Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the first Vice President of India between 1952–1962 and the second President of India from 1962 to 1967. He was born on 5 September 1888  and in India, his birthday is celebrated as the teachers day .he was an Indian philosopher and statesman^.Sarva Palli Radhakrishnan was born in a village near Thiruttani India, in the erstwhile Madras Presidency near the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states. His father’s name was Sarvepalli Veeraswami and his mother’s name was Sitamma. His father was a subordinate revenue official in the service of a local zamindar (landlord). His primary education was at K.V High School at Thiruttani. In 1896 he moved to the Hermansburg Evangelical Lutheran Mission School in Tirupati and Government Higher Secondary School, Walajapet.

Education of Dr. S. Radha Krishnan

Radhakrishnan was awarded scholarships throughout his academic life.  He graduated from  Madras Christian College in 1906 with a master’s degree in Philosophy, is one of its most distinguished alumni. Radhakrishnan studied philosophy by chance rather than the choice he was a financially constrained student, when one of his cousin who graduated from the same college passed on his philosophy textbooks into Radhakrishnan, it automatically decided his academic course. Radhakrishnan wrote his thesis for the M.A. degree on “The Ethics of the Vedanta and its Metaphysical Presuppositions”

Academic career

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was appointed to the Department of Philosophy at the Madras Presidency College in April 1909. 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 1937, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

He published his book The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. Two years later came his “The Reign of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy”. These publications earned him further recognition and fame and he was established as a major philosopher and thinker. It was then that Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, the well-known Vice- Chancellor of Calcutta University invited him there as Professor.

Political career

Radhakrishnan started his political career after his successful academic career In 1931 he was nominated to the League of Nations Committee for Intellectual Cooperation,  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 and elected as the second President of India (1962–1967).

Radhakrishnan did not have a background in the Congress Party, nor was he active in the struggle against British rules. He was the politician in shadow. He had always defended Hindu culture against uninformed Western criticism and had symbolized the pride of Indians.

Radhakrishnan was one of India’s best and most influential twentieth-century scholars of comparative religion and philosophy.

Radhakrishnan’s defence of the Hindu traditions has been highly influential, both in India and the western world. In India, Radhakrishnan’s ideas contributed to the formation of India as a nation-state.

Awards and honors

• In 1954 he was awarded The Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India.
• In 1962 the Institution of Teacher’s Day in India, decided teachers day as yearly celebrated at 5 September, Radhakrishnan’s birthday, in honor of Radhakrishnan’s belief that “teachers should be the best minds in the country.
• He was nominated fifteen times for the Nobel prize in literature, and eleven times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Thoughts of Dr. Radha Krishnan

• He believed in freedom, democracy, accommodation, tolerance and the wisdom of our ancient saints and teachers. He added new dignity, dimension and brilliance to the high office of the President of India by his so deep and wide knowledge, wisdom and towering personality.
• He followed the principle of “Do your best” in every field of life and served the country and the entire humanity in an exemplary way. Unfortunately, his wife expired in 1956 and it grieved him a lot. They had five children.
• He paid a State visit to the USA in 1963 and delivered lectures urging the people to remove poverty, illiteracy, and exploitation from the world. His voice was taken as the voice of the conscience and that of the downtrodden and deprived. Later he paid a State visit to England.
• He laid down this high and dignified office in 1967 at the age of 79. Dr. Zakir Hussain succeeded him as the President. In May 1967 he returned to Madras (Chennai), his home town amidst roaring welcome and cheers. Finally, he passed away on April 17, 1975, and the whole of India was drowned in a sea of gloom and mourning. He was a lighthouse of Indian wisdom.
• In his death, India lost a towering and remarkable personality that dominated the world scene with his work for such a long time. As a tribute to his loving memory and great achievements, 5^th sept is celebrated as the teachers day.

Message for Teachers

So like Dr. Radhakrishnan, every teacher should adapt their path and devote to students as their child. They teach them for becoming educated, not for professional.

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Milan Tomic

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