Karl Graul (6 February 1814 – 10 November 1864)
[ was a leader of ]Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
and a Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
scholar. He was born in a poor weaver family in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. He moved to India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
as the director of the Lutheran Leipzig Mission in 1849 and there he mastered Tamil.
Graul was one of the foremost figures in missiology
Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century.
History
Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...
. His approach towards caste system was considered to be too lenient by his critics since he considered that caste system would fade on its own accord and Christian organizations need not interfere with local traditions. He also advocated the supremacy of Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
over other Christian denominations and found it hard to cooperate with Anglicans
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
in India.
Early life
Karl Graul was born in Wörlitz
is a town and a former municipality in the district of Wittenberg, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it has been part of the town Oranienbaum-Wörlitz. It is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, east of Dessau.
The historic p ...
, Duchy of Anhalt
The Duchy of Anhalt (german: Herzogtum Anhalt) was a historical German duchy. The duchy was located between the Harz Mountains in the west and the river Elbe and beyond to the Fläming Heath in the east. The territory was once ruled by the House ...
, into a poor weaver's family. In spite of his poor background he received good education in classical and modern languages
A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such ...
as well as in theology. However, as for as mission and missiology is concerned he was entirely self-taught.[Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions p. 257]
Tamil scholar
Karl Graul was appointed the director of the Lutheran Leipzig Mission in 1844. The Lutheran mission had succeeded the Danish-Hale mission in South India
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...
. During his stay in India, Graul mastered the Tamil language.[ After returning to Leipzig in 1853 he taught Tamil language and literature at the mission house. Later Graul wrote ''Bibilotheca Tamulica seu Opera Praecipua Tamuliensium'' (1854–1865). A work in 4 volumes, it contains in its third and fourth volumes the first complete translation of the ]Tirukkural
The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven ...
in Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, and the standard spoken Tamil with notes and glossaries. It was published by his student Wilhelm Germann the year after Graul's death in Erlangen
Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...
. Graul also wrote a ''Tamil Grammar'' in German (1855).[
]
Missiology
Graul being one of the foremost figures in missiology, insisted that other missionaries should go through academic training both in mission as well in theology. He insisted that the knowledge of locals with contextual approach towards indigenous churches.[
]
Views on caste system
Graul's views on caste system was considered by his critics as "too lenient".[ This was in light that ''Madras Missionary Conference'' resolved that no one should be admitted to ]baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
until he had shed off the caste identity and breaks the caste by eating food prepared by a person from the lower caste. According to Stephen Neill
Stephen Charles Neill (1900–1984Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, p. 488.) was a British Anglican bishop, missionary and scholar. He was proficient in a number of languages, including Ancient Greek, Latin and Tamil. He went to Trini ...
all Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
missionary societies agreed to these terms except for Graul's Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission. This was since Graul, who took a “middle” standpoint and regarded the caste as “a natural kingdom lying between the divine and the demonic”, believed that caste system can be removed only as a slow process[ and making it mandatory is not needed.][A History of Christianity in India p. 407] It was his view that missionaries should not interfere with indigenous social orders unless they are wholly incompatible with the Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
.[Christianity and African Culture p.23]
Supremacy of Lutheranism
Graul believed in supremacy of Lutheranism over other Christian denominations.[ Thus he found it hard on mutual cooperation with ]Anglicans
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
in India especially on communion.[A History of Christianity in India p. 396]
Death
Graul in 1864 qualified himself as a university lecturer in missiology at Erlangen
Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...
. However, he died the same year even before taking up the position.[
]
Works
* Übersetzung von Dante Allghieri's ''Göttlicher Komödie''; 1843. (Elektronischer Text auf www.dantealighieri.dk)
* ''Unterscheidungslehren der verschiedenen christlichen Bekenntnisse''; 1845
* ''Die Ev.-Luth. Mission an die ev-luth. Kirche aller Lande''; 1845
* ''Explanations concerning the principles of the Leipzig Society with regard to the Caste-Question''; Madras 1851
* ''Reise nach Ostindien'', 5 volumes; 1854–56
* ''Bibliotheca Tamulica sive Opera Praecipia Tamuliensium'', 4 volumes
** Volume 1: ''Tamulische Schriften zur Erläuterung des Vedanta-Systems oder der rechtgläubigen Philosophie der Hindus.'' Übersetzung und Erklärung von Karl Graul. Leipzig 1854.
Digitalisat
** Volume 2: ''Kaivaljanavanīta. A Vedanta Poem. The Tamil Text with a Translation and Glossary and Grammatical Notes.'' Leipzig/London 1855.
Digitalisat
** Volume 3: ''Der Kural des Tiruvalluver. Ein gnomisches Gedicht über die drei Strebeziele des Menschen.'' Übersetzung und Erklärung von Karl Graul. Leipzig 1856.
Digitalisat
** Volume 4: ''Kural of Tiruvalluver. High-Tamil Text with Translation into Common Tamil and Latin, Notes and Glossary.'' Leipzig 1865.
Digitalisat
* ''Outline of Tamil Grammar''; 1855
* ''Die christliche Kirche an der Schwelle des irenäischen Zeitalters''; 1860
* ''Die Stellung der evangelisch-lutherischen Mission in Leipzig zur ostindischen Kastenfrage''; 1861
* ''Über Stellung und Bedeutung der christlichen Missionen im Ganzen der Universitätswissentschaften''; 1864
* ''Indische Sinnpflanzen und Blumen zur Kennzeichnung des indischen, vornehmlich tamulischen Geistes''; 1864
See also
* Tirukkural translations into German
Among the European languages, German has the third highest number of translations of the Tirukkural, after English and French. As of 2015, there were at least eight translations of the Kural text available in German.
History
The first translat ...
* List of translators
This is primarily a list of notable translators. Large sublists have been split off to separate articles.
By text
* List of Bible translators
* List of Qur'an translators
* List of Kural translators
*Harry Potter in translation
By target languag ...
Sources
* Werner Raupp (Ed.): Mission in Quellentexten. Geschichte der Deutschen Evangelischen Mission von der Reformation bis zur Weltmissionskonferenz Edinburgh 1910, Erlangen/Bad Liebenzell 1990 (ISBN 3-87214-238-0 / 3-88002-424-3), p. 336-343 (a) Stellung der evanglisch-lutherischen Mission in Leipzig zur ostindischen Kastenfrage, 1861, p. 1-22; b) Über Stellung und Bedeutung der christlichen Missionen im Ganzen der Universitätswissentschaften, 1864, p. 4-14).
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Graul, Karl
1814 births
1864 deaths
People from Wörlitz
People from the Duchy of Anhalt
German Lutheran missionaries
Lutheran missionaries in India
German expatriates in India
Tamil–German translators
Tamil–Latin translators
19th-century linguists
Translators of the Tirukkural into German
Translators of the Tirukkural into Latin
19th-century translators
Tirukkural translators
19th-century Lutherans
Missionary linguists