March 25, 1916, Baroda Train Station.
21 year old Vinoba is sitting on a train looking out of the window.
“Atha to Brahmajignyasa” (Search for Absolute)
who Am ‘I’ ? What am ‘I’ in all this ? Vinoba wonders, as he looks at his own reflection in puddle of muddy water in train station.
[The train starts to move, people of all ages, young and old, busy in their own lives pass by, in the distance you also see the statue of Buddha in the Jubilee gardens, a place where he often sat and contemplated.]
The train was moving but his heart was still and in peace, he thought –
“A man is clearly not his clothes. A man is not his hands, legs or even the sum total of the parts of his body. A man is not just his body. This is called Dehabhava. You must know that you are something different and better than your body. Then you see how you are related to others. But such ideas or thoughts are like seeds. ‘I discover many a time that thoughts keep on developing in deep sleep. Seed that is covered with soil appears to have been lost, but it continues to develop underground. It seems this is a similar process’. How are you related to total ? How are you related to Brahman?”
[And thus with this Vinoba leaves his home, in search for his truth, devoted to Sadhna – the spiritual quest along with social service, towards the ancient city – Varanasi]