Bhave, Vinobha

(1895–1982) Social and religious
reformer whose basic principles reflected
his long association with Mohandas K.
Gandhi, to whom Bhave came as a disciple in 1916. Bhave was one of Gandhi’s
close associates in the struggle for independence and was particularly
absorbed with Gandhi’s idea of village
self-sufficiency. In the years after independence, he traveled around India on
foot to meet the people. It was on one
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Bhasmasur
such tour that he started the Bhoodan
(“land gift”) movement, the purpose of
which was to obtain donations of land
for the poor. Much of Bhave’s life after
independence was devoted to village
development, in particular through a
movement called Sarvodaya (“welfare of
all”), which sought to solve problems
through collective involvement and service to one another.