His religious thought serves as the data to his philosophy. Radhakrishnan is a mystic philosopher.Amongst the contemporary thinkers of India, Gandhi and Tagore were his friends and they had a definite influence on him.Western philosophers such as Plato, Pontius, Kant, Bradley, Bergson and Whitehead also influenced him in his writings.The study of Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita, Commentaries on Brahman Sutra by Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhava, Nimbaraka, and others, The Dialogue of Buddha and The Buddhist and Jain Scriptures broadened his thought.He studied the Indian philosophy in depth, which had influenced him very much. Radhakrishnan had a deep study of the classical literature.His main works include: East And West, Eastern Religion and Western Thought, East and West in Religion, The Reign of Religion In The Contemporary Philosophy, Religion and Society, The Recovery of Faith, Indian Philosophy, An Idealist View of Life, The Hindu View of Life etc. Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5th September, 1888 at Tiruttani, a small village, forty miles northeast of Madras.
