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DR RADHAKRISHNAN
A Great Speaker and Writer

Sarvepalli Radhakrishan first appeared as an author with a book on the philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. This was in a way symbo­lic, for all his literary activities have centred round the values of truth, beauty and goodness. A keen student of philosophy, problems about the nature of man and his relation to the ultimate have always engrossed his attention. He has delved deep into many solutions, Eastern and Western, that have been offered about the inner nature of reality. While the search for knowledge has been the ruling passion of his life, he has been equally moved by the beauty which resides in the heart of things. It was therefore no accident that his first work of philosophy should be based on the work of a man whose entire life was devoted to the search for beauty and its expression in word, line and music. Rabindranath Tagore was essentially an artist and sought to express himself in poetry, painting, music and drama. Radhakrishnan was moved by Tagore’s deep feeling for harmony born out of a fusion of truth and beauty and felt that it must also be translated into intellectual terms by the philosophic seeker after truth.

Truth, beauty and goodness are the highest values and demand the total allegiance of man. It is not given to ordinary men to realise them in their daily lives, for even rare spirits can reach them only in their moments of exaltation. Ordinary men cannot live on the heights of ecstasy and must normally pursue an even course in the valleys of daily life. Unless therefore these values are related to his ordinary experience, the common man feels lost and cannot incorporate them into his life. It is Radhakrishnan’s distinction that he has in all his writings ought to realise these values and make them intelligible to the common man.

One can clearly trace the growth of understanding and insight in Radhakrishnan’s successive works. From a study of Tagore’s philosophy of beauty, Radhakrishnan went on to analyse and explain the hold of religion in contemporary philosophy. He rightly saw that in spite of the growing dominance of science, the religious spirit in man can never be extinguished. He sought to understand the phases through which philosophy has passed in the manifold tradi­tions of India and, in the process, he helped to secure for Indian thinking an assured place in the philosophical map of the world. He has tried to interpret the significance of religion in the East and find an explanation why the intellectual tradition became dominant in the Western outlook. He has in fact helped to develop in the modern man an awareness of philosophy in its widest sweep which includes the traditions of ancient Egypt and India, China and the Arab World as well as the contributions of the modem West.

It is not possible in this brief survey to attempt an appraisal of Radhakrishnan’s entire philosophical writings. It is enough to say that they are all marked by keen intellectual insight and a rare power of reconciling different points of view. In spite of encyclopaedic learning and familiarity with many different traditions in history, philosophy and religion, Radhakrishnan’s writing is never cumbered with the weight of and scholarship. He carries the burden of know­ledge easily and handles vast masses of material with ease and elegance. His sharp analytical mind penetrates to the heart of a problem and records his own judgement in clear and lucid terms. Essentially a humanist, his writing is characterised by a rare lucidity, grace and urbanity.

The felicity of style which characterises his writings is seen even more clearly in his speeches. Rarely has a man used the word, whether spoken or written, so effectively. Both in his writings and his speeches, Radhakrishnan marshals his material with consummate mastery. With a phenomenal memory, hardly anything he has read or heard escapes him. He draws upon a vast accumulation of facts and theories and presents them with a clarity and orderliness that is deceptive. It has been rightly said that great art lies in concealing art. This is true of Radhakrishnan’s art, for when he writes or speaks, the words seem to flow with spontaneous and unpremeditated ease.

Few men can forget the first impact of Radhakrishnan’s oratory. He speaks not only with fluency but also with eloquence. There is a precision and clarity about his language which is a reflection of the clarity and precision of his thought. Whether it is a difficult philosophical problem or a complicated social or political issue, Radhakrishnan can present the essentials with unrivalled directness and simplicity. Once when the General President of the Indian Philosophical Congress was unable to attend, Radhakrishnan stepped into the breach at the last moment and gave a brilliant exposition on the place of intuition in philosophy. When during the stormy days of the Indian national struggle, students were swayed with violent passion and the bureaucracy of the day was considering severe measures of repression, Radhakrishnan’s intervention blunted the edge of bureaucratic wrath and turned students� energies into more creative channels.

When India became free, Radhakrishnan was among those who hailed the dawn of freedom, but even on the historic night of 14-15 August 1947, he considered it his duty to remind the people of:

“Our national faults of character, our domestic despotism, our intolerance, which have assumed the different forms of obscurantism, of narrow-mindedness, of superstitious bigotry. Our opportunities are great but let me warn you that when power out­strips ability, we will fall on evil days. We should develop competence and ability which would help us to utilise the opportunities which are now open to us. From tomorrow morning � from midnight today � we can no longer throw the blame on the British. We have to assume the responsibility ourselves for what we do. A free India will be judged by the way in which it will serve the interests of the common man in the matter of food, clothing, shelter and the social services. Unless we destroy corruption in high places, root out every trace of nepotism, love of power, profiteering and black-marketing which have spoiled the good name of this great country in recent times, we will not be able to raise the standards of efficiency in administration as well as in the production and distribution of the goods of life.�

Radhakrishnan has always been proud of India’s great heritage but in his view it depends essentially on the realisation of spiritual values. That is why on that historic night he declared:

“Civilisation is a thing of the spirit; it is not something external, solid and mechanical. It is the dream in the people’s hearts. It is the inward aspiration of the people’s souls. It is the imaginative interpretation of human life and the perception of the mystery of human existence.�

Radhakrishnan has carried this great spiritual message beyond the shores of India. As one identified with UNESCO from its very inception, he played a dominant role in establishing its policies. Like UNESCO. Radhakrishnan believes that wars begin in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be built. Wars arise from hatred and hatred is born out of ignorance and unfamiliarity. That is why he has again and again spoken of the common cultural heritage of man and stressed the need of mutual understanding and interpenetration of the great traditions of East and West. At Montevideo, in India and at Paris, � in fact wherever UNESCO has met � his voice has been raised in defence of the rights of man and the vindication of the ideals which alone can assure peace, progress and prosperity for all.

India paid Radhakrishnan the great tribute of electing him President of the Republic. In his Assumption Speech, he spoke in glowing terms of the great value of Truth:

“The Supreme is Truth according to all religions. Men of all creeds and no creed are devotees of Truth, the great Comforter, the great Awakener. When other things fail, Truth does not.�

In keeping with the tenor of his thought, he declared:

“In our national concerns we adopt democracy not merely as a political arrangement but as a moral temper. It is of a piece with our great tradition and habits of behaviour. We realise that freedom has no meaning save in the context of equality, and there can be no equality without economic justice. These ideals of freedom, equality and justice are not possessions to be defended but goals to be reached. We have often lapsed from them and suffered in consequence. In a mood of humility and national repentance, we should strive to correct our past mistakes, remove the indignities which we have imposed on our fellow men and march forward. We cannot move into the future by walking ward.

Radhakrishnan’s concern for peace and understanding among all nations has impressed all who have come into contact with him. He has reiterated again and again that peace within and among nations can be based only on justice and mutual accommodation. In his Independence Day broadcast in August 1965, he declared:

Our world is now unified as never before. We should see to it that disputes are settled by law and reason. All forms of violence are symbols of human failure. As responsible human beings, in this nuclear age, it should be our objective to work for a policy of peace, friendship and disarmament. If we profess fidelity to the principles and institutions of the United Nations and use military power in our actual dealings to enforce our views, we will be condemned as hypocrites. If we believe in peaceful coexistence and not power politics, we should not look upon our enemies with disdain and we should not assume that we are always right and our enemies always wrong. We must achieve a world of law and free choice, banishing from it violence and coercion. Not merely charity, but humane peaceful settlement of international disputes should also begin at home.

It is easy to speak of charity and understanding when things go well. The real test comes when violence and hatred erupt in open conflict. Radhakrishnan maintained a sane and balanced attitude during the bitter days of Chinese invasion of India in 1962 and the angry days of Indo-Pakistan conflict in 1965. He reflected the true spirit of India when he said:

“We have also to avoid any form of hatred of the people of Pakistan, who are our kith and kin. Friendship with them has always been our primary objective. It is not our desire to hurt Pakistan to save India. Our commitment to peace is well known. We do not believe in any unbridgeable chasms. There are more things which bind us together than keep us apart. In this dreadful situation, let us have a few moments of introspection and make our spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice.�

One could go on referring to many such declarations during the long and distinguished career of the philosopher who is today President of India. It is enough to say that he has maintained philosophical equanimity in the midst of stress and struggle. He has preached the message of understanding and compassion. He has condemned injustice and tyranny and urged his people to resist evil while at the same time seeking to change and reclaim the evil-doer. By speech and conduct, he has sought to uphold the ideals which alone give grace and dignity to human life.