The Jai Jagat reached the much anticipated Brahma Vidya Mandir in front Vinoba Bhave ashram, Paunar, towards the end of the four months of the Indian leg of the padyatra. In this article, we take a look at the concept of Jai Jagat as presented by Vinoba and reconsider by the residents of the Bahana Vidya Mandir, and summary of the vision and experience of the nearly four months of Jai Jagat as narrated by Rajagopal.
The Brahma Vidya Mandir was established in 1959 by Vinoba Bhave, the spiritual successor to Gandhi and a great social reformer known for his Bhoodan movement. He is also the one who coined the term ‘Jai Jagat’ as the mantra for world peace and translates to ‘all for the planet, planet for all’.
The philosophy behind the term is explained in the following words of Acharya Vinoba:
“We are not exclusively attached to any country. We give no special emphasis on any relation. We are not bound to any community or caste.Our field of study is to soar in the region of the noble thoughts spread all over the world.To assimilate noble thoughts is our sacred duty.To establish our understanding in various specialties, to develop world attitude is our discipline of thought.”
Vinoba coined the term in 1957 during a conference in Karnataka, where he was disappointed to see growing regionalism when people raised the call of ‘Jai Karnataka’. The incident inspired him to call for a philosophy that embraced the whole world and was a sincere expression of our aim as a human being and not a rhetoric based on political boundaries and national identities.
Vinoba’s term is the glorification of the world. The term Jai Jagat is derived from the Sanskrit term, ‘ Vasudeva Kutumba’, the earth as one family. Vinoba’s call follows the spirit of Gandhi’s’ sarvodya that envisions the well being of all. He says, ‘the very idea of Sarvodya is based on the fact that the interest of one shall not be in conflict with the interest of anyone else. What is good for in individual is also good for all. There can be no conflict of interest’. He goes on, ‘only when we understand that all humans are one then we’re attain true happiness and true contentment’.
The Brahma Vidya Mandir
Located on the banks of river Dham and six km way from Gandhi’s Sewagram ashram,
Brahma Vidya Mandir serves as a centre for spiritual attainment and for practicing the Gandhian lifestyle.
The ashram is sans any leader as all decisions are taken collectively and managed by the women. The residents contribute to the society through simple farming, manual labour, weaving and other hand based activities. They believe in simple living in accordance to the Gandhian values, and strive for personal, social and intellectual development of the members.
Rajagopal and Jill spoke about the Jai Jagat yatra and the different ways that Jai Jagat has been impacting people through the discourse of nonviolence. Explaining the rationale behind Jai Jagat yearlong walk around the globe, he contextualised it within the UN’s call for sustainable development and the following tag line of ‘no one left behind’ which is but the same as Gandhi’s last person. that it was time to see the world through the lens of Jai Jagat.