By P. N. Chary, M.A.
IN the true line, of descent from the ancient sages
and seers of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, in the ‘Kamala Lectures’ which he
delivered in 1942, bears authentic testimony to the eternal verities of
religion, rescuing religion from the aberrations of secular thought and
practice. After Swami Vivekananda, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest
exponents of modern Hindu Renaissance, and, along with Gandhiji and Tagore, he
has raised the prestige of our nation among the nations of the world. And in
the ‘Kamala. Lectures’ he chooses for his theme “Social Reconstruction in the
Light of Religious Ideals.”
The world today is in the throes of a crisis, with
a loosening of the bonds of society. Wars and threats of wars, claims of racial
superiority, national aggrandisements, economic crisis, starvation in the midst
of plenty, ideological clashes; colonialism, totalitarian exaltation of the
State at the expense of the individual, ‘cultural barbarism–these and several
others are but indications of a deep ‘schism in the body social’ and a ‘schism
of the soul.’ The ‘creative minority’ seems to have lost its elan and in its
place we have a ‘dominant minority,’ bent upon retaining power in its own
hands.
And “secularism is the chief weakness of our age,”
says Radhakrishnan, indicating the main cause of the present distress. “The
modern mind is shaped by Rousseau’s Social Contract, Marx’s Capital,
Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and Spengler’s The Decline of the
West. Humanity is at the cross-roads. Either it has to organise itself as
one whole or face periodic wars.”
Professor Toynbee in The Study of History,
after discarding the factors of environment and race as accounting for the rise
and growth of civilisations, arrives at the formula of ‘Challenge and
Response.’ The present age throws out a challenge demanding that humanity
organise itself as one organic whole, or face the alternative of destruction at
its own hands. History is, strewn with the wreckage of civlisations that have
failed to adapt themselves to changing circumstances. At this, the end of not
only an historical but a spiritual epoch, when tragedy seems inevitable, it is
easy to fall into a mood of utter pessimism and conclude with H. G. Wells: “This
world is at the end of its tether. The end of everything we call life is close
at hand and cannot be evaded….There is no way out or round through the impasse.
It is the end.” But Dr. Radhakrishnan is convinced that there is a profound
meaning to all this chaos. “Man the destroyer is man the builder too….The
Kurukshetra may well become a Dharmakshetra.” Any permanent breakdown of human
values is unthinkable, and the present turmoil is but a prelude to the opening
of a new age. As Oscar Wilde has it, “Out of sorrow has the world been built;
and at the birth of a child or a star there is pain.”
History amply demonstrates how several remedies
have been tried, with futile results, by disintegrating civilisations to arrest
the decline,–militarism with a view to establish a universal State being the
most honoured in usage. The one remedy that has appealed to popular imagination
most is Marxism or Dialectical Materialism. True, the call of Communism to the
world has the passion of a religion. But the ideal of economic equality is
sought to be realised by resort to methods of violence, at the expense of many
higher values of life. Man is no mere economic animal, and there is more in
life than economic values. “Even if the world becomes an earthly paradise dripping
with milk and honey, even if cheap automobiles and radios are made accessible
to all, we will not have peace of mind or true happiness.”
So, we are led to the ineluctable conclusion that
it is only on the basis of a spiritual revival that the New World order can be
established. Religion is a summons to spiritual adventure. And testimony to the
truth that life remains unfulfilled until there is a vision of the Supreme is
borne by the mystics of all ages and climes.
At first sight it is the deficiencies of religion
that are most glaringly noticeable. In the name of religion the world splits
into rival camps and sheds more blood than even political ambitions and
economic rivalries are responsible for. But the days of proselytizing religions
are numbered. Even as the political field the ideal is that of one world
organisation, with scope for unfettered cultivation of national institutions
and cultures, in the field of religion the ideal is a world faith, with no
attempt, however, at obliteration of historical religions. Recognition of the
truth that the common goal of all religions is spiritual life will hasten the
emergence of “The Worlds Unborn Soul.” And without that soul, the One World
which is taking shape before our eyes will be only a body, untenanted by the
vivifying spirit.
In the re-ordering of the world, India is
peculiarly fitted to play a significant part. At first her duty is to herself.
But in fulfilling her dharma, she will serve as a beacon-light to the
world as well. Over the ages the assimilative capacity of Hinduism has been
such as to enable the Indians to evolve a synthetic culture absorbing within a
single fold apparently diverse practices and faiths. This is the social alchemy
that explains the unique phenomenon of the survival of Indian civilisation,
while most of her ancient contemporaries have faded out of existence. Hinduism
is no creed or dogma. In the words of Radhakrishnan, “Hinduism represents an
effort at comprehension and co-operation. It recognises the diversity in man’s
approach towards, and realisation of, the One Supreme Reality. All creeds are
attempts of the finite mind to grasp the Infinite.”
In the lecture on ‘Hindu Dharma’ Dr. Radhakrishnan
throws out valuable suggestions and adumbrates the principles on which a reconstruction
of Hindu Society should proceed. There should be a recognition on our part that
Hindu civilisation puts spiritual values higher than all other values. While
the basic spiritual truths are for all times, the institutions which embody
these truths are not to be regarded as unchangeable. Changing times and altered
circumstances call for modifications in the institutional framework of a
society. But a violent break with the past, fundamental departures from
tradition, starting de novo as though we have had no history, will lead
to but barren results. A genuine Hindu Renaissance will yield flowers,
blossoming on the tree which has its roots deep in the soil of the country.
“The price of social freedom is not only eternal vigilance, but also perpetual
renewal, eternal initiative, the ceaseless activity of the creative spirit.”
To the Hindus, who have come under the glamour of
the West, and have forgotten the truths of their religion, to those of us who
have identified religion with outward observances, shorn of their significance,
the words of Radhakrishnan, vibrant with conviction and deriving their
inspiration from the authentic voice of the mystics of the world, bring a
rejuvenating message. “India is a tradition, a spirit, a light,” says he, “Her
physical and spiritual frontiers do not coincide.” The Upanishadic teaching of
universalism, “He who sees the One Spirit in all, and all in the One Spirit,
henceforth can look with contempt on no creature,” once again echoes in our
hearts.
Motivated by that message, individuals feel
strengthened to respond intelligently to the challenge presented by world
conditions. Of course, Radhakrishnan is keenly aware that the world cannot be
suddenly transmuted into obedience to the law of love. Institutions through which
we can develop the habits of goodness and peace will have to be built up. But,
“we have to fight for the new order, first in our own souls, then in the world
outside.” In the light of this, education in values becomes imperative. In
ringing words Radhakrishnan exhorts us: “We must work for the renewal of the
heart, the transformation of values, the surrender of the Spirit to the claims
of the Eternal. We all look up at the same stars, we dream beneath the same
sky, we are fellow passengers on the same planet; and it does not matter if we
endeavour to find the ultimate truth along different roads. The riddle of
existence is so great that there cannot be only one road leading to an answer.”
And by way of a final exhortation, in the
concluding section of the Lectures, Dr. Radhakrishnan makes eloquent references
to Gandhiji, his ideal of truth and his gospel of love. “India is better today
because there has come into its life a personality that is a flame from God.”
1
1 Substance of a
lecture given at the Indian Institute of Culture, Bangalore.