Robert Zaehner

Robert Charles Zaehner was a British academic whose field of study was Eastern religions. He understood the original languages of various sacred texts, including Sanskrit, Pali, and Arabic. At Oxford University, his first writings were on the Zoroastrian religion and its texts. Starting in World War II, he served as an intelligence officer in Iran. Appointed Spalding Professor at Oxford in 1952, his books addressed such subjects as mystical experience, Hinduism, comparative religion, Christianity and other religions, and ethics. He translated the Bhagavad Gita, providing an extensive commentary based on Hindu tradition and sources. His last books addressed similar popular culture issues, leading to his talks on the BBC. He published under the name R. C. Zaehner.