A Tribute to Radhakrishnan- the Philosopher-King

 

The Teachers’ Day

A Tribute to Radhakrishnan- the Philosopher-King

 

In 1962, the Government of India declared 5^th September, the birth day of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan- one of the finest teachers the modern world has come across- as the Teachers’ Day. The historian Servapalli Gopal’s book Radhakrishnan: A biography is the most authentic account of the life and work of Radhakrishnan.

 

At the age of sixteen, Radhakrishnan was married to a distant cousin, Sivakamu,aged ten. They had seven children- five daughters and two sons(one son died). Despite grinding poverty and the burden of running a huge extended family, even his siblings and parents depending on him, he never allowed his academic pursuits to suffer. In 1904, at the Christian College, Madras, when asked to choose his specialization for the BA course, he was inclined to opt for physical sciences, but decided on philosophy solely because a cousin who had just graduated passed on to him his textbooks in psychology, logic and ethics, thus saving him considerable expense.  Interestingly, after passing the BA degree exam with first class honours in philosophy, he wanted to switch over to the law, but due to the financial constraints he opted philosophy for his Master’s degree.  When he obtained MA degree in 1909, it was suggested to him to apply for the Government scholarship to study at Oxford or Cambridge.  The necessity of providing for the family ruled out any prolonged absence from Madras. He boasted that if he ever went to Oxford, it would be not to study but to teach.

 

He started his teaching career as Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Presidency College, Madras. He became a very popular and famous teacher. His reputation for smooth handling of the English language, vigor and clarity and comprehensiveness was so widespread that students from other colleges flocked to his classes to listen to him. Poverty did not preclude his working out for himself a dress which suited his figure and personality- a long silk coat buttoned up at the neck and reaching down to his knees, a white dhoti with a black border, black slippers and a turban of white muslin. This was attire in India for the rest of his life, whatever his position; and sartorial elegance became a part of his personality.

 

In 1918, he was selected as a Professor of Philosophy by the  University of Mysore, where he taught at its Maharaja's College. In 1921 he was appointed to occupy the most prestigious King George V Chair in Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta. Though he had declined to attend any formal function to bid him farewell by the Mysore university, the students converted the occasion of his departure into a unique event. That scene has become a part of the history of Mysore city. The horses were detached from his carriage and students in harness pulled it to the Railway station. There the platform was wreathed with flowers and the compartment packed with roses. The whole university, faculty and students turned up to see him off, with the traffic on all roads held up for hours. As the train pulled out, hours late, to resounding cheers, Radhakrishnan, like any other present, was moved to tears.

 

In his presidential address on 3 April 1927 at the All-Bengal College and University Teachers' Association, he denounced the policy which trained students to serve as efficient and docile tools of an external authority but did not help them to become self-respecting citizens, with a burning passion to remove the conditions which prevented them from assuming control of their destinies; such education makes no contribution to culture. He said, the University education in India discourages free mental life and intellectual adventure. Delivering the first convocation address at the new Andhra University, he exhorted the youth to cultivate a liberty of mind, spirit of self-criticism and a rejection of conformity.  It is the task of universities to break down narrowness and bigotry and reshape, the thought and temper of the age.  He stressed merit should be the sole criterion in the choice of teachers, for only they- if they have a zeal for research which would create a zest in teaching-could develop the atmosphere of scientific habit. A university education should not be hampered by obsolete thought and tradition, for its essence is the spirit of criticism and understanding.  Any university that produces graduates who played for safety and cared for comfort fails in its essential task. Timidity and conservatism are the greatest dangers to society.

 

In 1926, Radhakrishnan was invited to Oxford to give the Upton Lectures, published in 1927 as The Hindu View of Life, and in 1929 he delivered the Hibbert Lectures, later published under the title An Idealist View of Life-the book, original, distinctive and challenging gave him a secure place in the intellectual history.  In 1936,  he was appointed as the  Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at  the Oxford University- the first Asian to hold the Chair. He defended Hinduism against uninformed Western criticism, contributing to the formation of contemporary Hindu identity. He has been influential in shaping the understanding of Hinduism, in both India and the West, that earned him a reputation as a bridge-builder between India and the West. Based on his lectures at the Oxford and elsewhere he published his much-celebrated work Eastern Religions and Western Thought in 1939. He had argued with style, scholarship and much spiritual feeling “that the problem of contemporary civilisation was to gain a unity of soul; and this challenge could be met if a philosophy could be developed which combined the best of European humanism and Asian religion”, drawing attention to the common elements in Christianity and Hinduism.  He asked his readers to take advantage of the rich treasures of the spirit which India had to offer. The book, the appeal of which spread far beyond professional scholars and learned intellectuals, was marked as a turning point in Western civilisation. And he became a cult figure in America and Europe.

 

Drawn by accident into philosophy, Radhakrishnan by his confidence, concentration and strong convictions made himself into a great philosopher. His creative impulse was inspired by the passion of Indianness, as a reaction   to many scholars writing off the thought of India as having nothing positive to contribute to the world.  To Western readers he interpreted the philosophy of India in a way which could be understood fully by them. His was a progressive mind within the Indian ethos. His reading of Hinduism provided the base for his philosophy of idealism. His efforts to cleanse Hinduism and restore its vitality were far from chauvinist and promoted social concern and action. And “he represented in himself that great past of ours, the present and the future, all combined”, as Nehru said.

 

He was satisfied with his teaching and writings.   He had a personal sense of providence and, with the certainty that his life was a carefully planned script written by a power above, did not believe in conscious choices. The destiny had a different plan for him.  On the eve of Indian independence, the cold war politics divided the world into two hostile ideological blocs- one led by the United States of America and the other by the Soviet Union- the ‘two lunacies”- as Bertrand Russell called them.

 

Stalin distrusted Nehru’s India. A psychological approach to the Soviet mind was required. Nehru asked Radhakrishnan to be Indian Ambassador in Moscow as he saw in him the symbol of India.  He needed an intellectual- philosopher in Moscow to make Stalin to understand what India stood for. Radhakrishnan did not want to give up his Chair in the Oxford University.  However, as a call of national duty, he accepted the assignment and he was allowed to keep the Chair in Oxford, which meant his shuffling between Moscow and London, spending half the year there.  And what was considered a temporary assignment for a year, he continued as the Ambassador for three years:1949-52. Stalin, who never granted audience to any foreign envoy, received Radhakrishnan, considering his eminence and moral authority.    He told him, “Both you and Mr. Nehru are persons whom we do not consider as our enemies.  This will continue to be our policy and you can count on our help.” Stalin shook hands with Radhakrishnan, who patted him on the cheek. Stalin later remarked that Radhakrishnan “is the only man who treats me not as monster but as a human being.”  The bond that developed between India and the Soviet Union blossomed and stood the test of time.

 

Nehru persuaded him to be the Vice President in 1952.  And when he was elected the President in 1962, Bertrand Russell remarked: “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.”  Both as the Vice President and the President, he acted independent of the government, rose above politics, outspoken mincing no words. He spoke freely on major issues without getting involved in daily political fray. Nehru appreciated his forthrightness in public speech and, in private. In the last months of Nehru’s life, they moved on from matters of state and personal exchanges to philosophical and spiritual problems.

.

Radhakrishnan had travelled extensively abroad, visiting many countries, exhorting leaders about the importance of defusing international conflicts. It was Nehru-Radhakrishnan symbiosis, working for international understanding and world peace, providing ideological armour of Nehru’s foreign policy. Their association grew into a warm mutual respect, admiration and attachment, conscious of each other’s intellectual vitality, grace of mind and verbal skills. To diplomats and visitors from abroad, Radhakrishnan was a great draw; as he was the greatest living philosopher ‘east of Bertrand Russell’. A teacher- ‘one of the greatest scholars of all time’- had transformed into India’s greatest Philosopher-Statesman.