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 off. It remained a dream.

Vinoba obviously was not upset by its failure. He wanted to

collect 500 million acres in bhoodan. He collected about 50 million.

. He started many Gramdans, but they did not survive. Redistribution of 50 million acres of land was still a great achievement. Nobody ever thought it possible. Vinoba made it possible.

What power did he have? Was he the elected representative of the people? Did he have state power? Did he have an army to enforce his demands? Was this accepted by all? Did it fit into our idea of economic man? Answers to all these questions are in the negative. But Vinoba got an idea at Pochampalli in Andhra Pradesh on 18th April, 1951. He could perceive its significance in the Indian context. He could appeal to the people of India. He could appeal to their spiritual roots in their own language. He could “see” a new idea. He was a darsanik. He could achieve it. He achieved it without bloodshed, without money. He achieved it peacefully, by appealing to the hearts of the people.

In other countries of the world, the redistribution of land has been done with force, with bloodshed, and with pain all around. Vinoba lighted a new path in this context.

With love,

Yours, L.N. Godbole

Letter 36

7th October, 1990 My dear Pranav,

Many people in India considered bhoodan and gramadan a failure. They said that only useless land was given in Bhoodan. The government tried the way of law; it Officially allowed the landlords to give away discarded land but the land problem is not solved. But bhoodan was a novel way to solve it. What was

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