Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c11.s5.11

c11.s5.11

More than all these, the publication of *Ṛgveda* revolutionized the whole concept of the growth of civilization, the world history and the culture demanding a revision of the prevailing notions and changing perceptions. The concepts of the families of languages such as the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Europeans languages and Indo-Iranian language emerged. In their romantic enthusiasm for that was foreign, unfamiliar and distant, the Germans were particularly attracted to India. India also became synonymous to Oriental wisdom. Some of the Orientalists started using terms like “Indian wisdom”. Friedrich Schlegal became the founder of Indian philology in Germany due to his work *On the Language and Wisdom of Indians: Contributions to the Foundation of Archaeology* published in 1803. (Winternitz, 2003 vol. I: 13). Through the kinship between languages, the world of Orientalists was thrilled at discovering the new facets of relationships between nations and societies in prehistoric times. This also gave rise to the fictitious notion of an “Indo-Germanic race” having far-reaching consequences in world history of nineteenth and early twentieth century. An Indo-Germanic mind started working, leading to a plethora of presumptions. In the manuscript meant to be read out as an academic lecture, Schopenhauer wrote in the beginning: