Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on
September 5, 1888, in a middle class family in the pilgrim town of Tirutani.
His father, it is said, did not want his son to learn English, instead wanted
him to become a priest. However, the talents of the boy were so outstanding
that he was sent to school at Thirupati and then Vellore. Later, he joined the
Christian College, Madras, and studied philosophy. Drawn by accident into
philosophy, Radhakrishnan by his confidence, concentration and strong
convictions went on to become a great philosopher.
Philosophy and Life
His first book, "The Ethics of the Vedanta
and Its Material Presupposition"', being his thesis for the M.A. degree
examination of the Madras University, published in 1908, at once established
his fame as a great philosopher of undoubted ability. All his later works are
landmarks in their respective fields. Expressing abstract and abstruse
philosophical thoughts in intelligible language is considered very difficult.
But Dr. Radhakrishnan was one of the few who could accomplish this with ease
and simplicity.
To him, philosophy was a way of understanding
life and his study of Indian philosophy served as a cultural therapy. By
interpreting Indian thought in western terms and showing that it was imbued
with reason and logic he was able to give Indians a new sense of esteem, who
were overcome by inferiority complex by imperial forces. But he also made clear
to them that their long and rich tradition had been arrested and required
further evolution and he exhorted Indians to cast off much that was corrupt and
abhorrent.
Social Commitment
Dr. Radhakrishnan moved beyond being a mere
academic and sought to engage his philosophical and religious studies in the
political and social developments of the contemporary context.
He believed that in India, the philosopher's
duty was to keep in touch with the past while stretching out to the future.
This commitment to society, the crusading urgent tone in his scholarly
writings, the modern note in his interpretations of even classical texts and
his intellectual resistance to the deforming pressures of colonialism gave Dr.
Radhakrishnan a distinct public image. He was a coin minted differently from
the usual run of politicians and academicians.
Evocative Teacher
Far from being a stern and severe intellectual
remote from the world, Dr. Radhakrishnan was a very humane person. Exceedingly
popular among his students right from his early days as a professor at
Presidency College, Madras he was an evocative teacher. He was offered the
professorship in Calcutta University when he was less than 30 years old. He
served as Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. In 1939, he
was appointed the Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University .Two years later,
he took over the Sir Sayaji Rao Chair of Indian Culture and Civilisation in
Banaras.
Recognition of his scholarship came again in
1936, when he was invited to fill the Chair of Spalding Professor of Eastern
Religions and Ethics at Oxford which he retained for 16 years. His mastery on
his subject and his clarity of thought and expression made him a much sought
after teacher. But what made him even more popular was his warmheartedness and
his ability to draw out people. This aspect of his personality continued to win
him countless admirers throughout his long and illustrious public life.
In the last decades of British rule, his was
the most sophisticated and exalted analysis of Gandhi's work and thought and in
free India he provided the ideological armour for Nehru's foreign policy.
International Acclaim
His commitment to high principles and unfailing
dignity lent nobility and moral authority to all the offices which he held. If
in India Dr. Radhakrishnan was a highly respected figure, abroad he became one
of the best-liked public figures of his time. He earned very early
international recognition as a philospher. In 1952, the Library of Living
Philosophers, an institute of world-wide repute, brought out a massive volume
on 'the philosophy of Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan' devoted wholly to a critical
appreciation of his philosophical doctrines.
After Independence, this philosophical
luminary, who personified the essence of India yet had a universal vision,
became an ideal ambassador to the Soviet Union, for the nascent nation poised
to establish itself in the international arena.
Leading the Nation
In 1952, Dr. Radhakrishnan was chosen to be the
Vice President of the Republic of India and in 1962, he was made the Head of
the State for five years. It was the glory of Indian democracy that an
educationist aloof from politics but with an international acclaim as a
profound scholar was placed in the position of the President. And it was an
advantage for a young country like India to have him to interpret its domestic
and foreign policies abroad to expound its outlook and aspirations emphatically
and in the rightway which was much needed in a world of uncertainity and
disbelief among nations.
His appointment as President was hailed by
Bertrand Russel who said "It is an honour to philosophy that
Dr.Radhakrishnan should be President of India and I, as a philosopher, take
special pleasure in this. Plato aspired for philosophers to become kings and it
is a tribute to India that she should make a philosopher her President".
History reserved for Radhakrishnan's term of
office as President much suspense and surprise. Within months of his ascendancy
in 1962 there was the Chinese invasion. The nation's morale was dealt a blow
but RadhakrishnanÕs voice, firm and resolute came on the air to reassure a
shaken nation:
"Owing to the difficult terrain and
numerical superiority of the Chinese, we suffered military reverses. These have
opened our eyes to the realities of the situation. We are now aware of our
inadequacies and are alive to the needs of the present and the demands of the
future. The country has developed a new purpose, a new will".
In 1965, Pakistan violated our Western
frontiers. Dr Radhakrishnan in his broadcast to the nation on September 25,
1965 said,"Pakistan assumed that India was too weak or too afraid or too
proud to fight. India, though naturally disinclined to take to arms felt the
necessity to defend herself when attacked. Pakistan also assumed that communal
disturbances would occur in the country and in the resulting chaos she could
have her way. Her miscalculations must have come to her as a rude shock."
Dr.Radhakrishnan had great faith in Indian
democracy. In his farewell broadcast to the Nation on May 12, 1967, he said
that despite occasional forebodings to the contrary, the Indian Constitution
had worked successfully so far. But democracy, he warned, was more than a
system of the Government. "It was a way of life and a regime of civilised
conduct of human affairs. We should be the architects of peaceful changes and
the advocates of radical reform", he said.
Great Teacher
It was in 1962 when Dr. Radhakrishnan became
the President of India that his birthday in September came to be observed as
'Teachers' Day'. It was a tribute to Dr.Radhakrishnan's close association with
the cause of teachers. Whatever position he held whether as President or Vice
President or even as Ambassador, Dr.Radhakrishnan essentially remained a
teacher all his life. The teaching profession was his first love and those who
studied under him still remember with gratitude his great qualities as a
teacher.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was one of his
closest friends throughout, said about Dr.Radhakrishnan: "He has served
his country in many capacities. But above all, he is a great Teacher from whom
all of us have learnt much and will continue to learn. It is IndiaÕs peculiar
privilege to have a great philosopher, a great educationist and a great
humanist as her President. That in itself shows the kind of men we honour and
respect."
Bharat Ratna, the highest award of the nation,
was conferred on him in 1954 in recognition of his meritorious service to
mankind.
* 5th
September, the birthday of Dr. Radhskrishnan, is observed as Teacher's Day.
Source : http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0898/f2808981.html
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