Friedrich Max Müller was one of the most influential scholars of the 19th century, a towering figure in the fields of comparative philology, mythology, and religion. Though he never visited India, his work did more than perhaps any other single scholar’s to bring Sanskrit literature to Western attention.
The Rig Veda Edition
Müller’s crowning achievement was his critical edition of the Rig Veda with Sayana’s Sanskrit commentary, published in six volumes between 1849 and 1874. This monumental work, sponsored by the East India Company, made the oldest Hindu scriptures accessible to European scholars for the first time in a reliable text.
Maurice Bloomfield was one of America’s foremost Sanskrit scholars, whose meticulous philological work established lasting standards in Vedic studies. As Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at Johns Hopkins University for nearly half a century, he trained generations of scholars and produced foundational reference works.
The Vedic Concordance
Bloomfield’s greatest contribution to scholarship was his Vedic Concordance (1897), published as part of the Harvard Oriental Series. This exhaustive index of every phrase in Vedic literature remains an indispensable tool for scholars. The work’s painstaking accuracy and comprehensive coverage exemplified Bloomfield’s exacting scholarly standards.
Radha Kumud Mukherjee (25 January 1884 – 9 September 1963), commonly published as Radhakumud Mookerji, was an Indian historian, academic, and nationalist who made pioneering contributions to the study of ancient Indian institutions, maritime history, and Hindu civilisation. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1957.
Early Life and Education
Mookerji was born in Berhampore, in the Murshidabad district of Bengal. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Calcutta in 1905 and was awarded the prestigious Premchand Roychand Studentship, for which his thesis on Indian shipping formed the basis.