Remembering Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan — A wonderful teacher, a profound philosopher, and a consummate Statesman

The year — 1952. A touching moment in history: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, walked into Joseph Stalin’s spacious and ornately furnished office in Moscow for the last time to bid him farewell. His tenure as the first ambassador of India to the Soviet Union was over. After brief pleasantries, he held Stalin’s hands, locked his eyes into Stalin’s, and said “You know, there was once a great emperor in India, who renounced bloodshed completely after perpetrating a bloody purge. It awakened deep remorse in him… His name was Ashoka. He went on to establish a reign of sustained peace and security across the nation. “ — Radhakrishnan continued with an enigmatic smile — “God only knows what will become of you, Comrade Stalin…” Not many men have ever had the audacity to look Stalin in his eye, let alone patronizingly talk to him. But this conversation was different. The aging dictator knew the caliber of the man addressing him, and appreciated the import of the Philosopher’s words. With a trembling voice Stalin replied: “Yes sir, Ambassador, Miracles do happen!!! After all, I have spent five years of my early life in a theological seminary. I hope it will help me see the light soon”. Radhakrishnan smiled and patted Stalin, wishing him long life and good health. Stalin stood speechless, and his gaunt face registered a faint wave of emotion. Here was a man who treated Stalin like anyone else, without being intimidated by his presence or political stature. Stalin held Radhakrishnan’s hand for a brief moment for the last time and said something he had never said to anyone before, “I am sad, you are leaving sir. . . . . I have not long to live. . .” A ruthless dictator was bidding an emotional farewell to one of the greatest philosopher statesmen of the twentieth century.

Such was the stature and dignity of the second President of India. What a life! Let us briefly recount it. Radhakrishnan was born into a poor South Indian family, he completed his early education in government public schools and later enrolled himself into Madras Christian college largely through the charity of his relatives. He was forced to study Philosophy because he didn’t have money to buy books for any other course (he received his philosophy books from a cousin, who had just finished that course). It was destiny perhaps that he should study philosophy. The young man took to the metaphysics of the west and the mysticism of the east, like a lotus to water. He mastered the works of Plato, the mystical discourses of Ekhart and Nicolas of Cusa, the dissertations of Berkeley, the pragmatism of Hume, the elan vital of Bergson, the transcendental reasoning of Kant, the Ubermensch of Nietzsche, the non-duality of Shankara, the Vaishnavite duality of Ramanujam, and the subtle inner science of the Upanishads. This holistic approach gave Radhakrishnan a broad and deep outlook that oozed into other areas of his life as well. His decision to become a professor of philosophy was pressed by immediate financial necessities. But, Radhakrishnanloved to teach. He used this opportunity to test his ideas, refine the art of presenting ideas in a simple manner, and impress upon young minds the habit of clear and logical thinking. Radhakrishnan’s name spread quickly among academic circles as an artful teacher and a deep thinker. The University of Calcutta offered him the prestigious George V Chair in Philosophy. He took it. That was a good launching pad for Radhakrishnan to grow further. The position made it possible to travel to the finest universities in the world, doing what he did best — lecturing and inspiring young minds. Throughout this arc of Radhakrishnan’s intellectual and professional progress, we witness a steady deepening of maturity, ripening of wisdom, and steady involvement in Indian politics that would eventually lead him to occupy the most distinguished office in the country – The President of India.

If Vivekananda was primarily responsible for awakening interest in Indian philosophical traditions among the western nations; it was Radhakrishnan, who gave it the intellectual and rational scaffolding required to hold itself together on alien soil. His Upton and Gifford lectures – later published as “The Hindu view of life” and “An idealist view of life” — delivered largely to Western rationalists in England, artfully hemmed in Vedantic insights into the tapestry of occidental metaphysics. He was able to discover and show parallels between the thoughts and writings of Western mystics and the insights of Vedanta. “True philosophy,” he said, “addresses Man, as he is found everywhere therefore all the philosophic systems stripped of their appearances must have common roots”. His lectures were gracefully delivered in beautiful epigrammatic sentences without sacrificing the dialectical rigor that Western reason demanded of philosophers. Like Kant, Radhakrishnan firmly advocated that reason can never be divorced from intuition, Intuitions can flow only when reason is pushed to its limits, not otherwise. Radhakrishnan’s chiseled talks and well-written books were largely responsible for a systematic acceptance of Indian thought in the west. This was a singular achievement. And for this synthesis of thought and the power of his exposition, Radhakrishnan was knighted in 1931 for advancing human understanding and cooperation among nations

Meanwhile, our philosopher continued traveling and teaching in well-known universities, both in India and abroad. He taught at the Benares Hindu University, followed by a brief stint at Oxford as the prestigious Spalding chair of Eastern religions, then he came back to Benares again. From Benares, he moved to the newly established Andhra university as its Vice-chancellor. He remained a sought-after teacher, and wherever he went, large audiences gathered from different disciplines flocked to hear the master. There was no topic that Radhakrishna couldn’t illuminate with his wisdom. He was always a voracious reader, and no office he held could distract him from that wonderful habit. And whatever he thought about, he wrote as well, and whatever he wrote was always worth reading. Radhakrishnan’s two-volume treatise on Indian philosophy is one of the greatest achievements of synthesis and exposition. It appeals, equally, to critics and laymen alike. His mellifluous prose — simple, yet powerful; often rising to flights of poesy, can illuminate the most obtuse thought with a graceful turn of phrase, a metaphor, an analogy, or a juxtaposition of similar insights. What would take a lesser man a few paragraphs to expound, Radhakrishnan’s prose could do it in a sentence or two. Every educated Indian should read this work. It is part of our living heritage.

Radhakrishnan also happened to live during the most tumultuous times in Indian political history and in the capacity of Vice-President and then President, he served the nation well. Three prime ministers in newly formed India were fortunate to receive his wisdom and guidance on important matters of state. Nehru, especially, found a Philosopher-king in Dr. Radhakrishnan (The ideal of Plato’s Republic). They complemented each other well. Radhakrishnan brought an intellectual balance to Nehru’s flamboyance. It was one of Dr. Radhakrishnan’s ardent wishes that the entire country should achieve literacy within fifteen years of independence, a wish that sadly remains unfulfilled even today. After his tenure as President, Dr. Radhakrishnan completely and gracefully retired from public life and surrounded himself with books and close friends. A brain that was razor-sharp for most of his adult life began to decline with the onset of Alzheimer’s. Even so, his wisdom and poise remained intact till the last breath — a blessing, perhaps, of a life spent in deep introspection and reflection.

It was on Dr. Radhakrishnan’s behest that his birthday is remembered as Teacher’s day, just as Nehru’s birthday is celebrated as Children’s day. It was a fitting wish of a man who was quintessentially a teacher all his life. No matter what positions he held, he brought the touch of a teacher to all his dealings. Here are some of Radhakrishnan’s thoughts on the essential qualities required of a teacher or mentor: “A good teacher must know how to arouse the interest of the pupil in the field of study for which he is responsible; he must himself be a fellow traveler in the exciting pursuit of knowledge…”. “The aim of education is not the acquisition of information, although important, or acquisition of technical skills, though essential in modern society, but the development of that bent of mind, that attitude of reason, that spirit of democracy which will make us responsible citizens…”. Such thoughts bring out the wisdom and the prescient thinking of the man. These timeless pointers are relevant to all teachers, no matter what field they operate in.

I began this essay with an anecdote and would like to end it with another that shows the kind of man Dr. Radhakrisnan was even during his tenure as a diplomat of India. When Dr. Radhakrishnan traveled to the United States in 1963, he was received by the charismatic President John F Kennedy. The weather that day in Washington was particularly inclement, with lashing rains and billowing winds making it difficult for the aircraft to land. Finally, when they did land, President Kennedy, the gracious man he was, apologized to the Indian president for such a rough welcome to his country; to which our Philosopher-President with a gentle smile responded as a sage would “… Mr. President, we cannot always control events, but we can always control our attitude towards events…’’ It was JFK’s turn to smile this time, and pat Radhakrishnan on his shoulders for this spontaneous, beautiful, and wise answer.

It is to such a giant of a man that we dedicate the fifth of September.

God bless…

Yours in mortality,

Bala