Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c11.s4.5

c11.s4.5

The advent of the English found us a nation low sunk in the mire of superstition, ignorance and political servitude. The advent of scholars like Sir William Jones found us fully established in a rank above that of every nation as that from modern civilization could be distinctly traced. It would be interesting to contemplate what would have been our position if the science of philology had not been discovered.
We should know that it is to the study of the roots and inflexions of Sanskrit that we owe our national salvation. . . . Within a few years after the discovery of Sanskrit, a revolution took place in the history of comparative science. Never were so many discoveries made at once, and from the speculations of learned scholars like Max Müller, the dawning of many truths are even now visible to the world. . . . Comparative Mythology and Comparative Religion are now terms altogether in the world.⁴⁰