Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
In
office
13 May 1962 – 13 May 1967 |
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Prime Minister
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Jawaharlal Nehru
Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) Lal Bahadur Shastri Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) Indira Gandhi |
Vice President
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Preceded by
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Succeeded by
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In
office
13 May 1952 – 12 May 1962 |
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President
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Preceded by
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Position established
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Succeeded by
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Personal
details
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Born
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Died
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Nationality
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Political party
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Spouse(s)
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Sivakamu, Lady Radhakrishnan
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Children
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Five daughters
One son |
Profession
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Religion
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Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (
listen (help·info);
5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975) was an Indian philosopher and statesman who was the first Vice President of
India (1952–1962) and the second President of India from 1962 to 1967.
One of India's most influential
scholars of comparative
religion and philosophy, Radhakrishnan built
a bridge between the East and the West by showing how the philosophical systems
of each tradition are comprehensible within the terms of the other. He wrote
authoritative exegeses of India's religious and philosophical literature for the
English-speaking world. 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 University of
Oxford (1936–1952).
Radhakrishnan was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954. Among the
many other honours he received were the British Knight Bachelor in 1931 and honorary membership of the Order of Merit (1963), but ceased to use the title "Sir" after
India attained independence. Dr Radhakrishnan believed that "teachers should be the
best minds in the country". Since 1962, his birthday is celebrated in
India as Teachers' Day on 5 September. He was also awarded the Templeton
Prize in 1975 in recognition of the fact
that "his accessible writings underscored his country’s religious heritage
and sought to convey a universal reality of God that embraced love and wisdom
for all people".
Education
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born in
a Niyogi
Telugu Brahmin family at a village near Thiruttani India, 84 km to the northwest of Madras (now
Chennai). His father's name was Sarvepalli Veeraswami and his mother's was Sitamma. His early years were spent in Tiruttani and Tirupati. His
father was a subordinate revenue official in the service of a local zamindar
(landlord). His primary education was at Primary Board High School at
Tiruttani. In 1896 he moved to the Hermansburg Evangelical Lutheral Mission
School in Tirupati.
Radhakrishnan was awarded
scholarships throughout his academic life. He joined Voorhees
College in Vellore
but switched to the Madras
Christian College at the age of 17. He graduated from
there in 1906 with a Master's degree in Philosophy, being one of its most
distinguished alumni. Radhakrishnan wrote his thesis for the M.A. degree on
"The Ethics of the Vedanta and its Metaphysical Presuppositions". He was afraid that this M.A. thesis would offend his
philosophy professor, Dr. Alfred George Hogg. Instead, Hogg commended
Radhakrishnan on having done most excellent work.[citation needed]
Radhakrishnan's thesis was published when he was only 20.
Radhakrishnan studied philosophy by
chance rather than choice. Being a financially constrained student, when a
cousin who graduated from the same college passed on his philosophy textbooks
in to Radhakrishnan, it automatically decided his academic course. Later on he felt deep interest in his subject and wrote
many acclaimed works on philosophy, both Eastern and Western.
Marriage
Radhakrishnan was married to
Sivakamu, a distant cousin, at the age of 16. As per tradition the marriage was arranged
by the family. The couple had five daughters and a son, Sarvepalli Gopal. Sarvepalli Gopal went on to a notable career as a
historian. Sivakamu died in 1956. They were married for over 51 years.
Career
In April 1909, Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan was appointed to the Department of Philosophy at the Madras
Presidency College. Thereafter, in 1918, he was
selected as Professor of Philosophy by the University of
Mysore, where he taught at its Maharaja's
College, Mysore. By that time he had
written many articles for journals of repute like The Quest, Journal
of Philosophy and the International Journal of Ethics. He also
completed his first book, The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. 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.
In 1921 he was appointed as a
professor in philosophy to occupy the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral
Science at the University of
Calcutta. He represented the University of
Calcutta at the Congress of the Universities of the British Empire in June 1926
and the International Congress of Philosophy at Harvard University in September 1926. Another important academic event during
this period was the invitation to deliver the Hibbert Lecture on the ideals of life which he delivered at Harris Manchester College, Oxford in 1929 and which was subsequently published in book form
as An Idealist View of Life.
In 1929 Radhakrishnan was invited to
take the post vacated by Principal J. Estlin Carpenter at Harris Manchester
College. This gave him the opportunity to lecture to the students of the
University of Oxford on Comparative Religion. For his services to education he
was knighted by George V in the
June 1931 Birthday Honours, and formally invested with his honour by the Governor-General
of India, the Earl of Willingdon, in April 1932. However, he ceased to use the title after Indian
independence,:9
preferring instead his academic title of 'Doctor'.
He was the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. In 1936 Radhakrishnan was named Spalding
Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford, and was
elected a Fellow of All
Souls College. In 1939 Pt. Madan Mohan
Malaviya invited him to succeed him as the
Vice-Chancellor of Banaras
Hindu University (BHU). He served as its Vice-Chancellor till January 1948.
When India became independent in
1947, Radhakrishnan represented India at UNESCO (1946–52)
and was later Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union, from 1949 to 1952. He was also elected to the Constituent
Assembly of India.
Radhakrishnan was elected as the
first Vice President of India in 1952. He was elected as the second President of India
(1962–1967). When he became President, some of his students and friends
requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, 5 September. He replied,
"Instead of celebrating my
birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as
Teachers' Day."
Along with Ghanshyam Das Birla and some other social workers in the pre-independence era,
Radhakrishnan formed the Krishnarpan
Charity Trust.
Philosophy
Radhakrishnan stated that Western
philosophers, despite all claims to objectivity, were influenced by theological influences of their own culture. He wrote books on Indian philosophy according to Western academic standards, and made all
efforts for the West to give serious consideration to Indian philosophy. In his
book An Idealist View of Life, he made a powerful case for the
importance of intuitive thinking as opposed to purely intellectual forms of
thought. He is well known for his commentaries on the Prasthana Trayi namely, the Bhagavadgita, the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutra.
Quotes
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It is not God that is worshipped
but the authority that claims to speak in His name. Sin becomes disobedience
to authority not violation of integrity.
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"Reading a book gives us the
habit of solitary reflection and true enjoyment."
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"When we think we know we
cease to learn."
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"A literary genius, it is
said, resembles all, though no one resembles him."
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"There is nothing wonderful
in my saying that Jainism was in existence long before the Vedas were
composed."
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Awards
and honours
- The Bharat Ratna in 1954
- Radhakrishnan was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1931.
- Elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1938.
- He was awarded Order of Merit in 1963.
- He received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1961.
- Awarded the Templeton Prize in 1975, a few months before his death. He donated the entire amount of the Templeton Prize to Oxford University. In 1989, the university instituted the Radhakrishnan Scholarships in his memory. The scholarships were later renamed the "Radhakrishnan Chevening Scholarships".[citation needed]
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