Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9.t11: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9.t11
- Language
- English
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
v1.c7.s9.t11.1
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975 CE) was an Indian modern philosopher, social activist and politician. He was born in a Brahmin family in the city of Madras (now Chennai) in south India and received education in a Christian school from his early life. In 1909, he graduated from Christian College in Madras. After graduation, he taught philosophy in Madras Provincial College. In 1921, he was employed as a professor with the highest professorship of King George V in Department of Philosophy, University of Calcutta. While teaching here, he completed a book *Indian Philosophy* (two volumes), which re-interpreted and evaluated Indian traditional philosophy with the methods and terminology of western philosophy. In 1925, on the initiative and organisation of Radhakrishnan, “Indian Philosophy Conference” - the Indian national philosophy organisation was founded, which was held every year since then in India
v1.c7.s9.t11.2
S. Radhakrishnan
v1.c7.s9.t11.3
and continues till now. Since 1926, he had been invited to Oxford University for many times to offer philosophical lectures every year for Upton Lectures. He also visited the United States of America and taught comparative religion in Haskell Lectures of the University of Chicago. The main content of his lectures offered in Europe and in America were Vedanta philosophy and philosophy of life of Hinduism, as well as comparative studies on Eastern and Western philosophy. In 1931, due to his outstanding achievements in the comparative study on Eastern and Western philosophy, he was honoured with knighthood by British King George V. Since 1931, he had served as a member of the International Committee of Cultural Cooperation. In 1946, he served as the head of Indian delegation to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). In 1949, he took the post of the first Indian ambassador in Soviet Russia. In 1952, he was elected to be the Vice President of the Republic of India. In the same year, in the seventh Conference of UNESCO, he was elected to be chairman of the conference. In 1962, Radhakrishnan served as the President of the Republic of India (1962 to 1967).
v1.c7.s9.t11.4
Radhakrishnan was a representative of new Vedanta philosophy and occupied an important position in the history of Indian modern philosophy. The characteristics of his philosophy were the integration of Indian Advaita Vedanta with Western absolute idealism. He named the supreme noumenon of the universe to be “Bráhman”, also known as “absolute.” Like Vedanta followers, he believed that “Bráhman” was the “only” existence of universe; also like an absolute idealist, he believed that everything in the world were products of the “only one”. In his opinion, Bráhman is “pure consciousness, pure freedom and with unlimited possibilities.” Bráhman is the infinite and eternal pure spiritual entity; it contains infinite possibilities, not subject to any restrictions and interference and could create endless things freely. The world we live in is a creation of Bráhman. He opposed Advaita Vedanta’s “Illusory World Theory,” and argued the material world has a real existence. All things in the world have three features, ie materiality, temporality and spatiality. The existence of matter is not the single existence of one feature, but the combination and unity of the three features. The material world develops and changes continuously, and there are certain law for the changes.
v1.c7.s9.t11.5
On the issue of life, he opposed the pessimistic views of ancient Vedanta and affirmed the meaning and value of life. He divided man into two aspects: the limited aspect and the limitless aspect. The limited aspect refers to man’s body and physiology, limitless aspect is the “spirit”, also known as “self” or “soul” inside a man, which is in harmony with Bráhman, the supreme noumenon of the universe. He affirmed the value of physical life and believed that flesh was part of man’s inner “spirit”, which did not cut the link with physical life; otherwise,
v1.c7.s9.t11.6
From right to left: Rajendra Prasad, Zhou Enlai, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Jawaharlal Nehru, New Delhi in June 1954.
v1.c7.s9.t11.7
the integrity of human life would be undermined. He even argued that the body was “divine temple of spirit”. He believed that a man could be enlightened with inherent “spirit” and recognise the truth of “Brahman is Atman” only through an intuitive way. Once recognised ““Brahman is Atman” truth, he would be able to unite with the outside world, and seek harmony with the entire society. Radhakrishnan argued that the purpose of life was to achieve liberation. Liberation is to be enlightened with the inner “spirit” of every man to achieve the combination between “I” and “Bráhman”. On this basis, he further proposed the concept of “universal liberation”, that people could obtain it in the living state, those have gained liberation continue to live in this world. One man’s liberation is still imperfect, also not sustainable. Thus, when a man is liberated, he still needs to continue working hard to help and inspire others around him to gain liberation. Only when all men in the world have gained liberation, there would be harmony and unity in the whole society, thus human beings could be free from suffering and distress. In order to realise the ideal of “universal liberation”, he also actively proposed a kind of “spiritual religion.” The so-called “spiritual religion”, is the religion based
v1.c7.s9.t11.8
Mao Zedong meeting Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Vice President of India
v1.c7.s9.t11.9
on Vedanta philosophy, through the “spiritual enlightenment” and “spiritual experience” to achieve “spiritual unity” between people. In the process of “spiritual enlightenment”, people must overcome ignorance, blindness and selfish desires, and treat all people with a spirit of “universal love”. This kind of spiritual religion based on “universal love” in essence is the product of the combination of Western humanitarian and Eastern religions.
v1.c7.s9.t11.10
Radhakrishnan’s thoughts had been introduced to China very early and exerted certain impacts on the country. He had some in-depth understanding about Chinese philosophy and religion, while he was studying Western philosophy. During May 6-21, 1944 (during Chinese Anti-Japanese War) he was invited by the Sino-Indian Association to offer lectures in China. He gave 12 consecutive lectures and the lecture notes were compiled into a book entitled with *India and China* and published in Mumbai in the same year. The book was divided into six chapters, expounding Chinese concept of education, China’s religions - Confucianism and Taoism, relationship between India and China, as well as war and world security and other issues. Regarding Radhakrishnan’s philosophical thoughts, Chinese scholars have also made researches. In 1993, Zhu Mingzhong published the paper “Radhakrishnan’s Biography and Thoughts” in the *Yearbook of World Philosophy*. In 1994, Zhu Mingzhong published the paper of “S·Radhakrishnan’s Philosophical Thoughts" in the first issue of *South Asia Studies*. In 1996, Gong Jing published a scholarly monograph *Radhakrishnan*, which comprehensively expounded Radhakrishnan’s philosophy, religion, life, ethics, as well as his achievements in comparison research on Eastern and Western philosophy, his contributions to the development of Indian philosophy and so on.
v1.c7.s9.t11.11
Radhakrishnan’s main works include: *Indian Philosophy*, *Hinduism View of Life*, *Idealism View of Life*, *Eastern Religions and Western Thoughts*, *Religious Influence in Modern Philosophy*, and so on.
v1.c7.s9.t11.12
(Zhu Mingzhong)