Annals of Library Science and Documentation 1992,39(2),46-51

CREATIVllY IN THE THOUGHT OFDr. S. R. RANGANATHAN

GIRIJA KUMARChairmanIndian Organizing Committee for IFLA, 1992

RELIGIOUS AND CULTURALBACKGROUND

Dr. S. R. Ranganathan had two sides to his con-ceptual make up-his intellectual being which wasessentially Western oriented and his cultural beingwhich was rooted deap in tradition. His adherenceto scientific methodology established his bonafi-des as his being a part of the mainstream. Hisintellect cut across national boundaries. He couldbe classed with Dewey, Cutter and Bliss with ease.His cultural background could be incidental tohis contribution to library science.

However, it is equally inadvisable to draw himaway from his roots. The cultural influences areprominent in his thought. His manner of presenta-tion of situations is essentially brahmanic.

Dr. Ranganathan was very fond of pickinganalogies from the Indian religious scriptures forsupporting his argument. Ramayana was his fa-vourite. His references were essentially illustrativeand at times not necessarily directly relevant forsupporting the argument. At times, these werealso discursive. It was thus difficult to weave hisIndian illustrations into the essence of the argu-ment.

A PRAGMATIST

Dr. Ranganathan was a pragmatist at the bottomof his heart. Those who talk of him as a mystic andan Indian seer may not be doing justice to him. Itdoes not reflect the true reality. He was notparticularly a religious man. He was at the mosta practising Hindu.

His frequent references to Indian mythology arenot necessarily his strong points. He may in factbe arguing from a weaker position in thosecircumstances. There is, however, no way ofdispelling widely believed myths except to wait fora time to come and apply its healing touch.Marcia H. Chappel is a perceptive critic of Ran-gaQathan but when it comes to his essentially

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Indian character and its dominant effect on histhought, she drops all deferences to state,"Ranganathan's approach to librarianship isfundamentally not scientific but religious in thebroadest sense of the term. In his discussions ofreference service he frequently refers to the meta-physical and moral contents that define the placeof librarianship within the social order". She isalso sure. about the influence of Hinduism on theintegrative approach and value system[1].

THREAT OF RENUNCIATION

What chappel has suggested is no more than ahearsay. Those who had close association withhim like the members of the ClassificationResearch Group, knew him better. D. W. Lan-gridge, for instence, has mentioned Dr. Ranga-nathan's experiments in extra sensory practicesin communicating with the spirits. There are mov-ing references to his two seances in communicat-ing with dead Ramanujan, the great Indianmathematician, in which his spirit affirms all lossof interest in mathematics after his death [2].

Dr. Ranganathan had edited a book on spiritualseances in his early days. The book was pub-lished anonymously. He defended his positionarguing. "In those days, it was difficult enoughtrying to persuade people in India that librarian-ship was a reputable profession, without theadded handicap ~f occult connections" [3].

Similarly, there is an urge for spirit JI experienceas reflected in his biographical writings. When-ever he felt depressed in his life, he had thoughtof renunciating the world. It does not, however,mean much. Renunciation is always at the back ofthe mind of a good Hindu. It is a part of hissubconscious being. No harm is ever done. Hecommunicated with his Guru on renunciation fromtime to time and got the same reply, "You can't doit in this incarnation. You must continue your workand writing, and perhaps think of renunciation inthe next life" [4]. Such a piece of advice must haveproved to be a psychological palliative to him.

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RANGANATHAN AND MYSTICISM

CREATIVITY IN TI-lE TI-lOUGHT OF RANGANA TI-lAN

Religion was a part of his personal being.Hinduism being a catholic faith with no centralauthority or common belief did not enjoin upon himto employ religious traditions in the context of hisintellectual thinking. Religion was for the individ-ual. The library scientist in him was a personality ofdifferent order. He had himself categorically de-rived having passed through any "real mysticexperience". He has also denied vehemently anyassociation of religious thought with his theory oflibrary classification.

In fact he seems to admonish the author of thepiece of writing about mysticism and classifica-tion. He has asserted that "a classificationscheme should not get consciously involved inintellectual entities of that kind, i.e. mysticism"[5]. Langridge is right when he asserts in defenceof Ranganathan, "Much as he appreciated thesignificance of mysticism, Ranganathan was nothimself a mystic. He was an intellectual whoabsorbed much from the West and united us all inthe application of scientific method to librarian-ship. Religious beliefs and ideas are not appar-ent in his works as one might expect; though hedoes quote effectively from Hindu classics" [6].

INDIAN SCRIPTURES

Ranganathan is very fond of quoting from Indianscriptures. The references are mostly ornamen-tal and for effect upon the uninitiated. Being achild of Indian nationalism, he is impelled to flaunthis separate identity distinct from the rest of theworld. His brahmanic background makes himemphasize his moral duties to others which hetakes rather too seriously. Dr. Ranganathan hada number of good friends. Prof. S. KuppuswamiSastriar, the great scholar of Indology, was one ofthem. He must have benefitted by the contact withthe Sanskrit scholar. He owes many of his ideasdrawn from Hindu scriptures to him. The Principleof Unity of Idea referred to in the 'Prolegomena' [7]was brought to his attention by the professsor.

Dr. Ranganathan's theoretical writings are indeedimpressive. He is said to be the Pope of LibraryClassification. His writings on classification arelooked upon with awe. His earlier writings areentirely of a different genre. He is essentially agarrulous being. In the true Indian tradition, hefinds himself at home narrating endless stories.None is complete without a moral.

His "Five Laws" [8] and "References Service" [9]

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are most adept in the techniques special to theart of story telling. The chapter on the SecondLaw in his "Five Laws of Library Science" makesthe most delightful reading. It is in the form of theSocratian dialogue. Equally readable is the Sam-bandhar epidsode, based on a folk tale drawnfrom his native Shiyali. Shambandhar lived in theseventh century. Uponfindingthegates of heavenopen by sheer accident, he had the good sense tohelp everyone from his village to slip beyond theportals of heaven. The moral of the story was "inits expression of universal brotherhood, sereneas a symbol of the Second Law of library science'[10]. The analogy is tar-tetched, but it establishesthe humanistic tendencies of the earlier Ranga-nathan.

THE SPIRIT OF THE LIBRARY

Ranganathan felt at the top of the world in hisearlier years. Intellectual activity brought him purejoy. His work on reference service is significant onthat account. His joie de vivre is definitely com-municated to others, He feels like a free birdsoaring high in the sky, He sings of "the spirit ofthelibrary".

In those years his intellect was devoted to a mis-sionary cause. He was envisaging a network ofpublic libraries spread all over the country.Besides reference service, public library servicewas another facet of librarianship that con-cerned him. The medieval seers, viz. Sankaraand Ramanuja Acharya have always talked ofGod in terms of attaining knowledge. In otherwords only through knowledge ('gyana) comesenlightenment. To Ranganathan, library becamean instrument of enlightenment. He was thusunintentionally employing the modern concept ofhuman resource development by talking of spiri-tuality. This is what he precisely meant by "the vitalprinciple". It would, however, be wrong to readmore m8iining into his employment of religioussymbolism. His religiousity was of the normal type.Religion was a convenient tool to make a point. Inhis elaborations, he often talked of the "InnerMan", Many secular thinkers today are alsoequally concerned with the "Inner Man". Human-ism is increasingly coming to be accepted as an in-tellectual discipline,

Ranganathan was far sighted because he used tospeak of what was to become the talking point ofthe subsequent times:" The vital principle of the library whichhas struggled through all the stages of its evolu-tion, is common to all different forms and will

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persist to be its distinguishing feature for all timesto come ..... is that it is an instrument of universaleducation, and assembles together and freelydistributes all the tools of education and dissemi-nates knowledge .....". This vital principle, " thespirit of the library" - persisting through all itsforms is like the Inner Man; and to it are applicablethe words of Lord Krishna in Gita.

ANALOGIES AND THREE PLANES

Analogies have provided Ranganathan with thefreedom of intellect. Hey presto, like a magicianpulling rabbits out of a hat, Ranganthan puts so-lutions to seemingly unsoluble problems by fail-ing back upon analogies drawn from Indianscriptures. Whether these are appropriate or not,they make a telling effect. His metaphysics is <;lconvenient tool for him twisted and turned aroundto suit the convenience. It is like Alladin's magiclamp performing upto his will. The analogies fromIndian scriptures are indeed post-facto justifica-tions for conclusions he seemed to have arrived atby the sheer force of his intellect.

In Indian tradition, the numeral three is of greatsignificance. Ranganathan seems to make agreat use of the same. The whole foundation. ofhis theory of library classification is based onthree planes at the idea, verbal and notationallevels. In his metaphysical analogy, the livingbody also consists of three categories; i.e. soul,subtle-body and gross body. The soul is placedat the highest pedestal. It has to do with theprimary senses beyond the ordinary intellect. Ran-ganathan in his writings has talked of creativitybeing attained through the process of intuition.Creativity has to do with the primary senses.Similarly, the other two planes at the notationaland verbal levels have to do with intellectualexperiences. They are somewhat akin to "subtlebody" and "gross body". He relates all this to the'vital principle of library'. Again a three-somegame is played by him. He talks of three planesof human existence:

a) the 'Vital plane',b) the 'Mental plane' andc) the 'Spiritual plane'.

The 'Vital plane' is intended to fulfil the grossneeds of the body. This is precisely the functionperformed by the library. It draws sustenancefrom the 'Mental plane' concerned with theintellect. Ranganathan himself had operated atthe 'Mental plane'. The 'Spiritual plane' was not forhim in this life. He has talked of "Pure existence-

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cum-pure-consciousness-cum-pure delight", [12]thereby overlaying the essence of his thinkingwith metaphorical references derived from Indianmetaphysics. "The vital principle ofthe library" inhis perspective is intended to envisage a human-istic core for library science. The essence ofHinduism may lie in the universal harmony. Itsslogan of the 'world being one big family (VasudtaivKutambkamJ is most appealing. Ranganathanhas certainly found analogies for librarianshipfrom fundamental principles of his religious faith.The religious idiom in his instance has definitelya secular face.

INTELLECTUAL ESSENCE

Ranganathan employed references from reli-gious scriptures and philosophic treatises tosupport his arguments. It was essentially anintellectual exercise. It was a commendable efforteven though his knowledge of Indian tradition wasnot based on deep study of Indian classics. Hewas essentially an intellectual and not a religiousbeing. His applications into Indian traditionswere to discover his roots. Not too much shouldbe read into it. Apparently his knowledge of Indiantradition was acquired by contact with others likehis friend Prof. Kuppuswami Sastriar. It was hisinstinct that led him to the explanations.

It is fascinating to view Ranganathan as anessentially intellectual being. Library science is tobe viewed as secondary in his scheme of things.He was perceptive in recognizing the teachingsof the Upnishads in that the essence of man wasintellect and accordingly, "The intellect is restless.It cannot help recalling the pursuit of abstractionat higher and higher levels. The innate urge isirrepressible. It looks for every field to feed on. Itfinds joy in working in abstract fields of every kind.Classification presents one such field in the field ofabstract classification" [13].

To him library classification was an intellectualadventure. His intellectual proclivities came outinto the open. His world view is thus sanctified bythe support drawn by him from ancient philo-sophical treatises of India.

The sustenance of his thought thus comes fromIndian philosophy rather than religion. The best ofhis analogies drawn from the Indian traditionhave a philosophical purport. The confusionarises in the minds of Western readers due to theirinability to differentiate religion from philosophy.The task is somewhat complicated by the factof symbiosis between religion and philosophical

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thoughts in Indian tradition. The writings ofRanganathan to some extent reflect the situation.

EKAVAKYATA PRINCIPLE

There are several philosophical concepts drawnfrom Indian tradition finding their place in thethoughts of Ranganathan. The fundamentalconcepts include the principle of Ekavakyata(integrative interpretation), the Principle of unity ofidea and the laws of interpretation. Ekavakyata ismost fundamental in his thought. The principle ofunity of idea in which the sentences, paragraphsand chapters of a "book fall within a single sweepof comprehension" has been actually practisedby him in his writings. The notational represen-tation with zero in the end and based on system-atic classification is also drawn from the Indian tra-dition. It seems to support the principleof Ekavakyatain actual practice.

Similarly the laws of interpretation have beenemployed by him in his theory of library classifica-tion. These principles have been widely applied ininterpreting legal texts. To him, "the canons, theprinciples and the rules for classification takentogether look like a legal work" (14). When a con-flict arises, it should be resolved with the help ofthe Laws of Interpretation. He is even prepared \0admit that "the rules - and less frequently, eventhe principles and the canons Should be am-mended in the light of experience so as to removeold conflicts and reduce new ones to a minimum"(15).

Theoretically Ranganathan is prepared to admitthat his conceptual framework is subject toreform. It needs to be restructured keeping inview the latest developments in the field of knowl-edge and information needs of users. So his con-ceptual framework could work out to be an open-ended system.

Bliss has accused Ranganathan of stealing theprinciple of synthesis from him without due ac-knowledgement. Ranganathan has however, mademuch play of drawing inspiration for his holisticprinciple from the Vedic principle of Ekavakyata.The concept is basic to his thought. In a mannerof speaking, the unity of thought comes withmother's milk to Hindu children especially thoseborn and bred in brahmanic tradition. To someextent his teacher of mathematics Edward B.Ross inspired him in this direction. His ownmathematical background trained him in thisattitude of viewing the world and its phenomenaintegrally. His early obsession with the Ekavakyata

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principle is reflected in a stanza from a poem byFrancis Thompson:

All things by immortal powerNear or FarHiddenlyTo each other linked are,That thou canst not stir a flowerWithout troubling of a star

The generation to which Ranganathan belongedwas discovering India via-Europe. The Ekavakyataprinciple had a special appeal to German think-ers, philosophers and poets. Mysticism had alsogreat appeal to English poets like William Morris.All this debate about an integral world viewimpressed the generation of Dr. S.R. Ranga-nathan to no end. It, however, came second handto his generation.

His basic thought owes to the fundamental con-cepts of mysticism, intuition and 'Ekavakyata'.These are overloaded with metaphysicalreferences obscuring the real intentions ofRanganathan. He is essentially a pragmatist cloth-ing his argument in a theoretical framework. Theintegrative world view has come handy to him. Hemakes effective use of the thesis raising hispragmatism to the level of integrated model.

HOLISTIC PRINCIPLE

The Ekvakyata principle was definitely in his mindwhile he travelled to Great Britain. He saw apractical demonstration of it in the "British libraryworld". Those experiences were absorbed andwere illuminated in his future works. This is whathad impressed him the most in British experience.He had realised that "even apparently trivial oc-currences are organically fused into a single life-experience. Occasionally when immersed inthinking out ideas, all the long years of life fuseinto one" (18).

The most concrete form of the principle wasmanifested in his five laws of library science,which according to him are "a verbal record ofthe "Ekavakyata" of library practice and science,as it revealed itself" (19). Here Ranganathanfinds himself in the role of a self proclaimedprophet who has the benefit of revealation in anearly stage of his professional career.

The holistic world view is indeed so integral to histhought that it is next to impossible to view himindependently from it. Whether it is five laws,canons, postulated approach, symbiosis

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between classification and cataloguing, the con-cept of unity of thought was uppermost for him.The primodial idea sums up Ranganathan andhis thought in one word. The dialectical situationfavouring him has come about for his deep roots inthe Indian tradition. He has to be largely creditedfor realizing its far reaching .implications.

INTELLECTION

English equivalence of Ekavakyata is holism: Theliteral meaning of the term is "the whole is greaterthan its parts". Ranganathan may have discov-ered the English equivalent from the writings of thegreat South African statesman General Smuts,who wrote a book on the subject of holism. Ranga-nathan may have found support for his concept ofintuition from the same source. Intuition has beencalled by General Smuts as "this region of knowl-edge", no man's zone for intellection" [20].

Ranganathan was also fond of the term intellec-tion. There are frequent references to intellectionin his writings. It is self evident by now that theterms holism, intuition and intellection have beenemployed by Ranganathan as they are found inliterature of mysticism. The concept of holism isnot exclusively used in the literature of mysti-cism. It is employed widely in the context ofknowledge in entirely different connotations.

Dialectics have much use for the concept. Thechange of quantity into quality resulting in a totallydifferent product or concept is widely recognizedin the literature of dialectics. The whole super-structure built by Karl Marx is based on the unityof concepts at the subterranean level, with oneclosely allied to the other, impacting the concep-tual framework with change in situation andevidently ending up as an entirely new and rebuiltconceptual framework. The process is endlessand repeated from time to time. The contributionof Ranganathan lies in relating it to the Indiantradition and providing an entirely new thrust tothe discipline of library science.

CREATIVITY

Ranganathan has given a great deal of thought toall generation of creativity in geniuses. He wasvery much self-conscious about his contributionto history. He definitely considered himself a crea-tive being. He was thus anxious to reach theroots of creativity. The five laws were certainlythe most creative experience for him. He formu-lated the five laws in their proper manifestations in1928 when he was forty. Melvil Dewey invented

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Decimal classification in 1876 when he was barelytwenty five. Shankracharya became creative bythe time he was seven.

Buddha, Christ and Muhammad reached theirprime when they were in their adolescence, thescientists are creative while they are in theirtwenties. Creativity is a late starter among socialscientists. Ranganathan became creative whenhe was middle aged. The creative period in himlasted briefly for just five years, that is from 1928(with the discovery of five laws) to 1933 (publica-tion of colon classification).

Ranganathan has viewed creativity as a mysticexperience. He has attributed creavity to intuitiveprocesses. He has sought to make a distinction.between "intellection" and "intuition". While theformer is considered as "rationalistic", the latter isrelated to "mystic experience". Intuition is consid-ered of much higher order than intellection. In hisview, there is a realm to which intellect cannothope to aspire. Creativity is thus the domain ofintuition. It is also beyond the reach of scientificmethod which is good enough for intellectualexperiences.

Ranganathan has given equal attention to thesubject of intuition. He has, however, not takeninto account any literary, sociological or psycho-logical writings in contemporary literature on thesubject. What C.Wright Mills has termed "socio-logical imagination" has not been taken intoaccount by him in his writings on intuition. Hehas entirely based himself on the Indian traditionon mysticism. He is so much obsessed with the'subject that he turns back to it again and again.Here Ranganathan seems to enter the domain ofmetaphysics with hands and feet tied together.There is, however, a saving grace in all this. He isin the situation of famous Moliere character whohad spoken prose all his life without realizing it.There are psychological truths with hiddenmeanings to be found in verbiage.

Some of his writings on intuition are extraordi-nary. He lets himself go which is rare in normalcircumstances for him. His prose assumes acoloration when he begins to talk of intuition. Notonly the mystical experiences, but the very men-tion of it transforms the man. The term used forintuition in Sanskrit tradition is Divya Chakshus(divine insight). Ranganathan seems to be over-powered by this faculty whenever he mentions theterm intuition. He has speculated a great dealabout it. The spiritual communion in his view ap-proximates to intuitive experience. The literarycommunion is of the nearest approximation to

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CREATIVITY IN TIlE TIlOUGHT OF RANGANATIlAN

spiritual communion. The truth is discoveredmomentarily in a flash. The experience is best de-scribed in his own words "when one is engagedon a problem, the most useful ideas occur sud-denly. They seem, at once, to cast a flood of lightover murky tracts of half formed thought andpromise reward to further exploration, This hasbeen my experience and it is doubtless shared bymany others. These surprise ideas present them-selves as ready made vehicles coming at theoddest moments. They seldom come if they aresought and get delight in choosing moments whenpen and papers cannot be used to impede theirflight. They come and whisper in our ears as weare sleeping in bed or as we mechanically repeata long drawn-out hymn as part of the daily routineof worship" [21].

Surprisingly similar experiences have been re-lated by other creative beings in other fields ofknowledge. Ranganathan was thus in themainstream while operating in the narrow field oflibrary science.

REFERENCES1. Chappel M H: The place of reference service in

Ranganathan's theory of librarianship. LibQuarterly, 46, 1976,381.

2. Ranganathan S R: Ramanujan, the man andthe mathematician (great thinkers of Indiaseries, 1). Sarada Ranganathan Endowmentfor Ubrary Science, Bangalore, 1967 (reprinted1989),16.

3. Langridge 0 W: Ranganathan and mysticismIn Dubey, Edward. Ed. S.R. Ranganathan1879-1972 etc. Library Association, London,1974,31.

4. Ibid,32.

5. International Conference On Ranganathan'sPhilosophy, New Delhi, 1985: Ranganathan'sphilosophy, assessment - impact and rele-vance, ed. by T.S. Ranagopalan, New Delhi,

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Vikas, 1986, 221.

6. Langridge OW: Op. cit.

7. Ranganathan S R: Prolegomena to libraryclassification., Ed. 3. Bombay, Asia, 1967.

8. Ranganathan S R: The five laws of libraryscience. Madras, Library Association, 1931.

9. Ranganathan S R and Sundaram C V:Reference service and bibliography. MadrasLibrary Association, 1940.

10. Ranganathan S R: The five laws of libraryscience. Op. cit. 133.

11. Ranganathan S R: Op. Cit.,234.

12. Ranganathan S R : Classification andcommunication. University of Delhi, 1951.

13. Ranganathan S R: Prolegomena to libraryclassification Ed. 3. Bombay, Asia, 1967, X G22,572.

14. Ranganathan S R: Op. Cit., DC 1, 123.

15. Ranganathan S R: Op. Cit.

16. Ranganathan S R: Op. Cit., PM 7, 373.

17. Atherton, Pauline: Putting knowledge towork, etc.Vikas, New Delhi, 144.

18. Atherton P: Putting knowledge to work.New Delhi, Vikas, 145.

19. Atherton: Op. Cit.

20. Ranganathan S R: Prolegomena to libraryclassification Ed. 2. Library Association, London,1957,398.

21. Ranganathan S R: Prolegomena tolibraryclassification Ed. 3. London, LibraryAssociation, 1957, 21.

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