Triple Stream

British Scholars Who Loved And Propagated
Indian Wisdom

What ever be the evils of the British rule in India, there were a few English men who have put the people of India in an everlasting debt by discovering and bringing to their notice and to the appreciation of the world the treasures of Indian literature and the wealth of Indian wisdom.

Sir William Jones who was appointed as a Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court of Bengal in 1783 was an admirer of Indian literature and wisdom. Within three months of his arrival he founded the Asiatic Society which was the light house of oriental learning, and directed its activities and brought it international fame. He learned Sanskrit and translated Kalidasa’s drama SAKUNTALA which ran into 81 translations and over 21 editions by the turn of the 20th century. He also brought an English version of Jayadev’s GITAGOVINDA, HITOPADESA, the LAW OF MANU and ISA UPANISHAD.

Jones had the intellectual honesty to record his opinion that “the whole of Newton’s theology and part of his philosophy are found in the Vedas and the other Indian works.” He was a believer in the ideal of the brotherhood of the East and the West. In his lectures and writings he bestowed lavish praise on the structure of the Sanskrit language, its antiquity and its grammar. He said “The Sanskrit language whatever be its antiquity is of a wonderful structure, more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity in the roots of the verbs and in forms of grammar”. He was a man of culture and his approach to studies was humanistic. As David Koph said “Jones related Hindu civilisation to that of Europe and reanimated the resplendent Hindu past.”

Sir William Jones died at the age of 42. His essays dealt with the chronology of the Hindus, the Indian game of Chess, the antiquity of the Indian Zodiac, the Musical Modes of the Hindus, the Plants of India, the mystical poetry of the Hindus and the Persians, the Lunar year of the Hindus. At the time of his death he was preparing the Digest of the Indian Law.

Kejariwal, the great scholar said, “Jones through his indefatigable labours had resuscitated India’s ancient culture not only for Europe but for India herself. Now India could boast of a poet as great as Shakespeare, a language that was superior to Greek and Latin and a philosophy that could rival the best of Greek philosophy, and an advanced system of Astronomy that was independent of the Greek system. In fact in one decade more accurate information on the history of the antiquities, on the arts, sciences and literature of India had been given to the world than had ever before appeared.

Sir Charles Watkins (1750-1833) was a merchant in the service of the East India Company. He was the first European scholar who translated the Bhagavadgita into English in 1785. He also published an English Version of HITOPADESA (1787) and a grammar of Sanskrit (1808).

Colebrooke was another versatile scholar whose interpretation of the Vedas and the religious ceremonies of the Hindus and the Digest of the Hindu Law won the appreciation of the scholars. He wrote on the Vedas, on Sanskrit grammar, on the sect of the Jains, on Indian Jurisprudence and the Roman Law. His work on the Lexicon and his papers on the Hindu Law were scholarly. He wrote on the height of the Himalayas too. He presented all his books and papers to the East India Company’s Library.

William Marsden spread the influence of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in South East Asia. John Bentley wrote on the Ancient Astronomy. Horace Hayman Wilson produced Sanskrit-English Dictionary a monumental contribution. He translated Kalidas’s MEGHDUT and Panini’s Vedik Grammar. He wrote an essay on ‘the Hindu History of Kashmir. He did research on Vedas and Puranas. In recognition of his wide scholarship he was appointed to the Boden Chair of Sanskrit at the famous Oxford University.

James Prinsep, was another friend and benefactor of India who did commendable work in Oriental Literature, arts, numismatics and archaeology during 1832-38. He pursued studies in Minerology, Meteorology and antiquities. He reformed weights and measures and introduced uniform coinage. His publication appeared in two volumes. He was elected the Fellow of the Royal Society, London. One of his substantial contributions is the discovery of the Ashokan inscription on the Allahabad Pillar. The people of Calcutta honoured him by building a stately ‘Prinsep’s Ghat to perpetuate his memory. He was called the modern day discoverer of the Emperor Ashoka. How many people know that Warren Hastings, the Governor General of India wrote the preface to the first English translation of BHAGAVADGITA and expressed his opinion that it would remain for ever commanding respectful reading long after the British empire ceases to exist?

I did not mention the outstanding services of Charles Brown and Sir Arthur Cotton as I have confined myself only to the contributions made by a few British scholars. I have deliberately omitted reference to the invaluable services of great scholars of other countries like Maxmuller, Abbe Dubois, Goethe, Shopenheur, Humbolt, Emerson, Mark Twain, Thoreau etal.