Introduction to

Philosophy,
Culture & Religion
Presentation

Name:- Sai Charan

Roll No.:-24
Friedrich Max Müller
Introduction
 Born:- 6 December 1823 Dessau, Duchy of Anhault, German Confederation.
 Died:- 28 October 1900, Oxfordshire, England.
 Education:- University of Leipzig.
 He entered Leipzig University in 1841 to study philology, leaving behind his
early interest in music and poetry. Müller received his degree in 1843. His
final dissertation was on Spinoza's Ethics. He also displayed an aptitude for
classical languages, learning Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit.
How Müller was introduced to Sanskrit
Studies
 In 1844, prior to commencing his academic career at Oxford, Müller studied
in Berlin with Friedrich Schelling. He began to translate the Upanishads for
Schelling, and continued to research Sanskrit under Franz Bopp.

 Schelling led Müller to relate the history of language to the history of religion.

 In 1845 Müller moved to Paris to study Sanskrit under Burnouf. Burnouf

encouraged him to publish the complete Rigveda.
 This led to complex exchanges between Indian and British intellectual
culture, especially through Müller's links with the Brahmo Samaj.

 Müller's Sanskrit studies came at a time when scholars had started to see
language development in relation to cultural development.

 He believed that the earliest documents of Vedic culture should be studied to

provide the key to the development of European religions.

 To this end, Müller sought to understand the most ancient of Vedic scriptures,
the Rig-Veda. Müller was greatly impressed by Ramakrishna Paramhansa, his
contemporary and proponent of Vedantic philosophy.
Max Müller says :~ "The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols
in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship
of ideal Gods.“

In Yajurveda – chapter- 32:~ It has been said that God Supreme or Supreme
Spirit has no ‘Pratima’ (idol) or material shape. God cannot be seen directly by
anyone. God pervades all beings and all directions.
 The present day’s worship of individual Gods, created things, nature, and
human are against Vedic teachings, and it looks like it has been fabricated
and introduced by priestcraft. Since it, has passed on from one generation to
the next it is hard for the people to believe the truth of their own religion,
because they have sentimentally and emotionally involved in it and they
refuse to accept anything else other than their inherited beliefs.
Famous Works:-

 The Sacred Books of the East

 Chips from a German Workshop
THANK YOU