet working in the big cities. First he wanted to transform the bigger part of India which lives in the villages and later on... the big cities are not many. If he succeeds in transforming eighty percent of India, he will be able to transform the remaining twenty percent without any difficulty. And he certainly became one of the greatest hindrances for the communists.

 

Communists believe that revolution has to be violent, there is no way out of it. People are not going to drop their private property easily. But Vinoba proved that they were dropping it, so even communist strongholds became weaker.

 

But the reality is that all the land that was given... and when it was distributed, somebody got half an acre, somebody got one acre because they had a bigger family. It was distributed according to the number of people in the family. But what are you going to do with one acre? And finally it was found that all the land that he had received was absolutely useless, unfertile. Those landlords were giving land that was so stony, on the hills... Vinoba never went to those places to see what kind of land he was receiving, he was just receiving it in public meetings. When it was distributed, then it was found that the poor people refused to take it, saying, "What will we do with this land?"

 

And those who received it were at a loss, because just the land is not enough. In the first place it was too small a piece of land; it was not going to give them enough nourishment, they would remain undernourished. Secondly, they need bullocks, they need a plow, they need seeds, they need manure. They don't have anything, what to do with the land? And the land is so stony, unless hard work is done those stones cannot be removed.

 

They needed tractors and bigger mechanical devices to make their land fertile; but they were so poor, from where to get all these technological devices? They could not even purchase two oxes to work for them. And not only that, it became a trouble for them because they had to pay property tax. And the land is not even giving anything to them -- property tax!

 

So they gave the land back to the distributing committee of Vinoba Bhave, and Vinoba Bhave was so disappointed that he went back to his ashram in Pavnar near Wardha.

 

-Osho, "Communism and Zen Fire, Zen Wind, #6"