RADHAKRISHNAN’S MORAL EDUCATION AND PEACE IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Abstract

The world is quite familiar with the public image of President Radhakrishnan as an Acharya of patriarchal eminence and universal veneration. By his side all class distinc­tions disappear; indeed, in his presence there is no room for ‘gradations’ and ‘degradations’. All are equal: it is a true Socialist society in a spiritual sense. Rarely do we come across another who can so readily put a visitor at ease, whether he is a dignitary or one from the proletariat. Radhakrishnan wrote not only for scholars but also for the general reader with an interest in spiritual matters. He believed that great works such as the Bhagavad Gita must be understood anew by each generation, in a way that provides insight into the problems of the time. Radhakrishnan constantly stressed that the peaceful coexistence commended by India was not a policy of passive and negative co-existence but one of active and fruitful cooperation among the people of the world. Radhakrishnan brought about a new outlook for Indians to look at themselves as a people with a confident future. Thus, his contributions in various fields, in education particular have to be seen in the broad historical perspective. He did achieve a confident intellectual outlook for Indians to take their world forward. As an educator his pervasive influence still persists with us. An education charter as such can be constituted only on the theme of creating men and women, from the schools and the colleges and our universities by training them to become responsible citizens of their respective living spaces. Today the scenario is that we have a six billion of common humanity, bound inextricably into a common destiny. The very economic integration, the tele-communications technological growths, Information Technology, the Internet growth is the latest technological integrating force and of course the negative forces, nuclear threat, degradation of the environment. He gave four lectures, speaking without the assistance of any notes, presenting Hinduism not as a set of fixed dogmas and rituals but as a tolerant faith with a wide vision and moral values that was relevant for contemporary life. These lectures were published as The Hindu View of Life, a small volume that has had lasting importance as an interpretation of Hinduism to Western readers an alert mind, so much so that nothing of any importance escapes his attention.