Paul Deussen: Deva Sena

[KALKI]

DEVA-SENA AKA PAUL DEUSSEN (1845-1919) WAS A GERMAN SCHOLAR ORIENTALIST, INDOLOGIST AND PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF KIEL.

Deussen was a direct disciple of Arthur Schopenhauer. Deussen was a friend of Friedrich Nietzsche and Swami Vivekananda.

Deussen has been called an "outstanding scholar." | Wrote: "Whatever may be the discoveries of the scientific mind, none can dispute the eternal truths propounded by the Upanishads.

Though they may appear as riddles, the key to solving them lies in our heart and if one were to approach them with an open mind
one could secure the treasure as did the Rishis of ancient times. It is now, as in the ancient times,
living in the mind and heart of every thoughtful Hindu." |

It was when he attended a lecture by Professor Lassen expounding the Shakuntala that Deussen was fired by Sanskrit and Hinduism.
His first publication in 1877 was published in English as The Elements of Metaphysics in 1894.

It was followed by the translations of The Sutra of the Vedanta in 1906; The Philosophy of the Upanishads also in 1906;
and The System of the Vedanta in 1912. His visit to India in 1904 was published in English as My Indian Reminiscences in 1912.
However, his autobiographical papers, edited by his widow Erica and published in German in 1922,
have not so far been translated into English. |

- Source: Indian Antiquary (1902)
- Deussen, Nietzsche, and Vedānta (Hans Rollmann)
Journal of the History of Ideas
Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1978), pp. 125-132
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
|| www.SherawaliMaa.com