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The presence of a Max Mueller Bhavan in Chennai, a city that is not even remotely connected with Germany, provoked me into wondering how this came about. In fact, I heard of Max Mueller only after I came to India. So, I did my own bit of research on the researcher and here it is:

In the 19th century the average person’s way of thinking was based on the Greco-Roman and the Christian philosophy which condemned all non-European and non-Christian philosophies and religions as primitive, inferior and untrue - in a word: not worthy of any serious investigation. However, there were a few scientists who nevertheless were interested especially in the Sanskrit scriptures of India.

But even this little group of queer birds did not pay any attention to the philosophy and religious messages of a Sanskrit text and only took into consideration its grammatical structure and stylistic standard.

However, there was one outstanding figure among all these scientist who realised that the true value of the Sanskrit scriptures can neither be found in its grammatical characteristics nor in the qualities of its style. For this man, the science of Indology should above all serve for the European’s discovery of the Indian culture, religion and philosophy.

The name of this extraordinary man was Friedrich Max Mueller.

Born in 1823 as the son of the celebrated German poet Wilhelm Mueller in a city called Dessau, in the east of Germany, Max Mueller studied classical and modern linguistics, ethnology and psychology at the University of Leipzig until 1943. In the same year he published his first book which was a translation of the ‘Hitopadesa’. From that time on, Mueller attended to the history of religion and to the doctrine of Sanskrit.

To collect the best information available as well as to expand his personal horizon he visited the best European centres of knowledge of his time, including Berlin, Paris, London and Oxford where he studied philology and philosophy and at the same time continued his work as an author and translator.

After having carried out the first volume of his ‘Rig Veda’ edition which today is considered one of the most important contributions to the Indo-European relations, Mueller was made Professor of Modern European Languages at Oxford University in 1850.

However, Friedrich Max Mueller was so much more than only a reserved scholar sharing his self-imposed seclusion solely with dusty theoretical books and cobwebs. He took a distant but equally lively and cosmopolitan interest in the “real life around him, spending his leisure with close friends - as well as with poetry.

Having inherited the poetic talent from his father (who had died when his son was only four years old), Mueller’s extremely beautiful style and the innate charm in his works fascinated not only the German people but also became very popular in England and in the United States.

However, Mueller did not only enjoy great popularity because of his scientific and literary life. His liberal attitude towards the world religions and to the diversity of culture in general, which he clearly put into words by the expression: ‘Who knows only one religion knows no religion at all’, caused suspect and even anger among the conservative world of European scientists. As a result, he was refused the professorship of Sanskrit in 1860.

By this time Mueller had already published another controversial work with the title ‘The History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature’, which corresponded to his attitude that the discovery of Sanskrit is “to make the mind of man wider, his heart larger and his sympathies world-embracing”.

In order to entirely concentrate on his work on his probably most important series of books called ‘The Sacred Books of the East’, Max Mueller resigned from his position as a professor in 1875. This series of books consisted of 50 volumes and included translations of the Upanishads and of the Buddhist Dhammapada.

Furthermore, by developing a new philosophy of religion which comprised ideas of most of the world religions but which was especially influenced by Indian beliefs, and by translating the ‘Critique of Pure Reason’, written by one of the world’s most important and most progressive German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, into English, he once more proved his liberal and open-minded philosophy of life.

Friedrich Max Mueller passed away after a short illness on October 28, 1900, in Oxford.

Mueller was devoted to his idea that the science of religion, linguistics, philosophy and, above all, Indology should not develop into a domain of a few specialists and remain isolated from the ordinary people and from all affairs of human life.

Since his attitude contrasted with the common opinion of his time, Mueller’s work found little understanding and reputation among his equals. However, he deserves full admiration of modern scholars in India and Europe and many of his numerous works remain of interest and value even today.

Although Mueller's dream of Indology being a powerful force in the shaping of humanity has not yet been fulfilled, the acute encounter between the East and the West and the fact that Oriental studies and the studies of Sanskrit, in particular, gain increasingly more popularity in Europe as well as in the United States proves that Mueller’s philosophy and his ideas were ahead of his time. Or, like Mueller expressed it himself in his ‘Biographical Essays’:

“If I live for one purpose it is for this, that I will preach the union of Eastern and Western philosophy, the reconciliation of Europe and Asia. The idea may seem absurd to many in the present age. It may provoke ridicule and angry reviling. But posterity will prove a better judge."

Ania Zymelka

(Ania, born in Poland, now lives in north Germany with her family. She has just completed her schooling and is waiting to go to university. In the meantime, she decided she would also visit a country and learn about it. She will be exploring the economic, political, cultural, social and other links that Chennai has with Germany during her three-month stint in Chennaionline. Ed)