VIr Vol. 16 1989 DR. S. RADHAKRISHNAN BIRTH CENTENARY SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS : Dr. Ramcsh S. Betai Dr. Yajncshwar S. Shastri L. I). INSTITUTE OF INDOL.OGY, AHMEDABAD Vol. XVI 1989 DR. S. RADHAKRISHNAN BIRTH CENTENARY SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS : Dr. Ramesli S. Beta! Dr. Yajneshvar S. Shastri L. D. INSTITUTE OF INDOLOGY, AHMEDABAD Published by Bamesh S. Betai Acting Director L. D. Institute of Indology Ahmedabad-9 and Printed by KRISHNA PRINTERY 966, Naranpura Old Village Ahmedabad-380013 Price : Rupees 50-00 CONTENTS 1. The BhagavadgttS and Dr. Radhakrishnan Dr. G- K. Bliat I 2. Social of Dr. Philosophy .Radhakrishnan Dr. H. M. Joshi 11 3. Reason and Intuition in Dr. Radhakrishnan's Prof. C. V. Raval 30 Philosophy 4. Dr. Radhakrishnan on the Philosophy of Dr. R. S. Betai 41 the Upanisads 5. Radhakrishnan and Christianity Dr. Bharati Savan 58 6. Dr. Radhakrishnan on ''Kalki or Future Dr. R. S. Betai 84 of Civilization" 7. An Appreciation of Radhakrishnan's Trans- Jag Mohan 89 lation of "The Bhagvadgita" Being and Differance-Radhakrishnan and M. V. Baxi 108 Derrida Dr. Radhakrishnan on Buddhism : a Glance S. G. Kantawala 120 10. of Compatibility Radhakrishnan's Meta- Dr. J. A. Yajnik 128 physics with his Epistemology and Ethics i. 41. 21 a. Radhakrishnan-Bibliography Comp. Saloui Joshi 33 v. Q 39 Other Articles 1- Jayanta on the Buddhist Definition of Nagin J. Shah 3 Perception 2. Doctrine of Maya A Critical Study Dr. Yajneshwar 18 S. Shastri 3, 42 4. EDITORIAL It is with great pleasure that we publish Vol-XVI of our Journal 'Sarnbodhi' as a special volume entitled "Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Birth Centenary Special Volume" that was planned during the Birth centenary year of the great scholar and pundit who was rightly adjudged as a special Ambassador of Indian philosophy, Religions and culture to the world, We are happy that the contributors deal with several facets of the scholastic personality of the ideal scholar and philosopher of Himalayan heights that Dr. Radhakrishnan was. We are sorry that some of the facets of his contribution could not be included in this volume because some invitees could not prepare their Papers in time. We are thankful to the local contributors who co-operated by corre- cting proofs of their own papers. It is sincerely hoped that the world of scholars and interested readers will find some thing positive and original in every paper that is printed in this special Issue. The volume can very well claim to give a correct, precise and clear picture of the grand personality of one of the noblest sons of mother India. Editors Our Contributors in ihis Special Volume 1. Dr. G. K. Bhat (Late) Former Professor of Sanskrit in Maharashtra Government and former Director, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune. 2. Dr. H. M. Joshi Prof- of Philosophy, M. S. University, Baroda- 3. Prof. C. V. Ravai Prof, of Philosophy (Retd.), Gujarat Government Service. 4. Dr. R. S. Betai Former Director, Institute of Indology, Dwarka. At Present, Hon. Professor and Director-in-charge, L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad. 5. Dr. Bharati Savan U. G. C. Research Awardee 6. Shri Jag Mohan Executive Secretary, Nameclia, New Delhi 7. Dr. M. V. Baxi Prof, of Philosophy and Principal, G. L, S. Arts College, Ahraedabad. 8. Dr. S. G. Kantawala Former Director, Oriental Institute, Barocla and Prof, of Sanskrit (Retd.), M. S. University, Baroda. 9. Dr. J. A. Yajnlk Prof, of Philosophy and Director, University School of Psychology, Education and Philosophy, Gujarat University, Ahraedabad. 10. Dr. Bhavana Trivedi Lecturer in Philosophy, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. 11. Dr. N. J. Shall Reader in Sanskrit, L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad. 12. Dr. Y. S. Shastri Reader in Philosophy, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. 13. Dr. K. R. Chandra Reader in Prakrit, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. 14. Dr. R. M. Shah Lecturer in Prakrit, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad 15. Saloni Joshi Lecturer in Prakrit, L. D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad. 16. Dr. Jaydev A- Jani, Sanskrit Dept., M. S. University, Baroda. (sft ^iq^q-s^ I) *ra?r ssrenifSm mil llvii ,f%^ft * The Soviet Union THE BHAGAVADGlTA AND DR. RADHAKRISHNAN Dr. G. K. Bhat If the Gita takes the pride of place for man seeking a way towards betterment of human life, so does Dr. Radhakrishnan for thinkers in the east and the west, and especially for Indians. An Indian of remarkable pre-eminence, an intellectual politician, who rose to the rank of Presi- dent of a of Indian India, life-long Bhasyakara philosophy and religion, an thinker and a independent philosopher in his own right, Dr. Radha- krishnan could well be described as a sage of the twentieth century. Being also a Sanskritist, it would be interesting to see how Dr. Radhakrishnan looks upon the Glta and what it signifies, according to him, for mankind. Dr, Radhakrishnan's views on the Gita are expressed in his monu- mental volume on Indian and Philosophy, more elaborately, along with an English translation and notes, in his text-edition of the Gita (George Allen and Unwin Ltd., Great Britain), which was first published in 194 and has been reprinted several times. There is no dearth of books on the Gita, both of the text-interpreta- tive and of discursive and in type type, several languages beginning with the Sanskrit down to the present-day languages of India and of several countries. The comman other man worships the Gita as a Divine Mother, her as the nectar of and accepts teaching milk, milked for him by the Krsna from the cow of the Divine Upanisads. The intelligent man equally revers the Gita, but is sometimes puzzled by the inconsistent or confli- cting statements found in the Text, and then chooses to follow the lead of some Acarya, Bhasyakara or Interpreter. The scholar, with due reve- rence and devotion to this unique Text, enters still into a search for the original Gita and attempts to seek an explanation for the apparent contradictions and the mixture of diverse thought-currents that seem to exist in the Glta and that his intellectual approach refuses to slur over a mere of devotion. But by feeling then, we have several different views, of the Glta and interpretations from the old tradition of Sanskrit BhSsya- kafas like Sankaracarya, through Saint-philosophers like JrTanesvara, down to modern thinkers like Tilak or Mahatma Gandhi. Such a diver- sity of views among the intellectuals is a little bewildering to the common, man of the it intelligent world, although may not affect any one's, of reverence including that of the intellectuals and the scholars, feeling for and devotion to this unique Text. In What is Dr. Radhakrishnan's approach to this basic situation? academic and the first place, it is necessary to acknowledge, both in an intellectual way, the chroonological position that the Gita takes in the evolution of Indian thought, philosophical and religious. D. Radhakrishnan points out that, "The Bhagavadgita is later than the great movement represented by the early Upanisads and earlier than the period of the develop- ment of the philosophic systems and their formulation in sutras. From its archaic constructions and internal references, we may infer that it is definitely a work of the pre-Christian era. (fifth Century " B. C.) (Text ed. Inlr. p. 14). It is then clear, that the Gita cannot be read as an exposition of ;>. particular system of thought, nor can a philosophic system be imposed on it. The colophon at the end of every chapter indicates that the Gita is both and metaphysics etlucs-brahmavitlya and yogaSHslra, "the science of and the art of union with reality reality." But the teaching of the Gita is not presented as a metaphysical system thought out by an indivi- dual thinker or school of thinkers. "It is set forth as a tradition which has emerged from the religious life of mankind". Dr. Radhakrishnan tells us that "the different elements which, at the period of the of the were composition Gita, competing with each other within the Hindu System, are brought together and integrated into u comprehensive free and subtle synthesis, large, and profound. The teacher refines and reconciles the different currents of thought, the Vedic cult of sacrifice, the Upanisad of the teaching transcendent Brahman, the BhSga- vata theism and tender the piety, SSrhkhya dualism and the yoga medita- tion." (Ibid., pp. 13-14). In other the words, teacher of the Gita is 'a profound seer who sees truth in its many-sidedness and believes in its saving power. The Gita, thus, "represents not Sect of any Hinduism but Hinduism as a whole not Hinduism but .merely religion as in its such, universality, without lumt.of time or space, embracing with its synthesis the .whole of the gamut human spmt, from the crude fetishism of the savage to the creative affirmations of. the saint." (Ibid.,. p. 12) 'Understood in this light and on this chronological background the scholarly attempts to discover the old and the new in the G^the so called revision of the Gita by the doctrines of a particular system of thought, would appear to be not only irrelevant to the basic purpose of the Git it but merely intellectual exercises. For, if any mingling of the thought-currents of the was to be day done, and a refined, integrated syn- thesis was to be. worked out, it was done already by the author of the Gita. This should also mean that e w must accept the Gita as it is, as a whole, as "an organic unity" which draws and synthesises all the living elements of Hindu life and thought.