Vinayak Narahari Bhave (1895 - 1982), affectionately known as Vinoba, was a strong advocate of nonviolence and human rights, earning him the title Acharya, meaning "teacher" in Sanskrit.
Think of him like India's own Gandhi 2.0, carrying the torch of nonviolence and shaking things up for the better. He was the eldest of five and got his smarts from his mother, a devout lady, and his inspiration from that grand old book, the Bhagavad Gita.
Picture this: It's 1916, young Vinoba reads a newspaper article about Gandhi and decides then and there that his life needs a U-turn. So, what does he do? He torches his school diplomas! That's right, up in smoke they went, a sign that he was all in on Gandhi's movement.
Vinoba became Gandhi's right-hand man, living and breathing the ashram life. Teaching, spinning Khadi, helping out the community – he was a busy bee. He was so dedicated to Gandhi's peaceful resistance that the Mahatma himself chose Vinoba to be the first "individual Satyagrahi."
He was a walking, talking Renaissance man! Scholar, writer, speaker – he could do it all, and in seven languages, no less! While he was in jail for protesting, Vinoba used the time to invent a whole new script called "Lok Nagari." He even translated the Bhagavad Gita into Marathi for the everyday folks, calling it "Geetai," or "Mother Gita". He loved the Kannada script so much, he called it the "Queen of World Scripts!"
But Vinoba wasn't all about books and languages. He cared about his fellow Indians, especially the poor farmers. So, he came up with this brilliant scheme called the Bhoodan Movement which he started at Pochampally in 1951. For 13 years, he walked all over India, asking rich landowners to donate some of their land to those who didn't have any. And it worked! People were so moved by his message that they actually gave up their property. That's the power of Vinoba, turning landowners into philanthropists with just his words and a twinkle in his eye.
In his golden years, Vinoba founded six ashrams, including a special one called Brahma Vidya Mandir, dedicated to empowering women. This place is still going strong today, a testament to his forward-thinking vision.
He is considered as the National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1958, Vinoba was the first recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1983. There's a whole university named after him in Jharkhand.
Vinoba passed away in 1982, choosing to give up food and medicine in a final act of spiritual devotion. They call it "Samadhi Maran" or "Santhara" in the Jain faith. Even in death, he stayed true to his beliefs.