Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (5th September 1888 – 17th April 1975) was a distinguished Indian scholar who also served as the first Vice President and the second President of India. He had been awarded many scholarships throughout his career and taught in many prestigious institutes and universities including Oxford University. His specialty was Hindu philosophy and he played a vital role in introducing Hinduism to the western world, for which he was, also known as a bridge-builder between India and the western world.
Long and Short Essay on Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Essay 1 (250 words)
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born in 1888 on the 5th of September in the Tamil Nadu at Tirutlani, India. He was a great personality and a famous teacher. He did his early education from the Christians Missionary Institution of Tamil Nadu and completed his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the Madras Christian College. He got a job as an Assistant Lecturer in Logic at the Madras Presidency College and as a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore. At his 30, he was honored with King-George V chair of Mental and Moral Science by the Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee (vice-chancellor at Kolkata University).
He became the vice-chancellor at Andhra University and later a professor at Oxford University in Eastern Religion and Ethics for three years. He also became the Vice-chancellor at Benares Hindu University from 1939 to 1948. He was also a good author and wrote many articles and books over the Indian tradition, religion and philosophy.
He became the Vice President of India from 1952 to 1962 and President of India from 1962 to 1967 and awarded with the Bharat Ratna in 1954 along with the C. Rajagopalachari and C.V. Raman. He was a great educationalist and humanist that’s why his birth anniversary is celebrated every year as Teacher’s Day by the students all over the country to show love and respect to the teachers.
Essay 2 (300 words)
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a famous teacher and author. He took birth in the poor Brahmin family in Tirupati, India on the 5th of September in 1888. The name of his father was Sarvepalli Veeraswami who was doing a job in the zamindari at a very small salary. The name of his mother was Sitamma. Because of the poor economic status, he did his education on scholarships. He successfully completed his schooling from Tirutani and Lutheran Mission School, Tirupati.
He completed his B.A. and M.A. degrees in philosophy. He got married at 16 to the Sivakamuamma. He became an Assistant Lectureship in 1909 at Madras Presidency College. He was well aware of the Upanishads, Brahmasutra, Bhagavad Gita, commentaries of Sankara, Madhava, Ramanuja and well aware with the Buddhist and Jain philosophy.
In his later life, he read philosophical commentaries of the Plato, Kant, Bradley, Plotinus, Bergson, Marxism and Existentialism. He met with the mathematical genius named Srinivasa Ramanujan in 1914 while leaving to the Cambridge for studies in order to seek blessings of Radhakrishnan. He became the Professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore in 1918. He also became a famous author and wrote many articles for journals of repute named as The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore, The Quest, The Reign of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy, the International Journal of Ethics, Journal of Philosophy, etc.
His famous writings had drawn the vision of Ashutosh Mookerjee (Vice-Chancellor at Calcutta University) and got nominated for the George V Professor of Philosophy at Calcutta University in 1921. He wrote another book named Indian Philosophy on the request made by Prof. J. H. Muirhead for the Library of Philosophy which was published in 1923. His birthday anniversary is getting celebrated every year on the 5th of September to honor and pay tribute to his great workings forever. He got died in 1975 on the 17th of April.
Essay 3 (400 words)
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a great person who later became the first Vice President of India as well as the second President of India. He was also a good teacher, philosopher and author. His birthday is celebrated every year in India on the 5th of September as Teacher’s Day by the students. He was born on 5th of September in 1888 at Tirutani, Madras in a very poor Brahmin family. Because of the poor economic status of his family, he studied with the support of scholarships. He got his early education from Gowdie School, Tiruvallur, Lutheran Mission School, Tirupati, Voorhees College, Vellore and then Madras Christian College. He was very interested in Philosophy and completed his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Philosophy.
At the Madras Presidency College, he was assigned as an assistant lectureship in 1909 after completing the MA degree. He had mastered the classics of Hindu philosophy such as Upanishads, Brahmasutra, Bhagavad Gita, commentaries of Sankara, Madhava, Ramanuja, etc. He was also well familiar with the Buddhist and Jain philosophy as well as philosophies of Western thinkers. He became a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore in 1918 and soon nominated for Professor of Philosophy at Calcutta University in 1921. In order to deliver lectures on Hindu philosophy, he was called later to Oxford University. Through his many hard efforts, he became able to put the Indian Philosophy on the world map.
Later in 1931, he got selected as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University and Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University in 1939. He also appointed as ambassador to UNESCO in 1946 and ambassador to Soviet Union in 1949. Later he became first Vice-President of the India in 1952 and awarded Bharat Ratna in 1954. After serving the country for two terms as the Vice-President of India, he became President of India in 1962 and retired in 1967. After serving the country through his great works, he died on the 17th of April in 1975.
He also won Templeton Prize in 1975 (but he donated the Templeton Prize to Oxford University), Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1961, etc. In order to pay him honor forever, the university started Radhakrishnan Scholarships in 1989 which was later renamed as Radhakrishnan Chevening Scholarships.
Essay 4 (600 words)
Introduction
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (5th September 1888-17th April 1975) was the first Vice President and Second President of India. He was an ideal teacher, a great philosopher, and a Hindu thinker. Due to his superior qualities, the Government of India has conferred to him the highest civilian award “Bharat Ratna”. He was among the first persons in the country to receive this award in 1954, along with C. Rajagopalachari and C.V. Raman. His birthday is on 5th September which is commemorated as “Teacher’s Day” every year across the country.
Childhood Life
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888 in a Brahmin family in Tiruttani village of Madras, Tamil Nadu. His ancestors lived in a village called Sarvepalli; hence, they used the name of the village as their sir name as the common tradition is in south India. His father’s name was Sarvepalli Veeraswamy and his mother’s name was Sarvepalli Sita or Sitamma. Radhakrishnan had 4 brothers and 1 sister.
Education
Radhakrishnan was a brilliant student since childhood. He was sent to the Christian missionary institution, Lutheran Mission School. He received his undergraduate education from Madras Christian College, Madras. He obtained his graduation in 1904 with Psychology, History, and Mathematics. In 1916 Radhakrishnan did his MA in Philosophy and got a job as Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Madras Residency College.
Marital Life
In those days marriages were held at an early age. In 1903, at the young age of 16, he was married to Sivakamu. At that time his wife was only 10 years old. She had good knowledge of Telugu language. She also knew the English language. In 1908, the first daughter was born to the Radhakrishnan couple.
Political Life
In 1947 Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was made a member of the Constituent Assembly. He also served as the chairman of several world universities.
Tenure as Vice President
Dr. Radhakrishnan was appointed as the Vice President of the Indian Republic by creating a new post under the constitution of India. The decision taken by the contemporary Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru made the people amazed as it was expected that any leader of Congress Party would be nominated for the post.
Tenure as Second President of India
After the end of Rajendra Prasad’s tenure in 1962, Radhakrishnan took over the charge as President of India and completed his tenure of 5 years. Plato a legend philosopher said that philosophers should be kings and that the Great Indian Republic paid a true tribute to Plato by making a philosopher a president”.
His Birthday as Teacher’s Day
Every year on 5th September his birthday is commemorated as teacher’s day all over the country. Once his disciples and friends met him and expressed their desire to celebrate his birthday. Then he suggested that he would feel proud if his birthday would be celebrated as Teacher’s Day. Students celebrate that day with great joy and zeal and good teachers are honored.
Death
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan died on 17th April 1975. He was ill for a long time and was bed-ridden. Still, the loss of that legend haunts the mind of people. Such personalities are born after a due course of time.
Conclusion
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan believed that the greatest gift of life is the dream of a higher life. Death is never the end or hindrance, but the beginning of more and more new steps. This was an irreparable loss to the country.
Because of his incredible contribution to the field of education he will remain in the hearts of Indian People and the world forever. He believed that education and knowledge is the greatest tool for the development of human and society.
