s.radhakrishna works

The effect of western writers on Hindu scholars.

The primacy of English education and the abundance of biased literature regarding the history and the Vedic religion affected the Hindu society a great deal. The wrong historical dates of Hindu dynasties and the notable personalities that they fixed, especially Buddh, Chandragupt and Ashok, became a guideline, and many Hindu writers followed the same wrong trend.

Certain great scholars and the so-called patriots of India also had profound effects of western education on their minds that held the feeling of lowness for Hindu culture, history and religion. They too collected the intellectual dirt of the western writers and used it in their writings.

Not knowing what were they doing, their writings like: “Ram was only a good man. He was not God.” betrayed and confused millions of Hindus and contempted the authentic writings of Ved Vyas which are the national treasures of India.

We will give you a few examples.

S. Radhakrishnan (1888-1975).
His brief biography: Born near Madras, South India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan showed his intelligence since childhood. He received a Master’s degree in Arts from Madras University. His essay on “Ethics of the Vedant” (as a partial fulfillment for his Master’s degree) was highly appreciated by professor A.G. Hogg as it contained the boldness of thought and the neglect for the personal form of God.

In 1909 he was appointed to the Department of Philosophy of the Madras Presidency College. In 1918 he was appointed as a professor of Philosophy at the University of Mysore and in 1921 he was appointed at the University of Calcutta. In 1926 he represented the University of Calcutta at the Congress of the Universities of the British Empire. From 1936 to 1939 he was appointed as a professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford University, in 1939 he was elected as ‘Fellow of the British Academy’, and from 1939 to 1948 he was Vice Chancellor of the Benares Hindu University. He was the Vice President of India from 1952 to 1962 and he also held the Office of the Chancellor, Delhi University from 1953 to 1962. In 1962 he was elected the President of India.

He was known as a world figure in philosophy. Renowned for his philosophical writings and lectures, he had collected enormous information in his brain by reading all the books of the European writers who wrote about Indian scriptures, religion and history. He was a bookworm, and had also extensively studied western philosophy. South Indian brahmans used to do elaborate Vedic rituals in their temple ceremonies and they are famous for their correct Sanskrit pronunciation. Radhakrishnan had a slighting attitude toward them since the beginning.

The derogative views of Radhakrishnan about Hindu religion and scriptures.
We have written about Jones, Max Müller and the other writers of that group. Radhakrishnan was not only their admirer, he was the promoter of their views which is clearly evident from his writings. His prejudicial attitude toward the Vedic religion and sneering opinions about the historical Divine Masters and their writings are seen in every book he wrote. See a few examples:

Indian Philosophy Vol. I, first print 1923, reprint 1996. Indian Philosophy Vol. II, first print 1927, reprint 1996. The Bhagavadgita first print 1948, reprint 1994. The Principal Upanisads first print 1953, reprint 1995.

(About the early Hindus of Vedic religion)

“Man’s never-ceasing effort to raise himself above the level of the beast to a moral and spiritual height finds a striking illustration in India.” (Indian Philosophy Vol. II, p. 766)

(About the Rigved)

“The process of god-making in the factory of man’s mind cannot be seen so clearly anywhere else as in the Rg-Veda.” (Indian Philosophy Vol. I, p. 73)

(About the Atharvaved)

“The religion of the Atharva-Veda is that of the primitive man, to whom the world is full of shapeless ghosts and spirits of death.”

“The world becomes crowded with goblins and gods, and the catastrophes of the world are traced to dissatisfied spirits… The terrific powers could only be appeased by bloody sacrifices, human and animal… The religion of the Atharva-Veda is an amalgam of Aryan and non-Aryan ideals.” (Vol. I, pp. 119, 120)

(About the Upnishads)

“The Upanisads contain the earliest records of Indian speculation… they contain much that is inconsistent and unscientific.” (Vol I, p. 138)

(About the Puranas)

“The Puranas are the religious poetry of the period of the schools, representing through myth and story, symbol and parable, the traditional view of God and man… They were composed with the purpose of undermining, if possible, the heretical doctrines of the times.” (Vol. II, p. 663)

(About the Yog Darshan of Patanjali)

“The popular cult of magic is mixed up with the religious scheme of salvation in the Yoga.”

“Sometimes psychic powers are also attained by the use of drugs and anaesthetics. Narcotic intoxication and ecstatic state are confused by the popular mind. The use of drugs is not recommended in Patanjali’s Yoga, though it is mentioned as one of the ways of obtaining perfections. Thus the habit of drug intoxication prevalent in primitive tribes was mixed up with the higher mysticism of the Yoga. Spells and austerities also help us in acquiring these powers.” (Vol II, pp. 366, 368)

(About Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his disciples)

“The orthodox were much disturbed by his startling ways. He accepted converts from Islam freely… His disciples, Rupa and Sanatana, were renegade converts to Islam and outcasts from the Hindu society.” (Vol. II, p. 761)

The Vedas and the Upnishads were originally produced by the Rishis, then, about 5,000 years ago, they were all reproduced by Bhagwan Ved Vyas. The Upnishads contain the knowledge about God, maya, soul and His devotion which is further explained in the systematically written short sentences of the Brahm Sutra by Ved Vyas who also revealed all the Puranas. Sage Patanjali expounded the yogic theme of the Upnishads in his Yog Darshan which explains the eightfold path of yogic practice to fully eliminate the worldly desires and to purify the heart so that the yogi could become qualified to receive and to retain the Divine knowledge of the supreme God.

The writer of the “Indian Philosophy,” Radhakrishnan, calls the early Hindus ‘the beast’ and the Divine wisdom of the Rishis ‘the god-making factory,’ and defines the Vedic religion as ‘the religion of the primitive man in the world of ghosts and goblins who were only satisfied with bloody sacrifices.’ He speaks of the teachings of the Upnishads and the Puranas as ‘speculation, myth, parables and heretical doctrines;’ criticizes the Brahm Sutra, and tells that the higher mysticism of Yog Darshan was mixed up with drug intoxication.

No true Hindu can utter such words for our Divine scriptures and the Vedic religion. They are all tamoguni writings.

His wiliness, antipathy towards our acharyas and his inclination towards Christianity.
Radhakrishnan criticizes Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is the most adorable figure to millions of Hindus, and degrades the most respected rasik Saints of Vrindaban, Roop and Sanatan Goswami, by calling them ‘renegade converts to Islam and the outcasts from the Hindu society.’

He doesn’t stop over there. To justify the Aryan invasion fiction, he condemns the entire history of all the manvantars by telling that ‘Indian civilization is about 4,000 years old’ in Volume I, page 46, of his book the “Indian Philosophy”; and in Volume II, page 656, he draws a parallel between the description of God (brahm) of the Upnishads with the description of God in the Jewish and Christian religious book (the Bible).

It may be shocking for some people to know that the world renowned philosopher, bearing the prestige of having the seat of Vice President and the President of India for many years, had a leaning towards the western Christian faith and had anti-Vedic thoughts in his head, which he covered behind the big turban that showed the sign of Hinduism. But the fact is, that his own statements are the evidences of his own duplicitous character, when he writes,

“To love God is to take up the cross. The surrender of the soul to the heavenly Bridegroom… a metaphor not peculiar to India.” (Vol. I, p. 495)

“To take up the cross” is a pure Christian saying which means to do everything for the sake of Christianity. But taking the example of a general Christian proverb and befitting it with the occasion of maharas and with the unlimited depth of Gopis’ love for Krishn whose Divine sweetness surpassed all the forms of Divine Blissfulness, positively expresses the total anglicization of Radhakrishnan’s mind.

In the introduction of “The Principal Upanisads,” page 35, while describing the creation aspect, he compares the creation theory of the Upnishads with the Bible and the Iliad which was composed by a blind bard of Greece, Homer. He writes:

“Before creation all this was darkness shrouded in darkness, an impenetrable void or abyss of waters.” (Footnote on page 35 in “The Principal Upanishads”: Genesis 1.2, where the Spirit of God is said to move on the face of the waters, and the Puranic description of Vishnu as resting on the Serpent Infinite in the milky ocean. Homer’s Iliad speaks of Oceanos as ‘the source of all things’ including even the gods.)

In the Indian Philosophy Vol. I, page 103, he writes,

“The personal God brooding over the waters the Narayana resting on the eternal Ananta. It is the god of Genesis who says, Let there be, and there was. ”

Here again Radhakrishnan compares the Divine greatness of Gracious and kind God Narain (Vishnu) with the wrathful God of the Old Testament (Genesis).

At one place the Kathopnishad describes the ascending dependability of soul, maya and God.



The meaning of this verse is, “Maya (the original cosmic power called prakriti) is beyond the soul and is more powerful than the soul; and beyond maya is God in His personal form (purushah). Beyond the personality of God there is no other (Divine) matter. He is the final goal of a soul.” The key word in this verse is purushah which means ‘the Personal form of God.’ But, Radhakrishnan alters the meaning of the word purushah from ‘the Personality of God’ to ‘spirit,’ because the New Testament (John 4/24) describes God as a ‘spirit.’ Thus he translates it like this,

“Beyond the great self (atma) is the unmanifest (prakriti); beyond the unmanifest is the spirit. Beyond the spirit there is nothing. That is the end of the journey; that is the final goal.” (The Principal Upanisads, p. 625)

In the New Testament whenever Jesus Christ is saying something, the words “Verily, Verily” are often used in the beginning of his statement. Radhakrishnan adopts the same style in his writings while translating the Upnishads. For instance,

“Non existent, verily, was this in the beginning. Therefrom, Verily, was existence produced.” (p. 548)

The reason of his being famous as an Indian philosopher.
There were two reasons: (a) His political status as the President of India, and (b) the ignorance of the common people about the quality of his writings. Hindus have tremendous faith in the Gita, Bhagwat, Ramayan and the Upnishads etc. Just the thought, that Radhakrishnan had translated the Gita and the Upnishads, gave an air of respect to him. Moreover, in the political field, he was well known to Indians as being a good politician, and people had a regard for him. His oratory was well known, and his presentation of a subject before the students was promising. All these things promoted his name. His appointment to the Oxford University as a Professor of Philosophy gave him a further rise, and his political distinction promulgated his fame when he became the President of India. The notion, that ‘the President of India’ had written books on Indian philosophy and translated the Gita, augmented his fame as a philosopher, and thus, he came to be known as a world figure in philosophy.

But, it was all in the air. Had the Indians in common known what really he had written about the Rishis, the Vedas, Bhartiya scriptures, our most revered acharyas and Saints and about the Divine descensions, Bhagwan Ram and Krishn, the story would have been entirely different.

More than ninety-five percent of the Indian population reads the scriptures that are published in Indian languages, so they remain unaware of the biasedness of his writings (which were written in English only). Very few who take higher education in the Indian philosophy and religion happen to study such books as those of Radhakrishnan and other similar Indian or European writers. By the time they finish their course they accumulate so much philosophical confusion in their mind by studying the works of worldly and incompetent writers that most of them lose faith in the devotional aspects of Hindu religion and develop a kind of no-regard feeling for the Divinity of the scriptures, Jagadgurus and the great historical Masters as well. Thus, it doesn’t matter to them what Radhakrishnan or any other writer has written about the religion, philosophy or the culture of India.

Many people who regarded Radhakrishnan as a philosopher have simply praised him without even knowing what he has actually written in his books. Moreover, no one has ever written genuine comments on his writings, and the common people of India and also the people of the world don’t indulge in the intricacies of the philosophy. So, the dark side of his writings always remained hidden, and that was a plus point on his part that maintained his image as a great Indian philosopher, which, in fact, was a false perspective of his personality.

The writings of Radhakrishnan were more damaging to Bhartiya religion as compared to the European writers.

The derogatory writings of the western scholars, as initiated by the British, left a great impact on the Indian minds. But the reconfirmation of those western views by Radhakrishnan had much more damaging effects and confused millions of scholars of philosophy and religion around the world by giving them entirely wrong input about Hindu philosophy, Hindu scriptures and the Hindu religion. Just examine some of his mis-translations.

The writings of Radhakrishnan were more damaging to Bhartiya religion as compared to the European writers.
The derogatory writings of the western scholars, as initiated by the British, left a great impact on the Indian minds. But the reconfirmation of those western views by Radhakrishnan had much more damaging effects and confused millions of scholars of philosophy and religion around the world by giving them entirely wrong input about Hindu philosophy, Hindu scriptures and the Hindu religion. Just examine some of his mis-translations.

His Upnishad and Gita translations.
How wrongly he has translated the Upnishads, it can be seen from his translations of some of the most important verses.

In the Taittariya Upnishad,



(a) The true meaning is: “He (the Supreme God) manifested and made Himself omnipresent in the visual world.” But Radhakrishnan translates it as, “That (God) made itself a soul.”

(b) The true meaning is, “He (sah = the Supreme Personality of God Himself) is the Bliss; whoever perceives the Blissful God becomes blissful forever.” But Radhakrishnan translates it as, “That, verily, is the essence of existence (the existing mayic world). For, truly, on getting the essence, one becomes blissful.” (The Principal Upanisads, p. 549)

The word sah means, “the personal form of God” only. All the Jagadgurus have given detailed explanations on this particular verse, however, Radhakrishnan has his own way.

See his translations of the Gita.

The verse 15/6 “” tells about the existence of Krishn’s Divine abode (called the Golok), which is beyond maya and where the material sun, moon and fire do not exist (because it is Divinely illuminated). That ‘param dham,’ the eternal and absolute abode of Krishn, is such a Divine abode where God realized Saints go and (while perceiving the absolute Bliss) they live there forever and they never reincarnate in the material world. But Radhakrishnan gives his comment on this verse and says, “This verse refers to the Immutable Brahman which can be reached by ascetic practices.” (The Bhagavadgita, p. 328)

See more extracts from The Indian Philosophy Vol. I & II (IP/I,II) and the Principal Upanishads (PU).

Rigved has the impassionate utterances of the primitive poetic souls. (IP/I-71)

Atharvaved contains the pre-Vedic animist religion of spirits and ghosts. It gives an idea of demonology prevalent in the tribes of India. (PU-45;IP/I-121)

The earliest Vedic seers worshipped nature… the Vedic gods were stupidly self-centered… gods and ghosts governed the life of people. (IP/I-121)

The Upnishads (aranyakas) are the speculations of the hermits. Their teachings are lost in the jumbled chaos of puerile superstition. (IP/I-355)

He (Radhakrishnan) cannot accept Krishn of the Puranas. It was only the unknown author of the Gita who made Krishn famous through his writings and devised him to pose as God (brahm). (IP/I-496, 521)

Ram was only a good man. He was not God. His religion is polytheistic and external.

In the theism of Ramanuja, his city of God, the heaven, where the redeemed souls dwell is not much different from the usual description of the paradise of the popular imagination. (This is the description of Vaikunth in the words of Radhakrishnan.) (IP/I-482)

Shankara’s arid logic made his system unattractive, and Ramanuja’s story of the other world carries no weight. (IP/II-711)

In the Chaitanya religion the ultimate reality is Vishnu, and there is nothing much in their theory (achintya bhedabhed vad). (IP/II-761)

You can see that the great philosopher Radhakrishnan, introducing his skeptical views, despises the Divineness of the philosophy and the religion of Bharatvarsh.

He calls the Vedic Rishis as primitive poets whose impassionate utterances are the Rigved. He says that Atharvaved incorporates the demonology of primitive tribes; Vedic gods are stupidly self-centered; and the Upnishads are childish superstitions.

He criticizes the Divinity of Krishn, and says that (Bhagwan) Ram was only a good man, not God. He condemns the Divine greatness of Vaikunth by calling it the imagined heaven of Ramanujacharya and says that Ramanujacharya’s story of the other world (Vaikunth) carries no weight, and the dull logic of Shankaracharya makes his theory unattractive. He refutes the most impressive theory of the Vaishnavas of Vrindaban, the achintya bhedabhed vad, and thus, degrading the Hindu religion and philosophy by all means, he promotes only the western orientalists at each and every step of his writings.

A question arises: If the Upnishads are superstitious, Vedas are the primitive utterances, and the writings of acharyas carry no weight in his eyes, why then has he wasted his time writing on the Indian philosophy and the Upnishads; and why was he visiting the universities lecturing on the Indian philosophy? Was he trying to show how useless the Hindu religion is?

In fact, the Upnishads contain the Divine knowledge about God and God realization, and the Gita, Bhagwatam, Ramayan, Mahabharat and the Puranas are the Divine writings in which the Divine glory of the supreme descensions of God (Bhagwan Ram and Krishn) are described. The acharyas and the Jagadgurus revealed the simple path of divine-love-devotion to God for the good of mankind and established the greatness of bhakti (devotion to supreme God) that encouraged uncountable souls of the world to rise above the mayic dependency and proceed towards the fulfillment of their inner self that always longed for the Divine love of the supreme Beloved of their soul.

But, Radhakrishnan’s derogatory writings confused millions of good souls looking for the path to God. Covering all the aspects of Hindu religion (the scriptures, the writings of the acharyas and the descensions of God) he tried to implode the entire structure of Hinduism.

Collecting the wrongs of the European writers (who were appointed by the British) he decorated his writings with that. It created an opening for the other Hindu writers of the 20th century to follow the same wrong tradition of despising the Sanskrit literature, religion and the ancient history that was planned and designed by the British diplomats to ruin the culture, the religion and the history of Bharatvarsh.

Such was the effect of the writings of the western orientalists and Radhakrishnan etc., on the Indian minds that a great number of Hindu writers followed the same wrong trend, and, on the same guidelines, a number of books were written in the last eighty years.


source-http://www.encyclopediaofauthentichinduism.org