79. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: The Hindu View of Life
A Sourcebook in Global Philosophy - Mohammed Rustom
Swami Medhananda [+]
Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education
Description
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (d. 1975 CE) was an Indian philosopher and statesman who served as President of India from 1962 to 1967. In the following excerpts from The Hindu View of Life, Radhakrishnan discusses the doctrines of karma and rebirth, his eschatological theory of collective salvation, and the state of the person who is liberated while living. He takes pains to demonstrate that the law of karma does not entail fatalism or the complete absence of free will. Rather, he argues that while the law of karma determines the circumstances of our present life as well as our physical makeup and mental tendencies, we nonetheless have the freedom to shape our character by engaging in ethical or unethical actions. He also defends a highly original eschatological doctrine of collective salvation (sarvamukti) which combines elements of classical Advaita Vedānta, the Bodhisattva ideal, and the doctrine of social service and spiritual compassion taught by Swami Vivekananda. According to Radhakrishnan, liberated individuals, instead of merging with the nondual Absolute, retain their individuality in order to help others achieve liberation. Once everyone attains liberation, they commune blissfully with one another in the divine community of the realm of Brahman (brahmaloka), living in the direct presence of the loving personal God until the universe itself dissolves and those in brahmaloka lapse into the nondual Absolute.