Book reviewed: The Life and Letters of the Right Honorable Friedrich Max Müller by F. Max Müller, Georgina Adelaide Grenfell Muller

The real Max Muller is revealed Max Muller was one of the leading servants of the English Royal Family. His main responsibility at Oxford University was to find evidence in the vast ancient Hindu literature to prove that English occupation of India is justified since the “native people,” as Muller refers to Indians, are heathens and must be converted to the civilization of New Testament. The letters written by Muller to his wife Georgina speaks volumes of a man, his bigotry, intolerance, and racial prejudice. In his letter to the Duke of Argyle, the then acting Secretary of State for India, “The ancient religion of India is doomed. And if Christianity does not take its place, whose fault will it be?” According to the Biblical Creation Theory that the world was created with all its life forms on October 23, 4004 BC. But the date of the Rig Veda, Ramayana and Mahabharata are quite ancient and may be older. Since this would not suit the book of Genesis of Bible, he arbitrarily concluded that the date of Rig-Veda is about 1200 BCE without any scientific merit. He also formulated the Aryan (Germanic people) Invasion Theory to show that the vast Vedic literature came from Europeans, and he expresses regrets that they blended with “native people.” The distortion of Vedic scriptures created a false claim that the Hinduism consists of blind superstitions that includes meat eating, horse killing, animal sacrifice, caste system, polytheism, and idolatry. He also claimed that Rig-Veda did not have any philosophy despite the fact it contained creation hymns (Nasadiya Sukta), and some of the early thoughts about One Creating Entity and One Supreme Godhead. Upanishads were written after the end of the Rig-Vedic period. Then how and where did the preceptors of Upanishads produced highly metaphysical ideas long before Greek philosophy was ever born? In another letter to the Duke of Argyll, Max Muller wrote, * ... As for more than twenty years my principal work has been devoted to the ancient literature of India, I cannot but feel a deep and real sympathy for all that concerns the higher interests of the people of that country. Though I have never been in India.” He continues to say, “My curiosity to see India is not very great.” “I can see more of India from reading books, newspapers, and letters.” Then how is that this man can interpret Vedic religion and its traditions? In another letter, he notes, “India has been conquered once, but India must be conquered again, and that second conquest should be a conquest by education” to convert them to Christianity. Once, he argued with Sir Charles Darwin that his theory of organic evolution ignored the role of languages that was important in the evolution of Humans from primates. Once, a leading newspaper from United States the “New York Nation,” published an article that claimed that Max Muller’s work on Rig-Veda was done by a German scholar and a group of European Sanskrit professors were his helpers. He claimed that his work is his own, and diminished the role of Vedic scholars from India. This is a tradition he established that still plays a role in South Asian Studies and Hindu Studies programs where Europeans wield more power on scholarship that Hindus from India.