Friedrich Max Müller (1823-1900), a German-born philologist and Orientalist, was one
of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the
discipline of comparative religion. Well versed in Sanskrit, the classical
language of India, and many other languages, Max Müller was instrumental in
translating into English some of the most revered religious and philosophical
texts of Asia. Especially noteworthy is his edition of the great collection of
Sanskrit hymns of the Rigveda.
Intrigued by the concept of religion, Müller initiated an important discipline
that he called the science of religion. He believed that a genuine study of
religion required the knowledge of its origins, and recognised that religion
had developed differently in different linguistic spheres. So, instead of using
the prevailing ethnographic approach, he pursued the science of religion by
studying words and texts.Müller was fascinated by the spiritual
teachings of the Indian mystic, Ramakrishna, because, he was of the opinion
that the real presence of the Divine in the human soul was nowhere felt so
strongly and so universally as in India, and that the fervent love of God
has nowhere found a stronger and more eloquent expression than in the
utterances of Ramakrishna.
