A Short Note on
the Libraries
Kept by Initiates
and Mahatmas
Helena P. Blavatsky
Helena P. Blavatsky
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Editorial Note:
Helena P.
Blavatsky wrote of “several esoteric
schools” that
claim to be “in possession of the
sum total of sacred
and philosophical works in MSS.
and type”. (“The
Secret Doctrine”, Vol. I, p. xxiii.)
The following fragment
is reproduced from the
volume “From the Caves and Jungles of Hindustan”,
by H. P.
Blavatsky, T.P.H., USA, 720 pp., see pp. 74-77.
(Carlos Cardoso
Aveline)
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Generally speaking,
the position of archaeologists in India is a sad one. The masses, immersed in
ignorance, are utterly unable to be of any use to them, while the learned
Brahmanas, initiated into all the mysteries of the secret libraries in the
pagodas, remain silent and do all they can to prevent archeological research.
However, after all that has occurred, it would be unjust to find fault with the
conduct of the Brahmanas in these matters.
The bitter experience of many centuries has taught
them that their only salvation was in distrust and caution, without which
their national history and their most sacred treasures would have been
irrevocably lost. Political upheavals and Moslem invasions which have for so
many centuries torn India and shaken that country to its very foundations,
the all-destructive fanaticism of the Moslem vandals, and the Catholic padris,
capable of any cunning scheme to secure manuscripts and destroy them - all
these more than justify the Brahmanas.
However, in spite of these destructions occurring
through the centuries, there exist in many places in India vast libraries,
access to which would shed a bright light not only on the ancient history of
India itself, but also on the darkest problems of universal history. Some of
these libraries, filled with priceless manuscripts, are in the possession of
native princes and of the pagoda priests subservient to them, but the greater
part is in the hands of the Jainas (the oldest sect) and of the Rajputana
Thakurs [1], whose ancient hereditary castles are scattered all
over Rajasthan [2], like so many eagle’s aeries on the summits of
rocks.
The existence of the celebrated collections at
Jaisalmer and Pathana are known to the government, but they remain wholly
beyond its reach. The manuscripts are written in an ancient and long
forgotten language, intelligible only to the high priest and his initiated
librarians. One thick folio is considered so sacred and inviolable that it is
fastened to a heavy golden chain in the center of the temple of Chintamani in
Jaisalmer (the capital of the Rajputana desert), and is taken out to be dusted
and rebound only at the advent of each new pontiff. This is the work of
Somaditya Sauracharya, a great high priest, well-known in history, who lived
prior to the Moslem invasion. His mantle is still preserved in the temple, and
every new high priest dons it at his initiation.
Col. James Tod [3], who spent so many
years in India and gained the love of the people as well as of the Brahmanas -
which no other Englishman ever had or will have - a man who became attached to
these people with all the strings of his soul, and who wrote the only true history
of India [4], never was permitted to touch this folio. Rumor says
an offer was made to take him into this sect, with the promise that he would be
initiated then into all the mysteries. Being a passionate archaeologist, he
almost resolved to accept but, forced to go to England on account of his
health, he died before he could return to his second fatherland. Thus the
mystery of this new Sibylline Book [5] remains unsolved.
NOTES:
[1] Note by H. P. Blavatsky:
“The
Thakurs occupy in India a position similar to that held by European feudal
barons of the middle ages. Nominally they are dependent on their native ruling
princes or on the British Government; but de
facto they are entirely independent. Their castles are built on
inaccessible rocks, and in addition to the obvious difficulty of reaching them
other than in single file, they claim another advantage, namely, that of being
interconnected by underground passages, the secret of which is inherited from
father to son. We have visited two such underground halls, one of which was big
enough to contain a whole village. Only yogins and initiated adepts (apart from
their owners) are allowed free access to them. It is well known that no torture
would ever induce any of them to reveal the secret, especially when one bears
in mind the fact that they daily inflict torture upon themselves.”
[2] Rajasthan: a State
in NW India. (CCA)
[3] At this point the
editor of HPB’s “Collected Writings”, Boris de Zirkoff, says in a footnote that
Colonel James Tod (1782-1835) wrote a two volume work entitled “Annals and Antiquities
of Rajasthan...”. It was published in London in 1829-1832. (CCA)
[4] Boris de Zirkoff underlines the fact that this is a
reference to “Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan...”. (CCA)
[5] A Sibylline book is a
collection of oracular utterances. (“Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged
Dictionary of the English Language”, Portland House, N.Y., 1989 edition.) (CCA)
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Our readers are invited
to see the text “The Importance of
Esoteric Libraries”, which is available at our associated websites.
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In September 2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the
esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to form the Independent Lodge of Theosophists,
whose priorities include the building of a better future in the different
dimensions of life.
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