About:
- As an academic, philosopher, and statesman, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was one of the most recognized and influential Indian thinkers in academic circles in the 20th century.
- He was against State institutions imparting denominational religious instruction as it was against the secular vision of the Indian State.
- Throughout his life and extensive writing career, Radhakrishnan sought to define, defend, and promulgate his religion, a religion he variously identified as Hinduism, Vedanta, and the religion of the Spirit.
- He sought to demonstrate that his Hinduism was both philosophically coherent and ethically viable.
- Radhakrishnan’s concern for experience and his extensive knowledge of the Western philosophical and literary traditions has earned him the reputation of being a bridge-builder between India and the West.
- He often appears to feel at home in the Indian as well as the Western philosophical contexts, and draws from both Western and Indian sources throughout his writing.
- Because of this, Radhakrishnan has been held up in academic circles as a representative of Hinduism to the West.
- His lengthy writing career and his many published works have been influential in shaping the West’s understanding of Hinduism, India, and the East.
Vice-presidency and Presidency
- Radhakrishnan had been actively involved in the newly incorporated UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), serving on its Executive Board as well as leading the Indian delegation from 1946-1951.
- Radhakrishnan also served for the two years immediately following India’s independence as a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly.
- Radhakrishnan’s time and energy to UNESCO and the Constituent Assembly had also to be shared by the demands of the University Commission and his continuing obligations as Spalding Professor at Oxford.
- With the Report of the Universities Commission complete in 1949, Radhakrishnan was appointed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as Indian Ambassador to Moscow, a post he held until 1952.
- The opportunity for Radhakrishnan to put into practice his own philosophical-political ideals came with his election to the Rajya Sabha, in which he served as India’s Vice-President (1952-1962) and later as President (1962-1967).
- Radhakrishnan saw during his terms in office an increasing need for world unity and universal fellowship.
- The urgency of this need was pressed home to Radhakrishnan by what he saw as the unfolding crises throughout the world.
- At the time of his taking up the office of Vice-President, the Korean war was already in full swing.
- Political tensions with China in the early 1960s followed by the hostilities between India and Pakistan dominated Radhakrishnan’s presidency.
- Moreover, the Cold War divided East and West leaving each side suspicious of the other and on the defensive.
- Radhakrishnan challenged what he saw as the divisive potential and dominating character of self-professed international organizations such as the League of Nations.
- Instead, he called for the promotion of a creative internationalism based on the spiritual foundations of integral experience.
- Only then could understanding and tolerance between peoples and between nations be promoted.
- Radhakrishnan located his metaphysics within the Advaita (non-dual) Vedanta tradition (sampradaya).
- And like other Vedantins before him, Radhakrishnan wrote commentaries on the Prasthanatraya (that is, main primary texts of Vedanta ): the Upanisads (1953),Brahma Sutra (1959), and the Bhagavadgita (1948).
