Teachers’ Day has come and gone, but there was hardly any mention in the media of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in whose name the day is celebrated. One wonders how much aware the GenNext is about one of the greatest scholars of another day and age who was to become the first Vice-President of India and the second President of the country (1962-67).
Known as one of India’s best and most influential 20th century scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, his academic appointments included the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta (1921-1932) and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at the University of Oxford (1936-1952), a period of sixteen continuous years. His teaching record has hardly been beaten by other scholars in is particular field of study and analysis. In April 1909, he was appointed to the Department of Philosophy at the Madras Presidency College.
Nine years later, in 1918, he was selected as Professor of Philosophy by the University of Calcutta invited him to take a similar post, as mentioned earlier, the credit of inviting him going to Calcutta University’s then Vice Chancellor Ashutosh Mukherji. It was Mukherji again to have C V Raman’s talent recognised to be invited to Calcutta. In 1929, Radhakrishnan was invited to accept the post of Principal, Harris Manchester College, which gave him an opportunity to occasionally address Oxford University students. His rise in the academic field did not stop there. He became Vice Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936 and in 1939.
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya invited him to serve as Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University. He served in that post for nine long years. He was a regular writer. His first book, ‘The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore’ won him many admirers. He believed Tagore’s philosophy to be the “genuine manifestation of the Indian spirit.” His second book, “The Reign of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy’ was published in 1920. Born on September 5, 1888, he did his graduate studies from Madras Christian College at the age of seventeen. He graduated from there in 1906 with a Master’s degree in Philosophy, one of the youngest of his generation to do so. It would seem for one who came to represent Indian philosophy in all its manifestations, his decision to study it came by chance rather than choice. He had been presented with several philosophical texts by a cousin who had earlier finished the course and apparently Radhakrishnan was fascinated enough by the books for him to opt for the same academic course.
His thesis for the MA degree was on the Vedanta. It ws titled, ‘The Ethics of the Vedanta and its Metaphysical Presuppositions.’ He had just turned twenty when he wrote his thesis which was highly commended by his Professor Dr Alfred George Hogg. It seems to have been intended to be a reply to the charge that the Vedanta System had no room for ethics. At first, it seems he was somewhat afraid that his thesis might offend his professor but it turned out to be the other way round. Dr Hogg was quite supportive. Long after he was to say that it was the challenge of Christian critics which impelled him to make a study of Hindu philosophy and find out “what is living and what is dead in it.”
As he put it: “My pride as a Hindu roused by the enterprise and eloquence of Swami Vivekananda was deeply hurt by the treatment accorded to Hinduism in missionary institutions.” For many proud Hindus, Swami Vivekananda must have been an icon. Such were the times. Radhakrishnan came from an ordinary family. His father was a revenue officer in the service of a local zamindar and he was married to a distant cousin at the age of 16. That again was par for the course. But coming from such a poor background – he won scholarships throughout his studies – only to rise to great academic and political heights is something worthy of applause. After Vivekananda it was Radhakrishnan who took the cause of Hinduism across the seas. A brilliant speaker, his command over the student community was out of this world.
In his political life, he was to enchant Jawaharlal Nehru and the two are known to have spent many hours of discussion and debate. Honoured by the British Government with a Knighthood, he was to distance himself from it once India became free. In 1947, he represented India at UNESCO (1946-52) and was to serve as Ambassador to the USSR (1949-52). But throughout his life, his motivation lay in his pride in Hindu culture and the defence of Hinduism against ‘uninformed western criticism.’
That his birthday, September 5, should be designated as Teachers’ Day is but natural because in many ways Radhakrishnan as a teacher was par excellence. One understands that even Stalin, the arch communist was impressed by Radhakrishnan’s stature as a philosopher. In 1954, he was honoured with the highest Indian civil award, the Bharat Ratna and the British bestowed on him the honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.
M V Kamath
