Page:The Religion of the Veda.djvu/69

 The Veda 53 put to death (1659) by his brother Aurengzeb, on the ground that he was an infidel, dangerous to the established religion of the empire; as a matter of fact, because he was the legitimate successor to the throne of Shah Jehan.' India, in more than one respect the land of origins, is also the country from which came the first suggestions of a comparative study of religions. The Buddhist Emperor Açoka, 250 years before Christ, had the spirit of perfect religious freedom. Emperor Akbar, Prince Dārā Shukoh, and Raja Rammohun Roy are another trifolium of this sort. The last-named enlightened prince wrote in 1824 a book entitled Against the Idolatry of all Religions; told the Hindus that caste divisions are as destructive of national union as of social enjoyment"; expressed belief in the divine authority of Christ; and yet confidently did regard the Upanishads as the true source of the higher religious life of the Hindus. This class of men are the advance guard of the modern scholars who study gentile religions in a spirit of sympathy and fairness. I would ask you to remember in this connection my friend, the late Professor Max Müller, one of the translators of the Upanishads-Mokshamülara, as ¹See Elphinstone, History of India (edited by Cowell), p. 610; Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East, vol. i., p. cvii.