History News Desk !!! Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (English: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, born: 5 September 1888; died: 17 April 1975) was the first Vice President and second President of independent India. He carried forward the glorious tradition of Dr. Rajendra Prasad. His tenure lasted from 13 May 1962 to 13 May 1967. His name is included in the first row of great presidents of India.
The whole nation will always be indebted to him for his personality and work. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888 in Tirutani village of Tamil Nadu. Even today, the whole nation celebrates his birthday, 5 September, as ‘Teacher’s Day’. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a scholar of Indian culture, a great educationist, a great philosopher, a great speaker as well as a scientific Hindu thinker. Dr. Radhakrishnan spent 40 years of his life as a teacher. He was an ideal teacher.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888 in Tirutani village of Tamil Nadu, which is located about 64 km from Madras, now Chennai. He belonged to a Brahmin family. His birthplace has been famous as a holy pilgrimage place.[1] The ancestors of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan earlier lived in a village named ‘Sarvepalli’ and in the middle of the 18th century they migrated to Tirutani village. But his ancestors wanted that along with their name, the name of their birthplace should also always be remembered. That is why his family members started using ‘Sarvepalli’ before their name.
Doctor Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born as the second child of a poor but learned Brahmin. His father’s name was ‘Sarvepalli Veeraswami’ and mother’s name was ‘Sitamma’. His father worked in the alternative office in the Revenue Department. He had the responsibility of supporting a large family. He had five sons and a daughter. Radhakrishnan was second among these children. His father was managing the family with great difficulty. Due to this, child Radhakrishnan did not get any special happiness in childhood.
Doctor Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s childhood was spent in religious places like Tirutani and Tirupati. He spent his first eight years in Tirutani. Although his father was a man of old beliefs and had religious feelings, despite this he sent Radhakrishnan to Christian missionary institution Lutheran Mission School, Tirupati for studies between 1896-1900. Then the next 4 years (1900 to 1904) of education took place in Vellore. After this he studied in Madras Christian College, Madras. He was brilliant since childhood.
During these 12 years of study, Dr. Radhakrishnan memorized important parts of the Bible. For this, he was awarded the honour of special merit. At this age, he also studied Veer Savarkar and Swami Vivekananda. He passed the matriculation examination in 1902 and also received a scholarship. After this, he passed the Arts Faculty examination in first division in 1904. He also received a special merit remark in Psychology, History and Mathematics due to high marks. Apart from this, Christian College, Madras also gave him a scholarship. He did his M.A. in Philosophy and was appointed Assistant Professor of Philosophy in Madras Residency College in 1916. He also remained a professor. Dr. Radhakrishnan introduced the world to Indian philosophy through his articles and speeches. His articles were praised all over the world.
At that time, marriages were solemnized at a young age in Brahmin families of Madras and Radhakrishnan was no exception. In 1903, at the age of 16, he got married to a distant cousin ‘Sivakamu’. At that time his wife was only 10 years old. So, after three years his wife started living with him. Although his wife Sivakamu had not received a traditional education, she had a good command over the Telugu language. She could also read and write English. In 1908, the Radhakrishnan couple was blessed with a daughter. In 1908 itself, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in first class and obtained a distinction in Philosophy. In 1909, only 6 years after marriage, he also passed the postgraduate examination in Arts. His subject was Philosophy. During higher studies, he also kept teaching tuition to children for his personal income. In 1908, he completed his M.A. He wrote a research paper to obtain his degree. At this time he was only twenty years old. This increased his thirst for knowledge of the scriptures. Soon he studied the Vedas and Upanishads in depth. He also studied English and Sanskrit languages with great interest.
wife dies
Dr. Radhakrishnan loved books since childhood. Hence, it was clear that this child would definitely choose scholarship and greatness when he grew up. He was shy by nature, hence he did not feel enthusiasm and joy in the social functions of the house. It was the effect of the deep values of his family that he remained a vegetarian throughout his life. He never smoked or drank alcohol. After the birth of the first daughter in the family, the Radhakrishnan couple had six more children in the next fifteen years. During this time, his wife’s life was completely dedicated to the family and husband. But on 26 November, 1956, his wife died. Thus, he had to bear the separation from his life partner who had been with him for 53 years. When he returned after performing the last rites of his wife, he made a comment – a long chapter has come to an end. He had also experienced the delicate relationships of life according to the definitions of philosophy.
While education definitely has an impact on every individual, the quality of the educational institution also leaves its mark. At that time, Christian institutions used to inculcate Western life values in students. This is the reason that while studying in Christian institutions, Radhakrishnan imbibed high qualities in his life. But another change also came in him which was due to Christian institutions. Some people used to look down upon Hindutva ideas and criticize them. Dr. Radhakrishnan took their criticism as a challenge and started studying Hinduism in depth. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan wanted to know which culture’s ideas actually have consciousness and which culture’s ideas have inertia. Then, through natural intuition, he started believing strongly that even the poor and illiterate people living in remote places of India knew the ancient truth. Due to this, Radhakrishnan comparatively came to know that Indian spirituality is very rich and the criticisms of Hinduism by Christian missionaries are baseless. From this, he concluded that Indian culture is based on religion, knowledge and truth which gives the true message of life to the living beings.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan had understood that life is short and the happiness in it is uncertain. Hence, a person should live with equanimity in happiness and sorrow. In fact, death is an inevitable truth, which engulfs everyone, rich and poor, and does not make any kind of class distinction. True knowledge is that which can eliminate the ignorance within you. A life of simple contentment is better than the arrogant life of the rich, who are full of discontent. A calm mind is better than the thunderous applause that is heard in parliaments and courts. Hence, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was able to understand the moral values of Indian culture, because he wanted to test the truth of the criticisms made by the missionaries himself. That is why it is said that criticisms work as a purifier. All mothers want to see good values in their children. Hence, they teach their children to have faith in God, to stay away from sins and to help people in trouble. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan also learned that Indian culture teaches to respect all religions and the feeling of equality for all religions is also the distinctive identity of Hindu culture. In this way, he understood the distinctive identity of Indian culture and became very close to it.
Dr. Radhakrishnan considered the entire world as a school. He believed that the human brain can be used properly only through education. Therefore, education should be managed by considering the world as one unit. In his speech at the University of Edinburgh, UK, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan said that ‘Humans should be united. The whole goal of human history is the liberation of mankind. When the basis of the policies of countries is the effort to establish peace in the entire world.’ Dr. Radhakrishnan used to mesmerize students with his intelligent explanations, enjoyable expressions and light-tickling stories. He used to inspire his students to inculcate high moral values in their conduct. Whatever subject he used to teach, he used to study it deeply himself first. He used to make even a serious subject like philosophy simple, interesting and lovable with his style.
At the age of 21, i.e. in 1909, Radhakrishnan started teaching philosophy as a junior lecturer in Madras Presidency College. It was his great fortune that he got a profession that suited his nature. Here he not only taught for 7 years but also studied Indian philosophy and Indian religion in depth. In those days, it was necessary for a lecturer to also get training in teaching. For this reason, in 1910, Radhakrishnan started taking training in teaching in Madras.
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan got the rare opportunity to meet Stalin twice. The first occasion came on January 14, 1945, when he met Stalin at his invitation. Stalin had deep respect for the ‘Philosopher Ambassador’ in his heart. Their second meeting took place on April 5, 1952. When the Indian Ambassador was about to leave the Soviet Union. While leaving, Radhakrishnan put his hand on Stalin’s head and back. Then Stalin said – You are the first person who has treated me as a human being and has not considered me an inhuman or a demon. I am feeling sad with your departure. I want you to live long. I do not want to live too long. At this time there were tears in Stalin’s eyes. Then Stalin died only six months later.
After returning from the Soviet Union in 1952, Dr. Radhakrishnan was elected Vice President. A new post of Vice President was created under the Constitution. Nehru ji surprised people again by selecting Radhakrishnan for this post. They were surprised why no politician from the Congress Party was selected for this post. As Vice President, Radhakrishnan also took over the post of Chairman in the Rajya Sabha. In 1952, he was made the Vice President of India. Later, this selection of Pandit Nehru also proved to be meaningful, because as Vice President, a non-politician impressed all the politicians. All the members of Parliament praised him a lot for his work behavior. People still remember his good intentions, determination and humorous nature. In September 1952, he visited Europe and Middle East countries so that the support of friendly nations could be obtained for the new nation.
In 1956, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s wife died. Then the responsibility of one son and five daughters fell on him. While fulfilling these responsibilities, he was elected Vice President for the second time in 1957. During this tenure, Radhakrishnan visited China, Mongolia, Hong Kong and England. In 1961, he also received the ‘World Peace Award’ given by the German book publishing house. During this time, he conducted the Rajya Sabha with great efficiency. Then Pandit Pant had to say – Rajya Sabha is just a toy in his hands.
Sarvepalli Dr. Radhakrishnan breathed his last on the morning of 17 April 1975 after a long illness. He was a great philosopher of his time. It was an irreparable loss for the country.
