The Steadfast Wisdom

by Acharya Vinoba Bhave and Lila Ray (Tr.)

The Steadfast Wisdom is an English rendering of the “Stitaprajna Darshana” (Marathi), a compilation of the discourses given by Acharya Vinoba Bhave on the last eighteen verses of the second chapter of the Bhavat Gita. The talks were given by Vinoba in Seoni Jail to his fellow-prisoners in 1944 while he was incarcerated as a Satyagrahi in connection with the Indian Freedom Struggle.

Contents:

1. Acknowledgements
2. Translator’s Note
3. The Question
4. Not Contrary to Law
5. Why and How
6. The Refuge
7. Wholeheartedness
8. The Thought of God
9. The Power to Know
10. Unfaltering Memory
11. The Peaceful Heart
12. Equilibrium
13. The Touch of God’s Hand
14. Mindfulness
15. Motiveless Action
16. In Immensity
17. The Delight of the Game
18. In a Spirit of Love
19. The Answer
20. Attainment

About the Author:

Vinoba Bhave was one of the great spiritual leaders and social reformers of modern India, whose work and personal example moved the heart of all Indians, from Prime Ministers to the poor. Born in 1895, at the age of ten he took a vow of lifelong celibacy and service to others. Searching for a way of life that would embody both spiritual truth and practical action, he discovered Gandhi and joined in his work for the regeneration of India.

Vinoba participated in Gandhi’s non-violent resistance (satyagraha) to the British Raj. Later, after independence had been achieved, Vinoba started out on his extraordinary bhoodan (Land Gift) movement. Over a period of twenty years, Vinoba walked the length and breath of India, persuading landlords to give to their poor neighbors a total of over four million aces of land.

Vinoba’s social activism was founded on a lifetime’s study of the spiritual traditions of India, and also of the other major world religions. These memories reveal both the inner and outer life of a great man who has an unwavering commitment to the practice of non-violence, to an engaged spirituality, and to the power of love.