In 1958 Vinoba was the first recipient of the international Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1983.

Quotes

• "All revolutions are spiritual at the source. All my activities have the sole purpose of achieving a union of hearts."

• "Peace is something mental and spiritual. If there be peace in our (personal) life, it will affect the whole world"

Nehru too is Gandhi's heir—but a modern, half-Westernized one. Gandhi had a political core which Bhave ignores and Nehru has inherited. Nehru, moreover, believes in industrialization and irrigation and vast schemes; Bhave believes in self-denial and spinning wheels.

Journey to Delhi

Vinoba's religious outlook was very broad and it synthesized the truths of many religions. This can be seen in one of his hymns "Om Tat" which contains symbols of many religions. He abolished every trace of untouchability from his heart. He believed in communal amity.

The report in the newspapers about Gandhi's speech at the newly founded Benaras Hindu University attracted Vinoba's attention. Being too shy to approach the Mahatma, Bhave wrote a letter instead. After an exchange of letters, Gandhi invited him to join the ashram at Sabarmati. When Gandhi learned that his new follower had not written to his family for several years, he sat down himself and wrote to Bhave's father: "Your Vinoba is with me. His spiritual attainments are such as I myself attained only after a long struggle."

Vinoba Bhave stands as a symbol for the struggle of the good against the evil, of spiritual against the mundane. He was a spiritual visionary, whose spirituality had a pragmatic stance with intense concern for the deprived. He was a brilliant scholar who could knowledge accessible to ordinary people. He was a saint, man of God, moral tribune, a beacon of hope and solace to millions in India and abroad.