P V Laxmiprasad is the author of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s The Hindu View of Life: A Study of Cultural Touchstones”.  He hails from Karimnagar, Telangana. He is the proclaimed author of 42 books. This critical book throws light on different cultural touchstones as elucidated by Sarvepalli Radhakrishna on the Hindu view of life. He does not talk about Hinduism as a religion but as a way of life in a broader sense of application and practice. It enlightens the readers with age-old perspectives about how Hinduism first came into existence and from there it has been culturally binding. The book covers different periods of chronology for Hinduism, beliefs and practices, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, gnana yoga and raja yoga. Laxmiprasad revisited the legacy of Swami Vivekananda and distinguished between Hinduism and Hindutva on two different connotations. In his critical appreciation of the text, Laxmiprasad observes that the Hindu view of life deals with an account of a series of four lectures delivered by S. Radhakrishnan at Manchester College in Oxford in September 1926. In this book, he has touched upon the philosophy of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan from the perspective of metaphysics, epistemology, intuition, and varieties of experiences like cognitive, discursive and psychic experiences. Aesthetic experience, art and science, ethical experience, religious experience and religious pluralism find predominant coverage in the book. 

Laxmiprasad writes that the Hindu view of life is a timeless treatise on what constitutes a Hindu philosophy of life. In this book, S. Radhakrishna explains the different faiths and unique beliefs as well as the tangle of myths related to the Hindu philosophy of life. In this book is divided into four chapters viz., (1) Religious Experience, (2) Conflict of Religions, (3) The Hindu Dharma – I and (4) The Hindu Dharma – II. The definition of Hinduism has absorbed the customs and ideas of peoples with whom it has come into contact. Really it is difficult to trace out the roots of Hinduism because there are different forms attributed to the definition. Hinduism goes back to the ages during the times of the Vedas and the Upanishads. It has demonstrated the spirit and struggle for which Hinduism has survived. In fact, Hinduism has to be looked beyond religion and rituals. It fosters a new way of life. The different rivers, the Vedas in the Hindu culture, the forceful currents, the Aryans and the Dravidians and the endless journey of civilization and the symbolic representation of life through the ever-flowing river waters are all depicted through a fine description of history and culture. 

Hindu pluralism and assimilation is one of the factors of Hinduism. Though there are differences between the languages practices and customs, they tried to maintain balance with deep underlying fundamental unity. Hinduism includes a range of philosophies, and is linked by shared concepts, recognizable rituals, cosmology, pilgrimage to sacred sites and shared textual resources that discuss theology, philosophy and mythology. Hinduism is more a way of life than a form of thought. Religious pluralism is another important dimension in this critical book. Hinduism accepts all religious notions as facts. Religion is a kind of life or experience. It is an insight into the nature of reality (Darshana), or experience of reality (Anubhava). The three prasthanas of the Vedanta, the Upanishads, the Brahmasutras and the Bhagavad Gita form the basis of all the three stages of faith, knowledge and discipline. Hinduism is the treasure house of the Vedas. The Upanishads embody the experiences of the sages. They contain logic and discipline in them. The Brahmastura attempts to interpret the important conclusions of the Upanishads. The Bhagavad Gita is primarily a Yoga Shastra giving us a practical means by which we can attain a truly religious life. The Vedanta is not a religion, but religion itself in its most universal and deepest significance. Even the Mahabharatha, the great epic, viewed that the Veda is one; its significance is one, though different Vedas are constructed on account of misunderstandings. 

Laxmiprasad observes that religion should be found in righteous living rather than correct belief. “What counts is not creed but conduct”. By putting creed and doctrine before our personal faith, we lose ourselves to the religious group. As such, Hinduism welcomes gods and figures from all religions. According to Hinduism, the meaning of life is four-fold: to achieve, Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. There are three ways of attaining Moksha – wisdom, devotion and servitude. Hinduism insists on working steadily upwards and improving our knowledge in rank. Differences according to Radhakrishnan in name become immaterial for the Hindu, since every name, at its best explores the same metaphysical and moral perfections. The Hindu method of religious reform helps to bring about a change not in the name but in the content. Thus, Hinduism is not a definitive and dogmatic creed but a vast complex, yet subtly unified mass of spiritual thought and realization.  In the end, Laxmiprasad explores that Hinduism becomes tolerant of other religions apart from leading, dispelling and laying a path down the ages. 

Dharma in Hinduism means duty, virtue and morality. The word ‘dharma’ has roots in the Sanskrit ‘dhr’ which means to hold or to support. Dharma means the right way of living or the path of rightness. The meaning of the word Dharma depends on the context and its meaning has evolved as ideas of Hinduism have developed through history. 

The Chaturvedi purushaarthas are key concepts in Hinduism that include duties, rights, laws and virtues and finally, the right way of living. The Purushaarthas are described as the psycho-moral basis of the ‘Ashram’ theory. According to the Bhagavad Gita, Dharma is ‘Dharma Rakshati Rakshitaha’. He who follows Dharma is protected in turn by Dharma. Thus, the Dharma shows that Kama and Artha are means and not ends. Desires hold man in certain actions whether selfish or selfless. The Hindu code of practice links up the realm of desires with the perspective of the eternal. The different pathways have been classified into three types: (1) Gnana, (2) Bhakti and (3) Karma which emphasize the dominant aspects of life.  

The teachings of Hinduism as Laxmiprasad explores include an understanding of the human life and the personal virtues of a practicing Hindu. He concludes that the Hindu religion is a pathfinder in searching for the right meaning of life. The philosophers and the thinkers that Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan has quoted are a testament of true scholarship with a quotable quote from the book “Service of one’s fellows is a religious obligation”. This critical book carries an amalgamation of cultural touchstones which are really a gem of writing by Radhakrishnan. They have opened the knowledge gates of Hinduism. They are culturally binding so long as Hinduism exists as a religion of ancient wisdom, customs and civilization. Towards the end, Laxmiprasad aptly sums up that the preservation of these values is more significant than mere glorification in the books. 

By Divya Venkateswaran