Sarvodaya: Gandhi Vision and Its Evolution in Independent India
02-May-2025

By Mansi Singh

Sarvodaya, meaning "welfare of all," is one of the most enduring and transformative ideals to emerge from Mahatma Gandhi’s political and spiritual philosophy. Far more than a slogan, Sarvodaya represented a comprehensive vision for a just society rooted in ethical living, nonviolence, and communal harmony. The idea was about political independence and establishing a socio-economic order that uplifted every individual, especially the most marginalised. Over time, the Sarvodaya movement, led by Gandhi’s spiritual successors like Vinoba Bhave and later embraced by Jayaprakash Narayan, attempted to translate this vision into concrete social reform.

Gandhi encountered the foundational ideas of Sarvodaya through John Ruskin’s Unto This Last, which he paraphrased in Gujarati. He reinterpreted the ideas through the lens of Indian society, emphasising nonviolence (ahimsa), truth (satya), and voluntary poverty (aparigraha) as essential building blocks of the new order he envisioned.

Following Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, his close associates gathered at Sevagram to deliberate on continuing his work. This resulted in the formation of the Sarvodaya Samaj, an organisation committed to building a society free from caste discrimination, religious bigotry, and class exploitation. Rather than working through state mechanisms, the Sarvodaya Samaj emphasised lok shakti (people's power), pressing on the idea that genuine transformation must arise from the grassroots.

The movement found its most dynamic expression under the leadership of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, who launched the Bhoodan Yatra in 1951. Bhave's mission was simple yet revolutionary: to persuade landowners to donate a portion of their land to landless labourers voluntarily. This approach reflected a deep faith in human conscience and moral appeal. The spark for this movement came in Telangana, where Harijans requested land, and a landlord offered 100 acres on the spot. This act began the Bhoodan Movement, which quickly spread across India.

Within a year, Bhave's Bhoodan movement had collected over vast acres of land. His success lay in reframing land ownership in moral terms. He likened landowners' responsibility to a father with six sons, urging them to part with one-sixth of their land as the share of the “sixth son,” representing the landless poor. Bhave’s walks across the country (Pad Yatras) mobilised thousands and sparked public introspection on wealth, duty, and compassion.

The movement evolved further with the emergence of Gramdan (village gift), where entire villages agreed to place land in collective ownership. Unlike Bhoodan, which focused on individual donations, Gramdan aimed at restructuring rural life on Gandhian principles. Jayaprakash Narayan, initially sceptical of voluntary reform methods due to his socialist background, was profoundly influenced after witnessing such a transformation in Mangraudh village, Uttar Pradesh. He later wrote that if every village in India adopted the Gramdan model, a revolution—“moral, economic, political, and social”—would sweep the nation.

Narayan’s entry into the Sarvodaya movement renewed its political and ideological depth. While Vinoba Bhave focused on moral appeal and spiritual reform, Jayaprakash emphasised structural change and participatory democracy. He proposed three interrelated ideas as the pillars of Sarvodaya: Bhoodan (land donation), Gramdan (village-level collectivisation), and Sampattidan (wealth donation or trusteeship).
 

For Jayaprakash Narayan, the idea of trusteeship, inspired by Gandhi, meant that wealth and property should be seen not as personal entitlements but as social responsibilities. He rejected violent revolution and centralised political systems, arguing instead for decentralised, village-based governance rooted in self-reliance.

In his writings, particularly the 1961 Swaraj for the People, Narayan offered a compelling critique of Western-style democracy in India. He pointed out that electoral democracy had alienated the people from governance, reducing political participation to mere voting. He envisioned Lokniti—people’s politics—where decision-making would begin at the village level and flow upward, not the other way around. This decentralised model, akin to the Panchayati Raj system, emphasised direct democracy and moral leadership.

The Sarvodaya movement, however, faced several challenges. Despite initial enthusiasm, Bhoodan and Gramdan declined over time due to the lack of legal backing, insufficient land, and bureaucratic hurdles in redistribution. Nevertheless, the spirit of Sarvodaya of selfless service, ethical living, and nonviolent transformation continues to inspire grassroots initiatives, especially in rural development, education, and community-led governance.

Sarvodaya remains one of the most profound and indigenous frameworks for holistic development and ethical governance. While its full realisation remains elusive, the ideals laid down by Gandhi and carried forward by Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan offer a radical alternative to exploitative economic systems and alienating political structures. Sarvodaya provides a blueprint for a more just, participatory, and humane society by reimagining power as service and wealth as trusteeship.

Footnotes

Bhave, V. (1954). Bhoodan Yajana (Land Gift Mission). Navjivan Publishing House.

Bhattacharjee, A. (2002). Transforming the Polity: Centenary Readings from Jayaprakash Narayan. Rupa & Co.

Narayan, J. (1961). Swaraj for the People. Akhil Bharat Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan.