Dr S Radhakrishnan: The Legendary Teacher Without Pseudo-Professorial Haughtiness

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 5 September 2024 September 5 is commemorated as The Teachers' Day to honour Dr S Radhakrishnan, the teacher of teachers, to use a Biblical phrase. Though a legendary teacher- he was the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions & Ethics at Oxford- Dr Radhakrishnan always believed that a teacher should be a role model not just to his/her students but to all because one learns and imbibes the good and positive qualities from a teacher. The founder of AMU, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan would always says, “Bulandi-E-Kirdaar Ek Mudarris Ke Liye Shart-E-Naaguzeer Hai" (A lofty character is the sine qua non for a teacher). A teacher should always be very humble and never puffed up. Dr Radhakrishnan's own life was a saga of simplicity and humility. (Dr S. Radhakrishnan) ------ Despite being such a famous and celebrated professor of Philosophy, he had no airs and was without any pseudo-professorial haughtiness. He called himself an eternal student (Chirantan Shiksharthi as mentioned in all the ten principal Upanishads). We all must learn and imbibe this sublime quality from the great teacher. It's interesting to know that though he was a Professor of Philosophy, he confined logic to the classroom and never judged people on the bases and premises of logic. It's worthwhile to mention that logic is integral to Philosophy and the students of Philosophy study fallacies, syllogism, inductive and deductive logic. But today's Leibniz, Descartes, Bertrand Russell and Whitehead (they were all logicians, in addition to being philosophers) are full of cerebral conceit. These modern-day 'legends' and the 'fountainheads of all wisdom' leave no opportunity to flaunt their 'nous'. But they don't know that their soi-disant 'logic' is not even sophistry (misleading arguments; Hetvabhaas or Vitandabhaas in Sanskrit). Theirs is an apology for logic! They can take a lesson in modesty from Dr Radhakrishnan. But will they take it? That's a million-dollar question. Dr Radhakrishnan was a latitudinarian. In my exiguous tribute to him in today's Economic Times (Enlightening, and Erudition, September 5), I've stated that, " While teaching Eastern Religions and Ethics as a Spalding Professor at Oxford, Radhakrishnan would always urge his students to go beyond the precincts of all religions and imbibe their spirit. He always maintained that not just Hinduism but all religions were ways of life, and spirituality was independent of religion. " Spirituality was the sublimation of most exalted human qualities, according to him. But today, spirituality has been shelved and we spar over the labels of faiths, viz, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity. Religious idiosyncrasies have become our favourite hobby horses, and the essence of religion has vanished into thin air." Instead of striving to become good humans, we're becoming increasingly religious and monomaniacs. The life and teachings of Dr Radhakrishnan are of utmost importance at this particular juncture when humans have become morbidly assertive and unchangeably indoctrinated. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/radhakrishnan-teacher-pseudo-professorial-/d/133123 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism