Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Biography, Education And Career

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , born on September 5, 1888, in Tirupati, India, emerged as a prominent figure not only as a teacher but also as an esteemed academic and influential politician. His early life in a modest Brahmin family did not deter him; instead, it fueled his determination to excel in academics. Frequent visits to universities in Andhra Pradesh, Mysore, and Calcutta gave him a broader perspective on education. His academic journey eventually led him to Oxford, where he served as a professor before achieving further heights in academia as the Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University and Banaras Hindu University.

Teacher's Day 2024

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Join TET Online Coaching by PW-Enroll Now!

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Early Life and Family

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Education

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Academic Career

• Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan joined the Department of Philosophy at Madras Presidency College in April 1909.
• In 1918, the University of Mysore selected him as a professor of philosophy, where he taught at Maharaja's College, Mysore. By that time, he had written several articles for prestigious journals such as The Quest, the Journal of Philosophy, and the International Journal of Ethics. He also completed his first book, The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. He considered Tagore's philosophy to be "the true expression 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 of 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 Universities of the British Empire in June 1926 and the International Congress of Philosophy at Harvard University in September 1926.
• Another important academic engagement during this period was the invitation to deliver the Hibbert Lectures on the Ideals of Life, which he gave at Manchester College, Oxford, in 1929 and later published as An Idealist View of Life.
• In 1929, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was invited to fill the position vacated by Principal J. Estlin Carpenter at Manchester College. This allowed him to lecture to students at the University of Oxford on comparative religion.
• He was knighted by George V in the Birthday Honors of June 1931 for his education services. He was formally invested by the Governor-General of India, the Earl of Willingdon, in April 1932.
• However, he ceased to use this title after attaining Indian independence, preferring his academic title of "Doctor." He served as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936.
• In 1939, he was invited to succeed Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya as Vice-Chancellor of BHU. He was its vice-chancellor from January 1948 to January 1949.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Political Career

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Philosophy

• Advaita Vedanta: Radhakrishnan's metaphysics was based on the Hindu philosophical tradition of Advaita Vedanta, which teaches that the world is an illusion (Maya) and that the only reality is the Absolute (Brahman). However, he reinterpreted Advaita Vedanta in a way that was compatible with modern thought. He accepted the reality and diversity of the world of experience, which he saw as supported and sustained by the Absolute.
• Intuition and religious experience: Dr. Sarvepalli believed that intuition, or direct experience of the Absolute, is the highest form of knowledge. He argued that intuition is a self-validating source of knowledge that is not mediated by conscious thought. He discerns eight sorts of experience:

1. Cognitive Experience:
2. Sense Experience
3. Discursive Reasoning
4. Intuitive Apprehension
5. Psychic Experience
6. Aesthetic Experience
7. Ethical Experience
8. Religious Experience

• Classification of Religions: For Radhakrishnan, scriptures and cults are intellectual formulations and symbols of religious experience, or "religious intuition". He classified different religions according to his understanding of "religious experience", with Advaita Vedanta being placed at the highest level:

1. The worshippers of the Absolute
2. The worshippers of the personal God
3. The worshippers of incarnations like Rama, Krishna, and Buddha
4. Those who worship ancestors, deities, and sages
5. The worshippers of the petty forces and spirits

Teacher’s Day a Tribute to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Literary Works

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Awards & Honors

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Death

Lesser Known Facts About Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

• When he became the President of India, he accepted only 2,500 rupees of his monthly salary of 10,000 rupees, with the remainder going to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.
• Oxford University established Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Chevening Scholarship and the Radhakrishnan Memorial Prize.
• In 1954, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna and, in 1961, the German Book Trade Peace Prize. He was also awarded the Order of Merit in 1963 and the Templeton Prize in 1975 for spreading the concept of a universal truth of God that includes compassion and knowledge for all people.
• He was knighted in 1931 and was known as Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan until India's independence in 1947. After the country gained independence, he changed his name to Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
• He was appointed Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford University in 1936. He was also elected a Fellow of All Souls College.
• He founded HelpAge India, a non-profit organisation for the elderly and the poor.

Join TET Online Coaching by Teaching Wallah!