Vinod Khanna was at the peak of his career when he left cinema, decided to take a spiritual path, leaving everyone shocked. He followed the spiritual guru Osho and joined his commune, first in India and later in Oregon, USA.
At the time, Vinod was one of the country’s biggest stars with back-to-back appearances and was often seen as Amitabh Bachchan’s only real rival. The actor returned to the cinema after five years. He was married to Gitanjali Khanna had two children – Akshay and Rahul Khanna. He left them and followed the spiritual path. When he returned, things did not work out and he and Gitanjali parted ways. Later, Khanna married Kavita. In a recent interview on her YouTube channel, Vinod Khanna’s second wife, Kavita Khanna, shed some light on what led to his dramatic decision. She said that Vinod’s spiritual inclination began at an early age and that he first encountered Osho’s teachings as a teenager.“Vinod has been very spiritual since childhood. When he was 17, he bought the book Autobiography of a Yogi and then he said that he didn’t realize then that Osho was in the same bookstore at the same time,” recalls Kavita.
Talking about the turning point that forced Vinod to give up his glamorous life, Kavita said that the loss of close relatives played a decisive role. “The turning point in giving up this incredible material life that he had… the adoration he had and the success… was that within two years there were several deaths in the family. So when his mother died, he just went to Osho and took sannyasa.”Kavita also shared lesser-known details about Vinod’s life at the Oregon commune, revealing that the former superstar took on menial duties there.
“He was Osho’s gardener. Osho’s house was private and very few people had access to it, but if you were a gardener, you were there. That was his seva.”Gardening was not the only role that Vinod performed while working in the commune. Kavita revealed that he was also involved in creating Osho’s signature outfit. “In Oregon, Osho had these incredible slim ropes that were designed for him, and they had all been tried on Vinod before because of their similar shoulder size,” she said.According to Kavita, Vinod’s spiritual exploration began long before he left cinema and moved to the ashram. She recalled an incident from his days in Mumbai when he participated in meditation sessions naked on Chowpatti Beach. “Even when he was in Mumbai, before he moved to the Pune ashram, the meditation on Chowpatti Beach in Bombay, which is right in the middle of this pulsating city, and everyone took off their clothes and they meditated naked in a circle on the beach.
»Clarifying his intention, Kavita emphasized that Vinod’s journey was never sensationalized. “I know Vinod wasn’t there for the physical part, I think his journey was spiritual, with a lot of commitment and dedication.”Vinod Khanna eventually returned to India, resumed his acting career and remained active in film and public life until his death in 2017.
