Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Bharat Ratna
2nd President of India
In office 14 May 1962 – 13 May 1967
Prime Minister	Jawaharlal Nehru Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) Lal Bahadur Shastri Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) Indira Gandhi
Vice President	Zakir Hussain
Preceded by	Rajendra Prasad
Succeeded by	Zakir Hussain
Vice-President of India
In office 13 May 1952 – 12 May 1962
President	Rajendra Prasad
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Zakir Hussain
Personal details
Born	5 September 1888 Thiruttani, Madras Presidency,British India (now in Tamil Nadu, India)
Died	17 April 1975 (aged 86) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India (now Chennai)
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Sivakamu, Lady Radhakrishnan
Children	Five daughters One son
Alma mater	Voorhees College University of Madras
Profession	Philosopher professor
Religion	Hinduism

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Telugu: సర్వేపల్లి రాధాకృష్ణయ్య Sarvēpalli Rādhākr̥ṣṇayya  listen (help·info), 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975) was an Indian philosopher and statesman^[1] who was the first Vice President of India (1952–1962) and the second President of India from 1962 to 1967.^{[web 1]}

One of India's best and most influential twentieth-century scholars of comparative religion and philosophy,^{[2][web 2]} his academic appointments included the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta (1921–1932) and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at University of Oxford (1936–1952).

His philosophy was grounded in Advaita Vedanta, reinterpreting this tradition for a contemporary understanding.^{[web 2]} He defended Hinduism against "uninformed Western criticism",^[3] contributing to the formation of contemporary Hindu identity.^[4] He has been influential in shaping the understanding of Hinduism, in both India and the west, and earned a reputation as a bridge-builder between India and the West.^[5]

Radhakrishnan was awarded several high awards during his life, including the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954, and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963. Radhakrishnan believed that "teachers should be the best minds in the country". Since 1962, his birthday is celebrated in India as Teachers' Day on 5 September.^{[web 3]}

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1 Biography
  • 1.1 Early life and education
  • 1.2 Education
  • 1.3 Marriage
  • 1.4 Academic career
  • 1.5 Political career
  • 1.6 Teachers' Day
  • 1.7 Charity
• 2 Philosophy
  • 2.1 Advaita Vedanta
  • 2.2 Intuition and religious experience
  • 2.3 Classification of religions
• 3 Influence
  • 3.1 Appraisal
  • 3.2 Criticism and context
    • 3.2.1 Perennialism
    • 3.2.2 Universalism, communalism and Hindu nationalism
    • 3.2.3 Post-colonialism
• 4 Awards and honours
• 5 Quotes
• 6 Bibliography
  • 6.1 Works by Radhakrishnan
  • 6.2 Biographies and monographs on Radhakrishnan
• 7 See also
• 8 Notes
• 9 References
• 10 Sources
  • 10.1 Published sources
  • 10.2 Web-sources
• 11 External links

Biography[edit]

Early life and education[edit]

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born in a Telugu Brahmin family in a village near Thiruttani India, in Tamil Nadu near the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states. His father's name was Sarvepalli Veeraswami^{[web 4]} and his mother's was Sitamma.^{[web 4]} His early years were spent in Thiruttani and Tirupati. His father was a subordinate revenue official in the service of a local zamindar (landlord). His primary education was at Primary Board High School at Thiruttani. In 1896 he moved to the Hermansburg Evangelical Lutheran Mission School in Tirupati.^[6]

In the Vedic religion, Ṛta (Sanskrit ऋतं ṛtaṃ "that which is properly joined; order, rule; truth") is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it.^[1] In the hymns of the Vedas, Ṛta is described as that which is ultimately responsible for the proper functioning of the natural, moral and sacrificial orders. Conceptually, it is closely allied to the injunctions and ordinances thought to uphold it, collectively referred to as Dharma, and the action of the individual in relation to those ordinances, referred to as Karma – two terms which eventually eclipsed Ṛta in importance as signifying natural, religious and moral order in later Hinduism.^[2] Sanskrit scholar Maurice Bloomfield referred to Ṛta as "one of the most important religious conceptions of the Rig Veda",

 going on to note that, "from the point of view of the history of religious ideas we may, in fact we must, begin the history of Hindu religion at least with the history of this conception".^[3]

Etymology[edit]

Retaam= Retee= [Ritiniti]= Rule= Governing Rule= Cosmic Law= Truth as it is=Rta, rtam.

Ṛta is derived from the Sanskrit verb root ṛ- "to go, move, rise, tend upwards", and the derivative noun ṛtam is defined as "fixed or settled order, rule, divine law or truth".^[4] As Mahony (1998) notes, however, the term can just as easily be translated literally as "that which has moved in a fitting manner", abstractly as "universal law" or "cosmic order", or simply as "truth".^[5] The latter meaning dominates in the Avestan cognate to Ṛta, aša.^[6]

Origins[edit]

See also: Asha

Oldenberg (1894) surmised that the concept of Ṛta originally arose in the Indo-Aryan period from a consideration of the natural order of the world and of the occurrences taking place within it as doing so with a kind of causal necessity.^[7] Both Vedic Ṛta and Avestan aša were conceived of as having a tripartite function which manifested itself in the physical, ethical and ritual domains.^[8] In the context of Vedic religion, those features of nature which either remain constant or which occur on a regular basis were seen to be a manifestation of the power of Ṛta in the physical cosmos.^[9] In the human sphere, Ṛta was understood to manifest itself as the imperative force behind both the moral order of society as well as the correct performance of Vedic rituals.^[10] The notion of a universal principle of natural order is by no means unique to the Vedas, and Ṛta has been compared to similar ideas in other cultures, such as Ma'at in Ancient Egyptian religion, Moira and the Logos in Greek paganism, and the Tao.^[11]

Vedas[edit]

Due to the nature of Vedic Sanskrit, a term such as Ṛta can be used to indicate numerous things, either directly or indirectly, and both Indian and European scholars have experienced difficulty in arriving at fitting interpretations for Ṛta in all of its various usages in the Vedas, though the underlying sense of "ordered action" remains universally evident.^[12] In the Rigveda, the term Ṛta appears as many as 390 times, and has been characterized as "the one concept which pervades the whole of Ṛgvedic thought".^[13]

Ṛta appears most frequently as representing abstract concepts such as "law", "commandment", "order", "sacrifice", "truth", and "regularity", [reeteeneetee]but also occasionally as concrete objects such as the waters, the heavens or the sun as manifestations of the operation of Ṛta in the physical universe. Ṛta is also frequently used in reference to various Vedic deities. Thus, Bṛhaspati is referred to as possessing a powerful bow with "Ṛta as its string" and as one prepared to "mount the chariot of Ṛta"; Agni is described as one who is "desirous of Ṛta", one who is "Ṛta-minded" and as he who "spread Heaven and Earth by Ṛta"; the Maruts are referred to as "rejoicing in the house of Ṛta" and as "knowers of Ṛta"; Ushas is described as having been "placed at the root of Ṛta"; Varuna is praised as "having the form of Ṛta" and, along with Mitra as Mitra-Varuna, as "destroying the foes by Ṛta" and as "professing Ṛta by Ṛta". Epithets such as "born of Ṛta" and "protector of Ṛta" are frequently applied to numerous divinities, as well as to the sacrificial fire and the sacrifice itself.^[14]

Despite the abundance of such references, the gods are never portrayed as having command over Ṛta. Instead, the gods, like all created beings, remain subject to Ṛta, and their divinity largely resides in their serving it in the role of executors, agents or instruments of its manifestation.^[15] As Day (1982) notes, the gods "do not govern Ṛta so much as immanentalize it through the particularities of divine ordinances and retributions concerning both rewards and punishments. In this sense they do not "govern" Ṛta; they serve it as agents and ministers".^[16]

Varuna[edit]

17th century watercolour depictingVaruna (here astride the Makara), a god closely associated with Ṛta in theVedas.

While the concept of Ṛta as an abstract, universal principle generally remained resistant to the anthropomorphic tendencies of the Vedic period, it became increasingly associated with the actions of individual deities, in particular with those of the god Varuna as the omniscient, all-encompassing sky.^[17] Although the Adityas as a group are associated with Ṛta, being referred to as "the charioteers of Ṛta, dwelling in the home of Ṛta", it is Varuna in particular who is identified as the "friend of Ṛta".^[18] The connection of Varuna and Ṛta extended beyond the physical realm and into the sphere of ritual worship, with the sacrificial fire itself being lauded as that which "harnesses the steeds and holds the reins of Ṛta, becoming Varuna when he strives for Ṛta".^[19] As James (1969) notes, Varuna attained the position of "universal Power par excellence maintaining Ṛta" and is celebrated as having "separated and established heaven and earth, spreading them out as the upper and lower firmaments, himself enthroned above them as the universal king, ordering the immutable moral law, exercising his rule by the sovereignty of Ṛta.^[20]