Biography of Socrates - Ancient Greek Philosopher - The man who died for his Principles

Namaskar friends, I welcome you all to the platform of Success Plus Academy. I am Sumit Choudhury and in today's video we are going to talk about the biography and contribution of the great Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates, who we know in Hindi as Sukrat, how was his life and what was his contribution in Darshan Shastra, we are going to discuss all these things in detail. Friends, Socrates was not an ordinary person. Along with being a great Greek philosopher, he was such a person who gave his life for his ideas and principles. You will find very few people in the world who are ready to give their life in the fight for their ideas. For example, you know the example of Bhagat Singh Rajguru Sukhdev in India. Why was he hanged? He threw a bomb in the Parliament House. Before that, he killed the British General. So why did he do that? Why did he kill him? Didn't he know what was going to happen next? When the British government caught him, he would be hanged. He knew all these things. But even after that, he surrendered himself to the police. And he didn't run away. Why didn't he run away? He knew that when his inspiration would reach people, when people would come to know that Bhagat Singh Rajguru Sukhdev has done such a thing. And for that work, he has been hanged in return for patriotism. So many such Bhagat Singhs will come out who will contribute in the fight for the freedom of the country. So he gave his life for this thing. Socrates was such a person. The story of Socrates is different. We start with this story. When Socrates' ideas and philosophies became very revolutionary. And he was conveying rational thinking to people. So in a way, he had a lot of followers. He had thousands and millions of followers. Who started giving strength to rational thinking. They started questioning Greek mythology. The people who were in power there. The king there. They started challenging the system of power. So those people who were in power. They were very scared of Socrates. And they didn't like Socrates in a way. So they didn't like him. So they needed an excuse to punish Socrates in any way. So when they got a chance to punish Socrates. So they put two things in front of Socrates. Either you drink a bottle of poison. And you will be sentenced to death. Or the other thing is that you leave Athens and go to exile. And apologize for your deeds. So Socrates didn't apologize. He didn't go to exile. Even his followers. Those who were Pluto etc. I will tell you about them now. So Socrates didn't even listen to them. He said that we will take you away from here. You will not be sentenced to death. You will be saved. But Socrates said no. I have not done anything wrong. I am right. And if I am right. Then I will fight against what is wrong. I will not run away in this fight. If I run away. Then people will think that Socrates was wrong. Look he is a fugitive. He ran away. That's why even if I die. It's okay. But my ideas and principles should not die. It is very important to stay alive among people. So this is the story of Socrates. Let's understand what kind of person he was. If we make a list of Greek philosophers. Which are three trinity. After that if we talk. He is Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great. Who is called the winner of the world. His Guru was Aristotle. We have done his biography. Aristotle's Guru was Pluto. Plato. Okay. This is Plato. This is Aristotle. And. Apart from that. This is Alexander. And all of them. The Guru who is the father. In a way. You can believe. The father of this lineage. He is Socrates. Today we are going to talk about him. Plato was the disciple of Socrates. He has told most of the things. What kind of person Socrates was. Because when Socrates used to teach people. He used to tell people things. He did not write books. Books. At that time you know. It was not so important. People were not well educated. So in a way. There was not such a big way to reach people. I am forgetting the word. So. There was not such a way. So he used to preach his teachings to people. He used to explain to people. And after Plato. Aristotle came. Who is called the greatest philosopher. He is called the philosopher. There are such famous lines about him. That a person. The man who knew infinity. He knew everything. He had infinite knowledge. But Socrates did not believe in such things. Now see. What is the life of Socrates. Let's know about it. Who was Socrates. We call him Socrates. Ancient Greece. He was a Greek philosopher. He was born in Athens. Okay. This is a basic thing about him. If you have to say in one line. His method. Which is called Socrates methods. The way he. In a way. Groundwork. And a system. Introduced. In western culture. It is very amazing. I mean. In a logical way. He taught people. Practical form. Life. It was an initial phase. Before that. People used to talk about mythology. In a way. There was no human rationalism. At that time. So. This system. He introduced. And in a way. He is considered the father of philosophy. Which is an initial. Part of it. Okay. And. The things that happened. See. In 399 BC. When he was given. Poison. The name of the poison was. Hemlock poison. So. Even at that time. See. The way he was adamant. On his thoughts. This. So. In a way. It's not that. He has apologized. He has joined hands. That. Okay. We have been forgiven. Forgive us. We made a mistake. And. I will stop teaching now. And. I will leave the city here. He did not say anything like that. And. He followed judgment. And did not go to exile. See this. How much. In a way. It was inspiring for people. For your thoughts. You also hit death. And you. You should have faith in your thoughts that what you are fighting for is right, you are fighting for the right thing. So he was a very great scholar, he was an amazing teacher, he is considered to be one of the first teachers in the ancient world. And he is also considered to be the first moral Greek philosopher. He is one of the father figures of Western philosophy because this lineage, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates are very important in Western philosophy. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are the three important Greek philosophers. If you want to know what kind of person Socrates was, then understand some of his quotes and read them. You will find it amazing and will understand what kind of person Socrates was 2,500 years ago. Look at the first line. The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing. Now I have told you what is said about Aristotle, what words are used to praise him. The man who knew everything, the man who knew infinity. A person who knew everything. But this thing is said in praise of Aristotle. It means he was so intelligent, such a good thing is said about him. But Aristotle's teacher, Socrates, what did he have to say? There is so much to know in this world that you do not know anything. Look at the second quote. The third thing he said. I can't teach people. I can't explain anything to people. It is not that if I teach, people will understand. It is not like that. Actually, I can only force them to think. If they are forced to think, then they will automatically get the answer to the question they are asking. That is why it is said that the method of Socrates, some people thought he was a fool. And some people thought he was very intelligent. Someone asked him a question. He used to ask a lot of questions. To force people to think. And after that, the person who asked the question, he would get the answer himself. What he wants to know. So he used to remove the layers from above. He used to force people to think. He used to say one thing. There is only one good, which is knowledge. What is the one good thing? It is knowledge. And what is the only evil? It is ignorance. The person who is ignorant, he can never attain knowledge. Because ignorance is the biggest obstruction in the middle of knowledge. If someone wants to know. If someone is interested in something. If someone is after something. Then everyone can know something. Everyone can know everything. So he said that knowledge is the only good. And what is evil? It is ignorance. After that, he said that strong minds discuss ideas. This is a very famous quote. You must have read it in many places. Strong minds discuss ideas. An average mind discusses events. And a weak mind discusses people. This is a very famous quote. You don't have to understand it. You all know it. To find yourself, think yourself. If you want to know yourself, think about yourself. And to understand your inner self. You have to think about yourself. You have to do self analysis. The secret of happiness you see. Is not found to seeking more. But in developing the capacity to enjoy less. The secret of happiness you see. Is in developing the capacity to enjoy less. He said this in a Satvik way. He used to say such things. This will give you a glimpse of his philosophy. What kind of thinking he had. After that, the thoughts of Socrates. His philosophies. His ideas. Where will you get them from? What are their sources? Plato's writing. And Jenophon. His two important disciples. You get their contributions. Plato and Jenophon. After that, there was another person. Aristophanes. From his play writing. You get to know. What kind of a person Socrates was. He himself did not write any book. Plato has written many books. He has written about 36 books. And his disciples. Aristotle. He has written 3000 books. He must have written 200 books somewhere. But he has written 3000 books in his life. There were some books. Which had 2-4 pages. But no one could read 3000 books. He had written. Plato, Socrates, Aristotle. They were great philosophers. There is no difference in this. Socrates himself did not write. One of the big reasons for not writing. At that time, this was not the way. People were not educated. So the way to influence people. Was not like this. The way to influence people was. Go and preach to people. Talk to them. This was the way of Socrates. But his disciples. They used to write. This is an important book of Plato. We are going to do a biography of Plato. I will tell you his contribution. He has told. What kind of person Socrates was. His ideas. How a great philosopher. His ideas. Plato and Xenophon. Have told in their books. Now let's talk about his early life. About his early life. There is no specific detail. How he was born. At what time. Around 479 B.C. He was born in Athens. I will show you in the map. In Athens map. This is India. This is Greece. Athens was the capital of Greece. This was Macedonia. King of Macedonia. Alexander the Great. He attacked India. He attacked Porus. Battle of Hydaspes. He came from here. He was born in Athens. His father's name was. Sophriancus. It is a Greek name. I am not able to pronounce it. I am trying to improve it. Let's see how much time it takes. His mother's name was. Pharnatis. His father's name was. Stonemason. He was a craftsman. He made sculptures. He was a normal middle class family. He was born in a poor family. He was not a good. Early life. This are music. Grammar. She was a student of Gymnastics and Sculpture. She had to take care of her family. So she worked with her father for some time. But later she joined the army. After joining the army, her lifestyle improved. And because of her philosophical ideas, her followers increased. She got married. She had three children. But she did not spend much time with her children and wife. She spent most of her time as a scholar. She was more interested in educating people. She did not have much interest in her family. Let's talk about her life in Athens. Athens was the capital of Greece at that time. There were some laws of Athens called the Athenian Laws. According to the Athenian Laws, any person who is physically able to serve in the military can be called for service at any time. If a person is 18 to 60 years old and the country needs him, he can be called for service. So Plato and Socrates had to serve in the military. According to Pluto, the army where Socrates worked was called Hopelite. It was a very important army. There was a war between Sparta and Greece. It was the Peloponnesian War. In this war, Socrates gave his important service. He saved the important general, Alcibiades. Socrates saved him. In this war, we can see the strength of Socrates. He fought bravely for the protection of his country. He was a good soldier as well as a philosopher. In the trial, he was given the first dose of poison. During the trial, he said that he cannot surrender himself. Because he was a soldier. An army man never surrenders himself. He never bows his head. Socrates had the qualities of a soldier. Finally, let's talk about his philosophy. Socrates used to talk about practical results. Socrates used to talk about mythology. Mythological ideas used to be very famous. The method of living of a person was told through mythology. God has said this. Oracles are saying this. The king is God's representative on earth. The whole ethical system used to be dependent on theological doctrine. The theological doctrine was based on the things written in mythology. Socrates was not aware of these things. He was not aware of the mythological stories. He wanted to see these things in a rational way. Whether they have practical use or not. He used to challenge them. If you challenge religion, you are fighting with death. Because there were many strict people who used to go against them. They used to kill them. You can see this even today. If a person goes against religion, people kill him. Socrates used to talk about practical form. He used to talk about rational thinking. He used to encourage people to ask questions to him. He used to ask questions about everything. He used to ask questions to the king. He used to ask questions to the mythological stories. He used to ask questions to the priests who used to handle the mythology. He used to ask questions to everyone. People who were in power could not answer all the questions. Socrates used to get challenged. You can see his philosophy in this way. He used to say that happiness. A person makes a choice. He wants to be happy. You want to work. What is your ultimate goal? You want to be happy so that your financial status is good. You do anything in life. What do you want to do? What is the reason behind it? You want to be happy. The reason behind it is to gain happiness. He used to talk about knowing the inner self. The ultimate goal is wisdom. You have to know yourself. You have to find the answers to the questions yourself. You don't have to take the help of any other teacher. He used to give help. He was not a teacher. He was a scholar. He used to say that he will show you the way. But you have to find the answers yourself. This was his philosophy. He used to follow these ideas very seriously. He died for these ideas. What did he think about the government? This is very important. He used to think that a government should neither be tyrannical nor democratic. This is very important. Socrates was not supportive of democracy. Why? Democracy is different now. Democracy used to be different 2500 years ago. No matter where democracy is, whether it is direct democracy or indirect democracy, it brings a burden on the common man. What kind of responsibility does it bring? Responsibility of what? Responsibility of taking the right decision. You have to choose your leader in the right way. You have to take the right decision for the benefit of the country. You have to take the right decision. You can take the right decision only when you are capable of it. When you are educated. It is not right that every person should be intelligent and well-educated. People are not well-educated to take the right decision and choose the right leader. How could it be possible at that time? That is why Socrates used to say that democracy will be a government of fools. In democracy, you cannot expect everyone to take the right decision. Because those people are common people. There are many people who have no knowledge of anything. They have no knowledge of any field. Even today, there are some demerits and shortcomings of democracy. One of the shortcomings is that you have to be well-educated and well-informed. Only then you will be able to run democracy properly. But still, if you talk about the other forms of government, whether it is monarchy, dictatorship or oligarchy, democracy is better than all of them. Socrates used to say that if you want a government, you should have a ruler. There can be multiple rulers. There can be a group of people who can govern. Those who have good ability, knowledge, virtue and can think about the interest of the country. Only if they are capable, they will be able to govern. So he used to think like this about the government. I have also told you the ideas of Aristotle about the government. Aristotle has told these things in great detail. Because he was a philosopher. He read Socrates and Plato. After that, he also told his additional things. Socrates' method of teaching people was very important. Many people used to question him. Some people used to admire him. Some people used to vilify him. Socrates' method of teaching people was to question. Questioning everyone, everything. Ask questions about everything. Know the reason behind everything. What is the reason behind it? What is the reason for its existence? If something is written or told, then find the rational reason behind it. It is foolishness to believe anything without a reason. This is what Socrates believed. Like I told you in his quotes. Ignorance is evil. Still, he used to say that I am ignorant. There are still a lot of things in me that I have ignored. Wisdom is to understand your own ignorance. If you understand your own ignorance, then you will understand that you do not have to ignore it. I want to know about it. You just accept anything. The sky is blue. But you can see it. The sky is blue. In mythology, there is an underground world. Is there an underground world or not? But people still believed it. Did you verify it? Socrates used to question these things. He used to have conferences with his Athenian followers. He used to talk to his followers. He used to conduct debates to reach his logical conclusion. Then comes the Peloponnesian War. This is very important. Look at their war tactics. They used to have long spears. The Greeks and Macedonians. If you have read, then you can go and see. I have made a biography of Alexander the Great. He attacked India. Why was Alexander the Great's method so successful? He used to have very different war tactics. The Greeks had amazing war tactics. However, Alexander did not have such a big empire before. Never. Sparta, Greece. If I show you on the map. This is Greece. This is Sparta. Great Sparta. We see this in the movie 300. They fought with the Persian Empire. Greece also fought with the Persian Empire. If we talk about Greece. It is not visible in the yellow color map. All the people of Greece. They are allies of Greece. Here is Sparta in red color. And here is Macedonia. So, there were wars between Greece, Sparta and Macedonia. Specifically, there was a war between Athens and Sparta. This is called the Pelionian War. This was fought between 431 BC and 404 BC. In these wars, Sparta won. And Greece lost badly. Athens lost badly. After this defeat. The Athenians were not able to digest their defeat. They were very nervous. They were thinking that they had a glorified history. We were completely defeated. We lost our self-respect. We had nothing left. They were thinking like this. And they lost so much wealth. Even now, Socrates was saying. No, it is not that we have lost everything. Do not think so much. Do not think that if we lose a war. Then everything is over. It is not like that. People were not liking these things. They were not liking the people in power. But still, Socrates used to convey his teachings to the people. In this war, when Socrates' army lost. After that, the responsibility of the war was put on the people. Why did we lose this war? There was a war in Sicily. Sicily is this area. There was a war here. Where is Sicily? You can't see it now. But Sicily is a part of Italy now. There was a war here. In which the Greeks lost. The Greeks won the battle for once. But then there was a big storm. And they lost. So there was a trial of 6 commanders. To punish the judicial system. Socrates also raised questions on it. That our judicial system is not right. Our people are killed here. And they don't get a proper chance to defend themselves. The whole system depends on the jury. And we can question the jury's intelligence. Will the jury always take the right decision? There is no God. Socrates was against this establishment. And it was a threat to the people who were in power. That's why he tried to make Socrates a scapegoat. So these were the common beliefs of the people. He was against them. Like the belief that the king of that time. The Greek king of that time. He is a representative of God on earth. There were such things. Socrates used to say that this is nonsense. How did you believe in this? Who said this? Did God come to you? He said that I have appointed him. There is nothing like that. The powerful person has become your king. That's it. And he talks like this to control you. In Greek mythology. The things that were traditions. The rituals that people were just following. No one used to question them. Why are you doing this? What is the reason? They didn't ask any reason. Socrates used to challenge them. He was a rational thinker. So he used to put his rationalism in everything. And it should also be put. Every person should be rational. But at that time. Two and a half thousand years ago. When there was such an orthodox mentality. Then doing this thing. It was not free of danger for Socrates. He was a critic of democracy. The people who were supporters of democracy. They also hated Socrates. The thousands of followers of Socrates. Those people. They also started believing a lot in Socrates' ideas. So the people in power. They used to feel threatened by them. They used to think that Socrates should not be so powerful. So that our power will be in danger. After this, Socrates was trialed. The reason behind the trial. One was to question the six commanders. After that, they were also accused. That in the war. The people who have lost. The Greek who has lost. In that. In a way. They have also been irresponsible. They should also be put in a way of war. Socrates was accused in 399 BC. That the people of Athens. They have been mislead. They have been corrupted. That's why they had to be presented in court. Had to be presented. Summon was sent. And after that. They were given a chance. For a while. You get a chance to defend yourself. The talks are said. They defended themselves. Kept their full talks. And said. I have not done anything wrong. I have taught my people to question them. I have taught them to talk. I have taught them to defend themselves. I have motivated people about rational thinking. I have not done anything wrong. And very. Bluntly. They defended themselves in a way. So they did it so bluntly. That the people of the jury. That too. In a way. Got angry. With Socrates. They did not like most people. So anyway. Socrates. People of the jury. So there was voting. And out of 280 people. 221 people. In a way. Socrates was found guilty. That they are guilty. He should be punished. And for the punishment. Punishment is. Or. Drink a cup of poison. Poison means. Drink a cup of hemlock. There was a poison called Hemlock. Drink it. Which then was to be a painful death. Or apologize in front of the people. And leave Athens. Go. Go to exile. So after that. What did he say? That brother. Socrates said. That I will accept that. Drinking a cup of poison. If I apologize in front of people and say that whatever I have taught you is wrong, then my philosophical ideas will be lost. What will I do if I can't let that happen? I will drink this poison first. After that, before his death, the friends of Socrates, even his disciples, Plato, etc. go to jail and say that we do this, we will get you free. We will kill these guards or bribe them. We will get you out of jail overnight. Tomorrow you will have to drink the first poison, otherwise you do this, we will get out of here. But Socrates rejected all these offers and said that this is not the case. A thought is more powerful than a person. It is more important to keep that thought alive. My thoughts are still alive and you spread them further. I will die, it won't make much difference. Plato and his dialogues are called Fadio Dialogues. Plato has written in his book. And after that, Socrates was given this poison the next day and after that Socrates died. Socrates was such a person. He was killed, he died, he was poisoned, but we are still reading him after 2500 years. And his students, his ideas and western philosophy have been impacted so much that his ideas have won. I hope everything is clear to you. If you like the video, you can like and share. You can comment in the comment section if you have any doubt. 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