O C C U L T S C I E N C E I N I N DI A

A MO N G T HE A N C IE N T S ,

WIT H AN A C CO U N T OF T HE I R

MYS TI C IN I TI A TI O N S ,
A N D T HE

HI S T ORY OF S PI RJ T I S M

L O U I S JA O O L L I O T .

T RA N S L A T E D FRO M T HE F RE N C H BY

WI L L A RD L . FE L T .

N E W Y RK O
T HE T HE O S O PHI C A L PU B L I S HI N G C O .

244 L E N O X A VE N UE

1 90 8 .
 PR E F A C E .

W E will lay asi de for the pr e sent our in quiri e s into

, ,

the gen e ral s ubj e ct of the primitiv e civili zations o f t he far

E ast an d th e pe ople w ho h ave sprun g fro mth e B rahm i nic
,

stock i n th e ol d world in or de r to publish th e r e sult o f

‘

suc h r e s e arche s as w e hav e b e en abl e to mak e d uring our ,

long r e si d ence in I n d ia into t he subj e ct o f occult scienc e

, ,

a n d the practic e s o f t h ose who h ave been initiate d into

the s e ct o f t h e Pitris which is S anscrit f or spirits or an

,

o estral sha d es .

This is n e ith e r a d octri nal book nor a work of criticism .

W e are not called upon to d ecide e ither for or again st

, ,

the belie f in spirits e ith er m edi a t i n g or w pcm

' '

,
n g whic h ,

w as hel d by all who ha d been i n itiat ed in the t e mp les o f

antiquity w h ich is to day the k eystone of th e philosoph

,
-

ical and re ligious instruction o f th e Brahmins an d to which,

many of our Western think ers an d scientists se em incli ned

t o assent .

Being n e ither an a d vocat e o f this b eli ef nor t he opposi te

, ,

we are on that account b e tt e r able to writ e its h istory

, ,
.

An ar d ent p artisan woul d h ave been too cred ulous and ,

would hav e tak e n ev e ryt hing upon trust A rabid O ppo . .

nen t would h av e ma de it his business to d isparage and

discre d it it .

We sh all giv e the word s thems elv e s and s e t forth th i ngs

,
iv P RE F A CE .

as th ey actually w er e ; w e sh all inte rpr e t an d e xplain the

A g rouc/zada fa/ri kc fia i , which is t he philosophical com

p e n di um o f the Hin d u spiritists ; w e shal l t e ll w hat we

saw w it h ou r o wn eyes, an d shall f ait hf u lly r e cord such

e xplanation s as we r e ceiv ed from the Brahmin s .

W e shall pay particular atte ntion to t h e p henome n a .

wh ic h the F aki r s pro d uc e at will , whic h som e regar d as

t he man ife stations o f a superior interv e ntion , an d oth er s
look upon as t he re sult ofa shr ew d ch arlatanism .

U po n t h is point w e h av e but a wo rd to say .

The f acts w h ich ar e simply magnetic ar e indisputable ,

e xtraor din ary as they may seem .

As to the f acts wh ich ar e purely spiritual w e w er e only

,

able to explain thos e in whic h w e par ticipat ed, e it her as

actor or sp e ctator, upon the h ypothe sis t ha t w e w ere the
v i ctims of hallucin ation — unle ss w e ar e willi n g to admi t

that there was an occult in t erv ention .

We shall d e scrib e thi ngs j ust as w e saw the m , without

taking sid e s in the di sput e .

Th es e doctrin e s wer e known to t he E gypti ans to t he ,

Jewish C abalists to the p e opl e o f F inlan d, to th e school

,

of Al exan dria to Philo and his di scipl e s to the Gaul s an d

, ,

to th e early C hristians and as in the cas e o f the Hindus

, , ,

they set them apart for the us e of thos e who had been ini
t i at e d As f or th e anci ent Ch al de ans, t h e practic e of pO pu
.

lar magic an d sorcery seems to h ave b e en the utmost li mi t

of their attainmen ts in this direction
They h av e also given birt h to a peculiar system o f
moral philosoph y whose place in the gen e ral scale of the
,

m e taph ysical sp e culations o f mankin d w e sh all tak e occa

sion to point out .
 O N t he ev e n n i g be f ore the fun era ls radd h a i s to ta ke pl ac e , or on th e
day t se i lf , h e w ho g iv es the sra dd h h ul d w i t h ll
a s o , a due res p ec t , in
v it e at least t hr ee B rahmi n s , s uh
c th w hi h h
as ose c av e been alre a dy

me t ion ed
n .

T he B ahmin who has bee i v it d t o t he sraddh oft h e spi it oft h

r n n e a r e

d d h ul d b e t i e m st
ec e ase s o ofh i s s s e He shoul d t
n r d th a er en es . no r ea e

s c a red S i p t u es butcr ly it i l w t r , th i v ti
on w hi h
rec e, n a o on e , e n oc a on s c

i t i s hi f
fi t o ut t er as h e shoul d do l i k e w i s by w h mt h c e m y
s o ce , , e, o e re on

i p rf m
s e ed or .

T he a n cestr al spi r i ts, i n the i n v i sible sta te , acco mp an y the m

B r a h i n s who
ha v e been i n vi ted they go wi th the , un der a n aeri a l for m m d , an occ upy a

plac e by t hei r side w hen the y si t do wn —( A N U , oo M b k iii l .

, a oc as 18 7
1 88

For a l on g im p v i u t t h i l y i g i d t h i m t l v l
t e re o s o e r a n as e e r or a en e ope ,

th e so u
ls w hi h h v p ti d vi t u l i k
c a th
e w hi h i h bit
r ac se r e, e ose c n a the
b dio es of S a n y assi s an d Van aS prat h as —A n c hor i tes and (Jen obi tes —a o
q ui re the ac u
f lty of co n ver si n g wi th uls tha t ha v e g on e befor e to the

m —h
so

swa r t at is a s ig t h n at t he se r i hi
es oft e r t ran smgrat on s u pon e art i i h
is en de d (T he words ofthe a n ci en t Baga oa tta , quoted i n the Proe mf o
 F I RS T PART .

T HE D O C T RI N E OF T HE PI T RI S
O C C U LT S C IE N C E S IN IN D IA .
 Remem my so t h t t h i s ly
be r, n, G d th
a ere
sov ei gn on on e o , e er

mt as er d p i i pl
an f ll t hi gs
r nc e d t h t th
o a B hmi n h ul d
, an a e ra ns s o

w hi p Hi mi s t ; but l
ors n ls t h t t hi si
e c re my t y w hi h
e arn a o a s a s er , c

sh ul d v b v l d t t h vulg h d — t h wi g t h m
o ne er e re ea e o e ar er z o er se r ea ar

m y b f l y u Words spoke by the B r hmi n s upo

a e a o . n a n

ca n dida te for i n i ti a tion ac cordi n g to Vvi haspa ti .

)
PRE SE RVAT ION T RA N S FO RMA T ION
O C C U L T S C IE N C E I N I ND IA

I .

S PI RI T I S M .

C HAPTE R I .

IN ITI ATE D AT T HE AN CI E N T T E LI PL E S .

IT is not to the reli gious writings of anti q uity such as ,

the Ve das the Zend Avesta or th e Bible that we ar e to

,
-
, ,

look f or an accurat e expr e ssion of the h ighest thought of

the period.

Written to be read or rather chanted in th e temples

, , ,

upon gr e at f estival s and framed mainly with a V iew t o

,

priestly domination these books of the law we r e n ot i n

,

tended to make known to co mmo n people the secret s o f a

science which occupies th e leisu r e moments of the priests
and initiated .

Bear in mind my son said the Hi n d u B r ahmin to

, ,
“
the neophyte that there is but one God the sovereign
, ,

mas t er and principle of all things and that every Brahmin ,

sho uld wo r ship him in secret L e arn also that this i s a

.
.

my stery which should never b e revealed to the vulgar

”
h e rd ; otherwise g r eat har m may befal you .

We c onstantly m eet wit h a similar prohibition in Ma s

n u
.
14 OCCUL T SCIENC E IN IND I A .

The pri mitive ho ly sy lla ble composed of the t hree le t , s

t ers A , U M and comprising the Vedic trinity shoul d be

, , ,

kept secret (Manu book xi sloc a , .

,

Thes e three letters symboliz e all th e initiatory secrets

of the occult sciences .

Th e hon ouer or primordial germ is defined in the Zend

, ,

Avesta as follows
“
Th e pure the holy the prompt Hon ov er, I t ell you
, ,

p lainly ,
O wise Zoroas t er ! exi ste d before the sky before
,

the sea before the earth before the an imals before the
, , ,

trees before fire son o f O rmuz d before the pure man

, , , ,

before the deou e before the whole world ; it existed be

,

fore there was any substance — should it not be explained ,

i n its e ss e nce to the magi alone ? The common p eople

,

cannot even know of the e x istence o f this v e n erated name

under penalty of d eath or madness .

The ancient C abalists received a similar prohibition i n

the following passage from the Mishna :
“
I t is forbid d en to explain the history of creation to two
ersons : or even t h e history of the M er c a ba —or the his
p ,

tory o f the chariot treati ng of the attributes of the un re

,

vealed being —to on e alone un less he is a wise and i n t elli ,

gent man i h which case it is permitte d to i ntrust to him

,
”
the headings of the chapters .

We are indebted to Mr A Fra n k o f the Instit ute the . .

, ,

e minent Hebraist for an explanation of this curious pass

,

age ofthe Jewish C abala I t w ill be seen that he confirms .

the O pinion that w e have j ust expresse d that an ac curate ,

i nterpre t ation o fthe beliefs of the sac e rd otal castes and of

the initiat e d is not to be f ound in the work s t h e multitude
,

were allowe d to se e .

E vidently this cannot re fer to the t e xt of Genesi s or ,

that o f E z eki el where the prophet d escribes the vision

,

he saw u pon the banks of the C hebar .

’
Th e whole S cripture s so to sp e ak were in every body s , ,

mout h From time i mmemorial th e most scrupulous ob

.
,
o
 OCC UL T SCIENCE IN INDI A . 15

s ervers o f tra d ition h a d deemed it their d uty to go through

it at least once a year in the te mple Moses hi mself is
, ,
.

constantly r e commen d i ng the study of the law by which ,

he always m e ans th e Pe n tateuch E sdras after the return .

,

f rom th e B abylonish captivity r e a d it aloud before the ,

assembled people Th e prohibition which we have j ust

.
,

quoted cannot possibly refer to the history of the c r eation

,

o r to E zekiel s vision which any one might seek to ex

’
,

plain hims el f or to int e rp ret to others I t refers to an

, .

i nterpretation or rather to a known secr etly ta ught doc

, ,

trine—to a science whose f orms as well as principles were

, , ,

fi xe d since we know ho w it was di vide d and that it was

,

separat ed i n to chapters each of which was preceded by a ,

he a d ing Now it is to be noted that E zekiel s vision

.
,
’

is totally unlik e this ; it contains a si ngle chapter an d not

several—the fir st one i n the works attributed to that
prophet .

W e se e also that this secret doctrine contai ns t w o parts ,

which ar e not considere d e qually important f or one coul d ,

be taught to t w o persons while th e whole of the other ,

could ne v e r b e d ivulge d to any on e person even i n case of ,

c omplianc e with the s e v e rity o f th e required conditions .

If we are to b elieve Ma i moni d es who was a stranger to

' '

t he C abala though he could not deny its existence the

, ,

fi rst half entitle d T he Hi story of the Gen esi s or C rea ti on

, ,

taught th e scienc e o f natur e Th e secon d entitled Mer c a ba .

,

or the history o f th e chariot contain e d a treatise on the ,

ology This is th e acc e pte d opinion o f all C abalists

. .

Here is anoth e r f act wh ich shows the same thing not ,

less conclusiv ely .

“
The R abbi Jochan an sai d on e day to th e Rabbi E li , ,

e zer : L e t me t e ach you the Me rcaba

‘
Th e latter an .
’

s wered him : I am not ol d enough for that Whe n he .

’

h a d grown O ld th e R abbi Jochan an die d an d afte r a wh ile

, ,

th e R abbi Assi cam e in his turn : L et m e teach you the

Mercaba, sai d he ; h e replied : I f I h ad thought mysel f
’
16 O CCUL T SCI E NCE IN IND IA .

worth y, I w ould alr e ad y h ave learned it from th e Rabb i

’
Jochan an , your master .

Th is sh ows that in order to be initiated into the my S

,
o

t eri ous sci e nc e o f th e Mercaba an eminent position and ,

exalte d intell e ct wer e n ot all that were required The .

can di dat e must also h ave reached a certain age and even ,

when that condition which is also o b served by modern

,

C abalists, ha d been compli e d with he did n o t alway s ,

f e el sure ofpos se ssing intell ect o r moral strength e nough

to assume th e burden o f th e fearful secrets which might ,

endang er h is reli gious convi ctions an d the materi al observ

an ce s ofth e la w .

H er e is a cur ious ex ample taken fr om the Talmud i t

,

self in all egorical terms of whi ch it afterward give s an

, ,

e xplanation .

Accor d ing to th e t each ings of the masters ther e wer e

‘

four who entere d into the garden o f deligh ts and the ir ,

nam e s ar e as follows : Ben Asar Ben Zoma, Ach er, an d

’

R ab bi A k iba .

Ben Asai was over in quisitiv e an d lost his li fe W e

’

-
.

may apply to h im th is ve r se of S cripture : What a pr e

c i ou s thing in t h e eyes of the L ord is the death of hi s

saints .

B en Zoma also look e d , but he lost h is reason His fate .

’
j ustifi e s the sage s parable : D i d you fin d honey ? eat
enough to sufii c e you for fear that if you take too much
,

your stomach may rej ect it .

Acher committe d ravages among the plants .

L astly Akiba enter e d q uietly and came out quietly

,

for the saint whose name be blessed had said : S pare

, ,

this old man ! he is worthy to s erve with glory .

I t is hardly possible to construe this passage lit e rally or ,

to suppose that it refers to a material vision of the splen

dors of another life for there is no e x ample in t he Talmud
,

of the use ofthe very mys t ical language her e employ e d

a s appli ed to para d ise How can w e all ow, b e si de s, th at
.
18 OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN INDI A .

th at the belief existed But they made it t he subj e ct o f

.

an initiation and these terrible secrets were onl y taught

,

by word of mouth in the mysterious recesses of the tem

ples .

I t w as not the study of God or the world which drove

weak i n tellects into madnes s as men t ioned i n that pa ssage
,

of the Talmud b efore spoken of but rathe r the cabalis t ic

,

p r actice ofevocation in the supreme initia t ion .

“ ” “
Whoever says the Talmud has learned this sec r et
, ,

an d keeps it vigilantly in a pure heart m , ay reckon upon ,

the love of God an d the favor of men ; his name i n spi r es

respect ; his science is i n no danger ofbein g forgotten and ,

he is the heir of t w o worlds— that w e live in and the world ,

to come .

Ho w can we kn ow the secrets of the world to come ex ,

cept b y co mmunic ati n g w i t h those who live there already .

We shall see th a t the Zoha r of the C abalists and the ,

A g r ouc hada p a r i kc ha i of t he Hindus, profess the sa me

-

ideas as to the pri mo r dial germ or God the world and the ,

s oul. We incline t herefo r e to the belief that we a re co r

, ,

rect in thinkin g that t he pra ctises O pe n ly taught by the

H i ndus were also taught so t o speak by w o rd o fmo ut h
, , , ,

by the ancient T h an ai ms ofJ udai sm .

We fi n d Indian pagod a s indeed where the fourth p a r t

, ,

o fthe A g ro u c ha da is sepa r ated f r o m the th r ee o t her s a n d ,

fo r ms so t o speak a b ook b y it self whi c h w o uld le a d t o

, , ,

the supposition that it w a s re v ealed last an d o n ly to a small

n umb er of adep t s .

We may add that the C abali sts of Judea and the vo t a rie s
of the Pi t ri s in India used the same expression to de si g
,
.

nate the adepts of the o ccult sciences

“
He has en ter ed the ga r den ofdeli ghts .

N o doctrinal work upon these matters has come d own

to us from the E gyptians or the ancient C haldean s but t he ,

fragmentary inscriptions we do possess show that a higher

i nitiation also exi sted among both The great nam e the
.
,
 OCC U L T S CIENCE IN INDI A . 19

my steriou s name the supreme name wh ich was known

, ,

on ly to E a was never to b e uttered

, .

Thus there is no doubt th a t the initiation in ancient

,

times did not consist of a knowle dge of the great religious

works of the age, such as the Veda s the Zend Ave sta t he ,
-
,

Bi ble etc , w hich everybody studied but rather of the

,
.
, ,

admi ssion of a small number of priests and s a van ts to an

occul t science which ha d its genesis its theology its phil
, , ,

osophy an d its peculiar practices which it was forbidden

, ,

to reveal to the vul gar her d .

India has preserved all the manuscript treasures of i t s

primitive civilization The initiated have never ab andoned
.

any of their old beliefs or practices .

It i s therefore in our power to l i ft the veil completely

, ,

from the Brahminic initiations .

After compari n g the philosophical doctrines ofthe adepts

o fthe Pi tri s with those of the Jewish C a b alists we shall ,

go on t o show the relations or con nectio n between the

i n i ti a ted of oth e r nations and th e i n i ti a ted of the Hi n d u
pagodas .
 C HA PT E R II .

T HE B R A HMI N S .

B ef or e t ouch ing upon the main point ofour subj ect it ,

may not b e amiss to say a fe w words about the Brahmins .

W e do not propose h owever to raise the question of their

, ,

r e al origin , which has been the subj ect ofso much scientific
controversy According to some who h ave certain ethn o
.
,

logical th e ories of their own to support they came from ,

the sterile and desolate plains which extend from the ,

e ast ern shore ofthe C aspian S ea to the banks of the O xus .

Accordin g to othe r s who agree with the sacred books and

,

pun d its o f India upon that point they origin ated in the ,

c ountry comprised between the Ga n ges and the I n dus on

the on e side and the G o dav ery an d the K ri st n ah on the

o ther . With regard to the former hypothesis we have
said elsewhere S uch a theory seems sin gular to say the
,
’
,

least when it is known that this country which is held

.
,

o ut to us as the cradle of the ancien t Hindu race doe s not ,

possess a ruin a t r adition a trace which can furnish an

, , ,

ethnologica l foundation f or such an O pinion This land .

,

which is said to have produced the most astonishing civil

i z at i on of ancient times has n ot a monument or tradition
,

o f any sort to show for itself I t would b e qui te as .

logical in d eed to make the Aryans or B rahmins originate

, ,
”
in the sandy d e serts ofS ahara .

96 it 96

According to th e second theory the ,

B rahmins cam e
1
T he G en es s ofi Hum it y an .
 OC C U L T SC I ENCE I N I ND IA . 21

o riginally fro m the plai n s of C e n tr al Hind ustan This .

o pini o n has histo r ic and ge o g r aphic a l tr u t h in its favor as ,

well as the autho r ity of all the le arned pundits and of

Man n w h o se celeb rated words are well known
,
“
C o urouc k che t r a Mat sya and the land of B out c hala
, , ,

which i s also called C auy a C obj a (the Mountain o f the -

Vi rgin ) and S o ura sw a c a also called Mathoura fo r m the

, , ,

c ou n t ry adj acent to that of B r ahmav art a the coun tr y of ,

v i r t uous m
”
en o r i n othe r w o r d s of the Brahmi n s
, , , .

The se c o un t r ies a r e i n cluded i n the quadrilate r al fo r med

b y the four rivers j u st n a med We shall not dwell upon .

this point furthe r however a s it is not our i n ten tion to

, ,

discus s eth n ological p r oble ms in the prese n t wo r k b ut ,

rat her to se t fo r th an d el ucid a te religious conception s .

Man n the legislato r w ho spran g fr om the Temples of

, ,

I ndia att r i butes to the Brah min s a D ivine o rigi n

, .

For the propagation of the human race f r om his mouth , ,

f rom his a r m f r o mhis thi gh fr o m his foot the S overeign

, , ,

Master produced the B r ahmin p r iest the X chat ry a , ,

king— the Vaysia merchant— the S o ndra slave

, ,
.

96
9? 56

By his origin which he derives from the most noble

,

me mb er because he w a s the fi rst b orn b ecause he pos

,
-
,

s e sses the Holy S criptures the Brahmin i s by right the

, , ,

L o r d of all creation .

E verything that the world contains is the B r ahmin s ’

p roperty by hi s p r i mogeni t ur e and his em i nent b irth he ,

i s entitle d to everything that e x ists .

it
96 it

The Brahmin eats n othi n g that does not belo n g to him ,

receives no garment that i s not already his a n d bestows ,

22 OCCUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

no alms f rom the property of others that d o e s not also

belong to him I t is through th e Brahmin s gen erosity
.
’

that other men enj oy the goods of this worl d (Man n .

,

boo k i ).

This is the original source of the doctrin e o f d ivin e right .

For several thousand years th e Brahmins (pri e sts) ruled

over India without dispute The kings or as w e might .
, ,

rather say, the chiefs were only their agents The mass , .

of the people like a flock of sheep maintain ed th e upper

, ,

classe s in luxury and idleness by thei r labor .

In the t emples which were vast sacerdotal storeh ous e s

,

filled with the treasures accumulate d by th e toil of the

laboring classes the priests appeared before th e ey e s o f the
,

assemb le d multitude clad in gorgeous vestments Kn e el

,
.

i n g before i d ols o f wood granite o r bronze o f th e ir ow n

, , ,

contrivance they set an example of the most absur d sup e r

,

st i t ut i on Their p r i ncipal motive in the perf ormance of

.

their religious duties was the maintenanc e o f t he ir te m

poral supremacy and w h en the sacrifi c e s w ere ove r th e
, ,

Vaysia and S ondra returned to th e ir tasks t he chi ef s ,

to their pleasur es and the priests to t h eir myst erious

,

abodes where they engaged in the study of th e sci e nc e s

,

and of the highest philosophical and religious spe cula

tions.

The hour came wh e n the X chat ri as or k ings ma de us e , ,

o f the p e ople to throw of f the theocratic yoke but when ,

they had c onquered the priests and assume d th e title of ,

L or ds of C rea t i on they abandoned their lat e alli e s and

, ,

said to the Brahmin s

Preach to th e p e ople th e doctrine that w e ar e the elect
ofGo d an d w e will giv e you all the wealt h and privileges
,

ou d e sire
y .

T h at was the basis o f the ir agre e m e nt an d f or tw e nty ,

thousan d y e ars and more the S ondr a th e serv umpecus, ,

the people h av e never been able t o break it up

, .

R e duc ed to a pur ely religi o us rO le the Brah mins us ed ,

 OCC UL T SCIENCE IN I ND IA . 23

all th e ir power to keep the multitude in ignorance and

subserviency Mistru stful lest some members of their order
.

more ambitious than the rest might on e day or other seek , ,

t o f urther their own ends by sti r ri n g up the lowe r cla sse s

to revolt they place d the secret of their relig ious b elief
, ,

o ftheir principles of th e ir sciences under the s hield o f

, ,

a n initiatory ceremony to the highest g rade of which

,

those onl y were admitted w ho had completed a novitiate of

forty years of passive o b edience .

There were th ree degrees ofinitiation .

The first included all the Brahmins of the popular cult ,

o r those who o fficiated at the pagodas whose b usiness it ,

was to work upon the credulity of the multitude They .

were taught to comment upon the th ree fi rst books o f the

Vedas to direct the religious ceremon i es and to perfor m
, ,

s acrifices . The Brahmins of the first degree we r e in con

s tant communication with the people They were its i m .

mediate directors its gur us ,

.

The second d egree includ e d the ex or c i sts the soothsa y ers , ,

the pr ophets and the ev oca tors of sp i ri ts whose b usiness

, ,

it was in times of difficulty to act upon the imagin a tion

, ,

o f the masses thro ugh supernatural phen o mena

,
They .

read and commented upon the A t harv a Veda which w a s -

,

a collection of magical conj urations .

In the third degree the Brahmins had no direct relations

wi t h the popul ace the study ofall the physical and supe r
,

n atural forces ofthe univers e be i ng their only occupatio n .

They never appeare d o ut si de except through aw e inspi ring -

phenomena which spectators were not allowed t o sc r u

,

t i n i z e too closely According to t he celebrated S a n scrit

.

sori t s th e gods and S pirits were at their di sposition

,

D év a di n a mdyaga t ua m
'

sar .

Ma Wa di n a mt a dev a ta
‘

n .

T an ma tr a mb a hma a di
n r n n a m
.

B r a hman a m ama dev a t a .

24 OCC UL T SCIENCE IN I ND I A .

E verything that exists is in the power of t he gods .

The gods are in the po w er of mag ical conj urations .

Magical conj uration s are i n the p o wer of the B r ah mins .

Therefore the gods a r e i n the power of the Brahmins

, .

96
96 96

I t was impos sible to arrive at the highest degree without

havi n g pas sed th r ou gh the first t w o where a proce ss o f ,

weedi n g as it we r e w as constantly goi n g on having r e

, , ,

gard to t he a b ility and intelligence ofthe candidates .

I t would have been impossi b le to co n ceive of a more

effective instru men t of soci al conservatism and o ur modern ,

doctrin aires may well regard it with a j ealous eye .

Those who w ere too intelligent or w ho were not sufii ,

c i e n t ly a mena b le to di scipli n e o w in g to their inflexibility,

o fcha r acter we r e soo n l ost amid the cr owd of bigots an d

,

fan atics of the fi r st deg r ee who were as sub mi ssive and ,

free fr om a mb ition as could possibly b e desi r ed The .

lowe r clergy if we may be allowed to use the e x pre ssion

, ,

were not much a b o v e the le v el of the re st o f the Hindu

people who se supe r stition s they sha r ed an d whom they
, ,

taught perhaps ho n estly Ab sorb ed i n the o r dina r y o b

, ,
.

ser v a n c es of religious wor ship that i n depen dence of mind ,

which usually acco mp anie s know led g e was not to be appr e

hended fro m the m It w a s not u n til twenty years had
.

elapsed th a t promoti on w as p ossib le fr om the first to the

second degree whe r e the v eil of the occult sciences fi r st
,

b egan to be uplif t ed and the s ame pe r iod O f ti me was

,

n eces sa r y i n o r der to sur m oun t the mysterious b a rrie r s o f

the thi r d degree Th a t class of initi a tes studied the
.

A gr oucha da Pa r i hcha i or the Book of S pi r its

-
,

Above this l a st de gr ee of i n itiati o n was the S up r e me

C ouncil under the pre sidency of the B rahmat ma o r su
, ,

preme chief of all those w ho had been i n itiated .

O nly a B r ahmin w ho had p assed hi s eightieth yea r

could exerci se this pon t i fic at e He w as t he sole keepe r of .
26 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

low b ef or e Mon gol an d E ur op e an invasion ; w h en every

pago d a has its B rahmat ma ; this unknown word has been
r e veal ed to no human power an d h as be e n kept a p r o
,

f ound s e cret I t was engrave d in a gold e n triangle and

.

carefully kept in a sanctuary of the Temple of Asgarth s ,

o f whic h the B r ahm at ma alone had the keys For t hi s .

reason also he wore upon his tiara t w o crossed keys up

, , , ,

h eld by t wo kn eeling B rahmins as a sign of the precious

,

de posit which had been e ntruste d to hi s care .

This word and triangle were also engraved upon the

g e m of th e ring which this religious chief wore as a sign of
,

his d ignity I t was also set in a golden sun , which stoo d

.

upon the altar upo n which the supreme pontif f O ffered

e v e ry morning the sacrifice of t he S arv a m e da or sacrifice ,

to all the force s ofnature .

At the death of th e B rahmat ma his b ody was burned ,

upon a gold e n t r ipod and his ashes secretly thrown into

the Ganges I f in spite of every precaution a report of
.
, ,

his d e ath was bruited abroad the pri e sts adroitly spread
,

abroad the rumor that the supreme chief ha d a sc ended for

a time to S warga (heaven) in the smoke of the sacrifice ,

but woul d soon return to the earth .

N umerous revolution s h ave so thoroughly disturbed the

social an d religious condition o f In dia that Brahminism ,

no longer possesses any supreme chief E ach pagoda has .

its three deg r ees of initiation and its own pri v ate B rah
,

mat ma The chiefs of these temples are O ften at O pen

.

hostility with each other However this does not seem

.
,

to have affec t ed their religious belief as yet and we sh all , ,

see as w e study the methods in u

, se in the three di ffe r e n t
classes o f initiation that the Hind u Brah mins still clin g
,

to th e ir old religious pr e scriptions .

 C HAPT E R III .

T HE B RAHMI N —FROM HI S B IRTH T O HI S N OVITIATE

T HE CE RE MON Y OF T HE DJITA CA RMA .

When a B rahmin s wife has given birth to a son h er

’
,

h usband is care ful to note upon hi s tablets the hour the ,

d ay the year and the epoch of the occurrence together

, , , ,

with th e stars un d er whose auspices the child has j ust been

born .

He carries this in formation to the astronomer of t he

pagoda who casts the h oroscope of the n ew born child
,
-
.

N ine days th ereafter a stan d is erected and decorated with

flowers an d f oliage upon which the mother takes her seat
, ,

with the boy in h e r arms .

An o ffi ciating Pour ohi t a or Brahmin belonging to the

,

first class ofinitiation then pe rfo r ms the poudj a or sacri

, ,

fice to V i schn ou in front of the stand

,
He pours a little .

lustral water upon the ch il d s head and into the hollow of

’
,

the hands of the father and mother who d r ink it and then , ,

he sprin kles all those present with the same liquid .

The father then brings a dish of earthenware bron z e , ,

or silver according to his means u

,
p o n wh ich is a little ,

betel and a present for the Pourohi t a

,
.

By this ceremony the child is pu r ified fr om all the

uncleanness attached to h is birth .

From this time the mother who since h er confinement

, , ,

has stay e d in a separate room is o b liged to live ten days ,

longer by herself in a retired place at the en d of which ,

tim e she is all owed to go to the temple to purify h erself ,

from her uncleann ess .

28 OC CUL T SCIENC E IN INDI A .

I t is unn e ce ssary to call attention to the fact that a simi

lar custo min such cases pr e vailed among the J e ws .

I he C ere mon y ofthe N ma

ah C a rma .

Twelve days afterward the ceremony of the giving of

the name or of th e N ahma C arma as it was calle d took
,
-
, ,

place .

The house was decorated as if for a festival and all the ,

relatives and friends of the Brahmin caste alone were i n

v i t ed .

The father afte r performin g an o b lation to the fire and

,

the nine pri n cipal divinities which rule the planets trans ,

c ri be d with a b rush upon a wooden ta b let the horoscope of

his son which was cast at the pagod a with the name that
, ,

he proposed to give hi m .

He then utte r ed three ti mes in a loud voice the na me

which he had j ust w ritten which all present repeated after
,

him He closed with the follo w ing wo rds

.

Bles sed be the name of B r ah ma This is my son .

and his name i s N ar ay an a [or any other na me] L isten .

”
attentively i n o rder that you may remembe r it .

He then went o ut of the house at the he a d of a pr oc es

sion consistin g ofall his guests and planted i n his garden , ,

or i n f ront of the dwelling a coc o anut t a marind or pal m

, , ,

tree accordin g to the section of count ry where be r e

,

sided saying,

In the name of
the powerful and j ust Brahma all you ,

who are here present bear this in mind ,

This tree i s .

planted on N aray an a s name day in the thirty fift h year

’ -
,
-

”
of the fif th lunar century of the th ird divine epoch (or any
given date ) .

This as th e reader will understand is given merely as

, ,

a matter of form .

A t th e clos e of the cere mo n y a grand feast is given of , ,

 OCCUL T SC I ENCE I N I NDI A . 29

w hich all present partake Previous to th e ir d eparture .

,

the father pre sents to e a ch a cup of cedar or s a ndal wood -

,

upon which is engraved the horoscope or more generally ,

the monogram o fthe child .

The o bj ect of this present is to furni sh evi dence in ca se ,

any dispute should there after arise a s to the le g itimacy o f

the child s bir t h When sum moned as witnesses b efor e
’
.

the caste t ri b unal t he guests appear with their cups i n

,

their hands and testify as follows :

,

In the name of
the powerful and j ust Brahma ; the
words which proceed from my mouth are strictly true .

Thi s cup w as given to me by C o v i n da on N aray an a s ,

’

n ame day in t he thirty fift h yea r of the fifth lunar cen

-
,
-

tu ry of the thi r d divine epoch There can b e no dou b t .

”
that N aray an a is the son ofGovinda .

The Pourohi t a or B r ah min who is present at the ce r e

,

mony then of
,
fe r s a sacrifice to the Pit r is o r ancestral ,

spi rits an d asks the mto p r otect the n ew b orn child

,
-
.

The father then distri b utes betel amon g the gue sts and
makes a pre sent to the officiating priest according to his
means .

T he C er e mo n
y f
b A Pr e ssa n a
n na - .

When the chil d is in the seventh month of his age rice ,

is given hi m to eat for the first tim e This f e stival is .

\

called the A n n a Pr a ssa n a -

.

As in the case of the other cere monies the father invites

all his relative s an d friends and sends to the pagoda fo r a
Brah min to of fi c i at e Af ter a g eneral bath in the tank of
.

a blutions u pon which the Pourohi t a has scattered a few

,

drops of lustral water all the gue sts take their seats upon
,

a stand decorated with b ranche s of fruit trees in full bear -

ing and the p r iest O f

, fers a sacrifice to the l unar spirits
that protect the family .

Meanwhile the wom e n sing an appropriate psalm an d

,
30 O C C UL T SC I EN C E IN IND I A .

perform the ceremony of arat ty (which has the property

o fd r i v ing away evil spirits above the child s head for the
’
)
first time .

The p r iest then blesses the Brahminical girdle which is a

Sign of his caste an d which is b o und around the child s
,
’

loins for the first time A little b oiled rice is then put in
.

his mouth and every b ody si t s do w n t o the repast

,
.

The ce r emo n y termin ates with the distri b ution of betel

and a present to the officiati ng prie st .

T he C eremon y f
o the T c haoula .

When a child re a che s the ag e of three years the cer e ,

mony of the T c hao ula or the Ton sure is perfor med

, ,
.

This fest ival i s much more sole mn th a n t he preceding ,

for the child who is p r esent is able for the fi r st time to

, ,

murmur the name of t he di vi n i t y a s well a s the n a mes of

,

the p r otecting spirits of hi s ho me and f amily .

After bathing and decoratin g the child wi t h a necklace

and bracelets of mingled co r al and sand al wood b ead s he -
,

is led beneath a panda] which i s a sort of d a i s fo rmed of

,

trees procure d for that p urpose and o f flowe r s of e v ery

description .

He is surrounded b y his relatives an d g uests and the

priest o ffers an oblation to all the Pitris or family an d ,

a nce str a l shades in both branches on the father s and ’

, ,

mother s side
’
.

The statue of S iva L in gam the image of perpetua l

-
,

fr uitfuln ess is brought in covered with flowers an d fruits

, .

At this point of the office the barber commences After .

prostr ating himself in the presence o f th e god in the midst ,

o ffemale singi n g accompanied by the musicians from the

,

pagoda he proceeds to shave the child s h ead leavi ng a

,
’
,

small lock of h air on the b ack part whic h is n ever cut , .

D u rin g this oper a t i on t he child s fe male relatives per ’

form the aratty upon the heads o f th os e pr e sent, in order

 OC CUL T SC I ENC E I N I ND IA . 31

to drive away e vil spirits and everybody preserves a re

,

li g i o us silence
.

Havi n g fin ished his d uties the barber retires with his

which consists of a certain quantity of rice and the
pya , ,

p riest clean ses the chil d from any impu rity which he may
have derived from unclean contact with the barber .

T he child s toilet is then made a n e w and after a f r e sh

’
,

ba t h in the sacred tank o f ablutions in order to pro

,

i t i at e all the spirits an d genii of the plants to which that

p
day is consecrated the c eremony closes as before with a
repast and presents .

Un til the age of nine yea r s the Brahmin remains in

the hands of the wom e n until the term for co mmencing
his novitiat e arriv e s
.
 C HAPT E R IV .

T HE DR AW N—FROM HI S NOVI TIATE T O HI S R E CE PTI ON IN TO

T HE FIR ST D E GR E E OF HI S IN ITI ATIO N .

T he C erem f p y
on y o O u a n a a na .

[Taken f rom the N i ti a C arma the first part of th e

-
,

A g roucha da Parik c hai ,

-
or book o f the occult sciences of
the Brahmins ] .

The word O upan ay an a signifies int r oduction to t he

s tudy ofthe sciences We give t his pas sage of the Agron
.

c hada in the form of verses as it was written ,

I t is time fo r the virtuous father who possesses a

n ow ,

s on over whose head has rolled three ti m e s t hree yea r s ,

the figure ofthe tutelary spirits to perform the ceremony ,

o fth e O upan ay an a .

96 96

He should procure vessels of gold silver bron z e or , ,

earthenware according to hi s me an s which are to be

, ,

d is t ributed to the Brahmins a fter the repa st .

96
96 96

He should lay in an abundant supply of rice seeds , ,

fruit oil b utt er sugar vegetables and milk for he has

, , , , ,

n ot only to entertain his gue sts but the larger part should ,

b e offered as an oblation to the Pitris or set apart for the ,

poor an d orphans .

96 96

When the fath er o f a f amily gives food to th e suf

fe ring ,
34 OCC UL T S CIENCE IN INDI A .

mony is to be hel d shoul d perform the usual purificat i on s

,

in the sacre d tank of the pagoda .

96
96 96

Wh en th e parents and friends are all assembled the

Pourohi t a should be i ntroduced with all due marks of r e
spect He should bring with him a girdle an d the skin of
.

a gaz elle A gazelle s skin is always pure and he who

.
’
,

sits thereon does not contract any uncleanness .

96
96 96

Th e Pourohi t a should then perform the san colpa or -

,

pr eparation of the so ul in which he is absorbed in the

,

cont e mplation of V i schn ou who is represente d as the au

,

thor and preserver of the universe .

96
96 96

H e should regard hi m as a distributor of e very favor ,

an d as one who crown s with success all our enterprises .

With this view he Should pronounce h is n ame three times

and offer h im adoration .

96 96

H e should then contemplate the infinite perfection of

Brahma He should po n der over the three triads which
.
,
l

have sprung from him an d ha v e c r eated the eight mil

,

lion four hundred thousand kinds o f livin g creatur es at ,

the h ead o fwhich i s man .

96

He should then ponder over the existence of the uni

ve r se which is to last a hundred yea r s of the gods which
, ,
’

are divided into four periods ofwhich the first secon d , , ,

and half of the third have already elapsed He shoul d .

then perform an oblation t o the u n i v erse .

Na a N i Vi r dj
r -
ar -
a Ayn i V y S
-
o a- o r u ya B hm
ra a V i sc h n ou- S iv a .

2
Eac h y ear of t h e g ods i s qu l t
e a o se v e ra l t h ousan ds of the lu n ar

y ears .
 O C CUL T SC I ENCE I N I ND I A . 35

H e should th ink of the different incarnations of Visch

n ou and of that of the be ar under whose form the god
,

vanquishe d the giant Hi ran n i a .

96
96 96

He should prostrate himself before the fourteen cate

g o r i es of celestial (Pitris ) and inferior spirits b y which
t he universe is fil led .

96
96 96

He shoul d perform an o b lation to the pure fluid whic h

is calle d Agasa and which is the essence of life
,
.

96
96 96

H e should pronounce the mysterious monosylla ble which

was to be kept from the knowledge of the m ultitude by ,

merely moving his lips .

96 96

He should offer sacri fice to S w ay a mbhou a the self ex

v ,
-

i st en t being .

96
l

H e should evoke the spirits of his ancestors and ask

them to b e present at the ceremony .

96
96 96

He should drive away all evil sp i rits whose presence

might otherwise disturb the sacr i fices .

96
96 96

He sh o uld propitiate the supe rior spirit I O ulear who ’

,

p r esides over obstacles an d brings enterpris e s to a success

ful issue .

All the guests should repair again to the sacred tank

o fablution where they purify th e mselves according to their
,

method prescribed .
36 OC C U L T SC I EN C E I N INDI A .

Upon their return the B rahmat c hary or n e ophyte , ,

shoul d take his pl a ce beneath t he pandal o f flower s an d ,

a ll th e married wo m en present should chant consecra t ed

psalms and at the same time anoint his limbs with pe r
fumed oi l and saf fro n an d rub his eyelids with antimony .

96
96 96

When his toilet is fini shed the father and mother o f the
n eoph y te should take their place b y his side beneath the

pandal and th e wo men should perform upon their head s

,

th e ceremony of t h e arat ty, in ord e r to remov e evil

omens .

96
96 96

Th e Poudj a or sacrifi ce is then Of

,
fered to all the tute
,

lary spirits o fthe fa mily as well as the firstli n g s of all the

,

dishes pr epared for the repa st .

96
96 96

All the men and women should t he n sit down on cocoa

nut leaves covered with lotus leave s and should t urn their ,

backs so that they may not see each other eat .

96
96 96

Rice clarified b utter o i l sugar fruits and vegetables

, , , , ,

are then brou g ht i n for the feast and at the close of the ,

repast the father distributes b etel and gives a present t o

t he Pourohi t a after which everybody retires
,
.

96
96 96

S uch was the fir st day of the O upan ayan a .

96
96 96

The next day was called Mouhour t a or the great day , ,

f or it was tha t on which the n eophyte was to be invested

with the girdle .

96
96 96

Th e B rah mat cha y r sh oul d tak e his plac e b en e ath t he

 O C C U L T SC I E N C E I N I ND I A . 37

pan dal b etween his father and mother and all three
, ,

should turn their faces t o w a r d the E ast .

96
96 96

The B rahmat chary should have hi s loins girt around

w ith n ew linen of pure materi al and the women sho uld , .

gen t ly rub hi s chest and ar ms with the powdered saffron

and sandal wood m i ngled an d should sing consecrated
-
,

psalms .

96
96 96

The Pourohi t a should then advance with a silver fur

n ace filled with bur n i n g coals : he should perf orm the
sacrifice to the spirits b y evoking the m around the fire
, ,

and should throw incense and powdered san d al wood upo n -

the fire to gratify their sense ofsmell

,
.

This fire should be carefully kept until the end of the

fes t ival O upan ayan a for ifit should happen to be ex t i n
,

g ui she d great harm might ensue and the familiar spirits

, ,

might desert the house .

96 96

The preservation ofthis fire should be given in ch arge

to ni n e Brahmins and their wives .

All the married women who happ e n to b e among the

gue sts should go in great pomp to the consecrated tank .
,

preceded by musical instruments an d bearing a C opper ,

vessel which they are to fill with water

,
.

Upon th e ir retu rn to t he house they shoul d cover t he

mouth of the vessel wi t h man g o leaves and hang above i t ,

a branch of a banana t ree freshly c ut with all its fr uits

, ,
.
38
‘
OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN IND IA .

They shoul d all then go together to the neighboring

forest where having found a nest of white ants they
, , ,

should fill ten ear then pots with earth beaten and s i f t ed
by these animals .

96

Returning then to the o ther guests they should plan t ,

in these pots t e n different kinds of seeds which they ,

shoul d sprinkle with water taken f r om the sacred tan k .

96
96 96

When this has b een done the Pour ohi t a should bring
,

all the pots together and stretch over the m a fin e cloth ;

he should reci te the inv o cation t o the tutelary spi rits and
a sk them to manifest their po w er by auspicious omens .

96
96 96

I mposing hands above the cloth he should then pro

hi s ,

nounce in a low voice u n hea r d b y those pre sent the fol ,

lowing magic words

A g ui mPd Pdtra
- -
.

Pa r y dy a .

Pa r owa
‘
.

These ar e S anscrit word s S ignifying

,

A gui m —sacred fir e ,

P ct— holy w a ter ,

Pdtr a — pur i fie d ves sel ,

Pa ry dy a magic vegetation
-
,

Pa r ooca — invisi b le
‘

The Pourohi t a should utte r the se w or ds nine ti me s

n ine times .The tutelary spirits will then manifest the m
selves and the cloth is gradually raised dur ing the continu
a nce ofthe invocation .

Th e Pourohi t a should then remove the cloth and he ,

will find that the t e n s ee ds have appeared ab ove the earth

 OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN I ND IA . 39

in the ten pots and ten shrubs have grown as high as the
,

Pour ohi ta s forehead bearing flowers and fruits each after

’
,

its kind .

96
96 96

The B rahmat chary s mother should th e n weave a crown

’

offlowers gathered f rom these trees and should place i t ,

upon her son s head The Pourohi t a should then di st ri b

’
.

ute among all of those present the fruits which have grown
beneath the cloth whic h the guests should eat repeatin g
, ,

the following wor d s three times :

The auspicious omen has manifested itself .

The auspicious omen has manifested itself .

The auspicious omen has man i fested itself .

The B rahmat chary then receives t he triple cord of the

n ovitiate .

96
96 96

A invocation was then made to the spirits of the

n ew

planets and ancestors thankin g them for their protection

,

and interv ention an d a piece of consecrated saffron was

,

attache d about th e young Brah mi n s neck ’

.

96
96 96

Th e barber sh ould then shave the neophyte s h ead and ’

cut th e nails o f h is fe et an d hands to the sound of the

wom e n s songs accompani e d by t he musician from the
’
,

pagoda .

96

Th e young B rahmin is then required to take a bath in

the tank o f al lut i on in order to remove any i mpurity
,

which h e may have contracted by being in con t ac t wi t h

the barb er w h o is unclean an d the women attire him in
, ,

n e w and pur e lin e n garm e nts .

96 96

The Pourohi t a then advances to his side and by the i m ,

position ofhan d s, r e moves his ignorance and qualifies him

40 OC CUL T SC IENCE IN IND IA .

for the study ofthe sciences which will n ow occupy every

,

mome n t o f his time He should then gird about hi s

.

waist a t ri ple girdle woven from the sacre d grass ofthe

‘

D arba .

96
96 96

Reciting the conj uration s of the neck an d bosom t he ,

Po urohi t a then decorates the neophyte with the triple

g i r dle of the Brahminic initiation and consecrat e s hi m ,

B r ahm at c hary or candidate for initiation .

96
96 96

At this ti me a Guru or m a ster of th e sacred sci e nce is

, ,

chosen for the young B rahmat c hary He must be more .

than si x ty years O ld .

The Guru should take his n ew pupi l aside and tu r n ,

ing his f ace toward the E ast he should say to him O h !

, ,

my son you have n ow taken your seat by the side of

,

men may your body be free from all impurity ; may you r
,

thoughts always turn toward th e good for Brahma will ,

n ow commence to know you by your actions .

96
96 96

Know that the shades ofyour ancestors in an aerial

fo rm wil l attend you in all your studies an d will reveal to ,

you hereafter if you are worthy the gran d secret ofbeing

, , .

96
96 96

Always bear in mind that what you will n ow learn

should never be revealed to the vul gar herd and that y o u ,

will never arrive at the end of your initiation if you a r e

una ble to hide the secret of th in gs in the deepest recesses
”
ofyour heart .

96
96 96

Having uttered these words the Guru for t he fi rst time ,

calls th e young Bramat chary D oui dj a which m e ans t wic e

, ,

born .
42 OC CUL T SC I ENC E I N I ND IA .

by a Pour ohi t a th ey are present du r ing the whole f esti

,

v al an d they almost exclusively receive the sacrifice o b la

, ,

tions an d firstli n g s of all the dishes prepared for the

,

repast whi ch terminat e s the mysterious celebrations of

e ach particular day .

V i schn ou as well as Brahma the lo r d of all bein g s

, , ,

and the master ofgods and men is only evoked by t he ,

Pourohi t a in order to prepare himself for the ceremony

by th e con templation of the perfections ofthe creator and
preserver ofthe un iverse .

Th e B rahmat chary continues his studies as novice unti l

t he time of his marriage which takes place about the si x
,

t ee n t h or eighteenth year of his age D uring this period .

he lives with his Guru or directo r and engages in the

, ,

study of the sacred books and of the mathematical and

,

astronomical sciences .

He is not yet admitted to the study ofthe occult sci en ces,

whose first principles he will only begin to learn when he
ha s reache d the d egree of G ri hast a or head of a family , ,

o r of Po u r ohi t a o r Officiati n g priest

,
.

Th e following instructions are taken from Manu

After the initiation of the B rahmat chary th e Guru ,

teac h es hi m the duty of pur ity and morality the main ,

t en an c e of the sacred fire and the mornin g n oon and

, , ,

even i ng san dyas which are a kind of prayers

,
.

96 96

After hav ing performed the prescribed ablutions and ,

before openin g the Veda turning his face towar d th e

,

E ast the B rahmat c hary should pay h omage to th e sov

,

erei n master ofth e univ e rse

g .

96
96 96

D uring th e reading of the Ve da he shoul d control hi s

senses an d stand with clasped han d s in an attitu d e o f
,

homag e b efor e th e sacr ed scripture s At th e comm enc e .

 OC C U L T SCIENC E IN INDI A . 43

ment an d close of the reading he should kiss th e f e e t of

,

his dir e ctor and n ot commence n or stop until h e he ars the

,

Guru t ell hi mto b egin hi s studies or to d e sist .

96

Always at the comm e ncement or en d of h is r e ading

, ,

h e should pronounce the sacred monosyllable A U M , , , ,

which contains the mystery of the Trinity That w i ll

”

make him remember what he has l e arne d otherwis e it ,

will vani sh l i ke l e tt ers trac e d upon th e waters .

96
96 96

He should pronounce this mysterious monosyllable ,

which is an in vocation to the T ri mourt i and which ex

pr e sses the substance of the Veda accord ing to Brahma ,

himself with fa ce turned toward the E ast ; he sh ould be

,

fre e from all impurity shoul d hold his breath an d h av e in

, ,

hi s h ands a stalk o f sacr e d cousa grass .

96
96 96

The B rahmat chary should n ever caus e t he sli ghest

t rouble to the Guru who has undertaken to ed ucat e him
.

and to instruct him in the knowle dge of the sacr e d scrip

tures He sho ul d venerate h im l i ke a fat her an d mother
. .

I t now her e appears in the A g rouc hada Parik chai that it -

is lawful f or the B r ahmat chary to make use of the i n v o

cation of the mysterious monosyllable A U M as h e is , , , ,

allow ed to do by Manu but the ancient legislator uses

,

th e word h ere in its v ulgar sense in which it repres ents ,

the religious tria d as f or th e mystical sign i fication of the

t h ree lett ers he f orbids its e xplanation l i ke th e book of
, ,

t he Pitris .

a at

T he primitiv e holy syllable compose d o f the t h ree let

,

t ers in w hic h the vedic trinity i s compris ed , s h ould b e

,

k ept s e cr e t (Manu, book xi , sloc a

. .
44 OC C UL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

W e shall not describe in the present work th e B rah mat

c hary s
’
marriage ceremony nor his funeral in case of hi s
,

death befor e his novitiate i s complet e d The r e stricte d

.

li mits of a single volume will not allow us to d well upon

these matters except at the e xp ense of the more int ere sting
parts of our subj ect .

The real practice of the occult scienc e s d id not com

mence until the second or third degree of initiation I t .

is mainly important that we should make ourselves ac

q u a i n t e d with t,
h ese the novitiate and the first cla s s of ini

t i at i on being only preparatory to the higher degrees .

S uffice it to say that the evocation of the anc e stral

shades of the Pitris always formed a prominent feature ,

b oth of the marriage ceremony and of the fun e ral rite s .

T hey coul d not tak e plac e without th ei r bein g pr e sent .

 C HAPT E R V .

T HE FIR ST DE GRE E OF I N ITI ATION — AB LU TION S— PRAYE R

CE RE MON IE S— E VO CATION .

[Tak en from the A gr ouchada Pa ri kc hai -

.
]
A fter his marriage the B rahmat chary left th e class of
,

n e ophytes but he did not h o weve r e n ter that of the Gri

, , ,

bastas or heads of family who had been admitted to the

, ,

first degree ofi nitiation I n order to do so it was requi

.
,

site first , that he should have paid his ancestors debt by

,
’

the birth ofa son who would perpetuate th eir race ; sec
,

o n d that he should be deemed worthy upon the report

, ,

o fhis Gu r u of taking this step

,
.

Upon admission he might re main a S i mple Gri hast a or ,

he might be attached to the service of a pagoda in the ,

capacity o f a Pourohi t a in either ca se he was n ow a ,

member ofthe g r eat sacerdotal family and du ring twenty ,

years all the acts of his daily life would be instrumenta l

in the preparation both mentally an d physically by medi
, ,

t at i on prayers sacrifices ablu t ions an d t he stricte st atten

, , , ,

tion to personal cleanliness for the s upe r io r transfo rmation

,

which was n ow the obj ect ofall hi s effort s .

According to the first pa r t of the A g r ouc hada Pari kc hai -

,

which we have already quoted and which is called the ,

N i t t i a C arma th e followin g is an account of the i n n umer

-
,

able corpor e al an d spiritual pur i fic at i on s which we r e en

j oined upon him and none of which could be neglected
,

under the s evere st penalties .

They ar e d ivid e d in the original w ork in the following

mann er
46 OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN IND I A .

96 96

The Gri hast a shoul d leave hi s mat every morning befo r e

sunrise and his first words upon leaving his bed sho ul d
, , ,

b e an invocation to V i schn ou .

96
96 96

He should then address the great essence whose num b er ,

thr ee is contained in on e as well as the superio r spirits

, ,

saying Brahma ! V i sc hn ou! S iva ! and you superior

, ,

Genii of the seven planets cause the day to appear

, .

x.

96 96

The second name which he should pronounce is that of ,

the Guru under whom he has accomplished his novitiate .

He should say
O holy Guru I o ffer you my adorations and I love
,

you as a superior spi r it who has already left the world .

I t is through your wise l e ssons that I have bee n able to

avoid evil .

96 96

He should then pray to the supe rio r Bei n g to descend ,

in to his heart saying

,

B r ahma is n ow within me and I shall enj oy the m o st

,

perfect happines s .

96
96 96

He should then address V i schn ou saying ,

O God w ho art the p urest of spiri t s the principle of

, ,

all things the master of the world and the fe r tilize r o f

, ,

nature it is by thy orders that I have lef t my couch and

,

h a ve ventured among the shoals of life .

96

He should then pon der ove r the duties of the day a n d ,

the good works and meritorious action s which it is his

d uty to perfor m .
 O C CUL T SCIENCE I N I ND IA . 47

He should rememb er in order to be agreeable to the

,

gods that all his actions Should b e performed wi t h fervor

,

a n d piety not negligently o r perfunct o rily

,
.

96
96 96

Having se t his mind upon the perfo r ma n ce of every

du t y he should then utte r aloud the thousand n ame s of
,

V i sc hn ou .

The A g rouc hada gives th e whole litany of V i schn ou ,

which is actually composed o f a thousand names They .

commence as follows
H a il to V i sc hn ou!
Hail to H a ry !
Hail to N arayana
Hail to C ov i n da !
Hail to Ke chv a ! etc .

reader gladly di spense with the

FIR ST P ART .

T he Regula r A blut i on s .

Taking in h is han d a copper vessel he sho uld g o to ,

some isolated place at least an arrow s flight fro m his

,
’

d w elling to perform his needs

,
.

I t is impossi ble for us to giv e these singular p r ecepts

in full T h ey are alike among all E a stern people We
. .

read in D euteronomy chapter 2 3 verses 1 2 and 1 3 (Ha

, ,
.

bebi s locum ex tr a ca str a ad g uemegr edi a r i s a d r equi si ta

ur es, g er ens p a m
n at i llumi n ba lteo c um gue seder i s, f odi es

per c i rc ui tum,
et e esta hum
g o op er i es ) .

96
96 96

I n the choice of a suitable place he should avoid the

ground of a temple an d the b anks of a rive r o r ,
a t ank ,
a

well a muc h t r avelled road or a sac r ed w o od

,
-
,
.
48 OCCUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

H e sho uld not w e ar the pure cloth which he use s as a

g arment .

H e shoul d suspend the triple co r d which is a sign of his ,

digni ty from his left ear

,
.

96
96 96

He shoul d stop in a place where he is sur e of not b ei n g

seen and whil e he stays there he shoul d n ot have in mind
,

o r sight t h e gods the Pitris the ancestral shades t h e sun

, , , , ,

the moon the seven planets or fi r e or a Brahmin , a tem

, , ,

ple a statu e ofth e divini t y or a woman

, ,
.

96
96 96

He should maintain the profoundest silence .

96
96 96

He should chew nothing an d have no b urden upon his

head .

96 96

Upon his depart ure after washing his fe e t an d hands

,

in the water contain e d in a covered vesse l he should go ,

to the banks ofa river or tank to perform the a b lution of

his secret parts .

Havin g come to the bank s of the river or tank whe r e

he propos e s to purify himself he shOuld choose a suita b le ,

place and a little fine sand which he should use in c on

,

j unction with the water to e f

fect his puri fication .

96
96 96

H e should know that there are several k inds of impure

earths which he should not use to wit eart h thro w n up ,

by ants that from which the salt has been e xtracted clay
, , ,

the earth upon a hig h road that which has been used for
,

making lye, th at which is f ound under a tree or i n the

50 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN I ND I A .

Havin g terminated this invocation he should cut a lo n g ,

stick from a palm t r ee t he en d of which he should

soften in his mouth like a brush
, .

96
96 96

S itting upon the edge of t he water with hi s face tur n ed ,

t oward the E ast he should rub all his teeth with the s t i c k
,

of wood and S hould rinse out his mouth three times wi t h

pure water .

96
96 96

I t is not lawful fo r him to cleanse himself thu s eve r y

day He sh o uld abstain the sixth eighth nin t h eleven th
.
, , , ,

and fourteenth day of the n e w and full moo n .

96
96 96

He should abstain on Tue sd ay of e v ery w eek an d o n ,

the day presided ove r b y the c on stellation beneath whi c h

he was b orn as well as upon the day of the week an d
,

month corresponding to that ofhis b irth .

96
96 96

He sh ould abstain du ring eclipses planetary c on j un c ,

ti ons equinoxes solstices a n d other inau spicio us periods ;

, , ,

upon the an n iversa ry o f hi s father s or mo t her s de a t h ’ ’

he sh oul d understand that all this is absolutely forbidden .

96
96 96

S E C ON D P ART .

Rules for Gen er a l A bla ti on s .

Upon going to the rive r o r tank of ablutions t he

Brahmi n should change the water of the river or tank b y ,

the po w e r of the following invocation into the sacred ,

waters o f the Ganges :

96 96

I n v oca t i on .

O Ganges you were born from the boso m of Brahma

, ,

whenc e you de sc e n d ed upon the h ead of S iva and the

 OC C U L T SCIENCE I N INDI A . 51

feet o f V i schn ou and came down to earth to wip e out the

,

sins of mankind to pu r ify them from their uncleanness and

, ,

to Obtain happines s fo r them ; you are the refuge and

s tay of all animated creatur e s that live o n this earth I .

have confidence in you take back again your holy water

fr om th is river in which I am about to perform my ablu
tions in this manner you will purify my soul and body .

96
96 96

He should thi n k o f the spirit s who preside over the

sacred rivers which are seven in number— Ganges Ya
, ,

mouna S indou Godav ery, S arasv at ty N erbouda and

, , , ,

C av e r
y .

96
96 96

Then entering the water he should direct his attention

towa r d the Gaug es and imagine that he is really per
,

formin g his abl ution s in that river .

96
96 96

After bathing he should turn toward the sun and ,

taki n g some water in his hands three times he should ,

perform an oblatio n to that luminary three times letting ,

the water drip slowly from t he en d of his fin gers .

96
96 96

He sh ould then come o ut of the water gir d his loin s ,

with a p ure cloth put another upon hi s shoul ders and sit
, ,

do w n w ith his face turne d toward the E ast an d with his ,

C opper vessel full of wat e r standing near him : he s h ould

t hen rub h is f orehea d with groun d sandal woo d and trace -

the re d mark calle d T iloky accord ing to the practice of

,

his cast e .

96
96 96

He sh ould the n hang from his neck th r ee garlan d s o f

flow ers o f dif
ferent colors prepared by h is wife an d shoul d ,

fi nish by suspen d ing from hi s n e ck a ch aple t o f t he r ed

seed call ed B oudrak chas .
52 OCCUL T SC I ENCE IN I NDIA .

H e should then thin k ofV i schn ou an d sh oul d d rink of

t he water contained in his vase three tim e s in his honor .

He should aga in perf orm three libations to th e sun pour ,

i n g a littl e water upon the earth .

as
96 96

H e should p erform a similar libation in honor of the

c e lestial T r i mour t i — Brahm a V i schn ou S iva ; and of
, ,

t he superior spi ri t s l n dra Agny Yama N e i ri t i a V a

w

, , , ,

r oun a V ahi v o u C ou
,
v e r d and I sania
,
.
,

96
96 96

To th e air to the ether to the earth to the pure fl uid

, , , ,

A g asa to the uni ver sal principle of fo rce an d life and to

, ,

all the Pitris and ancestral shades uttering th e names of ,

all those which occur to his mind .

96
96 96

He should then arise an d pay homage to V i schn ou re ,

citing in his hon or the p r ayers which a r e most agreeable

to him .

96
96 96

Turnin g aroun d slowly three tim e s he shoul d pronounce ,

the names of the divine Trinity nine times at every revo

,

luti on . Then uttering slo w ly the three names contained in

the mysterious mo n o syllable— Brahma V i sc hn ou S iva , ,

he sho ul d make nin e revolutions at each repetition there o f .

96 96

Wh en he pronounces the mysterious monosyllable itse lf

in a low tone he should rapidl y make nin e revol ution s an d
,

recite the followi ng invoca t ion to th e sun

0 S un ! you ar e the ey e of Bra hma at d ay b reak t he -

,

ey e o f V i schn ou at noon , an d that o f S iva at e v en ing .

 O C C U L T S C I E NCE IN I NDI A . 53

Yo uare the diamond of th e Infinite the precious stone of ,

the air the king of day the witness of all actions that
, ,

take place in the unive r se Your warmth fertili z es na .

t ure .You are the measure of time You regula te .

days nights weeks months years cycles calpas y u

, , , , , , ,

y as ,
se asons and th e time for
,
ablutions and pr ayer .

Yo u are the lor d of th e n ine planets You remove .

a ll the impur ities of the globe You scatter d ark n ess .

wherever you appear I n the space of si x ty g ahdi as .

you survey fro m your chariot the whole o f the great

mountain of the north which extends for ni n ety mil lions,

si x hundred y o dj omas I offer you my ado r ation as t o

.
,

the superior spirit which watches ov e r th e e arth .

96
96 96

I n honor of his tutelary star an d of spirit w hich th e

ani mates it he then turns around twelve ti mes t w enty
, ,

four times or if his streng th enables hi m t w enty four

,
-

t i mes f orty e ig ht times

,
-
.
‘

96

I n this manner he disciplines the body incre ases , his

strength and prepares himse lf for mysterious evocations
,
.

He then go e s toward the tree A ssonata and after rest , , ,

ing himself in i t s shade he addre sses to it the follo win g ,

invocation :

I n v oca ti on .

0 Tree A ssouat a you are the ki ng o f the fores ts

a n d the image and symbol of the gods Yo ur r oots repre .

s ent Brahma your trunk V i sc hn o u and y o ur b ranches

, ,

S iv a ; thus you represent the T r i mourt i All those who .

honor you in this world b y pe r fo rming the ce re mo n y of

This i u d ubt dly t h ig i ft h
s n o e e or n o e B on z es an d w hi l i
r ng de r v i
s h es.
9
A ll B h mi s pl t th em b ut t h i
ra n an a o e r te mpl es an d d we l li n g- h u
o ses
54 O C C U L T SC I ENCE I N I NDI A .

i mitation ,by t ur n i n g around you and by celebrating your ,

praises ob t ain t he kn ow ledg e of thi n gs in thi s world and a

,

su
p er i or or m
f in another .

96
96 96

He then revol v e s a rou n d the t r ee sev en f ourteen , ,

twenty on e twe n ty eight t hirty fi v e times and more until

-
,
-
,
-
,

h is strength is exhaus t ed al w ays increasing the numb e r of

,

revolutions by seven .

96 96

Wh en he is re sted he should engage for a while in de , ,

von t meditation ; he should then clothe hims elf with clean

gar m ents and
,
after plucking
,
a few flowers with which to
Offer sacrifices to the do me st ic spirits he s h oul d r e turn to ,

th
e h ous e, wit h h is vessel full of water .

96
96 96

T HI RD PAR T .

A f
c ts a ter A bluti ons .

Upon ret urning ho me t he G ri hast a performs the sacri

fi ce to the fire a n d c a n t hen a t t end to his other duties .

96
96 96

At noon aft er orderin g his mid day meal h e S houl d r e

,
-
,

turn to the ri v er fo r the purpose of repeati n g the sandya

and of reciti n g the prayers w hich will be hereaft er gi v e n
in the ritual .

96

Then he should return home and try to keep hi mself ,

pure b y carefully ab st a inin g f r om touching or walking

upon anyt hing capable ofcontaminatin g him .

96
96 96

If he should come in contact with any person of an in

fer i or cast e, or sh oul d step upon any veg e tabl e or an i mal
 O C C U L T SC I ENCE I N I N D I A .
55

detri t us , upon any hai r o r b ones he should return to , t he

ri v e r and repeat hi s a b l ut ion s .

96 96

He should b e in a state of perfect purity in order t o

offe r the sacrifice to the Pitris which it n ow become s his
O fli ce t o pe r form .

96
96 96

After preparing himself for this important cere mon y ,

he should thoughtfully enter the room in his house r e

served for t he domestic spirits which he is accustomed to

evoke and should engage in the cere moni e s preparatory

,

to evocat ion .

E v oca ti on i n the Fi rst D egr ee .

After darkenin g a part of the room he should d eposit

in that portion of it a va se ful l of water a lamp and som e , ,

powder e d sandal wood boiled rice and incense

-
, , .

96
96 96

S napping hi s fingers to g ether and turning around ,

upon his heels h e should trace before the door the magic
circles as taught him by the superior Guru in order to ,

prevent the entrance o f any bad spirits from the out side
and to confine within it any which h av e already pene
t rat e d to the sanctuary ofthe Pitris .

96
96 96

With earth wat er and fire breathed upon three time s

, , , ,

h e shoul d compose a n e w body for himself an d with a pa r t ,

of his shoul d form a body for the Spirits which he i n

,

tends to e vok e f or th e sacrifice .

96
96 96

He should then compress the right nostril with his

t humb an d pronounce the monosyllable D j om’ sixteen .
56 OC CUL T SC I ENCE IN IND I A .

time s B r e athi ng in strongly by his left nostril he shoul d

.

by d egr ee s s e parate the particles of which h is body i s

compos ed .

Wit h the t h umb an d fore fin g er h e shoul d then pre ss

-

b oth nostrils and pronounce th e wor d Rom si x tim es .

He s h oul d stop breathing an d summon fir e to hi s ai d i n

ord e r to dispers e hi s bo dy .

4
96

He should pronounce the wor d L om t h irty t wo times, -

w hen his sou l will escape fro m hi s bo d y an d hi s body

,

will disappear and the soul o f the spirits h e h as ev oked

w ill animat e th e n ew b ody h e prepare d f or it .

96
96 96

His soul w i ll then r e turn to h is bo d y t he subtil e parts

,

o f w h ich will unite an e w a fter forming an a erial body for

,

th e spirits w h ic h h e has evoke d .

Pronouncing th e sacre d word A um! t h re e times an d

t hemagic syllable D j o m! nine times h e shoul d impo se

,

his h ands abov e the lamp and th ro w a pinch o f inc e n se

upon the flam e sayi ng :
,

96

O subli me Pitri ! O illustrio us penitent n arad a !

whom I h av e e voked and f or w h om I hav e f ormed a sub
tile body fro m the constituent particles of my o wn are ,

you present ? Appear in the smoke o f incen se and take

part i n the sacri fice that I offer to th e s h ades o f my an
c est ors .

Whe n he h as r e ceived a suitabl e answe r an d t he a erial

bo dy of t he spirit e vok ed has app e ar ed in th e smoke of
58 OCC UL T SCIENCE I N IND IA .

At suns e t h e should return to th e river to p e rf orm th e

,

c e r e mony o f ablution the same as in the morning

,
.

96
96 96

U pon ret urn ing to the house he should again perform ,

an oblation to the fire an d should recite the thousan d

,

names of the Hary S maran a or th e litanies ofV i sc hn o u

-
,
.

96
96 96

He should then repair to the temple to hear the le sson

given b y the superior Guru to the Gri hast as and Pouro
hitas who h ave passed through the first degree of initiation .

96
96 96

He shoul d never enter the temple e mpty han d ed He .

should carry as a present either oil for the lamps or cocoa ,

nuts bananas camphor inc ense or sandal wood which

, , , ,
-
,

are used in the sacrifices If he is poor, he sho ul d give a

.

little b etel .

Before entering th e temple he should make a circuit of

it three times and perform before t he door t he S chak
,

t an ga or prostration ofthe si x limbs

,
.

96
96 96

Aft er he arin g t h e lesson s and taking part in the evoca

tions of the Pitris w ith the other members of his o r der
, ,

he should perform his devotion s and return home bein g ,

careful to avoid any impurities in order to take his even ,

ing repast, afte r w h ich he s h ould imme d iately li e down .

He sh ould ever pas s the night in a place consecrated

n

to the spirits When travell i n g he S houl d b e careful n ot

.
,

to lie down in the sh adow of a tree o r in a ploughed o r ,

moist fi el d or in place s cov ered with ashe s or by the edge

, ,

ofa cem e tery .

 OCC UL T S C I EN C E I N I ND I A . 59

U pon lying d own he should offer his adoration to the

d ivine T ri mour ti an d Should recite the invocation to th e
,

spirit call ed Kalassa, wh ich is agr ee abl e to S iva .

K a lassa .

May th e spirit B ahi rav a preserv e my h e ad from acci

dent th e spirit Bichava my foreh e a d ; the spirit Bouta
,

C arma my ears ; the spirit Pr e ta Bab ava my f ace ; the -

S pirit Bouta C arta my thighs ; the spirits D at ys (who

-

were endowed with immens e strength ) my shoulders ;

K alapam y my hands ; C hanta my chest ; K e t ri c a my
stomach ; Patt ou my generative organs ; Kat rapala my
ribs ; Kebr ay a my mouth ; C hi dda— Pat t ou my ankl e s ,

an d the superior S pir it Yama my w h ole body May fi re .

,

which is the e ssenc e of th e lif e of both gods an d men ,

preserve me from all harm , wher e v e r I may be May .

the wives o f the s e spirits watch over my children my ,

cows my horses an d my e l ephants may V i schn ou watc h

, ,

over my nativ e lan d .

May God who s e es all t h in gs watch ov e r my f amil y an d

, ,

eve ryth in g else and also watch ov er me when I am in

, ,

any plac e wh ic h is not un de r the car e of any di vinity .

96
96 96

He should conclude by the invocation to Brahma, th e

lord of cr e atur e s .

I n v oc a ti on to B r a h ma .

O B rahma ! wh at is this mystery which is repeated

every night af t e r the labors of the day are ov e r and every ,

o n e has retur n ed from the fields and the flocks are all in ,

their f olds an d the e v eni ng repast is ov e r ?

,

96
96 96

B e h ol d ,
ev ery on e lies do w n upon hi s mat an d close s his
eyes an d th e whole body cea se s t o e x i s t and is abandone d
, ,
60 OC C U L T S C I EN C E I N I ND IA .

by the soul i n order that it may hold converse with the

soul of its ancestors .

X
-

96 96

Watc h over it O Brahma ! wh en forsaking the body

, , ,

which is asleep i t floats hither and thither upon the waters

, ,

or wanders through the immensities of the heavens o r ,

penetrates the da r k an d mysterious recesses of th e valleys

and forest o f Hymav at .

96
96

O Brahma ! God all powerful who commandest the

-
,

storms the God of light and darkness let my soul not for
, ,

get after its wanderings to return in the morning to ani

, , ,

mate my body and rem i nd me of thee .

96
96

He shoul d then stretch himself upon his mat an d go t o

sl e ep B en efic en t S p i rits will watch over his repo se (A g
. .

ronchad a Parik chai )

-
.
 C HAPT E R VI .

T HE FI RS T DE GRE E or INI TIAT ION .

Morn i n g , N oon , an dE v en i n g S an dy as .
‘

W hen t e n years h av e b ee n spent t h e first degr ee o f in

i n itiation and ther e st i ll remain s an e qual perio d o f tim e
be fore th e Gri hast as an d Pourohi t as can become S an n y assi s
an d V an a pra st has or in oth er wor ds can arrive at t he
, , ,

second degree of in itiation , many prayers m ust be add ed

t o the morning noon an d e venin g ceremonies of ablution
, , .

W h en he h as reache d t h is period of his life th e candi

dat e i s no lon ger his own master He spends almost all .

o f h is time in prayers f astings an d in m ort i ficat i on s o f

, ,

e very description His nights are partly devoted to cer e

.

monies of evocation in the temple und e r the d irection o f

t he superior Gur u He eats only once a day af ter sun
.
,

set A ll t he occult forc e s are put in op e ration to mo d ify

.

hi s physiological organ ization and give his powers a special

direction Few Brahmins e ver arrive at th e second d e
.

g ree o f initiation The myst e rious

. an d t e rrible phe
n om en a w h ich th ey pro d uce cannot b e put in operation

w ithout the ex e rcis e o f a sup ernatural power, w h ich very

fe w are enabled to master .

Most Brahmins th e refor e, n ever get b eyon d the class o f

,

Gri hast as an d Pourohi t as W e sh all s e e how e v e r when

.
, ,

w e hav e finished with th e prayer and e xtern al f orm u la ,

t he obj e ct of which is to disciplin e t h e intellect by the

daily r epetition of the same acts and w h en we approac h ,

T rans at e l d fomth r e A grouc h ada-Parik c hai .

62 OCC UL T SCIENCE IN I NDI A .

t he subj ect of
th e man i festations an d phenomena which the ,

ini t iates ofthe first degree claim to perform (a clai mwhich

is apparently well founded ) that their faculties have been
,

develope d to a degree whic h has never been equalled in

E urope .

As for those who belong to the second and p articularly ,

the third classes they claim that time and space are un
,

k n own to them and th at they have command over man

,

and death .

96

The f ollowin g are the prayers which du r ing the second ,

period of ten years of the fi r st degree of ini t iation are to ,

b e adde d to the ceremonies and invocations previously pre

s cribed as acts o f int e llectual discipline intended to pre

vent the su bj ect from remaining for a single ins t ant

under the infl ue nce of his o wn thoughts .

96 96

The e vocations which we give below are met with with ,

slight deviations in all the dialects of Indi a an d are

, ,

claime d by r eligious sects They are also in strict con

.

formity wi th t he rite of the Yadj our Veda -

.

T he Morn i n
g S an dy a .

At t h e en d o f ten ye ars and d urin g the ensuing ten

years if he fe els str ong enough to attain the i m
, p er i sha ble ,

the Gri hast a should recite the f ollowing prayers at his

morning abluti ons in a d dition to thos e alre a dy pr e scribe d
, .

96
96 96

He shoul d comm e nc e all h is exercises by the f ollowing

evocation
A pav i traha, pav i t raha sarva v ast a m .

G at opi v a y a smar e t poun k ari k ak chan .

S abahi abhi a mtara so uchi hy .

 OCC U L T SC I ENC E I N I ND I A . 63

The man w ho i s p ure o r impu re or w ho i s i n a pe r il ou s ,

situation whatever it may b e has only t o i n v oke hi m

, ,

w hose eyes are o fthe same color as the lotu s (pond lily ) t o
be pure in tern ally as well a s externally an d t o b e sa v ed ,
.

He should continue b y the i n vocati o n t o t he w at e r

I n v oca ti on t o the Wa ter .

O W ater ! o n sec r a t ed by the fi v e pe rf umes and by

c

p r ayer th ou a r t pu r e w hether t ake n f r o mt he sea from

, , ,

rivers from tank s o r from well purify thou my bo dv

, ,

f rom all uncleanness .

96 96

As the traveller we a ry wi t h t he h ea t fin ds relief in t he

, ,

shade of a tree so may I fin d in t he sa cred water relief

,

f rom every ill and purificatio n fro mall my sins .

96
96 96

O consecrated wate r ! t hou art the essence of sac r ifice

and germ of life In t hy b o som all germs have been
.

begotten all beings h ave b een formed

, .

96
96 96

I invoke thee with the c on fiden ce child who at the o fa ,

appearance ofdan ger rushes i n t o the arms of hi s mother

, ,

who loves him tende rly Purify me from my faults and .

purify all men with me .

96 96

0 water ! consecrated at the ti me o f the pralaya chao -

— Brahma or the supreme wis dom— S w a ambhouv a or

, y ,

the being existing by his ow n s t rength d w elt under thy ,

form Th ou wert confounde d with h im

. .

96
96 96

He su d denly appeared upon the vast billows whic h

ruffle d th e surface o f infinite space and cre a t ed a form i n
64 OCC U L T SCIENC E I N I NDI A .

w hic h he r ev e ale d h imself an d separated th e land fro mt he

w at e rs w h ic h w he n ass e mbled toget he r in on e spot form
,

t he v ast ocean .

96
96

T he un r eveal ed being Brahma who se ated on the waves

, ,

ofthe vast eth e r drew from his ow n substance the three

,

f ac ed T ri mourt i which created th e he ave ns and t he earth

, ,

the air, an d all the in f erior worl d s .

96
96 96

Upon term i nating he should sprinkle a few drops of

,

w ater upon h is h e ad with three stalks of th e sacr ed darba

grass.

96

H e who addresses this invocation to the water at

morning and who is thoroughly penetrated with its mysti c
,

meaning has arrive d at a high degree of sanctity

,
.

96
96 96

Joining then his hands he shoul d say 0 V i sc hn ou!

, ,
“

I d o this to pre serve my digni t y as a Gri hast a ”

.

96
96

He should then think of the superior an d in ferior

w orl d s o f the sp i r i ts which inhabit them of the spirits
, ,

of the fire o f the w i nd of the sun and of all th e spiri t s

, , ,

ofthe earth .

96 96

Raising his h an d to his head he shoul d th en call to ,

mi n d all the names of Brahma an d closing h is ey e s and , ,

compressing h is nostrils he shoul d p e rform the e v ocation

,

oft h at God as f oll ows

,
.

X
-

96

Come ,
B rah ma ! com e d own to my bosom .

96
96 96

He should then figur e to himself th i s supr eme deity as

66 OCC U L T SC I ENC E I N IND I A .

H e s h oul d trace around hi m the magic circles w h ich

pr e v ent e vil spirits from approaching him .

96
96 96

A dd r e ssing th e immortal Go d dess N ari w h o is an , ,

emblem of nature in the Hindu mythology h e shoul d ,

then e xpr e ss h ims elf in the following terms .

96
96 96

O illustrious Goddess ! I pay homage to you ; grant t h at

w h en I lay asi d e pr e sently this p erishable env elop e I may
rise to higher spheres .

96
96 96

Placin g th e n both han d s abov e th e copp e r v e ssel fille d

wit h water h e sho uld then evoke the son of K asi appa o r
, ,

any oth e r sag e of past time asking h im to listen to the

,

praises t h at h e addresses to N ari an d to r e cit e the mwith

as
96 96

Th e spirit h aving app e are d h e shoul d r ep e at in a lou d

voic e t he f ollowing words, in honor of th e univ e rsal
mother .

I n v oca t on i to N a ri .

O d ivine spous e of
him who mov e s upon th e wat e rs,
preserve me both during t he day an d d urin g t he night
, .

You are ofa S pir itual nature .

You are th e light oflights .

You are not subj ect to human passions .

You are eternal .

You are all powerful

-
.

You are purity itself .

You are the re f uge of m en .

You are their s alvation .

You are kn ow ledge .

 OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN I NDI A . 67

Yo u ar eth e essence ofthe sacred scriptur e s .

By your constant fruitfulness the un iv erse i s sustain ed .

You are the figure ofevocation .

You are prayer .

To you all sacri fices Sho ul d be a d dre ss ed .

You are the dispenser of every good .

E verything is in your hands ; j oy sorrow, fe ar, h op e , .

You are present in the thr ee worlds .

You have three figures .

The number thr ee forms your essenc e .

96
96 96

N ari the immortal virgin

,
.

B rahmy the universal mother

, .

Hyran y a the golden matrix, .

Para mat ma the soul ofall beings , .

S akty the ! ueen ofthe universe

, .

L ak n y the celestial light

,
.

Mariama perpetual fruitfulness

,
.

Agasa the pure fluid

,
.

A han car a the supreme conscienc e

,
.

C onya the chaste virgin

,
.

T an ma t ra the union of th e fi v e e l e m e nts

,

water earth ether , ,

.

T ri g an a virtue riches love

, , ,
.

C on yabav a eternal v irg in ity ,

.

96
96 96

He should then make a v o w to r e cit e th is su bl i me i n v o

cati on which is a source of all life an d all transformation ,
,

at l e ast three times a day .

N oon S a n dy a .

He should repeat the same prayers a ft er the noon ablu o

t ions and should perform the e vocation o f spirits by

,

water .
68 OC C UL T SCIENCE I N I N DI A .

Mi d n i ght S a n dy a .

Having offered the sac r ifice to fire he should th e n e voke ,

th e spirits of ni g ht in the smoke ofincense saying

, ,

S pirits O f t he waters ,

S pi ri t s of the forests ,

S piri t s of unfr equented roads ,

S pi r i t s of public places ,

S pi ri t s ofsandy plains ,

S pi r its ofthe j un gle s ,

S pirits of the mountains ,

S pi r i t s o fburial places ,

S pirits ofthe ocean ,

S piri t s ofthe win d ,

S piri t s oft he te mpest,

D est ructive spi rits ,

E ns n ari n g S pirits ,

S piri t s ofsalt deserts,

S pirits ofthe E ast ,

S pi r its O f the We st ,

S pirits oft he N o r th ,

S pirits of t he S outh ,

S pi r i t s ofd a rkness ,

S piri t s of b otto mless gul fs ,

S pi r its of heave n ,

S pi r i t s O fthe earth ,

S pi r its ofhel l ,

C ome all and listen b ear these words in min d

,
.

96
96 96

P r o t ect all travellers and caravans all men w ho work

, , .

who sufi er who pray or who rest all those who in the
, , , ,

silence of n ight carry dead b odies to the f uneral pyre

, ,

those w h o travel deserts or forests or the vast ocean

, ,
.

96
96 96

O S pirits come and li sten

,
. Bear t hese word s in min d
ro u a da Pa ri k c hai
and protect all men .
( g
A c h -
.
)
 C HAPT E R V II .

T HE S E C ON D DE GRE E OF IN ITI ATION .

Having spent twenty years ofhi s life after receivin g the

first degree O f initiatio n during which the body is m o r ti
,

fi ed by f asting and privations ofevery kind and the intel ,

lect is trained and disciplined by means of prayers i n v o ,

cations an d sacrifices the candidate finally takes hi s pl a ce

, ,

in one of the three following categories

Gr i ha sta — he remai ns at the head of hi s family u n til
his death and attend s to his social duties and b usi n e ss
, ,

whatever it may be O f all that he ha s b een taught he

.

only retains the power to evoke the dome stic spirits o r in ,

other words those in t he same genealogical line as hi m

,

self with whom i t is law ful for him t o com municate with
,

in the sanctuary which it is hi s duty to reserve for t he m

in his house .

Po ur ohi t a — he becomes a priest attached to the pO p

ula r cult and takes part in all ceremonies and famil y festi
vals both in temples and private dwellings Phenomena
,
.

O f possession come exclusively within his province : he i s

the gr and exorcist ofthe pagodas .

Fa lci r —he becomes a p erforming Fakir and f r om this ,

mo ment forward all his time is employed in the man ifes

t at i on of occult power by mean s of the public e xh i b ition
of exterior phenomena .

N either Gri hast as Pourohi t as n or Fakirs are ever ad

, ,

mi t te d to th e second degree of i n itiation Their studies .

are ended and with the exception of the Fakirs who are
, ,

constantly in commu n ication with those who have been

70 O CC U L T S C I EN C E I N IND I A .

i ni t iate d
into the higher degree s i n o rde r to augment their
,

magnetic and spiri t ual power they take n o part in the

,

mystic instruction which is given in the temples

, .

O nly a f ew among those who have disti n guished them

selves i h their studies for the first degree are able to pa ss
through th e terrible ordeal O f the higher initiation o r a r
r ive a t the dignity o fa S a n n assi or C e n obite
y .

The S an n y assi live s exclu sively in the te mple and he i s ,

only expected to appear at re mote inte r v al s on solemn oc ,

casions in ca ses whe r e it is i mport a n t to i mp r e ss the pop

,

ular imagination by a superi o r class of phen o mena .

The A g rouchada Pari k c hai is silent as t o t he course of

-

training they have to undergo The formulas of praye r

.

an d evocation were never com mitted t o w r iting but we r e ,

taught orally in the un d erground c rypts of the pagoda s

, .

We ar e able therefore to prosecute our investiga t io n s

i nto the subj ect of the second degree of i n itiation only by
studying the phenomena produced by the S an n y assi a li st ,

ofw hi ch w e fin d in the second book of the A rou c ha da

g .
 C HAPT E R VIII .

T HE THIRD DE GRE E OF I NI TIATION .

I t is n ot until he h as spent a f urther period of twenty

years in the stu dy of t he occult sciences and manifesta ~

tions t h at t he S an n y assi b e comes a S an n y assi N i rv an y or -

N ak ed Ce nobite so called becaus e he was not to wear any

,

garm ents whatever t h us indicatin g that h e had brok e n the

,

last tie that boun d h im to the earth We ar e limited to .

such m e ans of information as are obtainable by the n u

initiat ed The book of th e Pitris or spirits whic h is our
.
, ,

gui d e i n th is in quiry con tains no e xplanation with regard

,

to the mysterious occupations i n which the S an n y assi s

N i rv an y s who have been initiated in the third degr ee e u
, ,

gage The chapter devoted to this subj ect merely gives

.

th e following magical words ofwhich the Brahmins would ,

f urnis h us no explanation whatever, which were inscribed

in t wo triangles They w er e .

M S HO
’ ’
L O RHI M

HOM S H I I RU M
’
L
’
E -
.

W e can only study th e subje ct of the highest i n itiation

in its philosophical teachings regarding God and man .

T h e ph enomena p e rf ormed by the N i rv an y s are n o t de

scrib ed i n the book ofPitris .

W e hav e not b ee n abl e to glean much from pri v a te

conversations with Pourohi t as with regard to the actio n s ,

of t he ir sup eriors I t seems that they live in a cons t ant

.

state of ecstatic contemplation depriving themselve s of ,

sle ep as far as possibl e and taking foo d only once a week , ,

after suns et .
72 O C C U L T SCIENCE IN IND IA .

They are never vi sib le eithe r in the grounds or inside

the temples e x cept on t he occ a si on of the g r and fe stival of
,

fi r e w hich o c cur s eve r y fi v e years O n that day they ap

,
.

pe a r a t midnight upon a stand erected in the centre of

t he sac r ed t a nk
. They appea r like spectres and the sur
,

r oun di n g atmo sphe r e i s illu mined by t he m by mean s O f

t heir i n c an ta t i on s They seem t o b e in the mids t of a col
.

umn oflight rising fr o me ar t h t o heaven .

The air i s filled wi t h st r a n ge so unds and the five or si x

,

h un d r ed thousand Hindu s who have come from all parts

of I ndi a t o see these de m -
i gods as they a r e esteemed
, ,

p r o strate themselves flat in the dust calling upon the souls

,

oftheir ancestors .
74 OCCUL T SC I ENCE IN I NDI A .

H e shoul d not desir e death ; he should not desire life

lik e th e r e ap e r who patiently waits at eveni n g for his
wag e s at h is mast er s d oor, he s h ould wait till hi s time h as
’

com e .

He sh oul d purify his steps by taking hee d where he

sets h is f oot ; h e shoul d pur i fy the water he drinks in ,

order th at he may not cause the death of any animal he

shoul d purify his words by truth ; he shoul d purify his
soul by virtue .

96
96 96

He sho uld endur e bad lan guage insults an d blows pa , ,

t i en t ly without returning them ; he should ca r efully avoid

,

cherishing ill will against any person on account of any

-

thin g conn e cted with this misera ble body .

96 96

Meditating upon t h e delights ofthe supreme soul need ,

ing nothing beyond the reach of any sensual desire with

, ,

no society save his own soul and the thought o f God he ,

sho uld live h ere below in the constant expectation ofever

lasting happine ss .

96 96

He should never resort to pl a ces frequented by C ribas

tas or Pourohi t as unless they hav e enti r ely renounced the
,

world .

He should avoid all meetin gs even wh en Brahmins alon e

,

are present He should be care ful as he regards hi s e ter

.
,

nal salvation not to resort to places us e d for bir d or d og

,

fights .

A wooden platte r a gour d an eart hern v e ss el an d a

, , ,

bamboo basket—such ar e th e pure ute nsi ls auth oriz ed by

Manu ; he sh oul d ke ep noth ing in t he pre cious metals .
 OCC UL T SC I ENCE I N I NDI A . 75

He Should refle ct t h at the v ital spirit after l e aving th e ,

Gre at All und ergoes ten thousand million transformations,

,

befor e clothing itself wit h a human f orm .

96
96 96

He should observe the incalculable ills which grow out

of the practice of iniquity and the gr e at h appiness that
,

S prings from t he practic e ofvirtu e .

He should b e ar constantly in min d th e p erfections an d

invisibl e essences ofa Par amat ma the great soul which is , ,

pres e nt in all bodies th e lowest as well as the high e st

, .

He should know that an atom is an exact representation

ofthe Gr e at All .

The N i rv an y should expiate his faults by solitary reflec

tion by meditation by the repression ofevery sensual de
, ,

sire by meritorious austerity ; he should d estroy all the

,

imperfections of his natur e that may b e oppos e d to th e

divi n e natur e .

S uch is th e rul e of con d uct by whic h those S an n yassi s

N i rv an ys ar e governe d who aspire to ente r the S uprem e
C ouncil I t poss e sses the larg e st disciplinary powers in
.

order to prev ent the divulgation of th e mysteri e s o f initia

tion.

Th e following are some o f th e terribl e penalti e s it is

command ed to in fli ct .

Wh o e ver has b een initiate d no matter w h at may be th e

,

degr e e to w h ich he may belong an d shall r e v e al the sacred

,

f ormula sh all be put to death

,
.
76 OC C UL T SCIEN CE IN I ND I A .

Whoever has been initiate d into the thir d degre e an d

shall reveal the superior truths he has been taught to the ,

candidate s for initiation into the seco n d degree before the

proper time sh all suffer death
, .

96
96 96

Wh oever has been initiated int o t he second degree and

sh a l l act likewi se with tho se who ha v e b een initiated int o

the first degr ee is decl a r ed impure for the period o fseven

,

yea r s and when th a t time has elap sed he shall be turned

, ,

b ack to the lower class (the first deg r ee ) .

96
96 96

W hoever has been initi a ted i n to the fi r st degree an d ,

shall divulge the sec r et s of his i n iti a ti on t o th e me mb ers

o fthe other c a stes w ho a r e forever de b a rr ed f r o m kno w
,

ing them as though they were cont a ined i n a s e a led b ook

, ,

shall be depri v ed O f si g ht an d af t er hi s t o n g ue a n d b o t h
,

han ds have been cut off in o r de r that he may n o t make an

,

i mp r oper use ofwhat h e ha s lea rn ed he shall b e e x pelled ,

fro m the temple as w ell a s from hi s c aste

,
.

96
96 96

An y bel ongin g t o the three lower caste s w ho shal l

on e ,

gain ad mi ssion t o t he se c r et asylu ms o r S hall surr ept i ,

t i ously ac qui r e a k n o w le dg e of the formula of evocation ,

sh a ll b e b urned to death .

96

If a vi rgin shoul d do so, she

shall be con fined in t h e

t emple a n d consecrated to the worship of fire A ou

( g r .

chada Parik c hai )

-
.

In addition to attributes as an initiatory t r i b unal

i ts ,

the council of t he elder s al so had charge of a dmi n i st eri n a r

the pagoda proper ty f rom w hich it made pro v ision fo r

,

the wants of i t s mem b er s of the three classes who lived

, ,
 OC CUL T SC I ENC E I N I ND IA . 77

entirely in common I t also directed the wanderings of

.

the Fakirs who hav e charge of th e ext erior manifesta

tions ofoccult power .

96
96 96

T he matma wa elected by it from its ow

B rah s n n umber:
 C HAPT E R X .

T HE E LE CTION OF T HE B RA HMA T MA .

I h av e not much to add to what I have alre a dy said

about the B rahma t ma .

The requi si t e qualifications f or the position we r e that

th e candidate shoul d have b een initiated that he S hould ,

h ave taken the v ow of chastity and that he should be a,

mem b er o fthe S up r e me C o unc i l .

That this v ow was a se r ious matter will be readily um

derst o o d whe n it i s kno w n that any Brahmi n t aki n g it i n
the comme n ce ment of his career m ust nece ssarily per
severe until he a rr ives at the dignity of Yog uy unle ss he ,

wishes to repe a t upon earth a series of tran sfor mations .

N ot having paid the debt of hi s a n cestor s by the b irth of ,

a son who can continue h is genealogical line and o fli c i a t e

,

at his funeral he would be obliged to come back after

,

death under a n e w hum a n envelope to accompli sh th a t

, ,

fin al duty .

The Y og uy s or members ofthe C ouncil ofS eventy by

, ,

rea son of their high degree of sanctity h ad no n e w tr ans ,

mi gration s to undergo : it was a matter of i ndifference

whether they had b ee n heads of families o r whether t hey
had always maintained thei r chastity But in vie w ofthe .

s m all nu m b er admitted i n to this sanhedri m if we may so ,

call it the Brahmin who should pronounce this terrib le

,

v o w as it i s termed in the b ook of the Pit r is at the close

, ,

o f hi s novitiate w a s in da n ger ofhaving to go throu g h a

,

succession of n e w lives from the first monad by which

, ,
 OCCUL T SC I ENCE IN INDI A . 79

the small e st particle of moss is animated to man who is , , ,

so far the most pe r fect expres sion of the vital form

,
.

While the B rahmat ma could only b e chosen fr om

amon g those Yog uy s who had taken the v o w ofchastity ,

hi s electio n was not due to any supposed deg r ee o f sanc

tity on hi s part resulting therefr om for he ha d hardly ,

b een elected when notwithstanding his adv a nced ag e of

, ,

eighty years in order that hi s election might be held v alid

, ,

he had to fu r nish evidence of his virile power in connec

tion with on e o fthe virgins ofthe P agod a who was g i v e n ,

him as a b r ide .

I f a male child sprang fr o mthis u n i on he w a s place d in

'

a wicker b asket and turned adrift upon the rive r to float

,

with the current I f pe r chance he was washed ashore he

.

was car ried to the temple whe r e he w as at once and by , ,

v irtue of that very f a ct regarded as having b ee n i n itiated

,

i n to the third degree F r om his earliest childhood all .

,

the secr et men t rams or formulas of evocation were made

, ,

known to hi m .

If h owever the child flo ated do w n the s t r eam wi t h the

, ,

curre n t he w as rej ected as a Pari a h and handed over t o

, ,

the people ofthat c a ste to b e reared by the m .

We neve r could discove r the origin o fthis si n gular cus

t om U pon co m
. par ing othe r a n cient us age s with the
man ners and customs of the sacerdotal c aste s in E gypt ,

which ar e so si milar in many respects t o tho se of the I n

dian temple s we have O ften a sked o ur selve s the following
,

questions which we n ow propoun d for the reader s c on si d

,
’

e r at i o n

Might not Mose s the leader of the He br aic revoluti on

, ,

have been a son ofthe E gyptian hi gh prie st w ho stood at ,

the head ofthe o r de r of the initiated an d might he n ot ,

have been brought to the temple because he had been ,

cast ashore by the N ile ?

Might not hi s br other Aaron on the contrary have been , ,

cast aside as on e of the servile class because wh en h e was ,

80 OCC U L T S C I E NC E I N I ND I A .

set adrift likewi se upon t he rive r he floated alo n g w i t h

the current without bein g c ast ashore ?
May we not regard the f r iend ship of the t w o b r othe r s
for each other when infor med subsequently of thei r co rn
,

mon origin as o n e of the causes th a t impell ed M o se s t o

,

abandon the sacerdotal caste of which he w as a me mb e r

, ,

in orde r to place himself at the head o fthe E gypti a n

S laves and lead them into the desert in search of t hat
,

pro mised land which the pariahs helots and outc a sts of
, ,

every degree have always looked forward to in thei r

dreams as the sunny land ofpeace and liberty ?
We suggest the question however we repeat merely as
, , ,

a supposition Perhaps ethnographic scie n ce by which

.
,

the second h alfof the present cen tury has been so b r ill
i an t ly i llustrat ed , w ill S h ow, som e day, that it is somethi n g
more .
82 OCCUL T SCIENC E IN I ND IA .

ering f or those treasures that others este e m so high ly an d ,

str ive for so ardently that alone was quite enough to

,

counterbalanc e any advantage or bene fi t that h e might

other wise have derived from his penitence .

When the B rahmat c hary has ended his novitiate a n d

has fully co n side r ed hi s futu r e cour se he repairs to a ,

mee t in g con sisting of all the i n itiates and informs them

o fhis determin a ti o n He asks them to proceed with the
.

usual for ms an d ceremonies to the reception of the mo

,

mento n s vows he desi r es t o p r onounce .

O n the day appointed for this solemn act the candidate

fi r st pu ri fies him self b y ab luti on s he then provides him
self with ten pieces of clo t h la rge e n ough to cover his
shoulders Four of the se a r e i n tended for h is own use
.
,

while the other si x are give n as p r esents to the O fli c i at i n g

Po ur ohi t as .

The chief Guru who p r eside s at the ceremony hands ,

hi m a b a mb oo stick containing seven j oin ts some lo t us ,

flo w e r s an d powdered sandal wood and whispers in his

,
-
,

e ar certain m en t ra ms of evocation which a r e only made ,

k n ow n to per sons in his c o ndition .

This stick i s not intended to help s upport his steps or to

b e of an y a ssist a nce to hi m in walkin g I t is the magic .

w an d used in divinat ion a n d all the occul t phenomena .

It is involunta r ily s ugge st ive of the rod of Mo se s ,

A ar o n E lisha and all the p r ophe t s of the augural wan d

, , , ,

an d O f the seven kn o tted wand o ft he Fa uns S ylvans and

-
, ,

Cyni c s .

When the ce r emony i s finished the Yog uy takes up his ,

m agic wand a cala b a sh fo r d r inking purposes and a g a

, ,

z elle s skin to be use d as a bed These articles compri s e

’
.
,

his whole store and he never leaves th e m ; they are the

,

om n i um m ec um or to of the S toics He then depart s

p .
,

repeating the magical formulas wh ich h e h as j ust learned

fromthe superior Guru .

I n addition to the usual ablutions c er emonies an d , ,

 O C C U L T S C I EN C E I N I ND I A . 83

pray ers which he h as to perform like all who ha v e been

, ,

i n iti ated the follo w ing prescriptions are i mposed up o n

,

hi m.

as a

E very morning a fte r performing his ab lution s he should

sm ear h is entire b ody with ashes ; others only rubbed their
forehea d s C hristianity still retains a symbolic remnant
.

of this ceremony — homo pulv i s es etc ,

.

“
He should only eat daily afte r sunset as much rice as
, ,

h e can hold in the hollo w of his hand .

He should abandon the use of betel .

He should avoid the co mpany of women and he should

n o t even look at them .

O nce a month he should have his head and fac e sh aved .

He should wear only woode n sandals .

”
He should live by alms .

Although a Yog uy s ays the work to which we have

”
,

r eferred as our guide has the right to demand al ms it is

, ,

more beco ming fo r hi m to receive them without aski n g .

C onsequently when he is hungry he Should present hi m

, ,

se lf among this world s people without saying anythi n g

’
,

o r telling the m what he wants I f anything is given to

.

hi m voluntari ly he should receive it with an air of i n

,

d i fference an d without expressi n g his thanks If nothing

, .

is offere d he sh oul d withd r aw quietly without expressing

, ,

anger or d issatisfaction neither should he make any com

Dlaint i fanything that is given h im is not to his taste
”
.

He Should not sit down to eat .

He sh oul d buil d a h ermitage by the si d e of a river or

tank in or d er t h at h e may perf orm his ablutions with
,
”
g r eater f acili ty .

“
Whe n trav el ling h e should abide nowh ere and should
, ,

only pass through populous places .

H e sh oul d look at all men alike an d should regard ,

h ims elf as superior to anything that may happen He .

sh oul d look upon the various r e volutions by which the

84 OC C U L T SC I ENCE I N I ND IA .

world i s agitated and p o w erful empires are some t imes

overturned as matte r s ofpe r fect i n diffe r ence t o him
,
”
.

“
Hi s only c a re should b e t o acqui r e the spi r it of wisdo m ,

an d that deg r ee ofS pi r i t uali ty b y means of which h e will

finally be reunited to t he D ivini ty fro mwhom all c r eature s ,

and passions tend to keep us ap ar t In order to a eco m .

li sh that Obj ect he sh o uld h ave hi s se n ses under the m ost

p ,

pe r fect co n t r ol a n d e n ti r ely s ubd ue the sentime n t s O f

,

anger envy av a r ice l ust a n d all di st urb i n g an d lic e n ti ous

, , , ,

tho ughts O the r w i se he will de r ive n o b e n efit wh a t e v e r

.

from having taken the v o w o r f ro mhis rep e a ted mo r t i fi

”
cations .

E very evening the Yog uy rep ai r s t o the p ago d a w i t h

, ,

hi s magic wand his cal abash and hi s g a z elle s ski n w he r e

’
, , ,

he p a s ses seve r al hou r s in co n te mplation i n the mo s t p r o

foun d darkness He there endeavo r s to a c cu sto mhi s so ul
.

to forsake his b ody i n o r der th a t it may h old co n v e r se

,

wi t h the Pitris in infi n ite sp ace He end s t he n i gh t w i t h

.

the study o f manife st atio n s a n d i n c ant ati on s i n w hich he ,

is f ur ther instructed by the supe r io r G ur u .

Whe n i n his eigh t ie t h yea r in co n sequence of his su

, ,

pe r ior sa n c t ity o r for some othe r rea son he has been

, ,

cho sen b y the C o u n ci l fo r t he post of B rahma t ma he g o es ,

b ack agai n so to S pe ak t o life and S pend s hi s l a st ye a r s

, , ,

i n the most u n br idled i n d ulge n ce a n d di ssipati on We .

have O f ten hea r d the B rah mi n s say though w e have had ,

no O pp ort uni t y to ve r ify th e i r st a t e n re n t s t hat in c o n , ,

sequen ce of thei r long pra c t ice O f a scetici sm the Yog uy s ,

of t en pre se r ved all the v i rile p o w ers of mat ure age u n t i l

far adva n c ed in life a n d i t w a s n o u n us ual thi n g for Brah
,

mat mas to li v e much mo r e th an a hundred years an d le a v e ,

behi n d t he ma nume r o us p r oge n y .

We have n o w conclud e d t he se b rief no t ices wi t h regar d

to tho se who h a ve p a s sed t h r o ug h t he v a r ious deg r ee s of
initi ation I t was neces sary tha t we should give t hem i n
.
,

order that our main su bj ect mi gh t be mo r e f ully unde r "

 O CC U L T S C I E NC E I N I ND IA . 85

st ood . Though so me of the details are rath er d ry we ,

h ope th a t o ur reade r s will g ive them their care ful atten ~

t ion. They are e sse n tial to the proper understan d ing of

w h a t i s t o follow .

O ne w ord mo r e h ow ever about the Yog uy s seven, ,

’

k n otted stick .

There is a certain degree of sacred n ess attendi n g the

n um b er seven in India We may j udge of the veneration .

i n which it i s held by the B r ahmi n s b y the n ran y Obj ects ,

and places the number of whi c h i s always divisible by

seven to which they attach a n e x t r a ordinary magical power
, .

S ome ofthem are as foll o w s

S apt a Ri c hi s the seven s ag e s o fI n di a
-
,
.

S apt a Pou r a the seven cel e st i a l cities

-

,
.

S a pt a —
D oui pa the seve n sac r ed isl ands
, .

S apt a S a mo udra the se v e n o c e a n s

-
,
.

S apt a N ady the seven sa c r ed r iver s

-
,
.

S a pt a Pa rv a t t a t he se v e n h oly m o un t ai n s
-
,
.

S apt a A r an i a t he seven s a c r e d de se r t s
-
,
.

S apt a V r uk c ha the seve n cele st i a l t r ee s

-
,
.

S apt a C oula the seven c ast e s

-
,
.

S apt a L oca the seven s upe r i o r a n d i n fe r io r w o rlds etc

-
,
.

Accordin g to the B r a h mi n s the my stic a l me a ning o f ,

the n u mb e r sev en c o n tai n s a n allegorical re pr e se n t a t io n of

t he u n r evealed God t he i n itial trini t y and t he manifested
, ,

t r i n ity ; thus :
Zy aus
( The U n re v ealed God
) .

The immortal g erm ofeverythin g tha t e x i st s .

The i n itial trinity ,

N ar a— Na ri— V i radj
Zy aus h a ving divided his body into t wo part s m ale
, ,

a n d fe male or N ar a and N ar i produced V i radj the Word

, , , ,

t he Cr eato r ,

The man ifested trinity ,

Brahma— V i schn ou— S iva .

86 O C C U L T SC I ENC E I N I NDI A .

T he initial trinity which w as purely creative chan ge d

, ,

i nto the manifested trinity as soon a s the universe had ,

com e out of chaos in order to creat e perpetually to pre

, ,

se rv e e t e rnally and to consume unc e asi n gly

,
.

W e sho ul d not fo rget that the Jews also attached a my s

tical m e aning to the number seven which shows i n di sputa ,

bly its origin .

According to the Bible

The world w as created in seven d ays .

L and S hould re st every seven years .

The S abbatic year ofj ubilee returne d every seven times

sev e n yea r s .

The great golden candlestick in the temple h ad seven

branches the seven candles ofwhich represented the seven
,

planets.

S even trumpets were blown by seven pri e sts for seven

successiv e days aroun d Jericho and the walls of that city ,

fell down on the seven t h day after the I sra elitish army
h ad marche d round it for the seventh ti m e .

In John s Apocalypse we find

’
,

The seven chu r ches .

The seven ch a ndelie r s .

The se v e n sta r s .

The seven lamp s .

The seve n seals .

The seve n a n gels .

The seven vials .

The seven plagues .

In like manner the Prophet I saiah de si rin g to give an

, ,

idea of the glory surrounding Jehovah says ,

“
That it is seven times greater than that of the sun
”
an d equal to the light ofseven days combined .

W e Shall n ow se e in how many points and how closely ,

the Jewish C abala an d the Hindu doctrine of the Pitris,

resemble each oth e r .
 S E C O ND PART .

TH E PH ILO S O PH I C A L T ENE T S O F
IND IA N I NI TI AT E S
.

R E GAR D IN G TH E F I R S T C A USE A N D TH E
,

PART P E RF O RMED BY TH E S P I R IT S
I N W O RL D LY MATT E RS .
 Reg ardi n g t h e t en Pradj apat i s, or lo rds of c r e at ures, wh o ar e Mar
it h i
c At i r Aug i r as Poul ast y a P ul o ab a C rat ou Pr at ch et as
V a si c h t a —B ri g h ou— hv b gi i gN a r a da ,
d t h ey a e n o e nn n , n or en , n or

t im e, p f th y p
n or s d f m th
ac e , l
or f th
e r oc ee , ro e so e e sse n c e o e on e

S pi i t t
r ,
i gl b th Thi i
a a s n ftl e t l t hy m ut h i
r ea . s s a a a sec r e , c ose o n

or d th t
er p t f i t my b v l d t t h
a no ar o bbl d mp a e re ea e o e ra e , an co r ess

t hy b i th t
ra n so fi t my g t b
a d (A g u h d P i k h i
n on e o a e a r oa . ro c a a- ar c a ,

T h B o k ft h Pi t is
e o o e r .
90 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

th e high e st expression of manifeste d power they ne v e r ,

arrived at the degree of philosophical initiation .

Third that thos e who were initiated into the third de

,

gree (the S an yassi s N i rv an y s an d Yog uy s) alon e we r e ad

-

mi t t ed to a knowledge of the formulas behind which the

'

h ighest metaphysical speculations we r e hidden .

The principal duty ofpersons of that class was to arri v e ,

at a complete forgetfulness o fall worldly matters .

The sages ofI ndia compared the pas sions to tho se hea v y
clouds which someti mes S hut o ut the vie w of the sun e n
t i rely o r obscure the brilliancy o f its ligh t ; t o a v iole n t
,

wind which agitates the su r face of the water so that i t

,

cannot r eflect the splendor o f the vault abo v e ; to the e n

v elo e O f the chrysalis which deprives it ofliber t y ; to the
p ,

shell ofcertain fruits which prevent their fr agr ance f r o m

,

di f fusing itself abroad .

Yet say they the C hry salis g naw s through i ts envel ope
, , ,

makes itself a passage and wings its w ay into Space thus

, ,

conquering air light and li b erty

, ,
.

S o it is with the soul says the A g rouchada

”
,
“
Its .

prison in the body in which earthly troubles an d t umult u

ou s passion s keep it confine d is not etern al After a long
, .

series of succes sive b irths the spark ofwisdom which is

in it being rekindled it will finally succeed by the l on g
, ,

con tinue d practice of pe n itence an d conte mpl atio n i n

breaking all the ties that bind it to the ea rth an d w ill i n ,

crease i n vi rtue until it has reached so high a degree of

wisdom an d spi r ituality that it becomes i d en tified w i t h the
,

divinity Then leavi n g the body which hold s it c apti v e

.
, ,

its soars freely alo ft where it unite s forever with the fi r st

,
”
principle from which it originally eman a ted
,
.

Having reached the th ird degr e e of i n iti a tion it is the ,

duty of th e Brahmin to improve to S piritualiz e himself ,

by contemplation ; he was suppos ed to pass t h rough th e

f our f ollowing stat e s
F irst, S aloki am .
 OCC U L T SC I EN C E IN I ND I A . 91

S econd S ami pi arn

,
.

Third S ouaroupi am
,
.

Fourth S ayodj y am
,
.

S a loki a m signifies the on ly ti e I n this state the soul

.

s e eks t o lift itself in thought to th e celestial mansion an d ,

to take its place in the presence of divinity itself ; it holds

convers e with th e Pitris who hav e gone bef ore into the
regions of everlasting life an d makes use of the body as
,

an uncon scious instrument to tran scribe un d er the per ,

man ent for m of writing the sublime teachings it may

,

have received from the S hades ofi t s ancestors .

S am a msigni fie s p r oxi m i B y the exercise of con

ip i ty .

t em p la t i on an d the disregard of all earthly obj ects the ,

knowledge and i d ea o f God become more familiar to it The .

soul s e ems to draw nearer t o hi m I t becomes far seei n g .

-

and begins to witness marvels which are not of this world

, .

S oua rou p i a m signifi es r esem b la n ce I n the third stat e .

the soul gra d ually ac quires a perf ect resemblance to the

divinity and participat e s in all its attributes I t reads the
,
.

future and the un iverse has n o secrets for it

,
.

S a y odj y a msignifi e s i den t i ty The soul finally becomes

.

closely unite d to the great soul This last transformation

.

takes place only th rough d eath that is to say the entire , ,

disruption ofall mat e rial ties .

Th e work which we are now analyzing explains the

passage of th e soul through th e se four states b y the fol
lowing comparison
“
W h en we wish to extract the gold from a compound
mass we shall nev er succee d if we s ubj ect it to the process
,

offusion only onc e . I t is only by melting the alloy in the

crucible sev e ral times that we ar e finally able to separate
,

the h e terogeneous particles of w h ich it is composed and ,

”
release the gold in all its purity .

Th e two modes ofcontemplation most in use are called ,

S abda Brahma and S abda V i schn ou or intercourse with

- -
,

B rahma an d V i sc hn ou .
92 OCC U L T S C I E NC E IN IND I A .

I t is by fasting and prayer in the fore st and j ungle s ,

a mong the wild b easts whom they rule b y the p o w e r of

,

the pure aga sa fluid an d upon the de se r t b a n k s of to rr ents

, ,

that the N irvan y s (n aked) an d the Yog uy s (co n templa t ive)

p r epare themselves for the se lofty meditati ons .

There have been critical periods in the hi story of Indi a ,

w hen the me m b e r s o f the sacerdotal caste we r e called

upon to strike a decisive blow in o rd er to b ring the peo
,

ple back to their duty and reduce them to submi ssi on At .

such times they came flocking in f r o mthei r ha b i t atio n s i n

the deserts o r their sombre haunts in t he i n te r i or s of t he
,

temples to preach to the masses the duty ofo b edie n ce a n d

,

self renunciation
-
.

They were accompanied by tigers and panthers which ,

we r e as gentle an d submissive as so many lambs and they ,

perfo r med th e mo st e x traordinary phenomena causing ,

rive r s to ove r flo w thei r ban k s the light ofthe sun to p ale

, ,

o r w ords de n o un ci n g t he Raj ahs who persecuted the B r ah

mins to appear up o n the walls o f their palace s through ,

some unknown po w er .

The study of philosophic t r uth does not relie v e them

from the neces si ty o fthe t apa ssa s or b odily mo rt i fic at i on s
,
.

O n the cont r a r y it would see m th a t t hey ca rry the m t o

,

the greatest ex t reme s .

O nce a week some si t n aked i n the ce n t r e of a ci r cle

formed by fou r blazing fi r es which a r e c on s t an t ly fed b y
neophytes .

O thers cause themselves to be buried up to thei r neck s i n

the hot sand leaving their bare skulls exposed to the bl az
,

ing sun .

O th e rs still stand upon o n e foot until the leg i s swollen

and covered with ulcers .

E verything that af fects or consumes the body eve r y ,

th ing that tends to i t s an nihi latio n without actually de

,

stroyin g it, is thou ght to be m e r itorious .

E v e ry e v enin g the Ni r v a n ys and Yog uy s lay aside their

,
 OCC U L T SC I EN C E I N I ND IA . 93

exercises and studies a t sun se t an d g o i n to the count ry to

,

meditate .

S everal centuries p r e v i o u s to the p r e sent e r a howeve r , ,

these bodily mor t i fic at i on s had assumed a character of n u

usual severity .

To the contemplative dreamers of the earliest ages in

India who devoted the whole of their t ime to meditation
, ,

and never engaged in practice s involving physical suf feri n g

oftener than once a week had succeeded a class ofbigoted
,

fanatics who placed no li mit to their religious e n t hu

,

si asm and inflicted upon them s elves the most terri b le

,

tortures .

A spiritual reaction however occurred an d those who

, , ,

had been initiated into the higher degrees took that op

or t unit to abandon the practice of the t a assas or c or
p y p ,

poral mort i ficat i on They sought rather to impress the

.

imagination of the people by exce ssive severity in oppo si

tion to the law s of nature A profound humil ity an .
,

ardent desire to live unkn own b y the world and to have ,

the divinity as the only witness to the purity of t heir

morals took po ssession of them and though they con
, ,

t i n ue d the pr a ctice of exce ssive ab stemiousness they did ,

so perhaps mo r e that they might not seem to be in conflict

with the formal teachings of t he sacred scriptures .

That kind of austerity is the only on e n ow enj oine d

up o n all classes ofinitiates .

The Fakirs appear to have gradually monopoliz e d all

the O ld modes of inflicting pain and have carried them to ,

the greatest extremes They display the most unbounded

.

f an aticism in their self i n fli c t ed tortures upon all great

-

public f estival
E ver since the temporal power of the Brahmins was
overthrown the higher class of initiates have been in
, ,

short nothin g more than cenobites o r hermits who either

, , , ,

in the desert or in t he su b terranean crypts of the temples ,

spend their lives in contemplation prayer sacrific e t he , , ,

94 O C C U L T SC I ENC E I N I ND I A .

stu dy of the most elevated plri IO S O phi cal probl e ms an d ,

the evocation of spirits whom they regard as intermediate

,

b ein g s between God and man .

The S pirits with whom they com municate are the sha d es
of holy personages who h ave quit the world after leading
,

a life ofprivation good works and vi r t uous examp le : they

, ,

a r e the o b j ects of a regular worship and a r e invoked as ,

the spiritual di r ecto r s of their b r eth r en who are still ,

b oun d by t he ties oft heir e ar t hly exis t e n ce .

The ea rliest C hristians with their apparitions their ,

apostles who received the gift of to n gues their t hauma ,

t ur g i st s and their exorcis t s only con t inued a tradition

, ,

which has existed fr om the e a rlie st ti mes without inter

ruption There is no d i f
. ference b etween the disciples of
Peter and Paul an d the initiates of In dia between the ,

saints of the C hristianity ofthe C a tacom b s and the Pitris

ofthe Brahmins .

S ubsequently the chiefs in the inte r e st o f their tem

, ,

poral and religious domination discoura ged b oth the b e ,

lief and practice an d by slo w degrees the O ld system of

, , ,

an cient worship assume d the more modern fo r m with

which we are f amiliar .

I t was not until th ey had passed through the first three

of the contemplative states to which we have alluded th at

the N i rv an y s an d Y og uy s were admitted to a kn ow leg de of

the higher philosophical studies and they were thus made ,

acquainted with the secrets ofhuman destiny b oth present ,

and future .

Wh en he who had been initiated into the third degree

had passe d the age of eighty and was not a member oft he
,

S upr eme C o uncil who all remained in active life until their
,

death he was suppose d to have aban d on e d his pagoda or

, ,

the hermitage that he occupied to have r enounce d all ,

pious practice s cerem onies sac rifices and evocations and

, , , ,

to hav e ret i red to some lonely and uninhabited spot there ,

to await th e coming of death He no longer r e ce ive d .

 OCC U L T SCIENCE IN INDI A . 95

f oo d or nourishment except b y chance and pass ed a w ay

, ,

in th e cont emplation of the infinite .

96
96 96

Having aban d oned all his duties says Man n and ,

relinquished the direction o f the sacrifice s and t he pe r

for man c e of the five a b l utions havi n g wiped a w ay all his
,

fa ults b y t he prescribed puri fic at i on s having curb ed all hi s

,

o rg a ns and mastered the vedas to their fulle st extent he

sh o uld refe r all ce r emonies and the off ering o fthe funeral
repast to hi s son for performanc e ”
.

96
96 96

Having thus abandone d e v e ry religious obs e rvance ,

every ac t of austere devotion applyin g hi s mind solely to

,

the contemplation of the great fi r st cau se exempt from ,

every evil desi r e his soul alre ady stan ds at the thre sh old
,

O f S war g a al though hi s mortal e n velope still p alpitates

,

an d fl utt ers like the last flames of an expiring lamp .

 C HAPT E R II .

T HE SU PE RIOR GU RU — T HE SACRE D DE CAD E .

U pon reach ing the third degree of initiation the Brah ,

mins were divided into tens an d a s uperior Guru o r pro

, ,

fe ssor of the occult science s w as placed over each decade

, .

He was revered by his disciples as a g od .

The following i s a portrait of t his personage as drawn ,

in the Véda nta sa r a

-

“
The true Guru is a man w ho is f amiliar with t he
practice of every virtue w ho with the sword ofwisdom
, ,

has lopped off all the branches an d cut thro ugh all the
roots of the tree Of evil a n d w i th the light ofreaso n ha s
, , ,

dispelled the thick da rkness by which he is enveloped

who though seated upon a mountain of p a s sions meets
, ,

all their assaults with a heart a s fi rn r as diamond ; who

conducts himself with digni ty and independence who
has t h e bowels ofa fathe r for all his disciple s ; who makes
n o distinction b etwee n hi s f r ie n d s and hi s enemies wh o m ,

he trea t s w ith equal kindne ss and consideration who

looks upon gold and j ewels with as much indiffe r ence as if
they were bits ofiron an d potsherds without caring mor e
,

for on e than for the other and who tri es with t he great
e st care to remove the dense darkness o f ignoranc e in ,

”
which the re st ofmankind is plunged .

If we had not po si t i v ely stated in a former part ofthi s

work (which i s simply de si gn ed t o give the reader so me
idea of the doct r i n e s a n d p r a c t ice s O f t he b elievers in the
Pitris of India) t ha t we sh ould refr ai n fro m the expres
sion o f any personal o pinion we might well ask ourselve s
,
 C HAPT E R I II .

T HE GU RU —E V O CATION S .

From noon to sunset th e s acr ed d ecad e w as under the

ord ers of t he Master o f C elestial S ci e nc e or Phi IO S O phy : ,

fro msun s et to midnigh t it pass ed under t he direction of

the Gur uo f E vocations who taugh t th e mani fe sted part
,

of the occult sciences .

The Book of S pirits in our poss e ssion is sil e nt as to th e

fo r mulas of evocations taught by th e m According to .

some Brahmins the most fearful penalties were i nfli ct e d

,

upon th e rash man who shou l d venture to mak e known to

a stranger the thir d book of the A g rouchada tre ating of ,

t ho se matt e rs . Accordi ng to oth ers th e s e formulas were ,

n ev e r written : they w e re and still ar e v e rbally c ommuni

c at e d t o th e adepts in a suppr e ss ed voic e

,
.

I t is also claim ed though we h ave had no oppor t unity

,

to v e rify th e truth of the assertion th at a peculiar lan ,

guage is us ed to e xpress the f ormulas of e vocation and ,

that it w as forbi d den unde r penalty of death t o trans

, ,

late them into the vulgar tongue The few expressions .

that h ave c om e to our knowle dge such as L r hom H hom ,

’
,
’
,

S h r hum S ho r hi m are very extraord inary and do not seem

’ ’
, ,

to b elo n g to any known i d iom .

The Book of the Pitris give s the f ollowing portrait o f

the Gur u of E vocation s
The Guru of E vocatio ns is a man w h o knows no oth e r
god than himself sin ce h e has all th e g od s and spirits at
,

his comman d .
”
The term g ods is here use d as mean
ing the superior spirits He offer s worship to Zy aus
.
 OCC U L T SC I E NCE I N I ND I A . 99

alone the type S pi r it the p r i mo r dial germ the uni v er sal

, , ,

w omb At hi s voice rive r s an d seas forsake thei r b eds

.
, ,

mo untains become v alleys a n d vall eys become mountain s .

Fi r e rain and tempests are in his service He knows the

, ,
.

p ast the present and the futur e The stars O bey hi m

, ,
.
,

an d armed wi t h his seven knotted stick he is able to con

,
-
,

fi n e all the evil spirits i n the universe within a si n gle

magic circle ”
A
( g r ouchada Pari k c hai
.
) -
.

After e x amining the philosophical doctrines o f the

b elievers i n spiri t s the Pit ris we can onl y study the
, ,

teachings of the Gu r u of E vocations in the t otal a b sence ,

o fdocu m ents as we have already taken occasio n to say i n

, ,

the manifestati o n of occult power or exterior phenomena , ,

produced bv his discipl es the N i r v an y s and Yog uy s

, .
 C HAPT E R IV .

T HE FRON TAL S IGN OF T HE IN ITIATE S ACCORD IN G T O T HE

A GRO U C HA D A PA R I K C HA I
-
.

E very morning tho se who have b een initiated into the

t hir d degree after ter m
,
ina t ing their a blutions and before ,

going to the pagoda

to listen t o the di s
cou r se on the o ccul t
sciences should trace ,

upon their fo r eheads ,

under the di r ection

of the G uru s the ,

acco mpan y i n g Sign ,

which is a sy mb ol of
the h i ghest initiation .

T he circle indi
cates i n finity t he st udy of which i s the obj ect of the oc
,

cult scie n ce s
.

The b order of triangles signi fi es that everythi n g in na

ture is sub j ect to the law s of the Trinity .

Brah ma—V i sc hn ou— S i v a .

T he ge r m— The w o m b — The O ffsp r ing .

The seed — The ear t h — The plan t .

The fat her— The mothe r — The child .

The se rpen t is a sym b ol of wi sd o m a n d pe r seve r an ce .

I t al so i n dicates that the mult itu de a r e n o t t o b e admi t t ed

t o a re v elation o f t he higher t r u t hs w hich O f t en le a d
,

weak mind s to i n san i t y an d dea t h The seven knot t ed

.
-

s tick represents the seven degrees of t he power of evoca

ti on and external manife station which form the subj ect

,
 C HAPT E R V .

T HE IN TE RPRE TATION OF T HE VE D AS A N D O THE R WORK S OF

SACR E D SCRIP TU RE S .

B efor e searching the Book of the Pitris in order to se e

what it t e aches it may not b e amiss to say a fe w wo r ds
,

regardin g the question of ho w the sacred books ar e to be

interpreted We deem the matter of sufficient i mpor t
.

ance to make it the subj ect of a separate chapter I t .

stan ds at the very threshold of o ur subj ect like a sentinel

on duty .

O n the first palm l eaf composing the second part of t he

work in question we find the f ollowing words writte n like ,

an inscription with a sharply poi n ted stick

,

The sacred scriptu r es ought n ot to be taken in thei r

apparent meaning as in the case of ordina ry b o ok s O f
,
.

what use would it be to f o rbid their revel a t ion to t he p r o

fan e if their secret meani n g w ere contained in the literal
sense ofthe language usually employed ?
A s the soul is contained in the b ody ,

As the almon d is hidden by i ts e n velope ,

As the sun is veiled by the clouds ,

As the garments hide the b ody fro mview ,

As the egg is contained in i t s shell ,

And a s t he ge r m rests w ithi n the inter i or of the see d

S o the sacred law ha s i t s b ody its envel ope its cloud
, , ,

its g a rme n t i t s shell which hide it from the knowledge

, ,

ofthe world .

All that has been all that is everything th at will be

, , ,

everything t hat ever has been said ar e to be found in the

,

Vedas But the Vedas do not explain themselves and

.
,
 O C C UL T SC I ENCE I N I ND IA . 1 03

th ey can only be understood when th e Guru has remov e d

the garment with which they are cloth e d , and scattered
the clouds that veil their celestial light .

Th e law is like th e precious pearl that is buried in the

bosom of the ocean I t is not enough to find the oyster
.

in which it is enclosed but it i s also n e cessary to open the

,

oyster an d get the pearl .

“
You w ho in your pride would read th e sacred scriptures
, ,

without the Gur us assistance do you e ven know by wha t

’
,

letter of a word you ought to begin to read them — do you

know th e secret of the combination b y twos an d threes ‘

do you kno w w h en the final letter becomes an initial and

th e initial becomes final ?
W o to him who woul d pen e trate th e real meaning of
things be fore his he a d is w h it e an d h e n ee ds a cane to
”
guide his steps .

Thes e word s of th e A grouchada warnin g us against ,

conforming to the strict letter of the sacred scriptu r es of

India remind us of the following word s in which O rigen
, ,

e x presses himself lik e on e of the initiates in the ancien t

t emples
“
If it is incumbent upon us to adhere strictly to t he
letter and to understan d what is written in t he law after
, ,

the manner ofthe Je ws and of the people I should b lush ,

t o acknowledge openly that God has given us such laws

I should consi d er that h uman legislation was more elevate d
and rational — that of Athens for instance or Rome o r , , ,

L aced aemon .

What reasonable man I ask wou ld ever believe that t he

, ,

fi rst second or third day of creation which were divi ded

, , ,

into days and n ights could possibly exist without a n y sun

, ,

without any moon and without any stars and that du ri n g

, ,

the first day there was not even any sky ?

“
Where shall we find any one so foolish as t o b elieve
that God actually engaged in agriculture and planted t r ee s
1 04 OC CUL T SC I ENCE IN INDI A .

in the garden of E den which was S ituated in the E ast ,

that one of these trees w a s the tree of life and that an

other could impart the knowledge of good and evil ? N o
b ody I think will hesitate to consider the se t hings as
, ,
”
figu r es having a mysterious meaning .

The old Je w is h C ab alist s w ho se doctrine s as we h a v e , ,

se e n ,
appea r to have been closely allied to those taught in
t he I ndi a n temples expressed a similar o pinion i n the
,

following lan guage

“
W o to the man who lo oks upon the law as a si mple
record of event s exp r e ssed in o r din ary l anguage fo r i f ,

re ally that is all that it c on t ai n s we c an f ra me a law

much more wo r thy of ad mi ra t i o n If we a r e to re g ard .

the ordin ary meani n g o f the w o r d s w e need o n ly tu rn t o

hu man laws and w e sh all o f t en meet wi t h a gre a t e r de gr ee
o felevation We have o n ly to imi t at e the man d to fr a me
.

l a w s afte r thei r model an d e x a mple But it i s not so .

every wo r d o f the la w con tains a deep an d s ubli me

”
mystery .

“
The texts of the law are the garment s of the la w : w o
to him who t ake s these garment s for the la w it self This .

i s the sense i n which D avid says : My God open my eyes ,

th a t I may con t emplate the m ar v els of thy law .

’

D a v id refe r red t o what i s co n cealed beneath the vest

me n t s of the law The r e a r e so me fooli sh people who
.
,

seeing a man covered wit h a h an d so me ga r me n t look n o ,

f a r t her and take the g a r men t fo r t he b ody while there is

, ,

s omethin g m o re preci o u s st ill an d that i s the soul The , .

la w a l so ha s i t s b ody The r e a r e the co mm andments w hich

.

may b e called the body of the la w the ordinary reco rd of ,

e v e n t s with which it i s mingled a r e the garmen t s th a t

c o ver the b ody O rdinary pe ople usually only regard the
.

ve stments and texts of t he law ; t hat i s all they lo ok at ;

t hey do n ot see wh a t i s hidde n b ene a th the garmen t s but ,

1 A F .
‘
ra n c k s l ti
t r an s a on ofL a Kab bla e.
1 06 OCC UL T SCIEN C E IN I ND IA .

Apart from th e b elief in spirits and supernatural man i fe s

t at i on s to which human reason does not r eadily assent o ur
,

readers will see that no purer morality ever grew from a

more elevated syste m ofphilosophical speculation .

Upon reading thes e pages they will see that antiquity

,

has d erive d all th e scientific knowledge oflife it possessed

from India and th e initiates of the Hindu temples we r e
,

very much like Moses S ocrates Plato Aristotle the E s

, , , ,

senes and th e C hristian apostles

,
.

Modern spiritualism can add nothing to the metaphysical

conceptions o f the ancient Brahmins : that is a truth well
e xpressed by the i llustrious C ousin in the following words
Th e history of philosophy in India i s an abridgemen t
”
oft he philosop h ical history of t he world .
 C H A PT E R VI .

P SYCHOLOGY OF T HE B OOK OF T HE PITRIS .

T he superior Guru began his l e ssons to thos e who h a d

b e en admitted to t he third degree of initiation , with th e
following aphorisms
The first of all sciences is that of man : man is the soul ;
the body is only a means of communication wit h terrestrial
matter ; the study o f th e soul leads t o the kn owl edge o f
all the visible and invisibl e f orc e s of nature to th at ofth e ,

Great A ll .

Havin g lai d this d o wn th e v e n e rabl e pri e st proc eed s to

,

unveil to his au d ienc e in the most maj estic and po e tic lan
,

gua g e the mysteries of the soul We are sorry that w e ar e

,
.

unable to accompany hi mas he more fully unfolds his doc

t r ine O ur presen t space would not suffic e We can o n ly
. .

give the sub stance of his teaching The soul or th e ego .

, ,

is a reality which manif ests itself through the ph e nom en a

o fwhich it is the cause ; thes e ph e nomena ar e r e veal e d to

man by t hat interior light which t he sacr ed books call

a han c a ra or conscience
,
.

This ahan c ara is a unive rsal fact an d all beings are en

do w ed with it more or less I t attains the gr e atest per
.

fec t i on in man I t is by this sovereign light that the ego

.
,

is enlightened an d guided W e may say by the w ay ac

.
, ,

cording to th e d ivine Manu that from the plant in which

, ,

it seems to b e in a state of suspended animation to the ,

ani mals and man the ahan c ar a g ra dually fr ees itself fro m
,

matter by which it is encum b e r e d an d ove rpower s an d ,

masters it until it arrives at the sup r eme transformation ,

,
1 08 OC C U L T SC I ENCE I N I ND IA .

which restores the soul to li b erty and enables it to continue

i t s p r ogre ssive evolution forever and ever .

Relea sed from these ties the so ul takes no fur ther i n ,

t e rest in the world which it once i n habited I t continues .

to be an active mem ber of the Great All and as says the , ,

immortal legislator :
“
The a n ce stral spirits i n an i n vi sible state acco mpan y
the Br a hmins when invited to the funeral s r addh a ; i n an
a erial fo r m they atte n d them and take thei r place be side
”
t hem when they take their seats
, (Man u Bo ok iii ) .
,
.

As the soul approaches its last transfo r matio n it acqui r es ,

faculties o f infinite perfection and fin ally I t s only Gu r us ,

are the Pitris o r S pirit s who have preceded it in a higher

,

w o rld By mea n s of the pu r e fluid called Agasa it en

.

te r s into communication with them receives inst r uction ,

from them and acco r ding to its deserts acqui r e s t he

, , ,

power or faculty of setting i n motion the secr e t fo r ces of

n ature .

Havi n g set this forth at length the Guru co mme n ces ,

hi s second les son by saying that logic al o ne leads t o a

knowledge ofthe soul an d body .

L og i c is defined to be a system of laws b y the a i d of ,

w hich ,
the mind being under proper control pe rfect ,

knowledge can be attained

Fi r st ofthe soul
,
.

S econd of the reas on,

.

Third ofthe intellect

,
.

S eventh ofthe j udgment ,

.

E i gh t h ofactivi t y
,
.

N inth ofp r ivatio n

,
.

Te n th of the results of actions

,
.

E leventh o fthe f a culty ,

.

T w elf t h of sufferi n g,
.

Thirtee n th o fdeli v e r ance ,

.

Fou r t eenth of t r an smigration or met e mpsychosis

,
.

Fifteenth, ofthe b ody .

110 OC C U L T S C I EN CE I N IND IA .

I nd uction in its turn is divided

, ,

First into antecedent which sepa r ates the effect fro m

, ,

the cause .

S econd into con sequent which ded uc es the c au se f ro m

, ,

t he effect .

Thi r d into analogy which infers that unk n own thi n gs

, ,

are alike from known things that are alike .

Af ter analyz ing the soul and body and testing the mi n ,

all their manifes t a t ions in the crucible of l ogic the Boo k ,

o f the Pitris th r ough the mouth of the Guru gives the

, ,

following lis t of th e ir f acul ties and qualities

Fac ulti es f e S
ot h oul .

First sensibility
,
.

S econd intelligence
,
.

Third will ,
.

Fac ult i es o f the I n tel ec t .

l

F irst conscience
, , or orga n s o finternal pe r ception .

S econd sense o r, , organs of external percep t i on .

Third memory
,
.

Fourth imagination
,
.

Fifth reason or organs of absolute notion s

, , , or axioms .

! ua li ti es of the B ody .

First color (sight)

,
.

S econd savor (taste)

,
.

Thi r d od o r (smell)
,
.

Fourth the se n se ofhearing an d touch

,
.

Fifth n umber
,
.

S ixth qu a ntity
,
.

S eventh individuality
,
.

E ighth conj u nction

,
.

N inth di sj unction
,
.

T enth priority
,
.
 O C C U L T S C IE N C E I N IND I A . 111

E leventh po steri ori ty

,
.

Twelft h g r a vity o r weight

, , .

Thirtee n th fluidity ,
.

Fourteenth viscidi t y ,
.

Fifteenth sound ,
.

A S the r e i s n othin g ma ter i a l about a n ythin g th a t p r o

c ee ds f r om t he so u l i t i s o bv i o u s th a t th o se f ac ul t i e s
,

which e man a te f r o m the A ba n ca m o r in w a r d lig ht an d , ,

the A ga sa o r pu r e fl uid ca n n ot unde r an y ci r cum st an c es

,

a n d howeve r thor o ughly w e m a st udy the m be made t he

y ,

o b j ect s o fs e n sa tio n a n d it f oll o ws that the fi n al e n d of a ll

,

scie n ce is to f r ee the S pi rit at t he e a rli e st p o ssi bl e mo

me n t f ro m all mate r i al fet t e r s f r om the b o n d s o f pa s ,

si on and any evil i n fl ue n ces that st a n d in the w ay of i t s

,

p assa ge t o the c ele stial S phe r e s whi c h a r e i n h ab i t ed b y ,

a erial bein g s whose t r an s mi g ratio n s a r e e n ded .

The b ody on t he cont r a ry b ei n g s olely co mpo sed o f

, ,

material molecule s is di ssolved i n to i t s o rigi n al elemen ts

, ,

a n d ret ur n s to the earth f r om w h i ch it S pr u ng .

I f the soul ho w eve r i s not deemed wo r thy to r ecei v e

, ,

the flui di c b ody spoke n of by Man n it i s co mpelled

, ,

t o commence a n e w se r ies o f tran sm i gr a t io n s in this

worl d until it ha s attained the req ui si t e de g r ee o f per
,

fe c t i on when it a b andon s the hum an f o r mfo r e v e r

,
.

I t is i mpos sible to shu t o ur eyes to the e x traordinary

similarity betwee n this system o f phil o s ophy and th a t o f
the old G r eek philosophe r s an d es peci ally of Pyth agoras , ,

who believed in the doctri n e of me t e mpsychosi s an d also ,

held that the obj ect of all philoso phy w a s t o f r ee t he soul

f r om its m o rtal envelope and g uide i t t o t he w o rld of
S pirits Although i t appears fr om all the tradi t ions re
.

lating to the subj ect tha t Pytha goras went t o t he I n dus

,

i n Alexander s train and t ravelled in In dia an d b ro ug ht

’

back this syste mf r o m there and w as the o n ly o n e of all ,

the old S ophi sts t hat taught it so me pe o ple w ho h ave ,

no ey e s for anythi n g that i s not Greek w ould have us be ,

1 12 O C C U LT S C I E N C E I N I ND I A .

lieve that In dia was indeb t ed to the land of S ocrates for

its earliest k nowledge o f philosophy We w i ll merel y .

r epeat in reply t he wo r ds of the illustri ous C olebrook

, , ,

who has studied this question for thirty years in India o n

the spot
“
I n philosophy the Hi n d us are the masters o f the
”
Greek s an d n o t their disciples
,
.

Py thago r as belie v ed in a hierarchy of the supe r ior

spirits e x ercising va r ious degrees ofinfluence upon worldly
,

matters .T h at doctrine lies at the very foundation of

the occult sciences I t neces saril y supposes an acquaint
.

a n ce with the magic al formulas of evocation and while ,

the philosopher o n ly leads us to suppose that he had b een

ad mitted to a kno wledge ofsupernatu r al sc iences there is ,

reaso n to b elieve that in this he was deterred from telling

all he kne w b y the terrible oat h taken by all those who
had b ee n initiated .

The Gur u ended his inqui r ies into the soul and its
faculties by the study ofthe reason .

A s the whole logical po w er of Hind u spiritism re sts

upon the se faculties we devote a special chapter to the
,

superior Guru s discourse up o n this interesting subj ect

’
.

We w ill give t he introduction me r ely in the form of a

di alogue .

Vil e use the modern term spiriti sm to designate t he ,

Hi n d u belief in the Pitris for the reason that no othe r

,

wo r d exists in our language which su f fi ciently charac

t er i z e s it .

The belief in the Pitris is a positive belief in spir its as

manifesting t hemselves to an d directing men : it matter s
little whether the word has any scientific value or n ot .

I t is e nough that it corr e ctly e xpr e sses t he i de a wh ich we

wish to conv ey .
1 14 OCC UL T SCIENCE IN INDIA .

f rom th y lips whose shining virtues ar e as brilliant as th e

,

su n whose reputation i s everywhere known and who art

, ,

praised in th e fourteen heavens by the fourte en classes of

spi r its w h o communicate with men let t hy science flow ,

over us who embrace thy sacred feet as the waters of the

, ,

Ganges flow ove r the plains they fertilize .

T HE GU R U .

L isten while the vil e S ond ra sl e eps like a dog beneath

the poy al of his abode : while t he Vaysia is d r ea ming of
the boards o f this world s t r easur es that he is acc umulat
’

ing and while the Xc hat ri a o r king sleeps a mong his

, , ,

women f aint with pleasure b ut never satiate d t his is the

, ,

moment when j ust men who are not un der the dominion
,

of their flesh commence the s t udy ofth e sciences

,
.

T HE VATU .

Master , we are listening .

T HE GU RU .

Age has weakene d my sight an d this f eeble body is ,

hardly able to unfold to you wh a t I mean my envelope is

falling asun d er and the hour of my t ran sfig ur a ti on is ap
pr oa chi n
g W h at
. d id I promise you f or this evening ?

T HE VATU .

Master you said to us I w ill unfold to you the k n owl

, ,

edge of the immortal light which puts man in c ommun i c a

,

tion with infini ty an d rul e s his transformations upon e ar th .

T HE G U RU .

You will n ow he ar a voice and t h at voic e will be mine ,

but the t h ought that arises in my mind is n ot mine .

L isten I give plac e to th e superior spirits by whom I am

inspire d .
 OC CUL T SCIENCE I N I ND IA . 1 15

The Guru then p e rforms an evocation to th e mari t chi s ,

or primordial spirits The following is a brief summary

.

ofhi s discourse .

E very man is conscious within hims elf of c e rtain abso

lute notions existing outside of matter and sensation
,

which he has not deriv ed from e d ucation an d which his

reaso n has receive d from S way ambhouv a or th e S elf e x ,
-

i st en t Being as a sign of h is immortal origin

, .

They are th e principl e s :

O f cause .

O f identity .

O f contradiction .

O f harmony .

Through the principle of cause reason tells us that

everything that exi sts is the result of some cause or
othe r and though the latter often escapes our notice we
, ,

still acknowledge i t s existence knowing it to be a fact

, .

This i s the source of all science : we stu dy realities only

to trace them b ack to their producer .

I t is not enough to lay down the law of a fact W e .

must know whom the law proceeds from and what main ,

tains the harmony ofnature .

Through the principle s of identity and contra d iction ,

man knows t h at his ego i s n ot that of his n eighbor Tha t .

t w o contrary facts are not governed by the same law ; that

goo d is not evil ; that t wo contraries cannot simultaneously
b e predicate d o f the same fact .

Through th e principle o f harmony r e ason tells us that ,

everything in t h e un i vers e is subj ect to certai n immutab le

laws and t h e principle of cause compels us to attri b ute to
,

these laws an auth or and pres e rver .

N o faculty of the soul i s a b le to p e rform any act or

motion exc ept in conformity with these principles which
, ,

regulate its interior and exterior life i t s spiritual and ma

,

t eri al nature Without these principles to which all are

.
,

necessarily obliged to sub mit and which com mend them

,
1 16 OC C U L T SCIENCE I N I ND IA .

selves to t he reason of all men an d people without these ,

principles we say which a r e the supre me law of all obser

, ,

vation of all inves t igation ofall science no on e can de r ive

, , ,

any benefit from traditi on or fr om the achieve ment s of

,

those who have preceded him There be i ng no other a x io

.

matic founda t ion for scientific fact s the r e can be n o ,

sc ience for no two men will se e think or j udge alike

, , ,
.

Human reason univers al rea son guided by a b sol ut e

, ,

principles— that i s the bright light guidin g and u n iti n g all

,

men in a com mon wo rk fo r the b enefit ofall .

S uc h is a brief abs t ract of this dial ogue w hich co v ers ,

fif ty palm leaves at least of the Book of the Pit ris

-
.

I t would be impossible fo r us as may well be i magined

, ,

in the present work which is me r ely a brief history o r

,

description of the practices of those who h ave been i n

i t i at ed and in which in order to accomplish the task we
, ,

have se t bef ore us we are obliged to compress the sub

,

stance of mo r e than fifty volumes to give any subj ect a ,

disproportionate or undue importance .

With the help o f the a x ioms laid d own by the Guru

reason leads man to the knowledge
First ofthe S upreme Being
,
.

S econd of the constitu t ion of the universe

,
.

Third ofsuperior and i n ferior spi rits

,
.

Fourth o fman,
.

W e propose n ow to S how what is the belief ofthose who

h av e b ee n initiat ed upon each ofthese matters .
 C H A PT E R I X .

A FE W SL OCA S FROM MAN U .

The soul is the assemblage of t he gods The univ ers e .

r e sts in the supreme soul I t is the so ul that accomplishes

.

the series ofacts emanating from animat e b eings .

96
96 96

The Brahmin should figure to himself th e great being

w h ich is the S overeig n Master of t he universe and who is ,

subtler than a n ato m a s more brilliant than pure gold an d

, ,

a s inconceivable b y the mind except i n th e r e pose o f th e

,

most ab stract conte mplation .

96

S o me w or ship hi min the fi r e some in the air ; he is , t he

L ord of creation the e t ernal Brahma
,
.

96
96 96

He it is who e nveloping all beings in a bo d y composed

,

o f the five elemen t s c a uses them to pass through the su

, c

c essi v e stages of b irth g r owth an d d issolution with a

, , ,

movement like that ofa w h eel .

96
96 96

S o the man who recogn izes the supreme so ul as present

in his own soul understands that it i s his duty to be ki n d
,

and true to all and the most fortunate destiny that he could
,

have desired is that o f being finally absorb ed in Brah ma .

(Manu Book xii )

,
.
 C HAPT E R X .

OF T HE SU PRE ME BE N I G .

[T we nty f
-
ourt h d ialogue of th e Book o f t h e Pitri s ]

Af t er giving as a t e xt the word s o f the A tharv a Veda -

and a fe w vers e s from Manu which we have j ust quoted

, ,

the A grouchada Parik c hai devotes the twenty fo urth les

- -

son ofthe G u ru to the study ofthe S upreme Being The .

principles of cause and harmony lead human reason to the

absolute notion of a super i or a n d un i v ersa l c a use .

“ ”
He wh o d en ies this caus e f or the w h ole says the ,

B ook of th e Pitris “
has no righ t to assign any cause to any
,

particul ar fact I f you say the universe e xists because it

.

exists it is unnecessary to go any further man lives only

,

b y facts and he has no assurance o thermse ofth e i n v ari a

,
”
bi li ty of natural la w s .

Having shown that th e b elie f in a superior and uni

versal caus e in the S upr e me Being lies at the basis of all
, ,

s cience and pre eminently of a xiomatic truth

,
-
,
the Guru ,

o f initiations borrows from Man n and the Vedas the

definition of this primordial force w h ose mysterious and ,

sac r ed na me it is forbidden to utter .

“
I t is he who exists by himself an d who is in all be , ,

cause all is in him .

I t is he w ho exists by himself b e cause the mind alone

,

can perc eive him ; who cannot b e apprehended by our

sensual organs W ho is without visib le parts eternal the
.
,

soul ofall beings and none c a n comprehend him

, .

“
H e is one immutable devoid of parts or form, i n
, ,
1 20 OCC UL T S CIENC E I N I ND I A .

finite o mnisci ent omnipresent and omnipotent He it is

, , , .

who has created the heavens and the worlds out of chaos ,

and has set the mwhirling through infinite space He is .

the motor the great o r iginal s ubstance the efficient and

, ,
”
material cause ofeverything .

Behold the Gan ges as i t rolls it is he ; the ocean as it ,

mutte r s it is he ; the cloud as it thunders it is he ; the

, ,

lightni n g a s it fla shes it is he ; as from all eternity the

,

world w as i n the mind ofBrahma so n ow everything that ,

exists is in his image .

He is the author an d principle o f all things eternal , ,

immate r ial every w here present independent infinitely

, , ,

happy exempt fro m all pain o r care the pure t r uth t he

, , ,

source of all j ustice he who governs all who disposes o f

, ,

all who rules all infinitely enlightened infinitely wi se

, , , ,

without fo r m without features without exten t without

, , ,

co n dition without name without caste with out relation

, , , ,

of a pu r ity th at excludes all passion all inclination all , ,

co mpromise .

The Guru with the Po uran as di scusses these subl i me

, ,

questions to which he returns the following answers

,
“
Mysterious S pirit immense f o r ce inscrutable power
, , ,

how w as thy power thy fo r ce thy life manifested befo r e

, ,

the period ofcreation Wa st thou dormant in the mids t of

disinteg r ating matter l i ke an extinct sun ? Was th e dis
,

solutio n of matter i n thyself or was it by thy order ?

We r t thou chaos D id thy life include all the lives that
had escaped the shock o f the destroying eleme n ts ? I f
th o u w e r t life thou w ert also death fo r the r e c a n be n o
, ,

de str uc t ion w ithout movement and motion could n ot exi st ,

”
without thee .

“
D idst thou cast the worlds into a blazing furnace in
order that they might b e regenerated in order th a t they ,

might be born again f r om their decomposing elements as

, ,

an old tree springs again from the s e e d in the midst of its

c orr uption
1 22 O CC UL T SCIENC E IN I ND I A .

t he h usban d an d wife, an d the on e t h at contains all three

i s called

M
fi r ee i n O ne .

Th is is giv en as the meaning o f th e sublim e mo n osylla

ble . I t is th e imag e ofth e anci ent of d ays .

96 96

T h e union of th e husband an d the wif e continues for

e ver and from the transports of their eternal love the son
,

constantly r e ceives life which he unceasingly drops into i n

,

fin i ty like so many m i llions of dew d rops f ertilize d by the

,
-

d ivine lov e .

96
96

E v e ry drop f dew
that falls is an exact representation
o

o f the gr e at all an atom of the Par am

,
at ma or unive r sal

soul and e ach o f t he s e atoms posse sses th e t wo principles

,

that beget th e third .

96
96 96

S o everyth ing goes by three in t he unive rse from the ,

infin ite to which everything descends to the infi nite t o ,

which ev e rything ascends with a motion similar to that ,

ofan e n dle ss chain r e vol v i ng about a whe e l .

96
96 96

T h e fi rst app e arance of atoms is in the state o f fertilized

germs They collect toge ther an d form matter which is
.

being continually transform e d and improved by the three

grand principles of life ; wat er an d h e at an d by th e pure , ,

fluid, call ed Agasa .

96 96

Agasa the pur e fluid is life itself I t is the soul I t

, , . .

is man T h e body is only an envelope an obedient slave

.
, .
 OCC U L T S C I ENCE I N I ND IA . 1 23

As the s eed whic h germinat e s bur sts through its shell

, , ,

and shoots out of the ground Agasa lays gradually aside ,

th e mat erial veil beneath which its transformation t ak e s

,

plac e and purifies itself Upon l e aving the earth it passes

,
.
,

through the f ourteen more perfect regions and eve ry time ,

it abandon s its form e r e nvelop e, and clothes itself with

o n e mor e pur e .

Agasa t h e
,
vsoul— animates th e human
ital flui d— th e
body upon earth I n infinite spac e, it put on the aeri al
.

f orm ofthe Pitris or spirits .

Human souls b efore being absorbed in the supreme soul ,

ascend through th e f ourteen following degree s of superior

spirits .

T he Pi tri s ar e th e imm ed iate so u

l s of our ancesto r s ,

still living in th e terrestrial circle and communicati n g ,

with men j ust as mor e perf ect man communicate s with

,

the animal world .

Abov e th e Pitris but having noth ing in common with

th e earth are , ,

The somapas ,

Th e agn i dag dhas ,

The ag n an i dag dhas

T he ag n i chw at t as ,

The cavias ,
S pirits in h abiting th e plan ets
T he barhi chads,
an d stars
Th e somy as
.

The hav i chmat s,

The adj yapas ,

The souc ali s ,

The sadhy as .
1 24 OC C U L T SC I ENCE I N I ND IA .

The t w o h i ghest degre es w ere those of th e Mari t c hi s

and of the Pradj apat i s who were superior spi r its an d , ,

wo ul d soon arrive at the end oftheir transmigrations and

b e absorbed in the great soul .

This is called the progressive transformation of j ust

S pirits who have spent their terrestri al life in the practi c e
o fvirtue The following are the transformation s of the
.

bad spirits
The yak chas ,

The rak c hasas ,

The pi sat ch as ,

The g an dharbas Ba d spirits who are constantly at

The apsa r as ,
tempting t o creep into the bodies of
T he a ssour as, men and return to te r re st rial life
, ,

The nagas ,
which they have to pass through anew .

The sarpas ,

The souparn as ,

The ki n n aras .

These bad Spi r its are the mal i g n secretions of the uni
ver se Their only means of regai n ing the de gr ee ofp ur i ty
.

requi r ed for the higher transfo rmation s is t h r ough t h ou ,

sa n ds an d thousands o f transformation s into minerals ,

plant s and an i mals

,
.

The sup erior pradj apat i s are ten in number ; t h e thre e

first ,

Ma r i t c hi ,

Atri ,

A ugiras ,

r epr e sent et ernal reason wi sd om an d intelligence , ,

.
1 26 OC C UL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

That is the reason why nothing exists outside of h is

essence and substance and th at all creatures contain in
,

t hemselves the principles of reason wis d om intelli g ence , , ,

goodn e ss power maj esty creation preservation t ran sfor

, , , , ,

mation , an d union and are the image of the ten Pr adj apa
,

tis who are th e mselv e s a dir e ct emanation from the divine

,

power .

The departure of the soul atom from the boso mof di

-

vinity is a radiation from the life of the Gr ea t A ll who ,

expends h is strength in o r de r that he may grow again and ,

in order that he may live by its return God thereby .

acquires a n ew vital force purified by all the transforma

,

tions that the soul atom has undergone

-
.

I ts ret urn is the final reward

S uch is the sec r et o f the
.

evolutions of the Great Being and of the sup r eme so ul , ,

the mother ofa ll soul s .

After fully setting forth the above system with regar d

to God the soul and perpetual creation the mo st asto n i sh
, , ,

ing system , perhaps that the world has ever p ro duced

, ,

and which contains within itself substantially under a ,

mystical form all the philosophical doctrin es th a t ha v e

,

ever agitated the human mind the Book of the Pit ris ,

closes the present chapter from which we have eliminated

,

its interminable invocations an d h ymns to the creative

power by the foll owi ng compari son
,

The Great A ll which is constantly in motion and is

,

constantly und e rgoing change i n the visible and invisible

univers e is like the tree which perpetuates itse lf by its
,
”
s eed, an d is unc easingly cr e ating t he sam e i dentical typ e s .
 OC C U L T S C I E N C E IN IN D IA . 1 27

Thus according to the belief oftho se w ho h ad been i n i

,

t i at e d God is the whole the soul is the atom which un

, ,

derg oes progressive transformation is purified and ascends ,

t o its etern al source an d the universe i s the reunited b ody

,

o fato m s in process oftransfo r mati on .

As man up o n earth is in di r ect commun ica tion wi th the

souls of plants and of inferior a n imal s so the P i t ris ha v , ,

ing clothed themselve s wi t h a flui di c (flui di q ue ) body an d ,

havi n g attained the fi r st of t he fourteen superior degree s ,

a r e always in com mu n ication with man .

The r e i s an uninterruptedly a scending scale the lin ks of ,

which are never broken

The Pitris are in rel a ti o n wi th the S omapa s (spirits) .

The S omapa s with the A gn i dag dhas .

The A g n i dag dha s wi t h the A g n an i dag dhas .

The A g n an i dag dha s with t he A g n i c hw a t a s .

And so on up to the Pra dj a pat i s who a r e i n di r ect c o m

,

mun i cat i on with God .

In each ocate g ories the spi r it a ssume s a mo r e

f the se
perfect body and co ntinues to move i n a C i r c le of laws ,

which may be called sup er terr estr i a l b ut whi c h a r e n o t

s uper n a tur a l .

The B o ok of the Pitris says po sitively that the Spirits

prese r ve their sex whatever may b e the superior c a t eg o
,

ries to w hich they may attain ; that they ar e united t o

gether b y the ties of a lo v e which i s totally u nl ike every
form of earthly passion These unions are always p r olific
.

an d g ive birth to beings who possess all the qu alitie s o f

their parents enj oy the same happines s and are not tied
, ,

down to the transf orm ations of this lower world .

I t is possible however as the Pitris e n j oy t he utmo st

, ,

freedom ofwill that they may commit some exceptionally

,

grave fault and be d eg ra d ed in consequence to the con di

, ,

tion ofman Upo n this po int the A g ro uchada Parik c hai

.
-

allu des to a revolt of t he Pit r is that h appened a lon g while

,
1 28 OCCUL T SC I ENC E IN I ND IA .

ago, but mak e s no furthe r explanation S om e o f t he m .

are suppos e d to h ave been cast do w n to earth again .

There is ev e ry reason to suppose from the close simi

,

lari ty existing between their various religious tradition s ,

that this legend fo und its w ay th r ough the process of ini

,

t i a t i on from the Hi n du temples into the mysteries o f

,

C haldea and E gypt and thus gave birth t o the myth of

,

the first si n .

Those Pitris which have not passed the degree i mme di

ately above that o f man are the on ly sp i rits which a r e in
,

communication with the latter They a r e regarded as the

.

ancestors of the huma n race and its natural directors from

whom it derives its inspiration They are the mselves i n
.

spired by the spirits of the next deg r ee above t he m an d so ,

o n from on e degree t o anothe r u n t il the divine word or in

, , ,

other terms until revelation i s imparted t o ma n

,
.

The Pit r is a r e n ot equal to each o the r E ach catego ry

.

fo r ms a separate and complete wo rld in the likeness ofour

,

o wn ,
only more perfect in which the r e is the same di
,

ve r sity of i n telligence an d f unc t ion .

Accordin g to this theo ry it will be readily understood

,

that man cannot live isol a ted f r om hi s ance sto r s I t is .

only b y the aid o f thei r i n str uction and help that he can
arr ive in the sho r test possible ti me at the t r an sformat ion
b y means of which he b ec o me s u n i t ed to the m .

Upon this belief is based t he whole theory of initiation .

But men upon earth are not fitted t o re c eive communi

cations from a higher world S ome are naturally inclined
.

toward evil an d do not c a re to i mp r ove thei r characte r s :

others still feel the ef fec t of the previ o us li v es which they
have S pent in the form of animal s an d their spirits a r e
,

entirely dominated by matter I t is only after many gen

.

e r a t i on s have been spent in the pr a ctice of virtue that

the soul becomes spi r itu alized and the pure fluid called
Agasa is d e v eloped, by means of which communication is
establi shed .
1 30 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN I NDI A .

genera t ed E v e rythin g that exists is compose d of atoms

.

that r epro d uce themselves by threes — the germ the womb , ,

and the of fsprin g— the f at h er the mother the child — after

, ,

the pattern o f that immortal Trinity which is welded to

gether in one bein g by whom the whole ofna t ure is rul e d ,

and the soul atom at the close of its transformations r e

-
, ,

turns to the ever living source from which it sprang

-
.

Thi s grand an d i mposing conception gave birth i n the ,

v ulgar cul t ,
to that triple manifestation of the Trinity
w hic h w as known in India as
N ara— Agn i — Brahma— the Father
N ari— Vaya—V i sc hn ou— the Mother ,

V i radj S o urya — S iva— the S on

-
.

I t w as kn own i n E gypt und e r t he followin g nam e s

Amon — O siris — Horus — th e Father ,

Mouth—I sis —I sis— th e Mother ,

Kh ons— Horus — Malouli —the S on .

I t was call e d i n Ch al d ea :
Anou ,

N ouah ,

Bel .

In Polyn esian O ceanica

T a aro a,

I n a,
O ro .

A n d fin ally in C hristianity
The Fathe r ,

The S pirit ,

The Word .

A l l the teachin gs of the temples grow out of th e mys

t e ri e s into which the priests are initiated an d w h ic h they
,

change in to the grossest symbols in order to v ul gariz e

,

t h e mwith out di v ulging their secr e t m e ani ng .

 C HAPT E R X I .

WORD S S POKE N BY T HE PRIE STS AT LI E MPHI S .

The vandalism committe d by C aesar s soldiers in the’

destruction of the Alexandrian library has left us nothing

b ut sculptures and inscriptions with which to reconstruct
the religious history of E gypt But that country was so
.

directly allied to India that its ruins speak to us in a voice

full of meaning and its inscriptions are pregnant with
,

significanc e when studied from a Brahminical point of

,

vie w.

We will merely mention at pres ent o n e inscription

, ,

taken from the Rahmesséum at Thebes which is a com ,

le t e summary o f th e d octrin e o f the Pitris as he rein se t

p ,

forth .

O ne of the first e xpressions that the Egyptian priests

made use of in addressing those w h o had been passe d
th r ough the process of initiation was as f ollows
E very thing is contained and pr e served in on e ,

E veryt h in g i s changed and trans form ed by thre e ,

The Monad created the D ya d ,

The D yad begat the Triad ,

The Triad shin e s throughout the whole of nature .

 C HAPT ER X II .

T HE FORMU L AS OF E VO CATION .

A ft er an examination of the part perform ed by the

h uman soul and the s uperior and inferior spirits as well
, ,

as by the universe in the Great All which w e call God

, ,

a n d hav ing e sta b lished t he ties of relationship existi n g

,

betwe e n all soul s in con sequence of which those belo n ging

, ,

to the superior g r o ups a r e alw ays ready to aid souls belong

ing to an inferior gr o up w ith their counsel and communi
cations the Book ofthe Pitris goes on to discuss the mys
,

t eri o us subj ect ofevocations E vocations are o f t w o sorts

. .

They are add r essed either to disembodied spirits or to

ancestral spirits in which l a tter case the spirits evoked
,

can re spo n d to the appeal made to them whatever may ,

be the superior degree to which they may have attained or ,

they a r e addressed to spi r its not incl uded in the g en ealog i

cal line o f rel a tio n ship and then the evocations are un
,

succe ssful i f add r es sed to spirit s w ho have already pa ssed

the deg r ee im mediately above t hat ofman .

The following rules may be laid d o wn

That a man can evoke the S pi r it of his ancestor under
any c i r cumstan ces even if the latter has already arrived at
,

the ran k of Pra dj apat i or supreme direct o r of c r eatio n

, ,

and i s on the point o fbeing ab sorbed in the Great S oul .

That if any on e evokes a spi r it not in his genealogical

line he can only o b tai n manife station s f
,
rom those who
belong to the class ofPitri s .

Preparations should be m a de fo r the ceremony o fevoca

t i on by fasting an d praye r fo r as the A g ro uc hada Pari k chai
, ,
-

says these terrible formula s are fat a l w hen n ot uttered by a

,

pure mon t h I n order to evoke a spi r it the priest should

.
1 34 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN I NDI A .

By r e ading from ri ght to lef t comm e ncing with the ,

last syllable of each wo r d we are able to attac h the fol ,

lowing meani n g to this ca b alistic sentence

T r i da n d n i .

T r i da cay o ucla m .

T r i di v a rn .

T r i da mas .

T r i k a la m .

T r a y i da r ma m .

T r
ij a g a t .

96 96

Th e language of evocat ions totally dispenses with all

verbs prepositions conj unctions an d adverbs and while
, , , ,

nam e s ar e retained they unde rgo the terminations ofthe

,

different declensions b y which the g r ammatic action ofthe

verbs and preposition s un de r stood is indicated ,
.

Thus in the case under consideration

,

T ri alan di n is in the nominative an d sig n ifies the priest ,

who is entitled to th r ee sticks These three stick s indicate .

o n e who h as b e en admit t ed to the third deg r ee of initia

tion and who has power over three things : thought

, ,

speech and action

,
.

T r i da gay ouda m signifies the divin e arm This wo r d .

is in the accusative and i s governed by a verb of which

,

T ri dan di n is the subj ect .

T r uli/v a msignifies the t r iple he a ven

'

This word is al so .

in the accusative and is consequently in the same situatio n

as the prece d ing word .

T r i da m as is the name of A gn i of three fi r es This .

word is the genitive ofa wo r d of which T ri damamis the

nominative .

T r i lca la msignifies the three times the past the present , , ,

the fut ure This is al so in the accusa t i v e form

. .

T r a y i da r m a mis in the accusative an d sig n ifies the three ,

books of the law .

T r ij a ga t is in the neutral form of the accusativ e and si g

n i fies the three wo r lds heaven earth and the lower regions , ,
.
 O C CUL T SC I ENCE I N I ND IA .
1 35

A ccord in g to the Brahmins this inscription means as ,

f ollows
T r i dan di n — or he who h as be e n initiat ed into three de
r

grees who carries t he three rods and who has power over
, ,

three things : thought speech and action , , .

T r i da gay oudafln — i fhe desires to secure possession of the

‘

divine arm .

T r i aliwa m— and conquer the power of evocation f ro m

the spirit ofthe three heavens .

T r i da m as— must have i n his service Agni of the th r ee

fires .

T r i ka la m— and know the th r ee ti mes past present and , , ,

future .

T r a/yi da r m am — must possess the e ssence of the three

books ofthe law .

T r ij a ga t — thus he wil l b e enabled to know th e secrets

ofthe three worlds .

We do n o t propose to dwell at le n gth upon the practice

of occul t writing the mechanism of which chan ge s with
,

every form of evocation Besides it has been impos si b le .

,

for us as we have elsewhere stated to obtain posses sion

, ,

o f that part of the Book of the Pitris containing these

formulas The priests keep them to them selves and the

.

people are n ot allowed to know anything ab out them .

At one ti me the penalty for divulging a single ve r se of

the Book of S pirits was death The rank of the accuse d .

made n o difference I t mattered n o t that the guilty prie st

.

belon ged to the sacerdot al caste .

N either did th e Jewi sh C a b ali st s limit them selves t o t he

sym b olical l anguag e with which they co v e r ed up th e i r
d o ctrines They al so endeavo r ed to introduce i n t o t h e i r
.

writings secret methods al most identical w it h th ose of t he

Indian pagodas .

As for particular ceremonies of evocation we sh all h a v e ,

occa sio n to s tudy them in all their details when w e t ur n

ou r atte n tion to the external manif estations prod uced b y
th e d i f fer e nt gra d es of initiates .
 C HAPT E R X III .

FORMU LAS O F MA GICAL IN CAN TATION — V U LGA R MA GIC .

The formulas of magical incantation add r essed to evil ,

spirits are kept as secre t as tho se used in the evocatio n of

,

superior spirits They even fo r ma part of a special b ook

.

o fthe A g ro u c ha da called the A rou c hada Pa ri kc hai t r eat

g
-
,

ing of magicians .

They are also wri tten as well as read i n a manne r simi

, ,

la r to that we have j ust desc r ibed in o r de r to hide fr om ,

the profane thei r real meani n g W e p a ss them over

.
,

however an d t ur n ou r atten tion to the external manifest a

,

t io n s e x orci sm s an d cases o fde m

, ,
oniacal po sse ssion whi c h
a re so f r eque n t in I ndia .

We propo se t o give an i mpa r ti al ac c oun t o f the numer

ou s facts that have f a llen un der o u r o w n o b se r v a tion s o m e ,

o fwhich a r e so ext r ao r din a r y f r o ma physiol ogical as w ell ,

as f r om a purely spiritual poi n t of view tha t w e ha r dly ,

k n o w what t o say of the m .

We merely allude to t h e ch apter o f t he A g ro uc hada

t r e a ti n g o f fo r m u l a s o f i n c a n t a t i o n a n d a re un a b le t o gi v e
an fu r the r i n fo r m ation a s t o the m agical word s to whi c h
y ,

the p rie sts att r ibute so much vi r tue i n exorcising Ra k

c ha sa s Pi sa t c ha s N ag a s S o u
, , parn as and other evil spi r i t s
, ,

tha t frequent fune r al ceremo n ies take posse ssion of men s ,

’

b odies and di sturb the sac rifice s

,
.

We have already in anothe r wo rk di scussed that por

, ,
1

tion of t he Book of the Pitri s not w ithst an ding i t s v ul ,

1
Hi st o r y o ft h e V i gi
r n s.
1 38 OC CUL T SCIENCE I N I ND IA .

But ther e are oth e rs whose diabolical art is though t to

,

b e unlimit e d an d w h o are supposed to possess all th e

,

s e cre ts ofmagic .

To inspir e lov e or h atre d to introduce the devil int o ,

’
any on e s bo d y or to drive him away to cause sudden
, ,

deat h or an incurable disease to prod uce contagious mala ,

dies i n cattle or to protect them therefrom to discover the

, ,

most secret things and to find lost or stolen articles— all

,

this is but child s play for them ’

.

The mere sight of one who is supposed to be endowed

with suc h vast power in spires the Hindu with the deepest
terror .

These d octors of magic are often consulted b y person s

who have enemies ofwho m they desi r e to be revenged
, ,

by means of sorcery O n the other hand when a n y on e .

,

who suf fers from disease attributes it to a cause of this

kind he calls in their aid that they may d eliver him b y a
, ,

counter charm or transfer the di sease to those who ha v e

-
,

so maliciously cause d it in hi s case .

The supplementa r y volume of t he A g rouc hada Parik -

chai treating of the practices of v ulgar magic does not

, ,

seem to question the min any respect ; it merely attri b utes

them to the in fluence ofevi l spirits .

I n its v iew the magician s power is immense but he

,
’
,

on ly uses it for evil pu r poses .

N othin g is easier than for hi mto affli ct any one whom he

may meet with f ever drop sy ep i lepsy insan ity a constant
, , , ,

nervous trembling or any other disease in short But that

, ,
.

is nothing By h is art he can even cause the enti r e destru o

.

tion of an army besieging a city or the sud den death of ,

the commander ofa be sieged city and ofall its in habitant s .

But while magic te aches how to do harm it also shows ,

us how to prevent it There is no magician so shrewd that

.

there is not another who can more than match him in

ability or destroy the ef
,
fect of his charms an d mak e t he m ,

r eboun d upon h imsel f or his patrons .

 OC C U L T SC I ENC E IN INDI A . 1 39

I n dep e ndent f their

d irect intervention th e magicians
o
,

h ave a large assortment of amulets talismans and powerful , ,

an d ef fi cient preservatives against sorcery and enchant

ments in whic h th ey d o a large business an d mak e a great
,

de al o f money .

Th ey consist ofglass b e a d s e nch anted by men t ra ms of

, ,

drie d and aromatic roots an d herb s of sheets of C oppe r ,

upon whic h cabalistic ch aract ers uncouth figur es and fan , ,

t as ti cal words are engraved .

The Hindus of the lo w er castes always wear th e m upon

their persons thinking that a supply of these relics will
,

protect them from all harm .

S ecret preparations to inspire love to kin dl e anew an ,

expiring passion to restore vigor to the weak an d in fi rm

, ,

come also within the province of th e magicians an d are ,

by no means the least unproductive source of their i n

come .

I t is to them a woman always applies first wh en she

wishes to reclaima f aithless husband or prev ent his be ,

coming such .

I t is by the ai d ofthe philters they concoct that a young

libertine or a sweethea r t usually tries to beguile or cap
t i v at e the obj ect of his passion .

The A g ro uc hada also discusses th e subj ect o f incubi .

These demons in India says D ubois are much worse

”
, ,

and more diabolical th a n those S poken of by D elrio t he

,

Jesuit in his D i squisi t i on es Mag i c aa By their vi olent

,
‘
.
’

and long continued e mb r aces they so weary the women

-

whom they visit in the form of a dog a tiger or some , ,

other animal that the poor creatures often di e of fatigue

,
”
and exhaustion .

I t then speaks at some length of th e means by which

weapons may be enchanted or bewitched .

These arms upon which ma g ic a l me n t rams have been

pronounced have the virtue of p r oducing ef
,
fects which
wil l compar e in e v ery respect with thos e caus ed by t he
140 OCC U L T SC I ENCE IN INDI A .

cele b rated s word of D uran dal or the lance of A rg ai l by

, ,

which so many were disabled .

The Hind u go ds and giants in th e ir fre quent wars with

,

e a ch other always m ade use of enchanted a r ms

,
.

N othing could withstand for in stance the arro w o f

, ,

Brahma which was never unsheathed without destroyin g

,

a n entire army ; o r the a r ro w o fthe serpent C apel which , ,

w henever it w a s c a st a mo n g his e n e mies had the p r oper t y

,

o f thr o wing the m into a state o f lethargy which as may ,

well be imagined put t hem at a great dis a dvantag e a n d

,

co n tributed largely to thei r defeat .

T here is no sec r et that magic does not teach There .

are magical secret s ho w to acq uire wealth and hono r s to

re n der ste r ile women p r olific b y ru bb ing the hands and feet
with certain ench anted co mpou n ds ; to discove r t r easures
b uried i n the ea r th o r concealed in some sec r et pla c e no
, ,

matter whe r e ; a n d to make the b earer i n vul n e r a b le o r ,

even invi nci b le in battle

,
.

The only thin g th ey a r e not so clear a bo ut i s the su bj ect

o f eve rlas t ing life ; and yet who c an tell ho w m a n y al
chemists have gro w n w hite in the c rypts of the pag odas ,

a n d ho w many st r ange philters h a ve b een the r e co n cocted

in order to lea r n the sec r et of i mmort ality

To become e x pe r t in magic the pupil m ust learn from
a magician hi mself whom the sorcerers c all thei r Gu r u
, ,

like the believe r s in the philosophical doctrin e of the

P i t r is the for mulas of evoc a tion b y mean s of which the
, ,

malig n spi r its a r e b r ought i n to complete su bj ectio n .

S o me of these spirits the magici a n evoke s in preference

t o o t her s pr o b ab ly on account of their willi n g ness to do
,

a n ything that may b e requi r ed o fthem .

I n the fi r st ran k are the spirits ofce r tain planets The .

name Grab as which is u sed to designate them means

, , ,

the act of sei z ing o r t aking possession of those whom they

are comman ded b y a ma gical i n c anta ti o n t o tor me n t
, ,
.

In the next rank c o me t he bout a ms or demons from ,

1 42 O CC U L T SC I ENC E I N I NDI A .

Thereupon the spirit ha d to submit .

I t would be impossi b le to enumerate t he dif

ferent d rug s,
ingredients and i mplem e nts that compose the stock i n
,
-

tr a de ofa magician .

There are some spells in which it is necessary to use t he

bones of sixty fo ur di f fere n t kinds o f animals n ei t he r
-
,

mo r e nor les s an d among the m are included those of a

,

man born on the first day ofthe new moon or ofa woman , ,

or a virgin o r a child or a p a riah

, ,
.

Wh en all the se bo n es bei n g mingled togethe r are e n , ,

chanted by men t rams and consecrated by sac r ifices and ,

are buried in an enemy s h ouse o r at hi s door upon a ’

,

night asce r tained to b e propitious after an inspection of ,

the stars for that purpose his death will i n falli blv f ol ,

low .

In like m anne r if the magician in the silence

, ,
o f
night should bu ry the b ones i n question i n an ene my s
,
’

camp at the four cardinal points of the compas s and then , ,

retiring to a distance should p r onou n ce the me n t ramof

,

d efeat all the troop s there encamped would utte r ly perish

, ,

o r else wo u l d sc a tter to the four winds of heaven ofthei r ,

o wn accord befo r e seven days had elapsed

,
.

Thi r ty t w o enchan ted arms thrown among a b esiegi n g

-

a r my would cau se such a fright that a hundred men would

seem like a th o usand .

O f a mixt ur e of ea r th taken from sixty—f our mo st di s

gu sting place s— w e refr ain from acco mpanyi n g the Hi n du
au t hor i n his enumeration of the places in question — min
gled with his enemy s hair and nail clipp i ngs small fig ur es
’
-
,

are made upon whose bo som the name o fthe person upon
,

who mit is desired to take revenge i s inscribe d Magi c a l .

wo r ds and men t rams are then pronounced over them an d ,

they are consecrated by sacrifices As soon as this i s .

d one th e grab as or evil genii o f the planets take po sse s

, , ,

sion of the person who is t he su bj ect of animosity and he ,

is subj ected to all sort s of evil treatment .

 OC C U L T SC I E N C E I N I ND I A . 1 43

S o metimes these figures are t ra nsfixed with an a w l or ,

a r e i n j u r ed i n vario us w ays wi th the o bj ect of re ally

,

killi n g or disab li n g hi mwho is the o bj ect of ve n geance .

S ix t y four roots of various kinds of the mo st n o x ious

-

pl a n t s are kn o wn t o the magician s which in the i r h an d s

,

b ecome the mo st powerful weapons fo r the secre t infli c ti o n

o fthe de a dlie st b lows upon tho se at whom t hey a r e ai m ed .

N o twi t hst anding the occ upation of a magician i s n o t

,

wi tho ut d an g e r b y an y mean s The gods an d e v il ge n ii

.

a r e very vi n dic t ive and never o b ey the i nj unctio n s o f a

miserab le mo r t al ve ry g o od humor e dly I t o f t e n h appe n s

-
.

th a t they puni sh hi mve ry severely for t he bru t al w ay i n

which he orde r s the mab out .

W oe to him if he makes t he slightest mi stake if he is ,

guilty oft he mo st in signific ant o miss i on of the innu merab le

ce r emonies w hich are oblig atory upon hi min the pe rfo r m
ance of an e v o cation All the ill s th a t we r e intended fo r
.

othe r s ar e i n co n t inently showered down upon hi s o w n head .

He i s constan tly in fear it seems le st some other me m

, ,

ber of the sa me confr a ternity ofgr eater a b ility than hi m

,

self may succeed in maki n g hi s o w n i mp r ecatio n s re b ound

,

upon hi mself o r hi s p a tro ns .

All the se supe r stitious doctrines still e x ist i n I n d i a and ,

mos t of the pagodas belonging to the vul g ar cult p o sse ss ,

ap art from the higher priests whom they a r e co mpelled to

lodge and feed a b ody of magici an s whose services a r e
,

let out to the lower caste s in precisely the same way as

,

tho se ofthe Fakirs .

N ow they undertake to rid a woman fr om the n octurn al

em br aces of an incu b us : at another time they unde r t a ke
to re store the v irile powe r ofa man whe r e it has b een lost
in consequence of a spell ca st by some opposi n g magician .

At other ti me s they are called upo n to protect fl ock s

, ,

that have b een deci ma t ed through the enchantments of

o thers against all n o x i o u s influences
,
.

From t i me to time in order to keep ali ve in th e public

,
144 OC C UL T SC I ENC E IN I ND IA .

mind the b elief i n these sacred doctrines these jugglers ,

send out challenges to other pagodas and publicly e n g age

,

in contests in the p r esence of witnesses and ar b it r ators

, ,

who are called in to decide which of the t w o champio n s i s

the more accomplished in hi s art .

The obj ect of the co n tes t i s to obt ain possessio n o f an

enchanted bit of straw a sm all st ick or a piece ofmoney
, ,

The antagonists are b oth placed at the same dist ance

fr om the obj ect whatever it may be and they both make
, ,

b elieve t o approach it b ut the men t rams they utter the

, ,

evocatio n s t hey perfo r m the enchanted powders which they

,

recip r ocally th r o w at each other possess a virtue which

,

repels them : an invinci b le and ove r poweri n g force seems

t o st an d in the way ; they make f r e sh atte m pts to advance
but they are forced back ; they redouble their effo r ts ;
they fall into spas ms and convulsions they perspire pro ,

fuse ly and spit b lood U ltimately on e of them ob tains

.

pos se ssi o n of the enchanted obj ect and is declared the

victor .

I t sometimes happens that on e ofthe combatants is ove r

th r ow n by the power of hi s adversary s men t r ams I n ’
.

that ca se he rolls on the ground as though he were po s

se ssed by a demon and remai n s the r e moti onle ss fo r so me
,

ti me appearin g to have lost hi s mi n d

,
.

At last he recove r s the use of hi s senses a r ises in an ,

app a rent state of fatig ue and exhausti on and seems to ,

r eti r e covered with shame and con fusion He returns to .

the pagod a and does not make his appearance again for
some ti me A serious sickness is supposed to have e n sued
.

in consequence ofthe incredi b le though ineffectual effor t s

, ,

he has made .

There i s n o doubt that t hese piti able f ar ce s with w hich ,

tho se who h a v e b een hone st ly i n itia t ed into the gen uine

w or ship o f the Pitris a r e in n o w ay co n nected wh a te v e r ,

ar e all conce r t ed in a dvance b et w een t he p r iest s belo n g i n g

,

to the v ul g ar cult of t he riv al p ag od as an d the C harl a t an s

146 OC C U L T SC I EN C E IN IND IA .

cant it may be w ithout d anger of rec e iving from a nei gh

,

bor or a mere p a sse r by or even a relative the ch i c/ ay

,
-
, ,

dotelLa .The r e is nothing in the app e aran c e o f those who

possess this fatal gift to indicate that th ey ar e so endowed .

Thos e who have it a r e often unconscious o f it themsel v es .

For this reason every Hin d u several times a d ay causes , ,

to be perfo r med in the cas e o f h ims elf his f amily his , ,

field s an d his house the ceremony of the a rr a tty the

, , ,

design of which is to counteract any h ar m that might

o therwise befall hi mfrom spells cast b y the eyes .

The a/r ra tty is one of their common e st practices ,

whether p ublic or private I t may almost be elevate d to .

the height of a n a tional custo m so general is it in every ,

province I t i s always performed b y women and any

.
,

woman i s q ualified to perform it except widows who are ,

never ad mi t ted to any d o me stic ceremony their mere ,

p r ese n ce alone b ein g unlucky .

The ce r emony is performed as f ollows

A la mp full o foil perfumed wi t h sandal wood i s placed
'

,
-
,

o n a metal plate I t is then lighted and one o f the

.
,

women of the household when her father or husband o r , ,

any o ther member of the fa mily comes i n f r om outdoors , ,

takes the plate in her hand and raises it as high as the ,

head of the person upon w h om the ceremony is to be per

formed an d descri bes therewit h either th r ee or seven
,

ci r cles acco r di n g to his or her age or rank .

In stead of a lighted lamp a vase is of t en used contain ,

i n g wate r pe r fu med with san dal wood and saf fron red -
,

de n e d b y ve r milion and consecrated b y the immersion of

,

a fe w stalk s of the divine cousa grass .

The a rr a tty is pub licly performed seve r al times a day

upon person s of disti n ction such as raj ahs provincial , ,

g overnors army gene

,
r al s o r othe r s of eleva t ed rank
, I t .

is a ceremony to which cour t ie r s a r e b idden as formerlv ,

with us to the king s lev ee O n e p r actice is quite as r i di c u

’
.

lous to us as the othe r an d j udging f r o m what w e have

,
 OCC U LT S C I E NC E I N I ND IA . 1 47

o urs elves see n in c erta in p ro vinces in the D eccan whe r e

, ,

the E n glish h a ve allo w ed a fe w pha n toms of raj ahs stil l

to rem ain the courtie r s i n this co untry are quite as de
,

graded and servile a cl a s s a s with us They pay fo r the .

c rumb s they receive and the favors they enj oy b y the sac
r i fic e o f every fee ling o f conscience or dignity I t is the .

s a me everywhere We mu st say however to the credi t

.
, ,

of the Hi nd u courtiers that they never made their wives

,

o r daughters the mistre sses of their raj ah s .

As a general thing a Hind u o f any caste would blush

,

to o w e his own preferment to the dishonor of his w i fe .

Whenever persons belonging to a princely rank have

been ob liged to appear i n public or to speak to strangers , ,

t hey never fa il upon returning to their palaces to summon

, ,

their wives or send for the i r dev adassi s from the nei ghbor
ing temple to perform this cere mon y upon the m and thus ,

reve n t the serious consequences that m ight otherwise re

p
sul t fro m an y b aleful gl ances to which they may have been
expo sed They often have in their pay girls specially
.

employed for that purpose .

Whenever you enter a Hi n d uhouse if you are regarded ,

as a person ofdistinction the head of the fa mily directs

,

the youn g wo men to perform the ce r emon y of a r ra tty I t .

i s al so pe rfo r med for the statues o fthe gods .

When the dancin g girls at the temple s have fin ished

-

t heir other ceremonies they never fail to perform the

,

a rr a tt
y t w o or three times over the gods to whose service
they are attached .

This is also practised with still more solemnity when

t heir statues a r e carried in procession throu g h the streets .

Its o bj ect is to avert an y bad consequences resulting fro m

glances which it is as difficult for the gods to avoid as
si mple mortals Finally the a rr a tty is generally per
.
,

formed upon elephants ho r ses dome stic an i mals and par

, , ,

t i c ularly upon the sacred bullocks and eve n sometim e s ,

upon growing fields of rice .

1 48 OC C U L T S C I E N C E I N I ND IA .

Beside the mor e ele v a t ed d oc t rine s t au ght by those who

believe in t he Pi t r i s v ulga r magic in In dia takes its pl a ce
,

as a degenerate desce n dant I t w a s the w ork ofthe l o wer

.

prie sthood and i ntended t o keep the people in a c onsta n t

state ofapp r ehen sion I n all t i me s and i n all place s b y
.
, ,

the side of the most elev a ted philo sophic al speculation s ,

we alway s find the reli g ion oft he pe ople .

We have d w elt a t so me length up o n the p r ac ti c e

o f magic and s o r ce r y in I ndia th oug h they have n o t hi n g ,

whatever to do w i t h the h i gher w o rship which initi at e d

B rah mins pay to the sh a des of their ance sto r s and the su
perio r spirits f o r the rea so n th a t nothing was b etter c al
,

cu lat e d to p r ove the A siatic o r i g in o f most of the n a ti on s

o f E urope than a det a iled description of these strange

customs which a r e identic a l with many that we meet with

,

up o n our o wn soil an d o f which o ur historical traditions

,

furni she d us n o e x pl an atio n until we made the discovery

that we were rel a ted to the Hin d us by descent .

People i n the middle ages beli e ved i mplici tly in succubi

and incubi in the efficacy of magical fo r mul as in sorcery
, ,

a n d the evil eye C oming down to a period n e arer our o w n

.

ti me s we have not for gotten those fanatical lea guers who

, ,

ca rried t heir super stition to such a pitch that they use d t o

m ake little i ma g e s o fw ax rep r ese n t i n g Henry III and the .

King of Na varre They were accustomed to t ran sfix these

.

im a g es in dif fe r ent places and keep them so for a perio d

o f f orty days O n the fortieth day they sta bb ed t hemt o
.

the hea r t f ully persuaded that they would th us cause t he

,

death of the p r inces they were design ed to represen t .

Pra ctices ofthi s kind we r e so common th a t in 1 5 71 a pre , ,

ten ded s orcerer n a med Trois E chelles who was e x ec uted -

,

o n the P la c e cle Gr e r e declared in hi s exami n a tio n t hat

,

there we r e mo r e tha n th r ee thou sand pe r so n s engag ed i n

the same b usine ss an d th a t the r e w a s n o t a wo man a t
,

co urt or b el on ging t o t he middle o r l ower cl a ss who did

, ,

n o t patronize the m agician s particularly in love matters, .

1 50 OCC UL T SCIENC E IN I N DI A .

un de r the dominion oftheir Brahmins and Necro m

an cers,

still slumber on in th e la st stages of decrepitud e and decay ,

w e h ave made great strides in the path of scien tifi c prog

ress an d intellectual li berty .

W e always meet the p r iest and sorcere r upon th e same

plane of social charlatanism They are both products of .

superstition and grow out ofthe same causes .

From an ethnographic point ofvie w it is interestin g to ,

observ e that the Roman s also inh erite d similar O pinion s

from their Hindu ancestors .

W e remember what O vi d sai d of Medea the magician ,

Per t um i
ul os e rat p a ss s di sc i n c t a c api lli s,
C e rt aque de t e pi di s c olli g i t ossa rog i s,
b
De v ov e t a sen t es si mul ac r aque c er ea fin g i t
,

Et m i ser umt en ues i n j ec ur urg et ac us .

Horac e also speaks of t w o magicians n am e d C anidia ,

and S agana who se apparatus contained t w o figures, one of

,

wool and the other of wax .

L an e a , q uae p i
oen s c o mpe sc e ret i nf i m
e r ore

Ce e suppli i t st b
r a c er a at : serv i li bus ut que
Jamp e i t u modi s
r ra , .

W e must confess h owever that th e L y d ian singer was

, ,

not very much in earnest in spe aki ng of them when we ,

consider the noise— Pr ob pudor by whose aid he caused

.
-

them to be put to flight by the god of gardens who was ,

annoyed by their enchantments .

Horace woul d certainly not h ave sent h is t w o witches to

the stake.

The sam e ideas with regard to v isual influenc e s also ex

by the following line fro Vi rgil : m

i ste d among the Ro man s as shown among oth e r thing s,
, ,

N e sc oi i
q u s t en er os oc ul us mih i f sci n at
a agn os.
 OC C U L T S C I E N C E I N IND IA . 1 51

T hey had their god Fasc i n us an d thei r amulets of that

name which we r e de sign ed to p r otect children from in j ury
,

from that sou r ce The statue of the same g od suspe n ded

.
,

from the triump hal car w as a protection to its occupa n t s

,

f rom any harm that might otherwise befall them from t he

ev i l ey e of envy .

The obj ect of the p r esent wo r k is not so much the stu dy

ofmagic in ancient ti m es as that o fthe mo r e elevated re
,

li g i ous b eliefs under whose gui dan ce the vital atom suc
,

c essi v ely prog r essed f rom on e transfor m ation to another ,

un til it was absorbe d in the Great All ; which look upon

t he wo r ld o fsouls as being nothi n g but a succession of of f
sprin g and ancestors w ho n eve r fo rget each other beliefs
,

which indeed we may n ot e n te r tain but which are em ,

balmed in a mos t mysteriou s and consolatory creed and

are entitled to o ur respect .

The present chapter with rega r d to Hin du m agic i s

merely an episo de w hich we do not p r opose to e x ten d
further ; othe r wise we might show that the p opular tr a di
tions with rega r d to sorce ry in In dia found their way al so
into Greece Ro me and ancie n t C haldea
, , .

O ne word ho v ev er a b out this l atte r cou n try which as , ,

claimed by Berosu s E sc hylus and Herodotus w as c olo

, , ,

ni z e d by a multitude of u n kno w n people an d mix ed t r ibe s ,

speaking dif ferent lan guages .

In dia with its h undred and t w enty fi v e dialects and its

,
-

va rious ca stes so different from each other was the o n ly

, ,

count ry at that time fr om which e mig r ation was con

, ,

st an t l
y going on in or de
,
r to avoid sace r dotal persecu t i on ,

and from which con sequently the countries bo r de rin g upo n

, ,

the Tigris and the E uphrates could possibly have been c ol

oh iz ed .

To all the ethnographic fa cts w hich go to show that the ,

assertion here made is hi sto rically c o rr ect may be f ur t he r ,

added the great si mil arity e x i st i n g b etween the mag ical

practices and b eliefs o fthe Hi n d us and C haldeans .
1 52 OC C U L T S C IE NCE IN IN D IA .

The following a r e so me of the As syrian inscriptio n s re

lati n g to m agical enchantments taken from a r ece n t pub ,
'

li c at i on by Messrs Rawlin son . N orris which Show how ,

largely C haldea was indebted to India .

“
The form of the C halde a n conj uratio n s a g a i n st evil
“
spi r it s says the em i nent As syriologist is ve r y monoto
”
, ,

n ou s . They a r e all ca st in the same mould They b egin .

with a list of the demons to be overcome by the conj ura

t ion togethe r with a description of the character an d
,

effec t s ofthei r power This is follo w ed b y the expres

.

sion of a de si r e to see them driven away o r ofb eing pro ,

t ec t e d from them which is o f ten presented in an afli rm

, at i v e

form The formula finally concludes with a mysterious

.

in v ocati on fr o mw hich it derives all its eff

,
icacy S pirit .
‘

of Heaven re me mb er ; S pirit o fE arth remember Tha t

, ,
.
’

alo n e is nece ssary and never fails but sometimes similar

invocations to other divine spirits are al so added .

“
I will give as an example on e of these conj uration s to
,

be used against different bad de mons maladies or acts , , ,

such as the ev i l ey e .

— The pestilence o r fever that lay s waste the country

, , .

The plag ue that devastates the l and bad f or the body and , ,

inj urious to the bowels .

The bad demo n the bad Alal the bad G i g i m

-
, ,
.

— The evil man t h e ev i l eye the evil mouth the evil

, , ,

tongue may they come out of the body may they come
, ,

ou t o fthe b owels o fthe man son of his God , .

They shall never enter into possession of my body .

They shall never do any harm before me They .

shall never walk after me .

—They shall never ent e r into my house .

— They shall never cross my frame .

They shall never enter t he ho use of my h abitation .

S pi r it of Heaven remem b er ! S pirit of E arth r e

, ,

member !
1 54 OC C U L T SC I ENCE I N INDI A .

The ba d god the ba d mask i m

, ,

S pirit of Heaven remember ,

S pirit of E arth remember ! ,

S prit ofMoul g e king ofcountri e s r e m e mb er !

- -
,

— S pirit ofNi n g elal lady of countries remember ? , ,

—S pir it of N in dar son ofZenith remember !

-
, ,

— S pirit of T i shk ou lady of countries who sh in e s , , in

the n igh t, rem e mber

Mor e commonly h ow e v e r th e re are such my tho

, ,
no

logical e num e rations at th e en d As an example of the .

mor e simple k i nd of f ormulas I may me n tion a conj ura ,

tion again st the seve n subterranean demon s called maski m, , ,

wh o w er e reckon ed amon g th e most formidable of any .

s e ven t he seven !
T he
At the low e st bottom oft he abyss the seven ,

— Abomination ofheaven ! the seven

—Hidin g th e mselves in the lowest depths of h eave n
an d e arth ,

— N e ith er male n or f emale ,

—W ater stretched out captives

, ,

—Having n o wives an d pro ducing n o children ,

— Knowing neither order nor goo d ,

Hearin g no prayer
-
,

Vermin that hidest in the mo un t a i n

-
, ,

E nemies o fthe god E a

-
,

— Ravagers of the gods ,

— Ab ettors oftrouble ,

— All powerful b y violence

-

—Agent s of e n mity ,

S pi r i t ofHe a v en r emember ,
”
S pirit of E a r th remem b e r ! ,

We sh all dwell n o fu r ther up on thi s point however , .

The a b ove inscription s ar e s uper a b u n dan t p r oof that t he

 OCCUL T SC I ENCE IN IND IA . 1 55

practice of magic as h ande d down to the ancient C hal

,

deans from their an c e stors the Hindu e mig ran ts of th e

,

lower castes o r mixed classes as Berosus calls the m was , ,

the utmost limit of t heir attainments in t hat directi on .

Th e pure doctrine s which formed the s ubj ect of ini t ia

,

tion the worship o f the Pitris and the superi or spirits

, ,

awok e n o echo upon the b anks of the E uphrates The .

nomad s an d brick moulders o f the S ennar country lived

in constant apprehension of th e sorcerers an d m agician s ,

w ith no idea even o f th e existence of the sublime con cep

tions of Brahminism .

Inscriptions recorde d upon granite marble stone or , , ,

bake d e arth invariably contain e v er ythi n g that i s most

,

elevate d in the popular belief We do not select the .

superstitious ideas of the multitude to bequeath to future

ages and as it were to immor t ali z e them
, , ,
.

I a m a ll a n d in a ll

sa ys the T r init a r i a n in scription at E lephanta in India ,

.

I ha v e begotten the w or ld

says the reco r d up o n the statue of I si s which was ,

t he
e mblem of mother N ature in E gypt .

K n ow thyself
such w as t he inscription that appeared in fr ont of the
temple at D elphi .

And the column erected in the Agora at Athen s w a s

inscribed :

T o the un kn own God

Mingling in their i n scriptions th eir gods an d evil spirits ,

such as the g i g i m the maski m and other dem on s tre m

, , ,

b ling with con stant fear in the p r e sence of sexles s wife ,

less an d c hildle ss mo n sters b efo r e t hese t elals these rav

, , ,
‘
1 56 OCC UL T SC I E NC E I N I N D I A .

agers of heaven the se ene mie s of E a the King of t he

, ,

God s who al so see med to tre mb le in thei r p r e se n c e the

, ,

C haldeans en graved upon thei r b u rn t br i c ks n o t hi n g but e x

pre ssi ons oft he g r os sest supe r stition for the si mple re a so n
,

t h a t they had nothi n g el s e to put the r e If the r e i s any

.

o n e thi n g a t which we h a ve a right to e x pre ss o u r su rp r i se ,

it i s tha t some A ssyriologi st s h a ve taken t hese ridi c ul ous

co n ception s a s a te x t from which t o prove tha t the ancient
Hin du s g ot t hei r fi r st ideas f r o m t he p r i mi ti v e C h alde an s .

The A gr o uc hada Par ik c hai i n a fou r t h b o ok which we

-

, ,

h ave al r e a dy all uded t o i n which it give s an accoun t o f

,

the m agic p r actice s whe r e b y bad S pi r it s a r e se t in mo

,

tion but which i s e n tirely i n ef

,
fectual as fa r as the Pitri s ,

o r the supe r io r spi r its o r S w a am b h ou va the S u p r eme

, y ,

B ei n g a r e concerned and which fou r th b ook i s e n ti r ely

, ,

di sc o n necte d f r o m the othe r th r ee whic h a r e wh olly de

,

voted to the p ur e doct r ine o f the Pit ris m ake s no secret ,

of the f a ct that magic a n d so r cery we r e the o n ly thi n gs

th a t ha d any i n fluence up o n t he i mpu r e S o n d r a s or the ,

com mon people and T c han dalas o r mixed cl asses

,
.

Before pa ssi n g o n to the subj ect o f the phe n o mena an d

external ma n ife station s p r oduced by tho se who had gone
through the various degrees of initiation in I ndi a it may ,

not be amiss to compare the doctrin e of the Pitri s a s we ,

h a v e set it forth with the beli efs of the Je w ish cab alists
,

and of severa l o ther philosoph ers of ancient times who ,

seem to us to hav e d rank fro mt he sam e f ountain .

 I t is n ot l awful to ex pl i a n the hi st ory of creat on i t o t wo person s, or
t he hi t y s or of t h e M er c aba e v en to on e . I f, h ow e v e r, h e i s n at ura y a ll
wi d i
se a n n te ll ig en t m h m y be i t u t d wit h t he h ds of th e
an , e a n r s e ea

«
c ha pt ers .
(Ex t rac t f omt h e Mi s h
r Je wi sh c b l i st i c wo k p ort i o s
c n a, a a a r , n

o fw hi h w
c ere t ra n sl ate d by A F an c k oft h In st it ut e )
. r e .

As for t h e t enS p hi rot h t h e i s n o e n d e i the i n t he fut u e o i n

e re , r r r

v i l o i dept h or h e ight o i t h e e ast

, ,

t h e p ast o i g oo d o
,
n r n r e ,
n r n ,
n r n ,

w est n ort h or sout h

, T h e t en S ep hi ot h a e l i k e t h e fi n g ers of t h e
, . r r

h ds t o t h e umber oft e fi e o eit he side but at t h e middle l ys

an n n ,
v n r ,
a

t h e po i n t o fun it y .

Kee p your mout h c lose d t h at y oumay n ot speak ofi t an d y our h ea t ,

r

t h t y ou m y ot t hi k of i t
a a na d i fy ou h e n t fo g et s i t self b i g i t n r ar r ,
r n

b k agai t o i ts pl ac e f t hat i s t h e e so w hy t he u i o w s fo med

ac n , or r a n n n a r

( S eph i Jé oz i roh a c abalist i c w o k t ra sl t e d by A Fran c k of t h e

.

r r n a .
, , ,

I n st i t ut e .
)
 THE DO C T RI N E OF T HE PI T RI S
AN D

THE JE WI S H C ABAL A .

C HAPT E R I .

ORIGIN OF T HE CAB ALA .

I n opposition to the outward Observance s with which

the prescriptions of the Bi ble a r e encumbered under the
Jewish law by which all intelligent action all freedo mof
, ,

the wi ll are crushed out there arose g ra dually by i t s side

, ,

in response to a demand for a greate r indep endence of

thought and a wi d er philosophy a mysterious doctrine
, ,

which was known by the name of the Jewish C abala .

Those who beli eve d in this doctrine the obj ect of which ,

was to unfol d the secrets of the divine nature as well as of ,

the creation wrappe d themselves up in silenc e and mystery

,

like initiates in th e In d ian temples At distant inte r vals .

,

says t he illustrious Franck in his admirable book upon,

this mystic philosophy with innumerable precautions

,
‘

they partly op e n ed th e doors of the sanctuary to s o me

n e w a de pt who was always chosen among those parti en
,

larly emin e nt f or t he i r intellectual ability and w h ose ad ,

v an c ed age o ff
e red an additional proof of their wisdom
an d discretion .

T he C ab al a , or ii
Rel g ous P hi l ph y
oso oft he Jews .
1 60 OC C U L T SC I ENCE I N I ND I A .

When a n ew candidate was initiated into the myste r ies

o f the C abala o n e ofthe elders mur m
,
ured in his ears the
f ollowing words
O thou who hast n ow gone to the f o un tain head of -

all the graces be careful whenever te mpted to do so

, , ,

not to reveal the tenet of eman a ti on which i s a gre a t ,

mystery i n the j udgment of all C ab alist s A n o the r my s

l
.

t e ry is contained in the following words Thou shalt not

tempt the L ord .
’

The necessity of a speci al initiatio n an essential pre ,

requisite o f which was that the c an did a te should be

far advanced t oward the close of life and the absolute ,

secrecy which the person i n i t iated w as e x pected to pre

serve with regard to whate v er w as revealed to him were ,

t w o points o fexte r nal discipline i n r espect to whic h t h ose

,

who held to the doctrine o f the Pitris i n I n dia and t he ,

believers in the Jewish C abala we r e very nearly ag reed ,

th ough in ma t ters o f belief w e sh all soon see they w ere

, ,

u n ited by ties that b ound them still closer to e ach other .

I n all ti mes science has a n xiously sought t o discover th e

origin of the philosophical syste mof the Hebrews which ,

p r esen ts many points o f re semblan ce with some of t he

G r eek syste ms ofAle x andria and with the mystical beliefs
o fArabia .

As the C abala is manifestl y older than the A l exandrian

school it cannot b e succe ssfully held to have sprung from
,

the latter thoug h it may ha v e been i n fluenced by it to som e

,

extent The most that can be clai med is that both sy s

.

tems have drunk from the same source As for the clo se .

connection that seem s to exist between it and the mystical

philosophy of the Arabs w e may well ask with Messrs
, ,
.

Franck and T holuck who have i nvestigated the subj ect in

,
“
all its bearin gs What conclusion are w e to draw fr om
,

t he se many points ofre semblance ?

They are not ofm uch importance it is true f or what , ,

i s simi lar in both systems is to b e foun d elsew he r e in mor e

1 62 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

E vi de ntly says Franck ,

” “
this cannot r efe r to t he
,

Arabs, whom t h e Hebre w writers invariably call the chi l

dren o f I sr ael or the c hi ldr en o
, f A r a bi a they would
not speak o f a foreign and contemporaneous philosophy i n
such terms— the Zohar would not date it back fro m the
”
earliest age s o f the worl d .

While the origin of th e C abala cannot be successfully

sought for either in th e di f ferent systems of Greece or in
the doctrin e s o f th e Alexandrian school notwithstanding ,

they hav e many points in common or in the mystica l ,

ph i losophy of the Arabs ; while on th e other hand the , ,

Zohar tracing it back to the earliest ages sp e aks of it as

, ,

having the E ast for its cradl e ; have we not goo d reason ,

therefore in vi e w of the antiquity of India an d the simi

,

lari t y i n principle of both systems to say th at the doc ,

trine of the C abala sprang fro m th e doctri n e of th e

Pitris
We should not forge t that I ndia that imm e nse an d ,

luminous centre in olden times besides S pr e ading its i d eas ,

throughout the E ast b y mean s of emigration from the

, ,

earliest times was in constant commun ication with all the

,

people o f Asia and that all the philosophers an d sages of

,

antiquity w ent there to study the science of life I t i s .

not therefore surprising that in periods of their captivity

, ,

the elders of the Hebrews should have been initiated b y

the Persian Magi into the old conceptions of the B rah
mins .

A fe w extracts f rom the S epher J esz i reh and the Zohar ,

the t w o highest prized works o f th e C abala as to the na ,

ture o f God the creation an d the human soul will sho w

, , ,

conclusively t h a t this opinion is historically correct .

We shall be brief for while w e cannot resist the t empt a

,

tion to d evote a fe w pages to the subj ect of these compari

sons w e shall bear i n mind that we cannot dwell upon it
,

at any gre at l ength except a t the e xpe ns e of our main

,

subj e ct .
 C HAPT E R II .

HO W T HE SACRE D B OOK S A RE T O B E IN TE RPRE TE D AC C O RDIN G

T O T HE JE WIS H CAB ALISTS .

I n or d er to show that th e se things ar e not to b e tak e n

in their literal signi fi cation and that they hav e a hi dden
,

meaning whic h is contain e d ther e in as in a s eed and h as to , ,

be extracted from th e m the Zo h ar rep e ats the follo win g

,

all egory
Pictur e to yourself a man living alon e in t he mountai n
and unacquainted with the usages of th e city He pro .

duced and lived upon wheat which h e ate in its natural ,

state .

O ne d ay h e went to the city wh e re he was giv e n som e ,

brea d of good quality H e ask ed : .

What is this goo d for ?

He was answere d ,

I t is bread to eat .

He took it and lik e d it after whic h he asked agai n

, ,

What is it made of ?
Th e answer w as ,

I t is mad e o f w heat .

S ome time afterward h e was given som e cakes m i xed

with oil H e tasted them and asked
.

An d wh at is this made of pray ? ,

He was answered
I t is made o f wheat .

B y an d by so me royal pastry mixed wi th oil an d hon ey

- -

was set before him .

H e asked the same question as b efore .

1 64 O CC U L T S C I E N C E I N I N D I A .

What i s this
He was answered they are cakes made ofwheat
, .

He exclaimed ,

All the se th ings are at my command I us e th e m .

already in their crude state ; I use the wh e at of which

they are made .

S o thinking he was a total stranger to the pleasures

,

they give which were all lost to him S o it is with tho se

,
.

who give their whole attention to the general principles

o f science and are ignorant of the pl e asures therefrom
,

resulting .

The Zohar concludes as follows : I t is necessa ry to e x

tract f rom t h e letter of the law the ch arms of wisdom ,
”
that are therein hidden .

We fi nd also the f ollowing aphorisms in the sa me b ook .

96
96 96

\V0 to the man who does not look beyond the letter o f
t he law but regards it as S imply a record o fevents in or
,

di n ary lan guage .

The w o rd s of t he la w are the garments in which it is ,

c l o thed
. W o t o him who t akes the garment o f the la w
fo r the law i t self .

The r e are some foolish people who seein g a man c ov ,

e r ed with a handsome garmen t never loo k any further , ,

but take this g a rment for the body while there is some ,

thing w h ich is mo r e p r ecious and that is the soul

, .

The la w al so h as i t s body The r e are com mandm ents

.

which may be called the body of the law ; the texts that ar e
min gled wi t h them are merely the garm ents by w h ic h
they are cover e d .
1 66 OC CUL T SCIENC E IN IND IA .

th s truth s th er ein contained le d the C abalists to construct

,

w h at t h ey calle d a C abalistic alphab e t by whos e aid th ey

,

e v e n pr e v e nt ed th e material act of rea d ing th e ir mysteries .

Accord ing to R euchlin, D e Arte C ab alistic and Wolf ”

,

B i bli gr . the metho d employed in th at occult al

h abet in or de r to mak e it n e c e ssary t h at th e mere act of
p
r eading sh ould b e t he sub j e ct of a sp e cial initiation was ,

tri fol d
-
.

T he first consist ed of t h e substitution of on e word f or

another, to wh ich it w as e quivalent .

Accord in g to th e s e cond th e final l e tte r of e ac h word

,

b e cam e t he initial ofanoth er word .

The th ir d ch anged the value of th e letters by putting ,

f or instanc e the first in plac e ofthe last an d v i ce v ersa

, ,
-
.

We have s e en that those who b elieved in the Indian

doctrin e of the Pitris also indulge d in th e s e pu eril e prae
tice s .
 C HAPTE R III .

IN I TIATION AMON G T HE CAB ALISTS .

W e hav e s e en that t he mysteri e s taught in the In d ian

pago d a compris ed three d egr e es of initiation, in e ach of
which a probation of twenty y e ars was re qui r ed b efore
b eing promoted to a higher grade .

Th e wr it ers on the C abala h av e n ot giv e n us all the

secr e ts of th e ir int erior d isciplin e but th e r e is no d oubt
,

that the H ebraic initiation also includ ed sev eral categories .

I t is w ell known according to t h e Talmud that the an

, ,

cient Hebrews had thre e nam e s to express t he idea ofGod .

Th e first which was composed o f four letters was

, ,

taught to all who came for instruction to th e t e mple .

With r egar d to th e secon d an d thir d whic h consisted of ,

tw elve and f orty t wo letters resp e ctively, the following are

-

th e words of Maimonid e s
S ag e s taught th e name of twelv e letters to their sons
and disciples ; but w h en the numb e r of the ungodly had
i ncr e ase d it w as intruste d only to the most d iscreet among
,

the priests an d th ey r e p e at ed it in a low tone to their

,
”
br e thr en w h il e the p e ople were r e ceiv in g t he b ene d iction
,
.

The nam e of f orty t wo lett ers was the most sacred of

-

all myst eri e s I t contain ed the great s e cr e t of t h e un i

.

v e rsal soul an d stoo d for

, if w e may so e xpre ss it the
, ,

high e st deg ree ofinitiation .

“ ”
I t was only taugh t says th e auth or whom we hav e
,

j ust quoted to a man of recogniz ed discretion ofmature

, ,

age not a ddi ct ed to an ger or int emp eranc e a stranger to

, ,
1 68 OC C U L T SCIENC E IN INDI A .

vanity and gentle an d pleasan t with all with w h om h e was

,
”
brought into contact .

” “
Whoever says the Talmud,
has been mad e a c ,

q u a i n t e d with this secret and vigilantly keep s it in a pu r e

he art may reckon upon the love of God a n d the favor of

,

me n ; hi s na me inspires r espect ; hi s k n owledge i s in n o

dan ger of be i ng forgot t en and he i s the heir of t w o ,
”
worlds t hat in which we live an d th e world to come
, ,
.

The se three classes ofpersons v i z ,

.

Fi r st the disciples who were taugh t the name consist

, ,

ing of fou r letter s

S econd the priests who studied that of twelve lette r s ;
, ,

and
Third the elder s to who malone the sec r et o fthe forty
, ,

tw o letters w a s revealed ,

seem to us to correspond very closely to the three grades

o finitiation in I ndia .

I t i s w orthy of remark according to the last quotation ,

f rom the Talmud that the elder s who are in possession of

,

this mo st sacred mystery a r e invested with supreme po w e r , ,

not o n ly i n the p r ese n t world but i n the w o rld of i n visib le

spi r it s .

I n t he Zohar i n the S e pher Jesz i r ah in the Gue mara

, , ,

and i n t he Mischna w e a r e co n sta n tly meetin g with t he

p r ohi b ition to divu lge the sec r ets o fthe Me r ca b a o r c r ea ,

ti on to any b ody e x cept

, ,
“
Men w ho are inves t ed w ith the highe st dignity and
”
who are kno w n for their extreme prudence .

“ ”
Whose hea r t a ccordin g to the original exp r e ssio n
, ,
“ ”
is filled with anxiety and alarm .

From a text which w e quoted in the first chapte r of the

fi rst part o f this work i t appears that a distinguished po
,

si t i on w ith respect to in t ellect and a ccomplish m

,
ent s was ,

n o t all that was required fro m him who aspired to a

kno wle d ge of these mysteri e s but that he must also h av e ,

arriv ed at a certain age .

 C HAPT E R IV
T HE D IVIN E E SSE N CE ACC ORD IN G T O
,
T HE CAB ALI ST S .

Rabbi S imon h aving ass e mble d h is disciples seated

, ,

h imsel f b e n e ath the shad e ofa sacred f orest and i n f ormed ,

t he m t h at b efore dying he woul d reveal to them the gre at

, ,

se cr e t oft he pr i nciple ofprinciples .

“
A voic e was then h eard and th e ir knees shook to
gether for fright W h at was that v oice ? I t was the
.

voice o f th e c elestial assembly (including all th e superior

spirits) which had assembled to listen Rabbi S imon j oy .

fully spoke as follows : 0 L ord ! I will not say li k e on e ,

o fthy proph e ts that u pon h earing thy v oice I was afraid

, ,

f or this is not th e time to be af raid , but it is th e time f or

”
love as it is written Thou shalt love the e ternal thy God
The Zohar then p u
.
, ,

ts into his mouth th e f ollowing d e

scri ption ofth e S uprem e Being
“
H e is the An cient of ancients, th e mystery of mys
t eri es the un known of those who are unknown
,
He .

has a form that appertains to him inasmuch as he ap ,

pears to us as a man far advanced in l ife as the Ancient of ,

ancients as whate v er is mo st u n known among those who

,

are unknown but under this form beneath which he

,

manif ests himself to us h e still remains unknown hi s

, ,

garment seems white and his aspect is that of on e whose

,

face is exposed ; he is s e ate d upon a throne of thunder

bolts which he us e s at pleasure The white light of his
,
.

head lights up four hundred thousand worlds Four hun .

dred thousand worl ds springi ng fr om this whit e ligh t are

, ,

th e inheritanc e of the j u st in t he wo rld to come E v e ry .

day witnesse s the birth of thirt ee n t h ousan d myriads of

 OCCUL T SCIENC E IN INDI A . 1 71
’

worlds w h ich rec e iv e th eir subsistenc e from h im, an d the

b urth en of which is entire ly support ed by him A re .

f re shing dew drops fr om his head w h ich awakes th e d e a d ,

an d i nf us e s in to th e m a n ew life wherefore it i s written ,

Thy dew is a de w of light ; it is the food of the h ighest

ord e r of Spirits ; it is th e manna w h ich is prepared for the
j ust in the lif e to come I t drops upon the field of sacre d
.

fruit In app e aranc e this dew s e ems w h it e like d iamon d s

.
,

whos e color contains all colors Th e l ength of h is f ac e .

,

from th e summit ofh is he ad is th r ee h undred an d s e venty

times t e n th ousan d worlds He is call ed the lon g fac e,
.
-

f or such is th e nam e ofthe Ancient ofanci e nts ”

.

Before h e cr e at e d an y form in this worl d, b efore he

pro d uce d an y image he was alon e with out f orm , resemb
, ,

lin g noth i n g . Who can conc e ive of him as he was then ,

pre v ious to cr e ation inasmuch as h e ha d no f orm ? Th er e
,

f ore i t is not lawful to r e present him by m e ans of an y

w age or un d er any f orm what ever e ven by h is h oly ,

name even by a l e tter or a point S uch is th e m e aning

,
.

of the wor ds .You saw no figur e on th e d ay whe n the

E te rnal spoke to us ”
.

Wo e to him w h o v e nture s to compar e him e v en to on e .

of h is ow n attribut e s ; much less st il l shoul d h e b e com

pared to man who springs from th e e arth , and whos e

destiny is deat h He shoul d be conceiv ed of as abov e all
.

cr e atures an d all attributes .

L earn ho wev e r, that no on e is int elligent or wise ex

, ,

c ept of his own substanc e f or wisdom does not deserv e

,

th e name by itself but on account ofh im who is wise and

, ,

who pro d uc e s it from the light e manating from h imself .

Moreover, n o one can conceive o f int elligenc e as existin g

by itself alone but through him w ho is an intellig ent bein g
,
”
an d w h o fills it with h is o w n substan ce (E xtract fr om .

the Zoh ar a C abalistic work )

,
.

“
T he An cient of ancients is at the same time, th e most ,

unk no wn o f unknown b eings He is distinct from e v ery .

1 72 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN I NDI A .

thing an d yet h e is not separate d from anything for

,

everything i s unite d to hi ma s he i s unite d to every thin g ;

there is nothing that is not in him He has a form and .

we may say th at h e has none Upon assuming a form he

.

gave existence to everyth ing that is In t he fi r st place he .

,

p r oj ected from his o wn bosom ten l uminaries—o r the t en

Zephi r ot h— which shine b y the form t hey b orrowed fro m
him and dif
, fuse on all sides a most brilliant light I n t he .

sam e manner as a beacon spreads r ays of lights e very

wher e around i t the Ancien t of ancients t he unknown of
, ,

all unknown bei n gs is an elevated be a con which we know

, ,

merely by the light which S hines in our eyes with such

,

brilliancy an d fulness What we call hi s holy n a m

. e is o nly

(E xtract from the I dra S onata a C abalistic

”
this ligh t .
-
,

work ) .

“
The Ancient of an cients whose na me be s a nc tifie d is
, ,

the only form that embraces all othe r fo r ms I t is su .

”
preme and mysterious wis d om that includes everythin g , .

(Ex tract from the Zohar ) .

These extracts contain almost everything t ha t has bee n

written by the C abalists with regard to the divine nature ,

and w e may say indeed that their whole system o f philo

, ,

sophical belief is contained in its t urn i n the followin g ,

sayings, taken from th e Book of the Pitris

He is a ll and i n a ll
And everyth i n g i s i n him
He is th e cause of everything and every effect is in him .

The same pantheism in an infin ite unity was taught in

, ,

the works of the C abala as by those who had been ini

t i at e d in the Indian temples The Ancient of Ancients
.

in the Zohar is precisely the same as the Ancient of D ays

i n Manu the Vedas an d the A g rouchada Parik chai
, ,
We -
.

find the same fundamental ideas at the basis of both phi

lO S O phi e s expressed i n almo s t identical terms
,
.

We shall n ow sho w ho w t his mo st unknown o f unknown

beings r e v e aled h imself in creati on .
1 74 OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN I ND I A .

w orl d s whic h r e v e al his pre sence to us e ve n the world o f ,

e manation .

S uch is li k e wis e th e pa rticular nature of each of th e

, ,

t en Pradj apat i s of In d ia and the character of their rela

,

t ions towar d S w ay am bhouv a the unrev e aled being ,

.

The an alogy betw e en them is so close and striking that

any comments we migh t make would only weaken th e
force of th e ir r e s e mblance .

Accord ing both to the C abalists an d the believers in th e

Pitris the Ze phi rot h an d the ten Pra dj apat i s who are the
, ,

lords o f creatures are the att r ibutes of divini ty as em

, ,

b odied i n the Ten S uperior S pirits who manifest themselves ,

in creation and in this manner the doctrine of t he immuta

, ,

bili ty of the D eity who w as only able to reveal himself

,

in action was not i n fringed upo n in the slightest degree

,
.

The close si milari ty bet w een the se beliefs i n India and ,

J u d ea is the more wo r t hy of re mark i n as muc h as we

, ,

meet them in no other philosophical system at that perio d ,

a n d it incontestably indic a tes how closely the Hindu and

Jewish syste ms are related to each other This system .

was not fully set forth in the C abala much more than a
c entury previous to our e ra while Man n the Vedas and , , ,

the A g rouc hada Pari kc hai had already been in existence

-

for several thou sand years .

I t may not be amiss to remark also that these Ten S u

pe r ior S pirits like the In dian Pradj apat i s are at the head
, ,

of the immense hi erarchy of spirits both inspirin g as well as ,

mediating who preside over the continual transfor mations

,

o f the vital molecule and under whose g uidance the hu

,

man soul adva nces from on e degree of perfection to an

othe r unti l it reaches the universal soul .

The S epher Jesz i rah speaks in t he followin g enigmatical

mann e r of these superior man ifestations .

“
Th e re are ten Zephi rot h t en an d not nine ten and , ,

n ot e leven .Act so that y ou may intelligently understand

t h e m in your wisdom so tha t yo ur mind your speculations
, , ,
 OCC U L T SC I ENCE IN I ND IA . 1 75

your knowl edge and your thoughts may be constantly e n

,

g aged in their investigation L et every thin g rest upon

.

its foundation and reinstate the C reator upon his basis .

As for the Ten Ze phi rot h there is no en d neither i n , ,

t he future nor in the past nor in good nor evil nor in

, ,

height nor depth nor in the eas t nor th e west nor in the
, ,

south nor in the north

,
.

Th e Ten Zephi ro t h are like the five fi n gers of each

h and to the n umber of ten five on e ither hand but be , ,

t ween them is the tie of unity .

“
Th e end o f the Zephi ro t h is united to the begin n i n g ,

a s the flame is un i ted t o t he firebrand f o r the L ord is one , ,

a n d there is not a seco n d .

Close your mouth th a t you may n o t speak of it and ,

your heart that you may not think of it and if your heart ,

forgets itself bri n g it to its pl a ce agai n for it is for this

, ,

reaso n that they have been united t ogethe r (Ex tract .

fro mthe S e phe r Jesz i re h ) .

Was not the meaning of the A g ro uc ha da Pari kc hai -

precisely identical when it said cen turie s b efore the

, ,

C abala was in exi stence

“
As for the Ten Pr adj apat i s who are the lor ds of all ,

c reated beings and who are Ma ri t c hi Atri Aug iras Pou

, , , ,

l asty a Poulab a C raton Pr at c he t as V asi cht a B ri g hou

, , , , , ,

N arada there is no commence ment or end neither i n

, ,

time nor space for th ey ar e the product of the only essence

,

o fo n e S pirit at a si n gle breath .

This is a fatal secr e t ; close thy mouth that no part of

it may be revealed to the vulgar herd compre ss thy b rai n
i n order th at no part of it m
”
a
y be spread abroad .

We will say in conclusion that the whole doctrine of the

Pitris consists in a knowledge of that vast Spi r itual hie
rar c hy at the head of which stand the Pra dj a pat i s .

I n like manner the whole ofthe Jewish C a b ala may be

,

s ummed up as consisti n g in the mystic knowle dge of t he

Zephi rot h .
 C HAPT E R V I .

T HE CAB ALI STIC TRIN ITY .

Hav ing d ivi de d his body into parts the sovereign

t wo ,

ru ler b e cam e half male and half female and uniting w i t h ,

(Man n sloc a
”
t h e f emale portion bego t V i ra dj the son
,
.
,

3 4 book i ) .

,
I V i radj desiring to give birth to the human race
, ,

firs t prod uc e d the Ten Pradj apat i s wh o are the L ords of ,

all create d beings after having practised the greate st

,

austerities ”
.
(M ann slo c a 34 book
,
i ) ,
.

I n such terms as these t he venerable legislator of the

,

Hi n du s first spake of the primitive triad from which ,

S pran g the ten superior spirits who first manifested them

,

selves i n creatio n .

We have already se e n in what a f fecting language the

Book ofthe Pitris spe aks ofthe love ofthe husb and for his
spouse and how the unive r se S prang from th a t celesti al
,

uni on I n all the pagodas ofIndia t h a t symbolic al t ri n ity

.
,

i s represented by t hree heads carved from a si n gl e b lock

,

o fg r anite or marble in th e form ofa single head

, .

I t is extraordinary to se e how closely this idea which ,

sprang up on the banks of the Ganges was copied in the ,

te achings ofth e Jewi sh C abalists .

We are fre e to confess that what we have s aid a b out

the C abala is n ot derived from our ow n knowledge upon
that subj ect All our infor mation about the Hebrews is
.

taken from Mr Franck of the Institute and the read er

.
,

will understand that thereon rests the w h ole w eight o f

ou r argum e nt .
1 78 OCC UL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

who accor d ing to th e original e xpr e ssion take s af te r hi s

, ,

er and m
f a t h other together and bears w itness to bot h of them
, .

T h is son o f wisdom and intelligenc e call e d on account , ,

o f his double i n h e ritance t he e ld er son o f Go d is knowl

, ,

edge or science T hese thr ee per son s contain an d include

,
.

everything that is but they are unit e d in their turn in

, , ,

th e White Head in the Ancient o f ancients for a ll i s he

, ,

and he i s a ll .

S ometi mes h e is represented with three heads forming

a sin gl e one S om e times he i s compared to the brain
.
,

which without losin g i t s unity is divided into three parts

, , ,

and by means of thirty t wo pai r s of nerves is in communi

-

cation with every part of the body as by the aid of the , ,

thirty t wo methods of wisdom the divinity is dif

-
fused,

throughout the universe .

”
The Ancient says the Zohar whose name be sanc
, ,

t i fied exists w ith three heads forming a S ingle one and

, ,

this head is t he most elevated o f all elevate d things ,

and becau se the Ancient is represented by the number

three all the other lights or in othe r words the ten
, , , ,
”
Zephi r o t h ar e also comprised withi n the number thr e e
, .

I n another part o ft he same work we read

Th ere are three heads carved on e wi t hin t he other ,

an d one above the other I n this number w e reckon first

.

hidden wisdom which is neve r without a veil This my s

,
.

t er i ous wisdom is the supre m e principle of all other wis

dom Above this first he ad is the Ancie n t ; whatev e r is
.

most mysterious a mong mysteries Finally comes the head .

which towers above all other s and which is no head ,

.

What it contains no on e knows or c an know f or it equally , ,

escapes our knowledge and our ignorance That is the .

reason why the Ancient is called the non being -

.

S om e times the terms or if it is preferre d the p erson s

, ,

of this trinity ar e represented as three successive an d ab

solu t ely n e cessary pha se s of existence as well as of thought , ,

as a d ed uction or e volution which at the sam e time con , ,

 OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN INDI A . 1 79

sti t ut es
th e generation of the world Ho we v e r surprising .

it may seem there can b e no doub t a b out it whe n we

,

read th e following lines taken from the Zohar

C ome an d see thou ght is the principle of e verything '

b ut it is at first igno r ant and selfcontained When thought-

.

s ucceeds i n diffusi n g itself abroad i t has reached that

st age when it becomes Spirit When it has arrived at .

tha t point it is called intelligence and is no longer con ,

t ai n e d within itself as before The spi r i t develops itself

.
,

in its turn among the mysteries by which it is s urrounded

, ,

a n d a voice comes from it which is like a re u

, nion of the
c elestia l choirs a voice which is distinctly heard in artic a
,

late words f or it comes fro m the S pirit but when we

, ,

thi n k of all these degrees we see that thought and i n t elli

,

gence this voice and this language are one and the same
, ,

thin g ; that thought is the principle of everythi n g that is ,

a n d t hat no interruption c an e x i st therein Thought itself .

is united to the non bei n g an d i s never separated from it

-
,
.

S uch is the meaning of t h e word s ; Jehovah is one and

his name is one .

“
The name whic h signifies I am indicat es to us the
, ,

union of every t hing that i s the degree where all the ,

methods of wisdom are still hidden and placed together , ,

without our being able t o distingui sh one from the other ,

but when a line of demarkation i s once establishe d when it ,

i s desired to distinguis h the mother ca rr y i n g a ll thi n gs i n

,

her w omb a n d u
, p on th e
p oi n t of giving birth to them in ,

o rde r to reveal the supreme name then God says Speak ,

ing of himself: I w ho a m Finally w hen a ll i s ca ref

. ully
,

rm ed a n d has i ssu m m ern a l w om

f o ed f r o t he a t b when ,

e verything is in its plac e and it is proposed both to desi g

,

n ate the individual and existence God calls himself Jeho ,

v ah or I am that which is
”
.
,

We will conclude the present sketch by presenting a

most extraordinary re semblan ce bet w een th e doctri n e o f
t he Pitris and that of the Jewish C abalists .
1 80 OCC UL T SCIEN C E I N I ND I A .

In the Hin d u system we have seen there were th r ee

,
as ,

trinities which proceeded successively from S w ay ambho uv a ,

the selfexi sten t bei n g an d w e re m i ngled in him i n a eu

-
,

r em e un i on They are
p .

First the initial trinity which gave birth to th e divine

, ,
.

t h ough t
N ara the p r oducer , ,

N a r i the mother , ,

V i radj t he son ,
.

S econd the t r inity a s manifes t ed from which spring the

, , ,

primitive element s which aid in the formation of t he

,

universe .

A g ni ,

Aya ,

S ou rya
Thi r d the creatin g t r inity
,

B r ahma ,

V i shn ou,
S iva .

Franck in f orms us upon the authority of the Zoh ar

, ,

that a pr e cisely S imilar doctrine was h eld by t h e C abalists .

He says
The ten Zephi rot h were divide d into thr ee c la sses .

E ach presents the di v i n i ty to us un der a difier en t a sp ect

'

but always under the aspect of an i n v is i ble tr i n i ty .

The first three Zephi rot h are pu r ely intellectual A S .

a matter of metaphysics they exp r ess the absolute identity

,

ofthought and existence and form what modern C abali st s

m
,

call the intelligible world I t is the first anifestation of .

the D eity .

T he thr ee t h at succeed t h em have a m oral characte r

on the o n e han d they make us conceive of God as i d e n
,

tical with goo d ness and wis do m; on the other hand they ,

exh ibit the S upreme Bei n g as the origin o f beauty an d

magn i fi cence i n cr ea t i on For this reason t h ey have .
,

b ee n calle d the v i r t ues or the sen si ble w or ld

,
.
182 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN IND IA .

the links of an endless chain or a sel f feed ing flam e

,
-
,

t he Zohar makes use o fthe following comparison

“
I n ord er to master the science of th e sacr e d unity, look
at the flame which rises from a brigh tly burning fire or ,

f rom a lighted lamp first w e se e t wo lights the on e brill ,

i an t ly w h ite the other black o r blu e

,
The whit e light is
.

abov e th e other and rises i n a straight lin e The black

,
.

lig ht is underneath and s e ems to be the source of the

f orm er They are however so closely united to each other
.
, ,

that they form but one flame but the foundation f ormed
, ,

by th e blue or black light in its turn is connected with

, ,

th e burning matter which i s still farther ben e ath I t .

Sh ould be kn own that the white light never changes ; it

always preserves i t s peculiar color but several shades are
,

disting uishe d in th at which is beneath T h e latter besides .

tends i n t w o opposit e directio n s O n top it is con n ected

.

with the white light and below with th e burnin g flam e ,

but this matter is bein g continually absorbed in its bosom ,

and i s continually ascending toward the superior light In .

this manner everything returns to unity ”

.

In view of the extraordinary similarity w h ich w e hav e

shown to exist between the doctrines hel d by th e Hindus
and th os e of the J e wish C abalists what becomes of th e
,

cl aims of th os e Se mitists w h o in imitation of R enan

, ,

adopt e v ery meth od to disseminate th eir p e culiar views ,

in depend ently of the f act that identically th e sam e opin

ions w er e hel d by o th er p eopl e i n Asia an d the E ast .
 C HAPT E R VII .

T HE BE LIE F IN ME DIATIN G A N D IN SPIRIN G SPIRITS ACCORD

I N G T O T HE JE WI S H CA B ALI STS .

Th e inferior world h as b ee n created in the Similitud e

of the superior E veryt hin g that e x ists in the superior
.

world appears h ere b elow like the reflection of an image ,

”
and yet it is all only one thing (The Zohar ) . .

I t is nee d ful for you to know that there i s the same

relation betwe en the shadow and the b ody as between the ,

corporeal and spiritual worlds ”

(Al Gaz ali a C ab alistic
.
,

writer ) .

The extraordinary similarity existing between the doc

trines taught in the Indian pagodas and those of the
Jewis h C ab alists w as n ot ho w eve r confined to their
, , ,

met aphysical conception s The C abalists as we shall Show

.
, ,

also believ e d in me diating and inspiri n g spirits and the i r ,

belief was nothing but the logical consequence of the

principles they held The whole o f creation the entire
.
,

universe being merely a radiation from the divine nature

, ,

infinite space i s peop led with S pirits which have d ropped ,

on the one hand f r om the great all in the condition o f

,

sparks or atoms endowed with life and who on the

, , , ,

other hand are returning to it through a constant series

,

of progressive transformations .

This condition of affairs is clearly unfolded in the Zohar ,

i n the f orm of the followi n g allegory

“
S pirits or the so uls of the j u st sa ys that celeb rated
,

work “ are above all powe r s I f you a sk why from a

,
.

plac e so exalted they desce n d t o the earth , so far away

184 OC C UL T SCIENC E I N IND I A .

from the ir so urce this is my ans wer : The i r case is li k e

,

that o f a king to wh om a son was born an d who took him

, ,

into the country to be ther e r e ared and educated until h e

,

h ad grown older and had been instructed in the customs

,

of his father s palace When the king w a s i n formed that

’
.

his son s educatio n was finished wh a t does his love for

’
,

him prompt him to do ? H e sends for the queen his ,

moth er to cele b rate his return He brings him back to

,
.

the palace where the whole day is spent in rej oicing

, .

The saint also h a d a son by the queen blessed be his ,

n ame This son is the superior and sac r ed soul He

s ends hi mto the country or in other wo r ds into the
. .

, , ,

wo rld to g row up and become acquainted with the usages

,

o f his father s palace When it comes to the knowledge

’
.

ofth e Ancient o f Ancients that his son i s gro w n and that ,

t h e time h as come to introduce him into his presence ,

what does hi s love then prompt him to do A s a mark of

h o n or he sen ds f or the queen and brin gs he r son home to
, ,

h is palac e In d eed the soul h as no sooner left the earth

.
,

than the queen j o i ns him to S ho w him the w ay to the ,

king s palace where she dwells f orever and ever An d

’
, .

yet the inhabitants ofthe country are accustomed to grieve

and weep at parting with the king s son But if there is ’
.

a wise man present he says to them Why do ye wee p? I s , ,

it not the king s son ? I s it not j ust that he shoul d leave

’

I f all the j ust should ’

us and dwell in his father s palace
kno w this they would welcome the day when they must
,

leave this earth I s it not the height of glory that the

.

queen the (S c hei n ah or the D ivine Presence ) should com e

, , ,

dow n in the midst of them that th ey S h ould b e admitted ,

to the ki ng s palace and should live i n delight f orever

’
,
”
more and enj oy everlasting happin ess ?
I n the followi n g pa ssage the Zohar shows that th e
world is full of spirits
God animated every particle of matter with a parti en
lar S pirit Fort hwi th all th e celestial armies were formed
.
, ,
18 6 OCCUL T SC I ENCE IN INDI A .

s ubj e cts w h o ar e divid e d into t e n categories n o d oubt i n

, , ,

h onor of t h e ten Zephi roth Thes e subordin ate spirit s .

maintain th e same relation to the d if ferent parts of nature

as th e ir chief does to the univers e Thus on e presides .
,

over the move ments of the earth another over those of ,

th e moon and the same is true of the other celestial

,

bodies O ne i s called the S pirit o f fire N ouri el another

.
,

th e spirit of light O ur i el ; a third pre sides over t he dis

,

t ri but i on of the seasons ; a fo urth over vegetation Fi ,

.

n ally all productions all the forces and all t he phenom e na

, , ,
”
of nature are rep re sented in the same way .

A s f or the evil spirits which th e C abalists also believ e

,

in they regard them as grosser and mo r e imperfect form s

,

ofexi stence I n the dark n ess an d impurity in which they

.

mov e they are divided like the supe r ior spirits into ten
, , ,

categories person ifying evi l in all its degrees

,
.

I t will be readily seen that upo n all these points the

Hindu Book of the Pitris and t he Hebre w Zohar are i n
spire d with the sa me idea There i s the same metaphys .

ical basis the same belief in good and b ad spi r its and t he
, ,

sam e system wi t h regard to the composition of t he uni

verse .

Although we are n o t in posse ssion of any very precis e

inf ormation with rega r d to the ev oca ti on ofspi r i ts by t he
C abalists who p r o b a bly never transmitted the pre scribed
,

f ormulas except by wo r d ofmouth still Hebraic tradition

, ,

is so full to overflowing of t h e phenomena of e vocation

and occult manife stations which a r e a necessary outgrow t h
,

of the beliefs we have j ust set f orth t hat it would be ,

puerile to a sk whether the ancient C abalists like t he ,

Hindu priests e ver claimed to exercise supernatural

,

power .

We n e ed only r emin d th e read e r ofthe witch ofE n d or ,

e vokin g th e ghost of S amuel the prophet before S aul on , , ,

the ev e of the battle of Gilboa ; o f D an iel explainin g in ,

th e pr e senc e of B althazar the magical writing upon t he ,

 OCC U L T SC I ENCE IN IND IA . 187

walls of h is palace by a n i n v i si ble ha n d in the mi d st

, , ofa

f east
M e ne — Tekel— U pharsin
and of th e witc h Huldah whom the high pri e st Hilkiah ,

mad e use of in order to influence the people as well as

, ,
.

ofhundreds of other similar facts which are clearly noth

ing but exterior manifestations ofan occul t power .

We may be told however in opposition that th e J ew

, , ,

ish C abala cannot lay claim to such antiqui t y I t is the .

un animous O pinion of all C abalists t hat this mysteriou s

philosophy spran g originally from the primitive institution
ofthe L evites and g r ew out of their desire to arrogate to
,
'

themselves a belief of a higher order than that wh ich they

vulgarly taught .

We a r e indebted to C abalistic tradition f or the f ollow ~

i n g legen d which we give in conclusion :

1
,

O ne day our Master J ochan an Ben Za ebai started

,

upon hi s travels He rode a donkey and was followed by

.

Rab b i Eleazar Ben A ro ch The latter asked him to teach .

h im a chapter of the Mercaba D id n o t I tell you an

’
.
,

sw e re d our m aster that it was not lawful to explain the

‘
,

Mercaba unto on e a lone if he did n ot po ssess th e requisite

,

degr ee of wi sdom and intell igence ? I s it not lawful ’ ‘

replied E leazar at any rate f or me to repeat in you r

,
‘
,

presence what you hav e already taught me ? Well ,

speak said our master S ayi n g so he dismounted drew

,
’
.
, ,

a veil over his hea d an d sat down upon a stone in t he

,

shadow o f an olive tre e E leazar son of A r och had .

, ,

hardly commence d sp e aking of the Mercaba when a fir e ,

descended from h e aven and envelope d all the trees in t he

country w h ich seemed to S ing hymns an d in t he mids t
, ,

ofthe fire a sp i r i t was he ard to express his j oy at h eari n g

,
”
these mysteries .

In the same passag e w e are told that two others who

Th l a . B ab T . ra i i . C h ag ui g a , fol . xi v .
18 8 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN IND IA .

h ad b ee n ini t iated Rabbi Josuah an d Rabbi Joseph fol

, ,
.

lowing E leazar s example recite d a chapter of the Mer

’
,

caba The m o st extraor d inary prodigies again occurred

. .

T h e Sky w as covered wit h thick cloud s a meteor very ,

much like a r a inbow appeared in the horizon and the ,

spiri t s we r e seen flocking to hear them like spectators ,

”
crowding to witness the passage of a wedding .

Upon learnin g of the prodigies which had been a ecom

pl i shed by hi s disciples Joc han an Ben Zac hai told of on e

in his turn which was as follows

,

W e had b een transported upon Mount S inai when ,

from the heavens above a voice w as heard uttering these ,

words : C ome up here where a splendid feast is provided

,

f or you and for your disciples and for all the gener ations
, ,

who may hear these d octrines You are destined to enter .

”
the third cate g ory .

Thus the phenomena of e xte rnal manifestations such ,

as the fir e hov er i n g a r oun d the trees an d a meteor sudden ly

,

f
exhi bi t i n g i tsel a mon g t he c loud s t he phenomena of

evocation such as t he spi r i ts f

,
loc ki n g to hea r the m y steri
e Mer ca ba of t ra n sf
ous secr ets o f t h th e phenomena or

mation wh e re Jo chan an and hi s di sciples w er e tra n sp or ted

,

up on Moun t S i n a i to c on v er se w i th the i n v i si ble spi r i ts ;

and fi nally thei r a dmi ssi on
, f
to the thi r d ca tegor y c i n i ti a
ti on in S ho r t everything in this C abalistic passage g o es
, , ,

to S how that those who believed in the Zohar claimed the

pow e r to ev oke spi ri ts an d to pro d uc e e xt ernal p he nom ena .
1 90 OC CUL T SCIENCE I N INDI A .

7 06 c i t a v as p W ns l b
’
a r aw sr
-
x o wwv o s
'
r 1yc e ( ce
'
i , na
$ (
dwoppnr o t s
I
n a
p a m y a i r ov wpea fiv r épwv per ei k ncfie .
”

Th e r e are so many points of analogy betw e en t he p h ilos

o phy of the Alexandrian school or N eo platonism an d ,
-
,

the Hin d u doctrines which we have j u st been i n v e st i g at

i n g that w e cann o t avoid the conclu sion that the former
,

w as derived from that inexhau stible O riental fountain .

Moreover it claims itsel f to h ave Sprung from the mys

, , ,

t eri ous tradi t ions of Asia .

I ts idea of God is that he is the Great All from which ,

e verything proceeds and to which everythin g ten d s

«
, .

He is all and everything is in him .

He i s unity 7 6 i v ;
m
,

i f ro s ;
He is the i n eifable ci f '
'

He is the unknown cvv c r é s

’

.
,

Accordin g to Plotinus and his school the Tr i nity is an ,

e manati on from uni t y exactly as hel d by those who be ,

l ieve in the Pitris .

I t receives the following names taken from its att ri ,

butes
u r o a ya flbv unity or in other wor d s the goo d
’
7 5 e , , , .
,

N oils the soul of the world or the universal spirit

m
.
, ,

‘
v i y 7 0 3
1 w a v r é s 7 631! 37 m
,
the demiourgos ,
or the ,

c reator .

The resemblanc e between the t w o systems is not con

fined ho w ever to a sin gle poin t E ach member of this
, ,
.

trin i ty begets in its turn a special trinity and the mission

, , ,

of the thr ee trinities t hat spring from them is to produce ,

unceasingly and to pe rpetuate in this world first the , ,

good ; second the intelligence or the vital principle and

,

third the work of cre ation

,
.

Un d er more mystical n ames they are precisely si milar

t o th e three trini t ies of t he B r a h m ins and the C abalist s .

Accor di n g to the N eo platonists th e S upr e m e Being -

,
 OC C U L T SC I ENC E I N IND IA . 1 91

with its various symbolic transformations is a vast and ,

e verlasting source from which are constantly spring

,

ing those universal races which through the love of the ,

husband for his spouse of the unity f or the intelligence

, ,

are provided with all the dif ferent attributes and are
thereby impelled to ascend unceasingly through succes ,

sive transformations until they arrive at unity itself

, .

“
By a move ment like that of an endless chain a b out a
”
wheel as the Book of the Pitris says
,
.

Between the Trini t arian systems of C hristianity and

those of the Hindus of the C a b alists and of the N eo
, ,

platonists the n ume r ou s points of simila r ity are obvious

,

at a glance and we can readily see the source from which

,

the foun d ers ofthat religion have de r i v ed their revelation .

W e say founde r s though that i s not the proper na me

,

to apply to the authors of the fo ur g o spels whose idea it ,

w as to create a tradition of their o w n for it is n ow well ,

settled that C h ris t ianity which is as old as the te mples of

,

E gypt and the pagodas of India is a sym b olic synthesis of ,

all the beliefs of antiquity .

S cholars living in the primitive ages of the church were

n o t so easily m i sled In the thi r d century the illustrio us
.
,

Manich ae an F a ustus wrote these w ord s which we c o m

, , ,

mend to the at t e n tion of all tho se who have made the life
ofJesus the theme ofromantic study

E verybody knows that the gospels w ere actually writte n

neither by Jesus C hrist nor by his perso n al di sciple s but ,

w e r e car r ie d along by tradition and long after their time

,

w e r e writte n by unknown p e ople who correctly supposi n g , ,

that their word would not be taken as to things that had

not come under their personal observation pl a ced at the ,

head of these tradition al sta tements the names of the

”
apostles or of apostolic men contemporaneous with them .

(Faustu s)

The C ouncil of N ice under the presidency of C onstan

,

tine that odious and cri min al despot whos e prais e s have
, ,
1 92 OC CUL T SC IENCE IN I NDI A .

been sung by all the writ ers ofthe C hurch indee d create d ,

a C atholicism as a means of discipline which was entir ely

, ,

d iffer ent from primitiv e C hristianity .

In very guarded lang uage Franck express e s a similar ,

opinion in the f ollowing words :

Have w e not every reason i n the world to look upon the
C abala as a precious relic qfthe r eli g i ous p hilosophy ofthe
E ast which w as transporte d to Alexandria an d becam e
,

mingled with the teachings o f Plato and whose i n fluen c e ,

under cover of the usurped name of D enys the A r eopa ,

gite— Bishop of Athens who w a s converted and c on se ,

crated by S aint Pa ul — w as f elt in the mysticism of the

”
middle ages ?
To the question What is then this religious philoso ph y
, , ,

ofthe E ast whose influence is apparen t in the mystic s m

, y
bols ofC hristianity ? w e answer as follows
The philosophy of which we fin d traces among th e
,

M agi the C haldeans the E gyptians the Hebrew C abalists

, , , ,

and the C hristian s is identical with that o f the Hind u

,

Br ahmins who believed in the Pitris

,
.

There is one arg ume n t in favor ofthis opinion which is

a bsolu t i v ely conclusive an d that i s this : Amon g all ancient
,

co untries India is the only on e that po ssesses the whole of

,

t hi s philosophy so much so indeed t h at if it were desired

, , ,

t o rec on struct it fro mmaterials ob t ained from other sources

than the immortal thinke r s o f the banks ofthe Ganges it ,

woul d be necessary to borrow them at second h and h ere ,

and there from the various q uarters where v er found

, ,

from Plato from the C abala fr om the Alexandrian sch ool

, , ,

f rom the Magi and from C hristianity , .

O n the other hand the high antiquity of t he migh ty work

,

performe d in India is opposed to the supposition even for ,

an instant that the Brahminical philo sophy was formed of

,

pieces and fragments taken from these d i ffer e nt systems ,

which being posterior to the Veda s and Mann— that no

,

body disputes— w ere not, as a d mi tt ed e ven by th o se who

1 94 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN IND I A .

t houghts o fthe B r a hmi n s

Th e r e th ey taught him as far
.
,

as th ey possibly could th e pure sacrificial rit e s an d t he

, ,

caus e s of the movement of the stars and th e universe a ,

part of wh ich be communicated to th e Magi Th e latt er .

have transmitted these secrets from fathe r to son toge the r ,

with th e science of predictin g the future S ince then dur .

,

ing a long succession of ages unt i l n ow th ere h ave arisen ,

a m ultitude of Magi belonging to the sam e race who h ave

, ,

devote d themselves to the s e rvic e of th e t emple and t he

”
worship of the Gods .

E gy pt which had never forgotten its early traditions

, ,

w as constantly d rawi n g n e w life and vigor from the study

of th e sci e ntific movement of Upper Asia .

Moses of C horen us who lived five c enturi e s before th e

,

pr e s ent e ra bears witness to this in the most positive

, ,

manner in th e follow ing passage

,
“
Th e ancient Asiatics had a multitu d e o f h istorical
works w h ich were translated into Greek when the B tol ,

e mies e stablishe d the Al e x and ri an libra ry and e n c our

aged literary me n by their l i be rality so th at the Greek ,

language b e came the depositary of all th e ancient learn

”
ing.

I t is evident from all this first that people in ancient

, ,

times d i d not live a more i solated life from each oth e r as ,

regard s the philosophical and religious Sciences than they ,

do n ow S econd that there w as a large collection of tra

.
,

di t i on s of which ancient I ndia was the principal source

,
.

Third that a close connection existed b e tween the teach

,

ings o f the Brahmins and the syst ems of the Magi the ,

C haldeans the C abali sts the Platonists an d the phi loso

, , , .

p h e rs o f the Alexandrian S chool whos e sect calle d thera

,

pe ut mkept alive the tradi t ions which a f te r w ard b e cam e

t h os e of C hristianity .

By the caref ul study and comparison o f the old civiliz a

tions w e thus acquire a k n o wledge of the general dr ift
an d ten de ncy of the human intell e ct in those tim e s with ,
 OCC UL T SCIENCE IN IND IA . 1 95

out regar d to the warring clai ms of rival s e ct s or t he con

fli c t i n g pretensions of individ ual pri de
.

There is not a fact not a beli ef not a d iscov e ry, t h at is

, ,

independ e nt of tra d ition an d those w ho in or de r to di s

, ,

play th eir singularity and to make a particular plac e for

their special studies ar e constantly m ee ting with c on cep
,

tions which lay claim to originality and are sai d to h ave

borrowe d not h ing from any that hav e pre c e ded th em , are
unmindf ul of the laws o f history an d o f t he e volution of
th e human min d .
 P ower l on gs t o h i mwh o k ows (A gr ouchada Pari k ch ai )
be n .
-
.

H w h o h as p e t te d t h e
e t oft h i g s w h o h as l ift d hi m
n e ra se c re se lf up n , e

by c on t em pl t i o t t h e k w l dg ft h e i mm t l p i i pl wh o h as
a n o no e e o or a r nc e,

mort i fied h i s body d d v l p d h i s soul wh k ow s all t h myst i s

an e e o e ,
o n e er e

ofb ei g an d
n ot b i g w h
n h s st udi d ll t h t
e n , o sfo m t i o s oft h
a e a e ran r a n e

v it l m
a ol ul f mB hm t m
ec e ro d f omm t o B h ma h
ra a o an an l e r an ra , e a on

i s i c om
n mu i at i o w it h t h e Pit i s a d omma ds th e c lest i al fo s
n c n r n c n e rc e .

A h -V e da
( t arv a .

T he Boms ( b d spi its) t mb l e b ef hi mwh o i s sh v ed

n te or a r re ore a , wh o
we s t h t i pl e g i dl
ar e r d i r l t h ed w it h t h y ll w ve t me t
e , an s c o e e o s n , an d

w h o c arri es t h e sev en kn ot t e d st i c k-
(A g rouch ada Parik ch ai )
.
-
.
 TO THE READ ER .

T HE p h ilosophical part of our work is n ow en ded In .

a subj e ct so vast ther e are many points no doubt th a t , ,

might have been more fully developed but our main pur ,

pos e h as b ee n to give a compreh e nsive id e a of the m e t

a hy si c al speculations ofth e Hindu initiates and to S how
p ,

that th e ir belief in spirits was only a consequenc e of their

system r elatin g to God an d his attributes and to the exist ,

e nce o f the universe I n the comparison of this doctrine

.
,

which is based upon the Ve das themselves with those of ,

o ther ancient p e ople we devote d most of the space at our

,

c ommand to the Jewis h C abala becaus e though not so , ,

w ell kn own as Magism the philosophy of Plato or the

, ,

Ale x andrian school i t also b elieved in the manifestation s

,

o f spirits the pow e r o f evocation

,
and its external phe ,

n om en a precisely in the sam e man n er as th e philosophy

,

o fthe Pitris , their traditional ancestor on th e banks of th e

Ganges .

We might also have calle d attention to the fact tha t

primitive C hristianity with its Thaumatu rgists suddenly
,

appearing through closed doors raising the dead flo at , ,

ing in the air an d recei v ing the gi ft of tongue s with its

, ,

initiation in th e C atacombs its superior spirits its demons

, , ,

and its exorcists was intimately relate d to th e C abala and

,

the doctri n e of the Pitri s We con fined ourselves how

.
,

e ver, to the statem e nt that that religious r e volution in the

e ar lier ages of our e ra w as only a synthesis of the old be

li efs ofAsia . A n exhaustiv e study of th e subj ect would

h ave r e quir ed a book by its elf w h ich we migh t not h av e
,

t he l e is ur e to compl e t e .
2 00 OC C UL T S CIENCE IN INDI A .

The sp e cial scope of t h e pr e sent work f orbi d s any ex

t ende d excursion into this field The mere f act of our .

undertaki ng it would hav e necessarily led us to devote

the same space to the mysterious initiations of E gpy t ,

C haldea and Persia and as the reader will readily see i t

, , , ,

would ha v e co mpelled us to write a general history of the

ancient civilizations of the E ast such as forms a part of ,

the ethnographical studies publi shed by us elsewhere .

Before giving an account of the exterior phenomena

and manifestations by which the Hindus claim to S ho w
th a t they a r e in pos ses sion of occult power which is a ,

logical consequence of their religio us belief in the part

played by spirits in the universe we desire to disavow ,

an
y personal responsi b ility w hatever .

We assert nothing posi t ively wi t h rega r d to most oft he

facts which we are about to relate The skill derived .

from long experience charlatanism and even hallucina

, ,

tion itself may assist to explain them We are bound to

, .

say,
however as impartial an d faithful observers that
, ,

th o u gh we applied the severest tests to which the F ak i rs ,

and othe r ini t iate s interposed no obj ection whatever we ,

n ever succeeded in de t e c ti n g a single case o f fraud or

t ricke ry w hich we admit is f ar from being a conclusive

, , ,

pro o f oftheir honesty .

Hue the mi ssionary who also gives an account o f S i m

, ,

ila r pheno mena witnessed by him in Thibet was equally

, ,

at a los s to acc o unt for them .

We are perfectly r eady to admit also that we never , ,

knew a E u r opean either in India or C eylon even a mon g

, ,

the olde st residents who was able to indicate what me an s

,

the votaries of the Pitris used in the production of t he se

phen o mena .

I S this tantamount to saying that we believe in the i n

t er v e n t i on o finvisible sp i rits
We do n o t believe in spir itualism but while we b elie v e
t hat scepti c i smor doubt i n a ll c ases in spite of any amount ,
2 02 OC CUL T SC I ENCE I N INDI A .

an d sci enti fi c inv e sti gation , is better than a denial or af

firm at i on a W

W e kn ow w h at a denial a pri ori is worth I t once re

‘
. .

j ec t ed steam and e l e ctricity .

T he phenom ena whic h we sh all describe are all include d

wit h in the three f ollowin g categories :
F irst f acts and ph enomena o f e xterior manifestations
, ,

obtain e d by spiritual f orce an d generally with the ai d of

,

material obj e cts .

S econd f acts of a magnetic or somnambulistic character

,
.

Third, th e phenomena ofevocation and apparition and! ,

th e productio n o f material obj ects by the spiri t s .

Phenomena ofth e first class are apparently easily teste d .

We Shall tell what we hav e done and what our experienc e

h as been without h ow e ver, expressin g any opinion of our
, ,

o w n as to their causes .

As to the last class of cases we sh ould h ave omitte d

,

the m altogether f rom the present work as shunnin g a

,

scientific investigation i f— remembering that in ancien t

,

t i mes the belief in evocations and apparitions was un i

v ersal ; that all religions with C hristianity at their h e a d
, ,

includ e d such phenomena in their mysteries and miracles

w e h ad not deem e d t hat it woul d be at least a matter of
h istorical cur iosity to set forth th e natur e of th e s e si n gu
lar practices—i n common us e in India at the present day
which are so well a d apte d to in fluenc e th e popular mind ,

and whic h f orm ed th e basis of all t he anci ent sup erstitions .

 CHA PT ER I .

AS TO WHO A RE IN I TI A TE D I N T O T HE DI FFE RE N T C LASSE S OF

O CCU L T POWE R .

W E h av e alre a dy s ee n wh at a long lif e of praye r mace ,

ration ablution and f asting the novic e s w ere re quir e d to

, ,

pass in the dif ferent degrees of initiation W e n ow dis .

miss th at branch of our s ubj ect .

I t may not be amiss however to remin d the rea d er that

, ,

the initiated possessed powers more or less extensiv e ao , ,

cording to the class to which they b elong ed an d to in d i ,

cate the nature ofthese powers .

Th e fi rst class compris e d

Fi rst —T HE GRI HA S T A S .

S econ d — T HE PO U RO HI T A S .

T hi r d — T HE FAKIR S .

The Grihast as or h ea d s of famili e s d o not f orsak e the

world They are a sort o f connecting link b e tw e en the
.

temple an d the people They are formally forbi dd en t o

.

make any manife stations of external ph e nom ena I t is .

their right how e ver and their d uty to evoke th e souls of

, ,

their ancestors in som e r e tired part of th eir dw elling an d

, ,

to receive from them as their dire ct d e sc e n d ants only such

, ,

i nstruction as t hey n eed f or th e ir g uidanc e in this e arthly

pil grimage .

The Pourohi t as or priests of th e popular cult take part

, ,
.

i n all f amily ceremonies They evoke f amiliar spirits

.

and d rive away evil spirits They cast horoscop e s an d .

presid e ov er b i rths marriages and fun e rals They per

, , .

f orm all the ph enomena of auspicious or in auspi cious .

2 04 OC C UL T S C I ENCE IN INDI A .

omen s an d int ervene in all ca ses of over excitem ent or -

possession to remove f rom the s ubj ect all malign i n flu

,

e n ce s They confine t h emselves strictly to the domain o f

.

religion .

Th e performi ng Fakirs collec t alms and mon ey in the

temples and wander over the country and through the
,

cities They produce at wil l the st r angest phenomena

.
,

e n tirely contrary to what a r e conventionally call ed natural

laws With the aid ofspirits who are p r esent at all their
.
,

operation s as claimed by the B r ah min s they h av e author

, ,

i ty as well as po w er to evoke th e m
, ,
.

The second class includes

T HE S A N N YA S S IS .

The thi r d cla ss includes

F i r st — T HE N I RV A N Y S .

S e co n d — T HE YO GU Y S .

I n these gra d es of initiation the power is

t w o higher
the sa me o n ly di f ,
fering in deg r ee They clai m to have .

su bj ected t he visi ble as well as the invisible world t o

t heir w ill a n d only p r oduce the i r supernatural m
,
an i fes

t at i on s in the i n terior of the temples and in very rare ,

cases b efore the Raj ahs or other eminent personages in

,

India .

According to their account time S pace specific gra v ity , , , ,

and even life itself are nothing to them They enj oy t he

,
.

faculty of layin g asid e or resumi ng their mortal envelope

, ,
.

They command the elements transport mountains an d , ,

dra in rivers Upon this point the O riental imagi n ation

.
,

which kn ows no limits gi v es itself the fullest scope a n d

, ,

these spiritual li ghts are regarded in I ndia a s g ods .

There is here presented a s we see a complete organiz a , ,

tion resting upon the caste system an d a d apted to the sup ,

port of a social state entirely sacerd otal ,

.

I t is claimed that the se di fferent initiates undergo dur ,

ing a pe r iod of many years in t he subterranean sanctuaries ,

ofthe pag o d as, a course o f traini n g w hi c h mo d ifie s th e ir ,

 C HAPT E R II .

A GAS A .

IN order to mak e ou rselve s understoo d wher e t h ere is ,

a s y e t no acc e pte d mode of spe e ch w e will say what w e ,

mean by th e ter m spirit f orce ”

.

“
B y spirit force we mean the alliance between the i n
t e llec t and the physical f orces in ord e r to act upon inani
,

mate obj ects without pre d etermining in any w ay the

,
-
, ,

c au s e which s e ts t h is forc e in motion .

Th e meaning of the wor d is not strictly, perhaps tha t ,

w h ich is generally attac h e d to it W e will therefor e say .

t hat we us e it o n ly to class i fy the phenomena which w e

a re about to describe and that the meaning h er e given ex
,

presses accurately the sign i ficatio n of the term used by

t he Hin dus .

The supreme caus e of all phenomena according to the ,

Brahmins is th e pure agasa fluid o r the vital fluid which

, , ,

i s dif fuse d throughout nature an d put s an i mate or inani

,

mate visible or invisible beings in communication with

, ,

each other Heat electricity all the fo rces of nature in

.
, , ,

short ar e but modes of action and particular states of this

,

fluid .

Th e being w ho possesses an excess of this vital flui d ac

qui res a proportionate power both over animate beings not
,

s o highly f a v ored and over inanimate beings The spirits

, .

themselve s are s e nsible to the influence of this universal

fl uid an d can place their po w er at the s e rvice of those who
,

a re abl e to e voke th e m .

Accor di ng to some B rah mins agasa is the moving ,

t h ou gh t o f t h e uni v ersal soul directing all souls who wo ul d

, ,
 OCC ULT SCIENC E IN INDI A . 2 07

gbe in constant commun icatio n with each oth e r if th e gross

,

envelope of the body did n o t in a measure prevent Thus .

,

the more co mpletely the soul disentangles itself from its

v e stment — the body— by contemplation the more sensible
,

i t beco mes to this univer sa l fluid whereby all beings

, ,

whether visi ble or invisible are unite d

, .

S uch is the theory We merely set it forth and propose

.

to confine our selves to th e mi l e o f an i nt e rpret e r an d not h

sing mor e .
 C HAPT E R H I .

T HE PE RFORMI N G FAKI RS .

EVE RY E urop e an h as hear d of th e extraordinary skill o f

t he Hind u Faki rs who are popularly designate d under
,

th e name ofC harmers or Jugglers They claim to be in .

vest ed with supern atural powers S uch is the belie f ofall .

Asiatic people .

When o ur coun t rym e n are told of their performances,

t h ey usually answer go to th e regular magicians they ,

will Sh ow you the same thi ngs .

To enable the read e r to appre ciate the groun d s of this

opinion it seems necessary to show ho w th e Fakirs
,

operate The following are f acts which no traveller has

. .

ventured to contradict .

Fi r st — They n e ver give public representation s in places

whe r e the presence of several hundred pe r son s make s i t
impossible to exercise the proper scrutin y .

S econd — They are accompanied by n o a ssista nt o r con

federate as they are usually termed
,
.

T hi r d — They present themselves in the interior of the

.

house completely n aked except tha t they wear for mod

, ,

s sake a small piece o f linen ab o ut a s large as the

’
e st
y ,

h and .

Four th — Th ey are not acquainted with goblet s or magic ,

bags or double bottomed boxes or prepare d tables or any

,
-
, ,

o f the thous a n d and one things which our E uropean con

j urors find necessary .

Fi f th — They have absolutely nothi n g in their pos session ,

save a small wand o f seven knots of young bamboo as big ,

 C HAPT E R IV .

T HE L E AF D AN CE .

W E select at ran d om some facts that f ell under our own

observation as they wer e noted down at the time grouping
, ,

them h owever according to the method adopted b y us to

, , ,

make the Hindu classification more clear .

Wh at we call spirit force is calle d by t he Hi n d us arta

a han c arasy a or the f orce of I .

I had been a resident of Pondich ery the capital of the ,

French possessions in the C arnatic for several years when , ,

’
o n e morning between eleven and twelve o clock my do
, ,

bachy or valet de cham b re in formed me that a Fakir

- -

wanted to see me .

I had le ft E urope without the slighte st idea of the

phenomena which the spirit ualists attribute to their me
di ums . I was ignorant of the very principles lyin g at the
bottom of a f aith which I then believed to be n ew but ,

which I n ow know to be as old as the te mples of India ,

C haldea and E gypt for all religions commenced with the

,

belief in spirits and outward manifestations the source of ,

a revelation cla i me d to be divine I had not even see n .

a single case of table tipping The ext r avagances of the -

.

faith in invisible S pirits in whic h its adepts s i ncerely be

li e v e d and which always f orme d a prominent f eature of
,

their stories were so lik e the ecstasies the mysterious ap

, ,

ari t i on s and the whole machinery of the C atholi c ch u rch

p , ,

that it had never occurr ed to me ardent naturalist as I ,

w as to att end or witness one o fthe experiments whi c h ha d

,

s tirre d up such a gene r al inte r e st in every dir e ction .

As for the Hindu Fakirs I c on ceived them to be simple ,

m ag icians and I unceremoniou sly dismisse d th em wh en

,
 OCCUL T SC I ENCE IN IND I A . 211

e ver th ey pr e sented themselves Yet I had h e ar d a gre at .

deal of their marvellous skill and I was anxious to see a ,

s pecimen of it .

Th e Hin d u h aving been admitt e d I re c e iv ed hi min on e ,

o f the interior veran d as of my house I was struck first .

b y his extreme leanness ; his fac e was as thin and bony as

that of an anchorite and h is eyes which seemed half dead
, , ,

produced a sensation such as I once experienc e d when look

ing at the motionl ess gre en orbs of a larg e d e ep water
,
-

S hark .

He was waiting for me in a squatting posture upon the

marb le floor ; when he saw me he aros e slowly Bo wing .

w ith his hands rai sed to his forehead he murmur ed t h e ,

f ollow i ng :
S ar an ai aya (I greet you respectfully S ahib )
” “
it is , ,

I S alv an adi n O d ear son of C an ag arayen O d ear May the

,
-
,
-
.

”
i mmortals watch over your days .

S alam S alv an adi n O d ear son of C an ag arayen O déar

,
-
,
c

may you die upon the sacred banks of the T i rc an g ey and ,

may that transformation be your last .

The guru o f the pagoda sai d to me this morning ,

“
contin ued the Hindu go an d glean at ran d om like the
, ,

birds in the rice fields and G an é sa the god of travell ers

-
, , ,
”
has led me to your hous e .

”
You are welcome .

”
What do you want of me ?
You are said to possess th e faculty of communicating
movement to inert bodies without touching them I should .

like to see a S pecim e n o f your power ”

.

S alv an adi n O d ear h as no such power

- be merely
e vokes spirits w h o lend hi mtheir ai d
,
.

Well l e t S alv an adi n O d ear evoke the sp i rits and Show

,
-
,
”
me what th ey can do .

The wor d s were h ar dl y out o f my mouth wh e n th e Fakir

resume d his squattin g position upon the pavement plac ,

i n g h is se v e n kn otte d stick b e tw ee n h is cross ed legs

- .
21 2 OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN INDI A .

He then aske d to have my dobaehy b ring seven small

flow er pots full of earth seven th in sticks o f wood each
-
,

about two cubits long and seven leaves taken f r om any

,

tree no matte r what

,
.

When the se d i fferent a r ticles had b een bro ught wi t ho ut ,

t ouchi n g them himse lf he had them place d in a h o ri z o n t al

,

line about t w o yards from his outstretched a r m He i n

,
.

str ucted my servan t to plant a stick o f wood in each po t

o f earth and to put on each stick a tree leaf with a h ole
,

in the middle .

This being done all the leaves droppe d down the sticks
, ,

acting as covers to the pots The Fakir then j oin ed his h and s
.

and raised them above hi s head and I heard him di stinctly ,

utter in the Tamoul language the following invocation

, ,
“
May all the po w ers th a t w atch over the intellectual
principl e of l i fe (k che t radj n a) and over the principle of
’

matter (bofi t at oma) protect me from th e wrat h o f the pi

sat c ha s (evil spirit s) and may the immortal spirit which
, ,

has three forms (maha t at ri dan di the trinity) shi el d me , ,

”
from the v engeance o fYama .

At the close o f the invocation he stretched out h is hand s

in the direction ofthe flo w er pot s and stoo d motionles s in -
, ,

a sort of ecstasy From time to time his lips moved as i f

.

h e were cont i nui ng his occult invocation , but no sound

reached my ears .

I watched all these elaborat e preparations with consider

a b le interest and amusement wi thout suspecting what w as ,

to follow S uddenly it seemed to me that my ha i r was

.

mo v ed by a slight current of air whic h blew in my face ,

like on e oftho se g usts that we oft en see in the tropic s af

ter sunset an d yet the large straw curtains of v etivert
, ,

ha n ging i n the vac ant space s b etw een th e columns ofthe

ve r anda were undisturbed
,
I thought that my senses .

had dec e iv e d m e but th e phenom e non was r ep e ated sev

,

e ral tim e s .

At th e end o f about a quarter of an h our, t h ough ther e

214 OCCUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

bamboo sticks In a short tim e, t he sam e ph e nom ena oc

.

c urred as be f or e .

D uring the n e xt t w o hours I rep e at ed th e e xp e rim e nt

,

i n tw enty d i f
fer e nt ways , but always with th e sam e re
sult .

Th e only way in w hich I could account f or it was by

supposi ng that I was under some powerful m agnetic i n
fluen c e T h e Fakir said to me : I s there not som e ques
.

tio n you wish to put to the invisibl e spiri t s b efor e they

go2 3)

Th e qu e stion was totally un e xp e cted but as I h ad h eard ,

that E uropean mediums use an alphabet in conversin g

with spirits as they claim I e xplained th e matter to th e
, ,

H i ndu and aske d hi mif I could enter in to communication

,

with th em by an y such m e an s .

“
He answered me in th e s e words Ask anything you ,

please th e leaves will remain still if the spirits have

, ,

nothing to say If o n th e contrary those who guid e them

.
, ,

have any communication to make they will move upwar d ,

”
along the sticks .

I was about to write an alphab e t upon a sheet of paper

wh e n a v e ry simple devic e occurre d to me I ha d a set o f .

rais e d brass l e tt e rs and figures upon zinc blocks which I

used to stamp my name and a number upon the books in
my library I thr e w th e m pell mell into a small linen
.
-

bag an d the Fakir h aving resum e d his position ofinvoca

,

tion I thought of a f ri end who had d ie d twenty years

, ,

before and proc eeded to e xtract the l e tt ers and n umbers

, ,

o n e by on e .

Upon taking up e ac h of the zinc blocks I look ed at the

letter or figure as I call ed it of f an d kept a watchfu l eye ,

upon the leaves so th at the l e ast movement would not es

cape me .

I had alr e a d y tak en out fourteen blocks and noth ing

unusual had occurred when upon th e app e aranc e of the
,

l ette r A, th e le aves began to move an d a ft er as ce n d in g to ,

 OCC U L T SC I ENCE I N I ND I A . 21 5

the top ofthe sticks fell again to the b oards in which the
,

pieces of bamboo had b een placed .

I coul d not help betraying some emotion when I ob ,

served that the motion of the leaves corresponded to the

appearance of the first let t er of my fr ien d s name ’
.

When the bag was empty I put the letters an d figures

.

in again and continued a s before L etter by letter an d

,
.

figur e by figure I obtained the following words

A lba/i n B run i er , di ed at B ourg -
en - br esse (A i n ) Ja n ua ry

The n ame th e date the plac e everythin g was correct ;

, ,

th e blood rushed to my head as I read over and ov e r again ,

the words which shone stran gely in my eyes .

W hat made my as t onishmen t still greater was the fact

that I had no conception of phen o mena of this class I .

was totally unprepared for them I wanted to be alone an d

to reflect I therefore dismisse d the Fakir without mak
.
,

ing any further observations on that day I made him .

promise however to come on the morrow at the same hour

, , ,

He was punct ual to the appointment .

We repeate d th e same series o f exp eriments and the ,

result was the same as before .

The e xcitemen t which I had at first experienc e d and ,

which was perfectly natural under the circumstances had ,

disappeared but I was no n ear e r than before to a belief

,

in the supernatural and in the r e ali ty of th e Fakir s evo ’

cation s I was merely le d to f ormulate i n my own mind

.

the followi n g supposition

If these phenomen a were not th e result of pure char
lat an i sm m agnetic infl uence or hallucination perhaps
, , ,

ther e is a natu r al force the laws ofwhich we are yet i gn o

,

rant of and w hich enab les its possessor to act upon inani
,

mate obj ects and interpret thoughts as the telegraph p uts

, ,

t wo minds in communication in d i f fe re nt an d opposite

”
parts of the globe .
2 16 OCCUL T SCIENC E IN INDI A .

I sp ent a portion of the night in refle ction upo n this

po int O n
. the morro w I repeated the phenome n a of th e

previous d ay at an early sitting I th en ask e d t he Fakir .

to d o them ov e r again and I watch ed th e m having in

, ,

mind the supposition abo v e d named .

When I ask ed th e Fakir f or instance to repeat the , ,

communication of the previous day I changed i n my mind ,

the orthography of the name dwelling strongly upon each ,

l e tter Th e follo wing variations were the result

.

Halbi n Prun i e t died etc , , .

I may add how e ver that when I tried to change the

, ,

name of the city or o f the date of the occu rrence I was

, ,

unsuccessful at that time and that the message w as always

th e same and al ways co rrect in those respects
D i ed a t B our g en —
B resse (Ain) Ja n ua ry 3 1 8 56
-
,
.

D uring fif teen days I had the Fakir at my house every

d ay and h e always submitted with the utmost readine ss
, , ,

t o all my requir e ments I vari ed my experiments as

.

f ollows
Bearing in mind always the exact words of the message
as I fir st received it I wanted to kno w positively whether
, ,

it w as possible to e f fect a c omplete change in its terms .

At on e t i me I obtained changes i n the letters compos

ing th e nam e so that no one would have recognized it at
,

another time the changes referred to the date of the day

, ,

of th e month or of the y e ar but I nev e r obtained the

, ,

slightest alt e ration in the name o f th e city which was i n ,

variably the same :

B ourg -
en - B r esse .

H ence I conclu d e d — referring al w ays to t h e supposition

under wh ich I was acting that th e re really was a n atural
,

forc e which had established a communication b et w een

,

myself and the Faki r and the leaves — that I could n o t

suffi ciently isolate my mind fro mthe corr e ct orthography
o f all th e words in the sentence .
21 8 OCCUL T SC I ENCE IN I ND IA .

the ir f acul tie s, but claim ed to b e in spiritual commun i

cation .

Pe rh aps the r e w e r e grounds that migh t hav e warranted

a furth e r inv e stigation i n to this mat e rial f orce an d su
p , ,

posing that it really e x iste d f or atte mpting to fr ee it fr om

,

the e laborat e appliances an d clap trap by which it was en

-

compass ed i n or d er to strike th e popular imagination I t

, .

was n ot how e ver my business to do so being o t herwise

, , ,

occupied as I have alr e a d y said by my professional dutie s

, ,

an d stud ie s in relation to primitiv e soci e ty in Asia .

S till while I took no furth e r activ e int eres t in thes e

,

phe nom e na I w as in the h abit o f s e tting apart any thing I

,

mi ght m ee t w ith in th e course o f my studies relatin g to

, ,

th e doctrine o f th e Pitris with the idea of publishing

,

subs equently whatev e r I migh t com e across upon a sub

j c e t w h ic h se e ms to int erest th e Western as much as it ,

d o e s the Asiatic worl d .

From this tim e forwar d I also ma d e notes of all the

material ph enomena by whos e ai d the Fakirs seek t o
prov e the e xistence of th e power they claim for it seem s ,

to m e that suc h facts w er e strongly corroborative o f thei r

Alth ough I h av e b ee n careful to avoid any d epartur e

from th e part w h ich I have assume d as a S imple historian ,

I h av e d e sire d in th e pres e nt chapter to give an account

, ,

of the only attempts I have e ver seriously made to inform

myself regard ing this forc e which th e Fakirs app e ar to
possess and by means of wh ich they cla i m they hold , ,

communi cation with invisible spirits a claim which man y ,

p ersons o f our time e ve n of the highest intellige n ce a r e

, ,

d ispose d to allow I t seems to me that a reply is due t o

.

t he r e ad er w h o may ask : Why d oes th e author disavo w

any personal responsibility ? h as h e no opinion w h at e ver
upon this question
I h av e in deed no sci en t ific opi n i on upon this sub je ct, as
y et.
 OCC U L T SCIENCE IN I ND IA . 21 9

I am convinced t hat ther e ar e in nature and in man , ,

who is a part ofnature immense forces the laws of which

, ,

ar e yet unknown to us .

I think that man will some day discover these laws that ,

things that we n ow regard as dr e ams will appear to us in , ,

th e future as realities and that we shall o n e day witness

, ,

phenomena of which we have n ow n o conception .

I n th e world of ideas as in the materi al worl d there is

, ,

a p e riod of gestation as of birth Who knows whether

, .

this psychic force as th e E n glish call i t — this force of the

,

E go according to th e Hindus which the h um ble Fakir

, ,

e xhibited in my presence will not be Shown to b e one of

‘

th e grand e st forces in n atur e

I may be told that f or mor e than ten thousand years ,

durin g which the Hindus have given it their attentio n ,

they hav e never succeede d in formulating the laws of this .

pretended force and that we cannot afford to lose our

,

time n o w or in the future as they have done

, ,
.

The Brahmins have made everything subordinate to

their religion and w e know that in r eli gi ous ma tters
,

there are no scientific experiments or pr o of Se e what .

th e mid d le ages produced in the domain o f th e exact

sciences by takin g their axioms from the words of the Bible !
From the remotest an tiquity th e pundits o f the pagoda s
h av e b e en in the h abit of bursting vessels by the use of
compresse d steam They have also observed many elec
.

t ri c al ph e nomena but t h at h as not led to t he construction

,

of rail roads or tel e graphs Among ourselves h ave we not .

,

se e n scienti fic soci e ti e s of t he highe st order officially treat

Fulton like a crazy man and regard the telegraph as a ,

toy only fi t for sen ding messages from on e room t o

,

another in the same d w elling In the open air and with .

,

atmospheric disturbances the teleg raph wire was not to ,

be relie d upon .

I t has now however put a girdle round the earth an d

, , ,

we h ave sun k it at th e bottomof the deepest seas .

2 20 OCC UL T SCIENC E IN IND IA .

See wh at h uma n society as a whole has don e E ve ry .

a g e turns an id e a ov e r and over again in all i t s phase s ;

s cienti fic men develop it and set f orth their the o ry f r o m ,

whic h they refuse to swerve ; every scientific b o dy has

a n opinion to w h ich it stoutly clings
,
I f it does not say .

“
in so many word s Thus far shalt thou go and no far
,
”
ther everybody knows t hat it thinks so for it rej ects
, ,

every idea that does not ori g I n at e in its o wn bosom every ,

t hing n ew and startling Then the n ew generation come s

.

upon th e stage an d the son s rebel against their fathers ,

a s behin d the time The screw trav e rses the ocean re

.
,

g a r dle ss o fwind o r ti d e and the electric fl u ,

i d trans mits
t hought to the f ou r corners of t he globe .

As I have been le d to speak o fmy o wn views I w i ll say

t hat the conclusion that I have dra w n from what I have
s een in I ndia laying aside the clap trap b which it is su
y r -
,

rounded and of which the Hi n d us a r e very fond is that

, ,

there is in man a special force acting in an unknown di

rection and ofte n intellige n tly the la w s of which r e
, ,

quire to b e studie d by unprej udiced and liberal minded -

s pecialists .

Perhaps it is this f orce developed by education and by

,

a certain syste mof training that the p r iests i n the ancient

,

t emples set in motion in order to i m ,

pr e ss the popular
i magination by pr e tended prodigies .

In that case there would seem to be so me f oundation

for th e ancient stories and there probably was a real de
v elO m en t of a natural force i n connection with an e x hi
'
"

p ,

bitiou of the grossest superstition moving the tree leaves ,

a t a distance as well as the floral ga r lands and tapestry

,

h ung in the temples a d ding several pounds to the weight

,

o fpeacock s feathe r s and p r oducing musical sounds by the

’
,

a i d of concealed instruments .

I t is to be hoped that our scientists will some day or

oth e r make a serious i n vestigation into the production of
s om e o f t he se pheno m en a which I saw rep e ate d before
,
2 22 OC CUL T SCIENCE I N INDI A .

I ndia , that there exists a n ew force in th e human organ

i sm as I had timidly sugg e st e d s e veral y e ars before as a
, , ,

matter of supposition .

I immediately came to th e det e rmination to leav e my

chapter a s I had written it but to refer the read er to th e ,

article in question as confirmatory of the position I had

,

as sumed .

I f in spite ofall the precautions I hav e taken to bani sh

,

anything in fa vor ofa b elief i n the supernatural and to

e xpress my o wn opinion i n the most hypothetical manner ,

I have laid my self open to the reproach o f being too c re du

l ous I S hall b ea r the blame cheerfully in the company of
, ,

o n e of the mo st distingui shed of E nglish scientists .

96 96 96 96 96 96

I t appears t hat this force which first suggest ed itself to ,

my mind in in order to explain the phenomena which

1 8 66 ,
were then taking place in India before my face and eyes
(the hypothesis that it was supernatural being totally i n
admissi ble ) had recently been recognized by physician s
, ,

ast r ono mers n aturalists and oth e rs members o f the Royal

, , ,

S ociety of Lo n don — which contains all who are eminent

: for their learning in E ngland a s ou r Aca d emy of S ciences ,

contain s men who are kno w n and esteeme d for their labors
t he wo r ld over— not as I had done by suggest i ng it as an
, ,

hypothesis to e x plain certai n phenomena but by main ,

t ain ing after two year s of experiments

,

First that there exists a f orce capable of moving heavy

,

b odies without mate r ial contact which depends i n some ,

unknown manner upon the presence of human beings .

S econd that nothing certain was kn o w n with regard to

,

t he nature and source of this force but th ere is conclusive ,

evidence that it exists .

Third that movements can be produce d in solid bodies

,

without material contact by this hithert o un k nown forc e ,

acting at an indefini t e distance fro mthe human organism ,

a n d w h olly independent of muscular action .
 OC C U L T SCIENC E I N I ND IA . 22 3

F ourth th at this force makes solid bodies which have

, ,

no contac t or visible or material connec t ion with the

bod ies of an y persons pres ent emit sou n ds which are di s
,

t i n c tly he ard by all present and it is proved t hat these

,

so unds proc eed f rom these obj ects by vibrations which

,

are perfectly perceptible to the touch .

Fifth t h at this force i s frequently di r ected wi th i n t elli

,

gence .

The question is whether this i s the force which the

Hindus who have known of i t s exis t e n ce fo r thousands of
,

years have sought to devel op in all su bj ects who were

,

w i lling to become their tools and w ho have af terward

, ,

with a view to religious domination attributed its mani ,

fest at i on s to superior spirit s We ra t her i n cline to thi n k

.

so though w e express no opinion a s to i t s nat ure or origin

,
.

I t is not with a view to elucidate this question by sho wing ,

what arguments may be urged on either hand that we ,

have given this b r ief Sketch of what has been a ecom

p li she d by E nglish scientis t s upon thi s point O ur i n t en
.

tion was simply to S how tha t sc i en tific men in E ngland

have officially recognized the ex i sten ce ofa for ce i n depen d ,

en t o m
f u , f
scular a c ti on c apa ble o m ov i n
g bod i es o
f so m e ,

ti m es em i t ti n g melodi ous soun ds a n d w hi c h i s

, fr eguen tly
di rec ted w i th in telli gen ce and to draw the conclusion fro m
, ,

the similari ty of th e phenomena witnessed in E ngland

and in India that the laws which govern th e m in either
, ,

c oun try are i d entical

,
.

I f some ofthe facts observ e d in India seem to be more

wonderf ul than any w h ich have formed th e subj ect of
experiment in E nglan d (I speak of th e latter more par
t i cu larly o n account o f t he scientific endors e m e nt they
have received ) the t wo f ollowi ng reasons may be given :
,

I t is v ery possibl e that the Hindus in add ition to the ,

real force they poss e ss also d isplay a skill so gre at that it

,

i s d if fi cult to d e tect the min an y act o fd e ception .

Pe rh aps, too as the y have b een in poss e ssion for s e veral

, ,
224 O CCUL T SCIE NCE I N I ND IA .

thous an d y ear s ofthis spec i al for ce they have d is cov er ed

, ,

the laws whi ch th e E n g li shmen w ere un ab le to f o rm ul ate ,

th ough th ey h ad proved the existence of t he for ce it s elf

I t woul d follow therefrom that th e discovery of th e
laws i n question may hav e led to a more marked and de
ci d ed progre ss in the prod uction oft he se phenomena .

With th ese rem arks and w i t hout g uar anteein g t hei r

,

sci e n t ific v a l u
,
e we wil l co n tinue o ur accoun t o f the extr a

or di n ary mani festations which the Brahmins att ribute t o

superior spirits and which they hold to be a part of their
,

r
We sh all continue also h owever t o in di ca te th e ef
, ,
forts
mad e by u s to test them as far as w e w ere abl e T he
,
.

accoun ts as we have said be fore are taken from our note s

, ,

of tra vel i n upper B engal an d the Hi malaya Valleys We .

have only omi t ted the de scriptive po rtions an d suc h f ac ts

as ar e ofno g en eral impo rtance , b ei n g w h olly p e rsonal .
226 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

T wo rvants accompani ed me a c a n sa ma , or val e t de

se ,
‘
-

c h ambr e , an d a m etor w h os e duty it w as to pr e pare my

,

m e als .

The crew consist ed of a cer ca r, or he a d boatman , an d

six ma couas or row e rs b elonging to th e caste of fi sherm e n
, , .

S hortly b efore suns e t one evening w e w er e lying of fth e

staircas e of Gat h near t h e c elebrated pago d a of S iva I t .

is impossibl e to de scrib e the spectacle that me t my ey e s .

“
Few citi e s says E Roberts no matter how mag
, .
,

n ifi c en t ar e so grand and imposing in app e arance as

,

B enares ”
.

W he n the watchful traveller ascen d s t h e Gan ges h is

approach to the great city is first announce d by the ap
ear an c e of th e minarets whose tow e rs rising above the
p , ,

h e avy masses of the surroun d ing palaces are scatt ere d in ,

an appare ntly d isorderly though picturesque manner , ,

along th e crooke d ban ks of the river for about a couple ,

o f leagu e s .

I t i s impossible to resist the impression made by the

magnifi c e nt panorama presented by suc h a multitude o f
t e mples towers long arcades supporte d by columns ele
, , ,

v at ed q uays and te rr aces whose balu stra d es stan d out in

,

strong relief amid the luxuriant foliage of baobab tam

, ,

ari n d an d banana trees ; an d w h ich

,
covered h ere and ,

there wi t h clust e rs of flowers o f various sha d es appear ,

i n g among the heavily carved b uildings ris e maj estically ,

above gard ens b e autifully situate d amo n g spacious court s

,
.

Th e abs e nc e of any regular plan the d if ferent styles o f ,

architecture th e mi n glin g ofth e austere and solemn with

,

the ligh t an d f antastic give an odd appearance to some ,

parts of th e scene but its e f fect as a whol e is magnificent

, ,

an d most of the d etails possess a b e auty of which it is

impossible to giv e any conception .

‘
In Hi n dust an e e t he word ca n sa ma m ea n s t he sa me as do baehy i n
T amoul .
 OC CUL T SCIENC E IN INDI A . 2 27

The gaths which are a sort of monum ent compos ed of

,

four columns unite d by a single cornice and w h ich ar e ,

situate d at the t 0 p of th e gigantic stairs whose botto m ,

steps are bathe d in th e waters of the Gan ge s are t h e only ,

quays possessed by th e old city which was th e ancient ,

Kassy of the earliest raj ahs From the rising t o th e setting

.

of the su n they are cover e d by coolies loa d ing and u n

loading the small vess els th at traverse the Ganges in every

direction bringing to market i n upper Bengal all the
,

merchandise ofI ndia an d Asia .

As I ordered the c ercar to moor the boat to th e gath o f

S iva a circumstance struck me with astonishm e nt The .

Hindus and Mussulmans who time out o f min d h av e b ee n

, ,

so deeply d ivided by th e ir old enmity towar d e ach oth e r

in the south of I ndia where th ey are an insigni ficant

,

minority o f the whole population were perf orming their ,

abl utions togeth er promiscuously at the feet o f th e gaths

o fBenares .

Though the f ollowers ofthe Prophet have always fought

against idolatry with fire and swo r d until th e r eign of ,

A uren gz eb they always respected t he sacre d city o f their

,

conquere d foe which seemed to in spire them with a mys

,

t eri ous terror .

The Brahmins claimed that Benares had been built by

S iva in or de r to se r ve as an asylum to th e righteous
, ,

when t he earth sh oul d be o v errun by crime an d sorrow

a n d that it woul d never exp e rienc e any of t h ose v i c i ssi

tudes t o w h ich all earthly things are subj ect .

A uren gz eb to humiliate their pride destroyed one of

, ,

thei r oldest an d most venerable pagodas an d erecte d in its ,

stead the splendi d mosque that bears hi s name whose ,

slender spires covered with leaves of gold in f orm tra v

, ,

elle r s that th e city is at hand lon g before th e y can see it

,
.

To day numerous Mu ssul man te mples rise by the si d e of

-
,

Hin d u pagodas and the Brah mi n s witness without being

, ,

able to prevent it but wi t h horror that they are po wer

,
22 8 OC C UL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

le ss to conc e al t he slaughter of cattle f or sacrifi cial or

,

culin ary purpos e s in the holy city, w h ich h ad been polluted

by the ki lling of no animal since the Mogul invasion .

In spit e of the vandalism w h ic h h as d e stroyed some of

the oldest and hand somest monuments in India and ,

although in othe r countries subj ect to t h eir laws the

Mussulmans have use d every means and shrunk from
nothing in o r der to convert th e Hindus to the f aith ofthe
Prophet the Mogul sov e r eigns always used t he la rge st
,

tolerance at Benares for the religious b eliefs manners and , ,

usag es of their conquered foe I t is for this reason no

'

.
,

doubt that the t w o nations are on the b e st of terms in

,

this part of Bengal However until I ha d seen it I

.
,

woul d never have believed that the Mussulmans an d Hin

dus woul d ever consent to perf orm their religious ablutions
in t he same place .

I n the south of India a Mussulman who should bathe

,

in the sacred tank of a pagoda would be put to death on

the spot .

When I arrived at Benar e s I intended to r e main there ,

a couple ofmonths That was by no means too lon g a

.

stay in v iew of the inquiries I desired to make regarding

,

the anti q uities of the country but it was too long to put ,

up at a hotel or bungalow I therefor e determin e d to .

hire a house of my ow n and to go to h ousekeeping at

once To h ave a home of one s own in the E ast and
.
’
,

e specially in the f ar E ast is almost on e o f th e first n ece s

,

sar i e s of life .

I was about sendin g my ca n sa/ma upon a voyage of di s

c ov e r
y wh e
,
n the Peis h wa a Mahratta prin ce at Benare s
,

wi t h whom I had become acquainte d through the Raj ah

at C han demag or h earing of my arr ival sent to o f
,
fer me ,

apartments in the magnificent seven storie d palace own ed

b y hi mupon the ban ks of t he Gang e s to the l eft of the ,

cel ebrated mosque of A ure n gz eb .

I t is no uncommon thi n g for the princes and raj ah s o f

23 0 OC C U L T SC I ENCE IN IND IA .

th e river in w h ich h e had to perform his ablutions for ,

the next thre e weeks in honor ofthe dead He had been

, .

th ere a fortnight alr e ady before I h eard of his arrival .

His nam e was Govindasamy .

After assurin g myself ofh is cons ent I h ad h im brought ,

to my apartment one day at about noon when the other

, ,

occupants of th e palace on account of the extreme heat

, ,

wer e indulging in their noonday S iesta .

Th e roo min which I received him looke d out upon t he

terrac e wh ich in turn overlooked the Ganges and was
, ,

prot e cte d again st the burn ing sun by a movabl e tent ,

ma d e f rom woven fi bres of vetivert I n the middl e ofthe .

terrace ther e was a water spout which f ell in a fine sh ower

-

into a marbl e basin and dif fused a most delight f

ul cool
ness .

I ask e d the Fakir if h e wish ed to occupy any particular

place rather than another
,
.

”
As you please h e answ ered
,
.

I asked him to go out upon the terrace w h ich was much ,

lighter than th e room an d wh e r e I would have a b e tter

,

opportunity to watch h im .

”
Will you all ow me to put to you a singl e question ?
said I when he ha d assumed a squattin g position upon
,

th e ground .

I am listening to you .

D o you kno w whether any power is d e velope d in you ,

when you perf orm these phenomena ? D i d you ever feel

any chan ge take plac e in your brain or any of your mus
cles ?
“
I t is not a natural force that acts I am but an i n st ru .

ment I evoke the ancestral spirits and it is they w ho

.
,

manifest their po w er .

I h ave questioned a multitude of Fakirs in relation t o

this matter and they ha v e nea rly all made t he same an
,

swer They look upon themselves only as int erme d iarie s

.

b e twe e n thi s world and the invisibl e spirits O bservi n g .

 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN IND IA . 231

t h at he e nt ertain e d t he sam e b elief I d ropp e d th e su bj ect

,

in or de r that Govindasamy might go on with his perfo r m

an c e s. The Fakir was alr eady in position with both hands
e xt en d ed toward an immense bronz e vas e full of water .

Withi n fi ve minut e s the vas e commence d to rock to and

fro upon its base an d approach the Fakir g e ntly an d with
,

a r egular motion As th e distanc e diminished metallic

.
,

soun d s e scaped from it, as if som e on e had struck it with

a st eel rod At c e rtain tim e s the blows w e r e so numer
.

ou s an d quick that th ey pro d uced a sound sim i lar to that

ma de by a hail storm upon a m e tal roo f

-
.

I ask ed C ov i n dasamy i f I coul d giv e d ire ctions, and he

cons ent ed without hesitation .

Th e vas e, which was still un de r th e p erf orm e r s influ ence ’

,

advanc ed r e cede d or stood still accordin g to my r e quest

, , ,
.

At on e time at my command t he blows c h an g ed into a

, ,

continuous roll lik e t h a t ofa d rum ; at anoth er on the ,

contrary th ey succee de d e ac h oth e r with th e slown e ss and

,

regularity ofthe ticking ofa clock .

I ask ed to h av e th e blows struck only every ten secon d s ,

and I compared th e m with the progr e ss of the second hand

upon th e f ac e o f my watch .

Then loud, s h arp strok e s w er e he ar d, for a minute and

t wo thir d s
-
.

Upon t he tabl e o f the drawin g roo m attach ed to mv -

apartments stoo d on e of thos e music box e s o f which the

,
-

Hin d us ar e so f on d, and w h ich th e Peishwa h ad no

d oubt procur ed from C alcutta I h ad it brought out upon
.

t he terrace by my c an sa ma , an d I ask ed to hav e the

blows struck upon th e vas e so as to accompany any ai r
which th e instrum e nt might perform .

I the n woun d up th e box in th e usual w ay and pressed ,

th e spring of the clock work without knowing wh at air it

-
,

woul d play A r egular whirlwin d of not e s was th e re sult,

.

and t he box play e d in time designedly acc elerat ed, n o

,

doubt, the tun e o f R obin of the W oo d .

2 32 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN INDI A .

I list e n ed the direction of the vas e an d quick sharp

in , ,

strokes accompanied the tune with the reg u larity of the

,

baton of an orch estra l e ad er Th e air ha d scarcely finished

.

when I again press e d th e spring an d th e blows moder ,

a ted their pace to keep time to the marc h f rom the

Pr ophete which th e y accompanied e xactly
,
.

All this was don e without f uss or parad e or mystery , ,

o f any ki nd upon a terrace of a f

,
e w yards square The .

vase thus put in motion coul d hardly when empty

, , ,

hav e b een moved by t wo men I t w as hollowed out like

.

a cup and w as so situate d as to receive the f alling j et of

,

water fro m the fountain before spoken of I t was used .

for the mornin g ablutions which in I ndia are almo st

, , ,

e qual to a regular bath .

Wh at was the force that move d this mass ? that is the

q u e stion .

I repeated thes e various exp e ri ments a s e con d time and ,

they were renewed wi t h like order an d regularity .

The Fakir who had neither change d his position nor

, ,

lef t his place th e n stoo d up and reste d the tips of h is

, ,

fi ngers f or a short time upon the ed ge of the vas e

, , It .

s oon began to rock to an d fro in regular time from le f t to ,

right gra d ually acc e lerating its spe e d ; its base which rose
, ,

an d fell alternately on e ith e r sid e ma de n o soun d upon ,

t he stuccoe d pavem ent .

But w h at surpris e d me most w as to see that the water

remaine d stationary in the vase as if there we re a strong,

pressure that prev e nte d its r egai ning its equilibriu m ,

which the motion o f t he v e ss el containing it had d isturbed .

Three times d uring these oscillations the vase rose a

distance of s e ven to e ight inches completely from the
g ro u nd , an d when,
it fell to the pavement again it d id so ,

with out any perceptible shock .

Th e perf ormance had already laste d several hours d ur ,

ing wh ich I ha d taken c 0 pi ous a n d careful notes an d had ,

a l so t ak e n t he pr e caution t o have each ph e nome n on re

 CHA PT E R V I .

T HE WATE R SPOU T — T HE MA GIC STI CK

-
.

C ov i n dasamy was punctual in the performance of his

engag em e nt .

Gazin g at th e extraord inary flood of light which the

su n pour e d U pO Il the surface of the Ganges as it roll e d by ,

I stood absorb ed in sil e nt contemplation of th e magn i fi

c e nt spectacle before me when the Fakir liftin g one of
, ,

the curtains which hung before th e d oor leading into the

v eran d ah walk ed in and sat upon the floor with h is l egs
,

bent under him af te r th e Hin d u mann er .

S alam bé ré (goo d d ay sa hib) said h e using his, , ,

mother tongu e .

S alam tambi (goo d d ay friend) r eplie d I in t he same

”
, , ,
“
i di om is the B engal rice equal to the rice o f T an dj aor
,

Th e rice serve d to m e in the P eishwa s palac e at B e ’

nar e s is not equal to t h at whic h I gath er about my but at

T ri v an deram .
”

“
What is the matter with it ? is not t he curry seed as
pure upon the banks of th e Gange s as upon the Malabar
”
coast ?
“
Listen the cocoa tree does not grow here and the
-

water of the sacred river cannot tak e the place of the salt
wat e r I am a man of the coast as ther e is a tre e of th e
.
,

coast and we both of us di e when w e are separated fr om

,
”
the ocean .

Just then a S light southern breeze like escaping steam

swept in warm gusts over the drowsy city slumb erin g in
the noon day heat The Fakir s eyes glisten ed
-
.
’
.
 OCCUL T SCIENCE I N I NDI A . 2 35

I t com e s from my ol d home said d o you not , he, “

feel it ? it brings to my mind so many r e coll e ctions ”

.

H e sat a long while t hinking no d oubt of th e wide

, , , ,

gloomy forests on th e Malabar coast where h e h a d passed ,

his chil d hood an d of the mysterious caves of the pagoda

,

at T ri v an deram wh er e th e Brahmins h ad instructed hi m

,

in the art of evocation .

S ud de nly h e arose an d walked toward the bronze vase

w h ich h e ha d us e d th e day before f or the purpose of ex
hi bi ti n g his pow e r He imposed h is h ands upon the surface
.

o f th e water which filled it to the very e dge but he did ,

not touch it however and stood motionless in that position

, ,
.

As yet I h ad no idea of th e phe n omena that he intende d

to perf orm .

I do not know that he e x perienced any unusual di th

culty on that day but an h o ur had elapsed before either
,

the water or the vase e xhibited any evidence whate ver of

action on his part .

I had begun to d e spair of obtaining any r e sul t on th at

occasion wh e n the water began to be gently agitat ed I t
,
. ,

looked as though its surface were ruf fled by a slight br e eze .

Placing my h an d s upon th e e dge ofthe vase I e xp e ri e nc e d

a slight fe eling o f coolness which appare ntly aros e from,

th e sam e caus e A ros e l e af thrown into the water soon

.
-
, ,

was blo wn or dri fted against th e othe r e dg e .

Meanwhile the Fakir stoo d motionl e ss Hi s mouth was .

closed an d strange to say t h ough it effe ctually d ispose d

, , ,

ofany i d ea oftrickery on his part th e waves w e re formed ,

on th e opposit e S ide from that o f the p erf orm er an d g ently

broke against th e e dge of th e vas e on h is si de .

Gradually the motion o f the wav e s became more v i o

lent They made their appearance in e very direction as
.
,

though the water were in a state of in tense ebullition un

der the influence of a great heat I t soon ros e h igh er .

than th e Fakir s hands and several wav e s rose to a height

’
,

o fon e or t wo fee t f rom th e surfac e .

2 36 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN INDI A .

I ask e d C o v i n dasa my to take his han d s a way

pon . U
th e ir removal the motion o f th e water gradually abat ed ,

without ceasing altogeth e r, as in the case of boiling water

fro m w h ich the fire h as b ee n removed O n the other .

hand wh enev e r h e placed h is hands in their former posi

,

t ion t h e motion o fthe wate r w as as g r eat as ever

,
.

The last portion o f the s é ance was s t ill more e x t raordi

nary .

The Hind u asked me to lend him a small stick I .

han d ed him a wooden lea d pencil that had n e ver been -

s harpened He placed it in the wa t er an d i n a fe w min

.
,

utes by the impo sition of his hand s he made it move in

, ,

e very direction like a m agnet in co n tact wi t h an iron bar

,
.

Placing his forefinger gently upon the middle o f the

pencil so as not to af
,
fect its po sition upon the water in a ,

few minutes I saw the small piece ofwood slowly descend

beneath the surfac e until it had reached the bottom o f,

t he vase .

L aying asid e the ques t ion of skill or deception on the

p e r former s part without ’
doi n g which it is impossible for
,

me to make any positive sta t e men t ei t her o n e way or the

other although un d er the circumstances it would have
,

been extremely difficult for any a t tempt at i mposture to

have escaped my attention it occu rr ed to me that t he ,

Fakir upon chargi ng the small piece of woo d with fluid

, ,

might perhaps have increased its weight so as to make it ,

he a vier than water .

Though d eeply sceptical with regard to spirits I often ,

wondered whenever I saw an experiment of th is kind

, ,

whether or not some natural force had n ot been brough t

i nto play with which we w e re totally unac q uain ted
, .

I m e re ly stat e the f acts with out furt he r co mme nt .

2 38 OCC U L T SC I ENCE IN IND IA .

B u ddh a th at all to urists bring from the far E ast without ,

a suspicion t h at most o f them come originally from E n g lis h

f oun d ri e s
.

For mor e than twenty minutes I tried to see ho w C o

v i n dasam co u l d thus fly in the face and eyes of all the
y
kno w n laws of gravity it was entirely beyond my com ~

prehension ; t he stick gave him no visible support and ,

there was no apparent contact between that and his body ,

e xc e pt through his right han d .

W h en I dismiss ed him he inform e d me upon leaving , ,

t h at w he n the sacre d elephants shoul d strike the hour of

mi d n ight upon th e copper gong in the pagoda of S iva he ,

would e voke the familiar spirits that protect the Fran g uy s

(or Fr ench) w h o would then manifest their presence i n
,

s om e mann e r in my b ed room .

The Hindus have a perfect unde r standing among t hem

s e lves
. I n order to prev e nt any too ob v ious fraud I sent ,

my t wo servants to pass the night upon the din gui with

t he cercar and boatmen .The idea of the supe r natural
was naturally repugnant to my m i nd My leanings were .

all the other way but i f the f act shoul d occur as he pre
,

d icted I di d not want to be too easily dup ed For that rea

,
.

son I prepared to t h row every obstacle in the F ak i r s way

’
.

The Peishwa s house was singularly constructed ; all the

’

windows overlook e d th e Ganges and it contained seven

,

large apartments on e above the oth e r

,
A l l the rooms i n
.

e ach apartment opened upon covered gall eries or terraces

p r oj ecting over t he quay The mo d e of co mmunication

.

from on e story to another was very curious There was a .

si n gle flight of steps which le d f ro mthe bottom apartment

to t ha t immediately above U pon cros sing this second
.

apartment in the last roo mw as a second fligh t of st airs

,

which h a d no communication with the former and which ,

l e d to th e story above and so on up t o the seventh story

, ,

w h ich was reached by means of a movable stairway wh ic h

c oul d b e rais e d by chain s l i ke a drawbridge .
 OCC U L T S C I E NC E I N I ND IA . 23 9

I t was this seventh story w hich w as furnished in a

,

s tyle partly O rient a l and partly E uropean which com ,

man de d a most splendid vie w and w here the air was the
c oole st that the Peish w a had se t apart fo r hi s forei g n
,

guests.

As s o on as it was dark I exami n ed all the differe n t

,

rooms in the apart ment in the most caref ul manne r a n d

, ,

made sure tha t n ob o dy was concealed i n the m I t he n . .

rai sed the dra wbridge and t hus cut off all co mmunicati o n
,

fr om the o utside.

At the hou r na med I thought I heard t w o b lows dis

t i n c t ly st r uck a gainst the wall o f my roo m I walke d .

t oward the S pot from which the sound seemed to co m e ,

whe n my steps were sudde n ly arr es t ed by a sharp blow

w hich appeared to proceed f rom the glass shad e that
protected the hanging la mp agains t gnats a n d night but
t e rfli es. A few more sounds were heard at unequal inter
vals i n the ced a r rafters of the ceiling and that w as all
,
.

I walked toward the end of the ter r ace I t w as one of

.

those S ilvery n ights unknown in our more foggy lands

,
.

The vast flood of the s a cre d river rolled silently alo n g at

t he fo ot of the sleepi n g city upon one of who se steps the
,

o utlines ofa hu m an for mwere dimly profiled I t was t he

.

Fakir ofT ri v an deram prayin g for th e repose of his d ea d

,
.
 C HAPT E R V III .

T HE B A M B OO ST OOL— AE RIAL FLOWE R S— T HE MY STE RIO U S

PU N KAH
.

Isp ent a part of th e night in reflection upon this sub

j ,
ec t but I was n o t able to sol v e the riddle S ince I had .

live d in I ndia I had often seen similar phenomena per

formed i n my presence by others and I was able to bri n g
a multitud e of other facts quite as wonderful to t he
support ofwhat was sai d and done by the Fakir of Tri
v an de ra m but they di d n o t p r ove
,
in my O pinion t he
, ,

truth o f the theory with regard to the evocation of t he

ancestral shades What I beg to direct the reader s atten
.
’

tion to more par ticularly because i t i s strictly true is t he

, ,

fact that the mean s employed to produce these phenomen a

are not known to any per son in I ndia e x cept the per
formers themselves .

1 was impa t iently expecting the Fakir s arrival fo r I

’
,

had long in t ended to accompany my investiga tions into t he

ancient doctrine regarding the Pi t ris with an inqui ry i n to
the material phenomena inseparably connected in t he ,

Hindu mind with their religious convictions The willi n g

, .

ness added to the skill o f Govindasamy g a ve me an o p

, ,

ort unit that might not soon occur again o f revie w i ng

p y
these singular facts which seem to ha v e occupied t he
,

minds of the sacerdotal classes in ancient times in all

their leisure moments and which ha d been repeated in my
,

pre sence more than a hu n dred times b efore I spent a .

portion ofthe day in visiting the temples an d mosques of

Benares an d I did not not return to the palace until sun set
,
.
242 OC C UL T SCIENCE IN IND IA .

rac e h a d been light e d d gi orn o and I ha d ma de suc h pr e p ,

a rat i on s that nothing that occurred coul d possibly e scape

my attention .

As in my accounts of previ ous p erformanc e s I omit all ,

th e elaborate preparations by whi c h they w e re a ecom

an i e d an d the impression ma d e upon m own mind and
p , y ,

confine mysel f stric tly to what is ess e ntial .

At the end ofa fe w minutes during which he appeared ,

t o conc e ntrat e h is attention upon the bamboo stool upon

w h ich he was sittin g it began to move noiselessly along
,

the floor by short j erks which mad e it a d vance about

,

three or f our inch es e v ery tim e I watch ed the Hind u .

a tte nti v e ly but he was as still and motionless as a statue

,
.

The terrac e w as about s e ven yards long an d as many

wide I t took about ten minutes to traverse t he whole
.

distance an d w h en th e stool had arrive d at th e e nd it

,

b egan to move backward until it r e tur n ed to i t s starting

plac e Th e p e rf ormanc e was repeat e d thre e times and
.
,

always suc ce ss fully unl e ss the conditions w er e changed

, .

I ought to say, h ow e ver th at the Fakir s legs wh ich were

,
’
,

c ross e d beneat h h im w ere d istant from th e groun d the

,

wh ol e h eight o f th e stool .

D uri n g the whol e d ay the h eat h a d been overpowering .

The n ight bre eze which sprin gs up so r egularly in those lati

tudes to cool th e he ated lungs and wh ich blows from the ,

Himalaya Mountains ha d not yet risen The met or was mov

,
.

ing as fast as he co ul d by the ai d of a rope o f cocoa fi br e

, ,

a bove our h eads an enormous punkah hanging f

,
rom iron ,

ro d s in the mi ddl e of the terrace which also supported ,

horizontally th e vetivert curtains and surrounding matting .

The punkah is a sort ofmovable f an of rectangular form ,

w hich is f asten e d at both end s to the ceiling of the room .

S et in motion by a servant specially engage d for that pur

pose it imparts a fac titious t hough very agr e eable cool
, , ,

ness to the a t S phere The Fakir made use o f this .

i nstrum e nt f or the performance of the second phe nom e non .

 OCCUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A . 2 43

Taking the punkah rope from the met or s h an d s he ’

,

p ressed it against his forehead with both hands and sa t ,

down in a squatting position b e neath th e punkah which ,

soon began to mov e S lo wly ov e r our head s though C ovin ,

dasa m y ha d not ma d e the slightest motion I t gradually

.

i n creased its speed until it mov e d at a v ery rapid rate ,

a s though it were driven by some invisible han d .

When th e Fakir let go ofthe rope it continued to move ,

though at a gra d ually diminishing rate and finally stopped,

altogether .

Th e se t w o phenomena were repeated several times and ,

it w as n ow quit e late at night but the Fakir was in a good

,

humor and before l e aving h e d etermine d to give me an

,
,

o ther proo f of his power .

Three vases of flowers so h eavy that none but a st rong

,

man could have lif te d them (and then he could not have
done so witho ut an ef fort ) stood at one end of th e terrace
, .

Selecting on e he imposed his hands upon it so as to to uch

,

the e dge of the vase with t h e tips of his fingers With .

out any apparent effort on his part it began to move to

an d f ro upon its base as regularly as the pendulum of a

clock I t soon seemed to me that the vase had left the

.

floor without changing i t s movement in the leas t degree

, ,

a n d it appeared to me to be floating in th e air going from ,

r ight to l ef t at the will of the Fakir .

I do not it will be observed speak of this phenomenon

, ,

in positive terms f or I have always regarded it as caused

,

by an illusion of the senses To be candid I must ac

.
,

knowledg e that I h ave al ways be e n somewhat sceptical

with regar d to the p henom ena performed b y the F aki rs ,

but that especially though I h a d often seen it performed

,

under circumstances that seeme d to ren d er deception i m

possible always appeared to m e so strang e that I was
,

unable to resist the belief that some imposition h ow e v er ,

e laborat e or skilf u l, w as b e in g practise d upon m e .

 C HAPT E R I X .

T HE STATION ARY TAB LE — A SHOWE R OF KN O CK S —T HE LITT LE

MI LL— FLYIN G FE ATHE R S — T HE HA RMO N I FL U T E .

C ov i n daS a my had only thre e days more to stay at Be

nares . I determined to devot e ou
last meeti ng to ex per
r

im en t s in ma gn eti sm a n d somn am buli sm When I i n .

f ormed h im ofmy intention he seemed to be surprised by

these novel expressions though I translate d them as well
,

as I could into the Tamoul language .

When I had made him understand th e meanin g attach ed

to those wor d s in E urope h e smil e d an d answere d in hi s
, ,

usual way that such phenomena were also produced by

,

the Pitris in addition to thos e I ha d already witness ed

,
.

I t was not possible t o hold any d iscussion with hi mupon

that point W ithout regard to h is religious opinions or
.
,

to the causes to which be attribut ed his power I merely ,

asked h im if h e w as willin g to tak e part in experi m ents of

t hat character .

“
The Fr an guy h e answer ed
”
,
“
h as S poken to the
,

Fakir in his native lan guage The Fakir can refu se him
.

nothing .

S eeing that his reply was so satisfactory in this respe c t ,

I was en couraged to make anoth e r request .

“
Will you allow me to day said I to indica te t he
” - “
, ,

phenomena that I wish you to perform instead oflea v i n g ,

them t o you 2
A lthough it seems hi gh ly i mprobab le i n vi e w of the ,

peculiar circumstances of their occurrence that the Fakir ,

Should have made any preparations in a d vanc e for t he

24 6 OCC UL T SCIENC E IN I N DI A .

S uppos e thought I that th e s e phenomena ar e pro d uc ed

, ,

by th e Fakir s charging obj e cts with som e kin d of flui d

’
,

an d th at a natural forc e is thus de velop ed th e laws of

which w e ar e as y e t ignorant of the supply o f fluid ,

with w h ich th ey ar e ch arged must gradually los e its ef fi

cacy unle ss renew ed by the op erator an d in that case I ,

shall soon be abl e to r e mov e what is l ef t ofthe tabl e with

out any di fficulty .

I ask ed the Fakir to go to the other e nd of the terrace ,

w h ich h e d id with the utmost good humor imaginabl e At .

the e n d ofa few minutes I was able to handle the stand

without any trouble what e ver I t was evident ther efor e
.
, ,

that th ere was a force of som e kind or other there was

no ot h er alternative u n less I was willing to admit that I
had b een egregiously impose d upon whic h woul d h av e ,

been impossible under th e circumstanc e s

,
.

I should h ave ha d to devote some month s to this ex peri

ment alone i f I had desired to test it scientifically I had
,
.

not sufficient tim e at my disposal to do so an d I merely ,

describe it n ow l i k e all t he rest without e xpressin g an

, ,

O pinion either on e way or the other as to means e mploye d ,

or th e caus e thereof .

“
T he Pitris hav e depart ed said th e Hindu in ex pla
”
, ,

nation b e cau se th e ir m e an s ofterr e strial commun ication

,

was brok e n L isten ! th ey ar e comin g back again

.
”
.

As he utter ed t he s e words be impos e d h is hands abov e

,

one of th os e imm ense copper platters inlaid with silver

such as ar e us ed by w e alth y nativ e s f or d ice play ing and ,

almost imm ed iately ther e ensue d such a rapid and v i o

lent succ e ssion of blows or knocks th at it mi ght have
been tak e n f or a h ail sh ow e r upon a m e tal roof an d I
-
,

thoug h t I saw (the r e a de r will observe that I do n ot

express mys elf positiv ely in this resp ect) a succession of
phosp h or e scent lights (plain enough to b e visible in
broad dayligh t) pass to and fro across the platt e r in e v ery
di r e ction
.
 OCC U L T SC I ENCE I N I NDI A . 24 7

This phenom enon ceased or was repeated at the Faki r s ’

p leasure .

I have alrea dy r emarke d that th e apartm ents I occupied a t

t h e Peishwa s were furnished partly in th e E uropean an d
’

partly in the O riental style Ther e w as a multitude offancy

.

articles upon the etageres such as windmills settin g black

,

smiths in mo t ion tin soldie r s and wooden houses fr om N u

, ,

remberg w ith those everlastin g little gr een fi r trees fr om ,

which many child r en ob t ain their ea rliest idea s of natu r e .

The furniture w a s all cluttered up with obj ects of this n a

tu r e ; the most c hildish a r t icles we r e mingled pell mell -

wit h the mo st artistic accordi n g to the fancies of the na

,

tive serva n ts W e n eed not laugh however ; a native of

.
,

tho se countries could not l ook at t hree quarters of the Chi -

n ese Hind u o r O cea n ic o b j ects with which we proudly

, ,

an d osten t atiously decorate our dwellin gs and keep a sober ,

face I bethought my self of a small mill which migh t be

.

moved b y a breath which se t several pe r sonages i n mo

,

tion I poin ted it out to Govindasamy and asked him if

.

he could make it go without touchin g it .

I n consequence ofthe i mposition of h is hands alone he

se t the mill in motion wi t h great rapidity at a rate ,

which increased or di minished accordin g to the distance

at which the Fakir stood .

This was a very S i mple fact but yet it made a great i m ,

pression upon my mi n d by rea son o fthe improbability of

,

any previous notice o r p reparation .

The following is another of the same character, but

much more surp risi n g .

Among the obj ects that compose d the Peishwa s mu ’

seum was a har mon i flut e By t he aid of a small cord.

tied around the wooden square formi n g a portion o f the

b ellows (a part of th e instrument which as everybody ,

knows is on the side opposit e to that of th e k eys) I hung

,

it fr om on e o f the iron bars of the terrace, i n such a way

that it sw un g in the air at about t wo fe e t from th e groun d ,
24 8 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN IND IA .

an d I ask ed the F akir i f he coul d make it play with ou t

to uching it .

C omplyi ng unhe sitatingly with my r eq u e st he seized ,

the cord by which the harmon iflut e was suspended be ,

t we en th e thumb an d forefinger of each hand an d stood

pe rfectly motionless and still The har mon i flute soon .

began to be g ently stirre d the bellows underwen t an al ,

ternate movement o f contraction and infla t ion as though ,

p r oceeding fr om some invisible han d and the instr ument ,

emitte d sound s which were perfec t ly plain and disti nct ,

th ough of unusual length and not ve r y harmonious it is true .

C annot you get a tun e said I to C ov i n dasamy .

I will evoke the S pirit of o n e of t he old pagoda mu

”
si c i an s ,
he answered with the greate st gravity .

I waited patiently .

The instrument ha d been silent a long while not h aving ,

mad e a sound S ince my request I t n o w began to move .

anew an d fi rst played a series of notes or chord s like a

prelude it then bravely attacked o n e of the most popular
airs on th e Malabar coast .

T
' '

aI mouc outy conda

t ou
A rou é c ny po m
n e lé etca ,
.

B ri ng
j e wels for the you n g maiden of Aroun e etc ) ,
.

As long as the piece lasted the Fakir stood perfect ly

still He merely had hold as I have already desc r ibed
.
, ,

of the cord by which he was in communication with the

har m ut e
on i fl .

Wishing to apply every test in my power I kneeled ,

down in order to observe the various movements o f the

instrument and I saw so that I am positively s ure of
, ,

wh at I say unless I was misled by an illusion of t he

,

senses th e upward and do w nwa r d motion of the keys

, ,

acc or d ing to the requireme n t s of the tune .

As before I me r ely s t a t e t he fact and l e av e th e reade r

, ,

to draw hi s own conclusions .

25 0 OCCUL T SC I ENCE IN INDI A .

At sun se t Govindasamy was to p e rform hi s de votion s

upon the banks ofth e sacr e d riv er I t was near that hour .

n ow, an d upon taking leave of me wit h the usual salaams

he in form e d me t hat he could not com e the next day .

As I e xpressed my regret he answered me ,

To morrow will be the twenty first d ay since my arrival

- -

at B enares an d the mortuary ceremonies will then be c on

,
”
cluded . Th e Fakir was to remain at prayer from on e
sunris e to another— a p eriod of tw enty f our hours W hen -
.

his task was accomplished an d previous to his departure

,

f or T ri v an deram he promise d to give me an entire day

,

an d ni gh t for sai d he you h ave b e en very kind an d

, , , ,

with you I co ul d speak th e language that my old ama

moth e r ) us e d to sp e ak when she rocked m to Sleep in a
( e

banana leaf My mon t h has lon g b een close d

.
”
He of ten .

r e curre d to this subj e ct an d always se e me d much moved

,

w hen he spoke of it .

I h av e n e ve r known a Hi ndu to speak of his mothe r

without emotion .

As he was about st epp i ng across th e thre shold of t he

t e rrac e door he notic ed a vase containing various feathers ,

taken fr om the most wonderful bird s in India He took .

up a h andful which h e threw above h is head high in the

,

air T he fe athers o fcours e descended again soon but t he

.
,

Fak ir made passes beneath them as they fell and wh eneve r ,

on e cam e n e ar him it turned aroun d quickly and ascended

,

again with a spiral movem e nt un t il stopped b y the v eti ,

v ert carpet wh ich an swered th e purpose ofa movable roof .

,

They all we nt i n the same direction b ut after a moment , ,

in obe d ience to the laws of gravi t y they droppe d again , ,

but before they h ad travelled half the distance to t he

groun d they resumed their ascending movement and
w ere stoppe d as befor e by the matt i ng wh e r e they re ,

ma i ned .

A final tr e mor was f ollowed by a slight manife station of

d own ward t endency but the feathers soon remain ed st a
,
 OCCUL T SC I ENCE I N IND IA . 25Y

t i on ary . If any had seen them standing out in sharp

on e :

relief against th e golden background ofthe st r aw matti n g ,

in brilliant an d decided colors of every possi b le shade he ,

would h ave said that th e y were placed there by th e pencil

ofsome accomplished artist .

As soon as the Fakir had disapp e ared they fell flat to

th e ground I left them a long while as they lay st r ewn
.

upon the floor as a proo f ofwhich I felt the need that I

, , ,

h ad not been misl ed by som e mental hallucination .

Night had n o soon e r come with i t s r efreshin g coolne ss ,

than I em b arked upon the din gui which lay at the quay
an d ordered the c e rcar to let the boat drift down the river

with the current Influenced in spite of myself by t he

.
, ,

incomprehensible phenomena which I had j ust witnessed ,

I felt as though I wanted to chan ge my surroundings i n ,

stead of groping my w ay dre amily among the m e taphys

ical sp e cul ations ofthe past I also felt th e n ee d o f the
.

pl e asanter sensations always accompanyin g a n igh t upon

the Ganges soothed by the son g of th e Hin d u boatmerr
,

an d th e distant cry o f savag e b e asts .

 C HAPTE R X .

S AN D D RA WIN G—T HE ME T O K A N D TI I E B U C K E T O F WA TE R
L oss O F VOICE —MIN D R E AD I N G— R E AD I N G I N A C EC S E D
B OOK — AE RI AL ME LO DY — T HE FLYIN G P ALM LE AF — E L E -

VATI ON or T HE FAKI R .

Govin d asamy had promis e d me that befor e he lef t to

r e turn to T r i v an de ramhe would employ all the power at
his co mmand or , ,
to use an expression for whic h he alone
is r e sponsi ble he w ould appea l to a ll the Pi tri s w ho as
,

s i sted him and would S how me someth i ng wonderful that

,

I woul d never forget .

O n th e day in q u e stion we w e re to hav e t w o sittings ,

o n e in the broad li ght o f day like those which I have ,

previously d escribed and o n e at night but I was to be

, ,

fre e to il lum i nat e th e place in which t he experim e nts were

to b e held as much as I pleased .

The gath of S iva was hardly gilded by the first rays of

t he ris i ng sun when th e Hindu whose mission was n o w ,

at an e nd sent in hi s nam e by my cansama He was

,
.

af raid that h e woul d find m e asl e ep .

”
S aran ai aya -
(gr ee ting sahib) said he upon enter
, , ,

ing To morrow is th e d ay of th e Fak ir s r e turn to the

.
-
’

lan d of his ancestors .

“
My be st w ishes will accompany you answered I ,
.

I hope that y o u w ill fin d that your abode has been re

”
s ec t e d by t h e evil spirits during your absence
p .

As usual the Fakir made no attempt to continue t he

,

conversation He immediately sat do w n upon the ground

.
,

after the ordi n ary salutation and lost no time in begin ,

n i ng hi s performances .
‘

2 54 OCC UL T SCIENC E IN INDI A .

it w as totally impossibl e f or hi m to ascertain wh at I was

doi ng .

I then compared the fig ure s with e ac h othe r an d I ,

f ound t h at they wer e e xactly alik e .

Having levelle d the san d again th e F akir said to m e ,

“
Think o f a word in th e language o f th e go d s — th e
S anscrit .

“
W hy that language particularly ? I answe re d .

Because the Pitris use that immortal m e dium of

spe e ch more e asi ly than any other The impur e ar e not .

a llowed to use it .

I w as not in th e habit of d isputing h is religious convie

t ions an d therefore sai d n othing
,
.

Th e Hindu then extended his h ands as b efor e T he .

magic pencil began to move and gra d ually rising w rot e , , ,

un he sitatin gly th e f ollo w ing word

Po ur ouc ha
(Th e celestial gen e rator) .

That w as act ually the word that I had thought o f .

”
Think of a whole phrase continued the Fakir , .

I h ave done so I answered

”
,
.

The pencil then wrot e upo n the sand th e follo win g

w ord s :
A di c été Vei houn ta mHa/ri s
(Vi schn ou sle e ps upon Mount E i k on t a) .

C an the S pirit by whom you are inspired giv e me th e

24 3 d slo ca of th e fourth book o f Manu ?
”
inquire d I of
Govindasamy .

I had hardly expresse d the wish wh en th e p enci l pro ,

c ee de d to gratify it and wrote the follo wing wor d s on e

,

a ft er the other letter by letter be f ore my e y e s

, ,

D ar mpr ad i m po u ou ha m t pas ha ta ki lvi sa/m

a c na r c a a
’

p a a lolea m
r t
g y
‘
agou bd ouana
/n ta mK
a aga ri ri n aon s
’

.
 OC CUL T SC I ENCE I N I ND IA . 2 55

T he f ol lowing is a tran slation of this re markabl e stanza ,

wh ich was corre ctly given as indicated

Th e man the e nd of all whose actions is virtue and

, ,

all w hose S ins are wiped out by acts of piety and sacrifices ,

reache s the celestial mansions radiant with light and

,

cloth e d with a Spiri t ual f orm ”

.

Finally as a last experiment placing my hands upon a

, ,

c losed book containin g extracts fro m hymns i n t he Rig

Veda I asked for the fi r s t word of the fif t h line of the

,

twenty first page I recei v ed the following answer

-
.

D é c a da tta .

(Given by a god ) .

Upon comparison I found it to be corr e ct .

Will you n o w put a mental question 2 said the Fakir .

I acquiesced by a simple movement of th e h e ad and the ,

following word was written upon the sand

Va sun da r a .

(The E arth ) .

I had asked Who is our common mother

,

I have no explanation or statement to make wit h regard

to these fact s .

Wh e t h er it is purely a matter of skill or whether the

performers ar e really inspired — that is a question which I
do not undertake to decide I only describe what I have
.

see n and assert that the circ um stanc e s under whic h the
facts occurre d are accurately related Ma ter i a lly spea k .

img I d o not thi n k it possible that any fraud coul d hav e

,

been committ ed .
25 6 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

Th e fi rst part of this sitting was somewh at long I .

ask e d the Fakir to discontinue his performances for a few

minutes d uring which I walk e d to the end of th e terrace,
,

whither h e f ollow e d me .

I t might h ave been ten O clock in the forenoon ’

.

Th e wate rs o f the Ga n ges shone like a mirror in t he

bright light of a hot day Upon o ur le f t lay a large gar
.

den i n the midst of which there stoo d a well from w hich

, ,

a met or was unconcerne d ly dr awing water which he ,

poure d in to a bamboo pipe which in its turn supplie d a ,

bathing room -
.

Govindasamy impos e d h is han d s in the direction Of t he

w ell and the r e sult was that th ough the poor met or pulled
, ,

upon the rope with all his might it woul d no lon ger ,

slip through the pulley .

W hen a Hindu m e ets with any impediment in his work ,

h e at once attributes an y obstacle that he cannot o v er

come to evil spirits and imme diately proc e eds to chan t
,

all the magical incantation s with which he is acquainted ,

for the knowledge of which he has often paid a high

price .

The poor met or ofcourse could not let slip so fav ora
, ,

ble an opportunity to use the knowle d ge he had obtained

but he had hardly chanted a fe w wor d s in that sharp
nasal tone which is so lacerating to the E uropean c ar but ,

which is in flicted upon i t everywhere in th e E ast an d ,

par ticularly in the far E a st in the nam e of music when

, ,

hi s voice died a w ay in his th r oat and he found it i mpossi

b le though he made the strangest contortions to articulat e
, ,

a si n gle word .

Afte r looking at t his curious sight for a few moments ,

the Fakir dr opped his hands and the met or recovered th e

use of his speech while the rope perform ed its offic e as
,

b efore .

Upon returning to the scene of our lat e experim e nts I ,

foun d th e heat to be ov erpo weri ng an d so r e mark e d t o

258 OCCUL T SCIENC E IN INDI A .

if he could r e p e at th e last p he nom enon when e v er h e

pl e a sed .

Th e F ak ir answ ered h e e mphatically can lift hi m

,
”
, ,
”
s el f up as h igh as t he clouds .

W h at is the sourc e of his pow e r ? I d o not kno w

”

why I ask ed him th e qu e stion as he ha d alre a d y told me

, ,

more th an t we nty tim e s t h at he d id not r egar d himself as

,

anyth ing mor e t h an an instrum ent in t he h an d s o f t he

Pitris .

H e answered m e with the followi ng lin e s

S w ddy dg é n i ty a y oulcta sy ci t
’

A m ber/rai d a/va ta/ra ti déc a

’
.

He shoul d b e in constant communication wit h h eav en ,

”
an d a supe rior spiri t s h oul d de sc en d th e refrom .
 C H A PT E R X I .

S PON TAN E OU S VE GE TATION .

Hue th e missionary in his account o f his trav els i n

, ,

Thibet gives a description of a phenom enon similar to

,

that which I am about to relat e and w hic h I can only look

,

upon as a cunning trick .

I should not have mention e d it p erhaps in the pre sent

, ,

work but it forms an esse ntial part so to sp e ak of th e

, , ,

stock in trad e o f thos e believers i n the Pitris who de al ,

more particularly in e xt e rnal manif estations and as a , ,

faithful historian I am loath to omit an y o f th e ir cur ious

,

practices .

Among the e xtraord inary claims advanc ed by th e Fa

kirs is on e that th ey can directly influenc e the growth of
,

plants and t h at the y can so hasten it as to accomplish in

,

a few hours what usually takes several months or e ve n

years .

I had already s ee n t h is p h enomeno n p e rformed by itin

e ran t magicians a number of tim e s b ut as I had a lways
, ,

regarded i t merely as a success ful frau d I ha d omitte d to ,

record the circumstanc e s under which it occurr ed .

A b surd as it seemed as C ov i n dasamy who was r eally a

, ,

man of re markabl e power proposed to repeat the various

,

phenomen a which I had al re a d y seen pe rformed by others

a t different times I de termine d to watch him so that he
,

could do n othing which shoul d escape my notice .

He had promised to give me t w o hours more of his

time— from three to fi v e— previous to the night sitting .

I determin e d to employ the mas p r oposed .

2 60 O CC U L T SC I ENC E IN IND IA .

Th e Fakir susp e ct ed noth i n g an d I though t h e woul d

,

b e highly surprised w hen, upon his arrival I tol d hi m ,

what I intend e d to .

I am entirely at your s ervic e, sai d he, in his usual

simple way .

I was somewhat disconce rt e d by h is assurance but I ,

continue d
“
W ill yo u allow m e to choos e th e e arth the vessel and , ,
”
t he seed which you are to make grow before my eyes ?
The v essel and the s ee d , yes ; but th e e arth must be
taken fro ma nest ofcarias ”
.

These little white ants who build for shelter small

, , ,

h ill s often reaching a h eight ofnine or a dozen yards are

, ,

v e r y common in I ndia an d t here w a s no di f

,
fi culty what ,

e v er i n procuring a little of the earth which t h ey pre

,

pare very skilfully for their purpose .

I told my cansama to have a flow er pot ofthe usual size -

filled with th e earth requi red and to brin g me at the, ,

same time som e seeds ofdif

,
fer e nt sorts .

Th e Fakir aske d him t o break the eart h b e twe e n a

couple of stones as it was only to be O btain e d in piece s
, ,

almost as har d as old b uil d i ng material .

I t was well h e di d so as that was an op e ration th at w e

,

never coul d hav e p e rform e d in our rooms with out a gre at ,

deal of troubl e .

I n le ss than a quart e r of an h our my servant had

retu rned with the articl e s r equired I took them from .

his hands and d ismissed him not wish in g to leave him i n

,

co mmunication with C ov i n dasamv .

To the latter I handed the flow er pot fill ed with a whiti sh

-

earth which must have b e en entirely saturated with that

,

m i lky fluid which the caria secrete and deposit upon every
,

particle ofearth how ever small which they use for build
, ,

i n g purposes .

When the Fakir deemed that it was in prop e r con d ition ,

h e ask e d m e to give him the seed that I had s el e ct ed, as
26 2 OCC UL T SCIENCE IN INDI A .

a mann e r that soon became un endurabl e His ey e s s eeme d .

t o b e h al f dead but they were fil le d at th e same time with

,

magn e tic influences At on e time everything seemed to

.
,

b e in a whirl and the Fakir himself appeared t o take

,

part i n the dance that was going on around me I n or .

der to break loose from the eflec t s of this hallucination

ofth e sens e s c aused no doubt by looking at on e obj ec t
, , ,

too attentively I left the seat that I h ad b ee n occupying

, ,

with out, however losin g Sight of C ov i n dasamy who was

, ,

as motionl e ss as a corpse I took a s e at at th e e nd of the .

t errace alternately directing my attention to the course of

,

th e Gange s an d to th e Fakir that I might not b e exposed ,

to too direct an d ste ad y an influence from hi m .

I h a d b e en waiting for a couple o f h ours and th e sun ,

was f ast sinking belo w the h orizon when a low sigh ,

startled me Th e Fakir had recove re d posse ssion of his

.

sense s .

H e mad e signs to me to approach Re movin g the .

muslin t h at hid the flo wer pot he then point e d out to m e -

,

a young stalk of papaw fresh and gr e en , and n e arly eight ,

inch e s high .

Anticipating my thoughts h e t h rust h is fin gers into the ,

groun d which meanwh i le had parted with n e arly all of

, , ,

its moistur e and carefully taki ng up th e young plant h e

, ,

show ed me upon one of the t w o cuticl e s still adhering to

,

the roots th e cut that I had ma d e two hours pr eviously

, .

Was it the same see d and th e sam e cut I have only

on e answer to m ak e I notice d no substitution T he
. .

Fakir had not left the terrace ; I had not lost sight ofhim .

When he came he did not know what I was going to a sk

, .

I t was i mpossible for him to conceal a plant in his clothe s ,

as h e w as al most entirely naked and at any rat e he could , , ,

n ot have told in advance that I would s e lect a papa w

, ,

seed amon g thirty dif

,
ferent ki n ds that my cansama had
brought .

A S may b e Imagi ned I can stat e nothing mor e positively,

 OCCUL T SCIENCE IN I ND IA . 263

r egardin g a f act of this nature Th er e ar e case s wher e .

reason r e fuses i t s ass ent even in vi ew of ph enomena that

,

can only be accounted for upon th e supposition of delu

sion though there is no evidenc e to t h at effect
, .

Af ter enj oying my surprise for a few mom ents the ,

F akir said to me with an ill conceale d movem e nt of pride

,
-

“
I f I had continued my evocat ions lon ger the papaw ,

tree woul d hav e borne flow ers in e ight days and fruit in ,

fif teen .

B e aring in min d the accounts of Huc th e missionary , ,

as w e ll as various oth e r ph e nom ena o f the same character

which I ha d myself witn e ss ed in the C arnatic I said in ,

reply that there w e re othe r perf ormers w h o accomplish ed

the sam e results in t w o hours .

You ar e mistak en said the Hindu ; i n th e mani

,

fe st a ti on s y ouspeak o f t he r e is an apport as it is call e d

, , ,

of fruit trees by th e spirits Wh at I hav e j ust show n .

you is really spon tan eous v egeta ti on ; but th e pure fluid ,

under the direction o f the Pitris nev e r was able to pro ,

d uce th e t hr ee phases ofg ermination flowerin g an d fruit , ,

”
age i n a singl e day .

It was near the hour o f ablutions ; in oth e r words it ,

was near sun se t Th e Fakir hasten ed to l e av e engagi n g

.
,
’
to meet me f or th e last tim e at t e n o clock that e v ening
, , ,

when th e remaind e r of th e ni ght was to b e devoted to

phenomena o f apparition .

There is on e f act howev er w h ich I ought not to omit

, , ,

and which may b e of s ervic e in arriving at a satisfactory

explanation an d that is a f act with wh ich thos e w h o live
,

in I ndia ar e p er fectly f amil iar .

There are a multitude ofkitch en plants (I hav e seen t he

experimen t trie d myself a score oftimes) which when put ,

at dawn into moist soil and exposed to th e f avorabl e i n

,

fluen ce ofa sun which does wonders appear above ground ,

b et ween noon and one o clock and at six O clock or t he

’
,
’
,

close of d ay ar e alr eady nearly half an inch high

,
.
26 4 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN IN D I A .

O n the othe r hand I am boun d also to say in j ustic e

, , to
the Fakir at least fif tee n d ays ar e n e c e ssary to t h e g e r
,

mination of a papaw s ee d .

W e h av e d w e lt long e nough , h ow ev e r on a fact which

,

many wi ll r ej ect as a delusion an d w hi ch cannot be ex

,

plaine d by any proc e ss o f pure r e ason ing e xclu d ing t he

,

hypothe sis o f frau d.

26 6 OCCUL T SCIENCE I N INDI A .

of t he small pi e c e of cloth , calle d t h e la n goutflg about ,

four inch e s wide , whic h usually compose d his only gar

ment an d had deposited it upon on e of the steps H e
, .

was e ntir ely nak ed when h e cam e in and his seven ,

knotted stick w as f as te ne d to a lock o f his long hair .

“ “
N ot h ing impur e said he, shoul d come in contact
with th e body of t he ev oca tor i f h e wishes to reserve hi s
,

power of communication with th e spirits unimpaired .

When e ver I m e t a Fakir of this character I wondered

w he the r th os e whom th e Greeks saw upon the banks of
th e In d us and whom they call e d yv pv oa ocbw ra t or nak ed
« '

monk s di d not b elong to th e sam e class

,
.

My be d room was on a level with th e terrac e I se t .

apart both rooms for o ur e xp eriments an d careful ly Sh ut

,

an d f ast e n e d all the outside doors by m e ans o f wh ich th ey

w er e acc e ssibl e
.

The t errac e w as s e curely clos e d by its movabl e c e iling

and curtains o f v e tivert matting Th er e was no op e nin g
.

fro mth e outsi d e and nobody coul d gain a dmission exc ept
,

through my bedroom .

In the centre o f e ac h roo m ther e was a cocoa O il lamp -

,

protected by a glass sha d e of the cl e arest crystal which ,

h ung from a bronz e c h ain and diffus ed a soft ligh t suf fi ,

c i en t l intens e h ow e v e r to e nable any on e to rea d th e

y , ,

smallest type in the r e motest corner oft h e room .

All Hin d u h ouses contain small C opper furnaces whic h

are kept constantly suppli e d w ith bu rnin g coals on which ,

are burned from time to tim e a few pinches o f a per

f um e d pow d er consisting o f san d al woo d iris root i h
, , ,

cense and myrrh .

Th e Fakir placed on e o f th e s e in the c e ntr e of the ter

race and deposited by its side a copper platte r fille d with
,

the fragrant powd er ; havin g done so h e took his seat,

upon the floor in his usual posture with his arms fol d ed
,

across his ch e st an d comm enced a long in cantation in an

,

unknown tongu e .
 OCC U L T SCIENCE IN IND IA . 2 67
‘

Whe n h e was through with the re citation o f h is men

trams he remain e d i n the same position without making
,

a mov e m ent his left hand restin g upon his heart and hi s
, ,

right h and leaning upon his seven knotted stick -

.

I thought t hat he was going to drop i nto a cataleptic sleep

as he had done the day before but such was not the case , .

From tim e to time he pressed his hand against his f orehead

, ,

an d seemed to make passes as though to relieve his brai n

Involuntarily I experienced a sudden shock A Slightly

, .

phosphorescent cloud seemed to hav e formed i n the mid

dle of my chamber fr om which semblances o f hands ap
,

p ear e d to go a n d come with great rapidity I n a few .

min ut e s, several hands seemed to have lost their vaporou s

appearanc e and to resemble human hands ; so much so ,

indeed that they might have b een readily mistaken for t he

,

latter S in gular to r elate while some became as it were,

.
, ,

more material othe r s b ecame more luminous S ome he

, .

came opaque and cast a Shadow in the light while others

, ,

became so transparent that an obj ect behind th e m coul d

b e d istinctly seen .

I counted as many as Si xteen .

Asking the Fakir if I could touch them I had h ardly ,

expressed a wish to that ef fect when on e of them break , ,

ing away fr om the rest flew toward m e an d pressed my

,

o utstretche d hand I t was small suppl e an d moist lik e

.
, ,

the han d of a young woman .

The spirit is present though on e of its han d s is alone

,

visible said C ov i n dasamy

”
,
You can speak to it i f you .
,
”
wish .

I smilingly asked whether the spirit to whom that

cha r ming hand b elonged would giv e me somethi ng in t he
n ature ofa keepsake .

Thereupon in answer to my request I felt the han d

, ,

fade away in my own I looked ; it w as flyin g toward a

.

bouquet of flowers from w hich i t plucked a ros e bud , which

,

it thre w at my feet and vanished .

2 68 OCC U L T SC I ENCE I N IND IA .

For n early t w o hours a scene ensued which was c alcu

l ated to set my head in a whirl At one time a h and .
,

b rushed against my face or fanned it with a f an At .

anoth er it would scatter a shower Of flo wers all over the

,

roo m or would trace in the air in characters of fire words

, , ,

which vanished as soo n as the last letter w as writt en .

S ome of these words were so striking th at I wrot e them

d own h astily with a pencil .

D i v ya v cyoour ga tw a .

Meaning in S an sc r it “
I have clothed myse lf w ith a
fl ui di c (flui di que ) b ody .

Immediately afterwa rd the hand w r ote,

A tman a mcr éy asa y owy a ta s

D eha sy a sy ci v i oca n a n t
’
m ‘
.

You will attain happiness w hen y oulay aside this p e r

”
i shable body .

Meanwhile flashes of genuine lightning seemed to dart

,

across both rooms .

Gradually however all the han d s disappeare d The

, , .

c loud from which they came seemed to vanish by d e grees

as the h ands became more material .

I n th e place where the last han d h a d disappeared we ,

foun d a garland o f those yellow flowers with penetrating

fragrance which th e Hin d us use in all th eir ceremonies .

I of fer no explanation — I merely relate w h at occurred

leaving t he reader at p e rf ect lib e rty to d ra w any conclu
s ion that h e may see fi t .

I can stat e positively however th at th e d oors of both

, ,

rooms were closed that I had th e k eys in my pocket an d

, ,

t hat the F akir had not changed his position .

To th e s e phenomena succe e d ed t wo o thers t h at w er e, ,

p e r h aps
,
mor e surprisi n g still .
2 70 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN I N DI A .

s tran d s of cotton which was ti ed about his loins gave it

, ,

t o m e an d t h en fade d a way b ef ore my ey e s .

I suppos ed that t h e seanc e w as over and I was going to ,

r ais e t he movabl e curtains that sha d ed t he terrace to ad ,

mit a little f resh air inside wh e re the he at was really suf ,

~

focat i n g wh e n I noticed that t h e Fakir seem ed to have

,

n o such idea Al l at onc e I hear d a strange tune per

.
,

formed upon an instrument which seeme d to be the har ,

mon i flut e that w e ha d use d a couple of days before That .

,

however appeared impossible inasmuc h as the Peishwa

, ,

h a d s ent f or it the d ay b efore an d it was cons e qu e ntly no ,

longer in my rooms .

I t sounded at a distance at fi rst but soon it cam e so , ,

n ear that it app e ared to come from the next room and I ,

s e emed before long to hear it i n my bedroom I notice d .

t he phantom of a musician from the pagodas gliding along ,

t he wall . He had a harmon i flut e in h is hands from whic h ,

h e d re w plaintive and monotonous notes exactly li ke the

r eligious music of the Hindus .

Wh en he had made the circuit of my roo m and of the

t errace he disap pear ed an d I f ound the instrument that
, ,

he had us e d at the very place where h e ha d vanished .

I t w as actually the raj ah s harmon iflute I examined ’

.

a ll the doors but I f ound the mall s e curely locke d and I

,

h ad the keys in my pock e t .

C ov i n dasam y then arose A l l his limbs w e r e co v ered

.

th perspiration and he seemed to be thoroughly ex

,

ha n sted though in a few hours he w as to se t o ut o n his

, , ,

re t ur n j ourney .

Thank s Malabar said I calling hi m by a nam e that

,
”
, ,

h e liked because it remin d ed him of his native land May

, .

he who poss e sses the thr ee my ster i ous pow er s protect you
as y ouj ourney toward the fair land of the S outh and may ,

you fi n d that j oy and happiness have rul ed in your cottage

”
d uring your ab sence .

T he B ahmi i t ri i ty
1 r n c n .
 OC CUL T SCIENCE IN INDI A . 27 ]

I t is usual in In d ia for people who are about to part to

a ddress each other in e f fusive and flowery terms and I ,

s hould have hurt the poor Fakir s feelings if I had spoke n

’

otherwise or had used plaine r language which he woul d ,

ha ve taken a s a S ign of indiffere nce He answered me i n .

the same manner b ut in even more exaggerated style

, ,

and afte r accepting the presents that I offered him wi th

, ,

out even looking a t them or even deigning to thank me ,

he sorrowfully mad e his parting salaam and noi selessly

disappeared behind the curtains that h ung b efore the out
s ide door to my room s .

A S soon as he had gone I c alled my cansama and or , ,

dere d him to re move all the t a t t i s and matting from the

t errace S O a s t o admit the cool morn i n g ai r
,
.

In the p ale light of approaching day I noticed a black ,

S peck upon the sil v ery waves of the Ganges as they rolled ,

b elow which seemed t o move toward the O pposite shore

,
.

I turned my n ight glass in that direction I t was t he .

F akir who as he had said had awakened the ferryman

, , ,

a n d was cr o ssin g the Ganges on his ho m e w ard way to

T ri v an der am A faint red streak i n the di stan t sky indi
.

c at e d that the hori z on woul d soon be illuminated b y the

beams of the rising sun .

He would soon see the ocean with its blue wave s his ,

b e loved c o coa nut tre es and the cottage that he w as con

-
,

st an t ly talking about .

I thre w myself upon a hammock for a few hours rest ’

.

When I awoke an d remembered the strange scenes that

h ad passed before my eyes it seemed as though I had been
,

the plaything of a dream Yet there was the harmoni .

flute and I co uld n ot fin d out who if anyb o dy ha d

, , ,

brought it The floor of the terrace was still strewn w it h

.

fl o wers the crown of flowers w as upon a divan an d the

, ,

w ords that I had writ t e n had not vanished from th e

memoran d um book in which I had j otted th em down .
 C HAPT ER II .

T HE PHAN T OM OF KARLI .

About four y e ars afte r this I was travelli n g in the pro v

,

i nce of Aurungaba d, on a visit t o the subterranean t e m

ple o f Karli havi n g come through Madras Bellary and
, , ,

B e dj apour .

Th e s e c el ebrate d crypts which are e xcavated from t he

,

living rock are all situated within the a rea bou n ded b y
,

th e Mahratta Hills where are al so found all the other

,

monuments of this character that India possesses, as for ,

instance E llora E lephanta Rosah etc

, , , ,
.

According to E R ob erts these hills which all terminat e

.
, ,

in wid e plateaux wer e protecte d at one ti me by for

, , ,

tres ses whic h ma d e th is place a f ormidable line of defenc e

,

against the Arabs an d Mussulmans whic h proved ef fectual ,

for more than five c enturies .

Th e ruins of citadels ar e still stan ding upon th e steep

roa d leadin g to Karli .

The entrance to th e cave s is situated about thr ee h un

dr e d fe et abov e the bottom ofthe hil l and the only acces s ,

is by a ro ugh an d n arrow path which is more lik e th e bed ,

o f a torr e nt t h an a practicabl e road .

T he path l e a d s to a t e rrac e or platform partly artificia l , ,

an d cut in the rock or buil t o f fragm ents o f rock t aken

,

f rom th e insid e .

I t is about a hun d red feet wide and forms a square ,

w ort h y ofthe magnificence o fthe in terior ofthe tem ple .

At the left ofthe portico stand s a massive column sup ,

porting upon its capital three lions so di sfigure d by t he

, ,

h and of time that they can wi t h dif fi cul t y be recognize d

27 4 OC C UL T SCIENC E IN I ND I A .

tions in the superior spheres h ave to un d ergo these terri ~

b le mort i fic ati on s .

O ne was pointed out to me who h ad arrived some

months ago from C ape C omorin and who sitting b e tween , ,

t wo fires in o r de r no dou b t to hasten the d ecomposition

, , ,

o f his phy sical organs had already arrived at a state of

,

almost complete i n sensi b ility Imagine my astonishment

.

when f ro m a deep scar running across the whole upper

,

part of his skull I thought I recognize d the Fakir of

,

T ri v an dera m .

Approachin g an d ad d ressing h im in that beautif ul

S outhern language in which he so much liked to converse ,

I aske d him if he remembered the Fr an guy of Benares .

His almost lifeless eyes seeme d to blaze up for a mo

ment and I heard him murmur the t wo S anscrit words
,

which I had seen in phosph or e sc e nt l e tters on th e e ve ning

ofou r last S itting

D ary a/v apour ga tw a,

meaning ,
“
I h av e clothe d mys elf with a flui di c (flui di que)
’
body fi
That w as the only sign ofrecognition that I was able to
obtain He was known to the Hindus in the n eighbor
.

hood as Karli S a v a o r the Karli Phantom

,
.

S o decrepitude and imbecility appear to be the final

,

e n d of all Hindu transfor m ed F a ki r s .

 C O NC L U S IO N .

IN conc lusion w e can only repeat the word s of our

,

preface :
I t is not our ofli ce to decide eith e r for or against t h e
, ,

b l ef in spi rits whether medi a tin g or i nsp i r i n g

e i ,
”
.

O ur aim is merely to give an account ofthe phi losophi

cal an d spiritualistic tenets of the Brahmins as w ell as o f ,

the external p h enom ena and manifestations which are a o ,

cord ing to them the means whereby the Pitris or an ecs

, ,

tral sha d es demonstrat e their existence and communicate

,

with men .

A ll ancient religions and even C hristianity itself ac

, ,

kn owledge the exis t ence o f extraordinary bei ngs who ,

have a special part to perform in the continuous move

ment of cre ation Al l teach that man upon lay i ng aside
.
,

his present earthly env elope enters the superior world in

,

the state of a spir it .

The constant perfectibility ofthe s oul and the spiritual ,

life — that is th ei r common philosophical idea .

A s for the phenomena an d manifestations which are ,

claimed to be supernat ural we also find them to be an

,

outgr owth of this belief b o th in the temples of Indi a

, ,

C haldea and E gypt and in the catacombs to which the

, ,

early C hri stians fle d for shelter .

We refrain from making any positive statement as to

the possibility or not ofthe extraordinary phenomena per
formed by the Fakir s a s we have described them which
, ,

some attribute to the ad r oite st imposture and others to o c

cult in t erv ention but l eave the reader to j udge for h im
,

self.
T he A ta r i n t hel Wil d ern e
s s. By E t h e l bert Jo h n son ; c l ot h ,

5 0 cen ts ; p a p er , 25 c en t s .

T h e C lo u d U po n th e S an c t ua r y . By A . E . W hi t e ; c l ot h ,

Py t h a g or a s. By E do ua d r S c h ur e; c l ot h ,

J es us , t h e L a st G re a t In i t i a te By E d o ua r d. S c h ur e; c l ot h ,

K i s hn
r a. a n d O r p h eus By . E d o ua rd l h S c h ur é ; c ot ,

T he S er m on on the Mo un t . By Ja me s M P ry se ; c l ot h . , 60
c e n t s.
L a otz e s
’
W u-W e i . By H en r i B o r e l ; c l ot h ,

L ao tz
’
e s B oo k of t h e S i mp le W a y By W a l t e r G O ld,
l h
. .

c ot ,

L uio C l ud d e S t M
s a ti By A E W a i t e ; c l o t h
e . ar n . . .
,

K bb l h U
a i l d By S L Ma c G e g or M a t h er s
a a nv e e . . . r ,

T h B k f t h S re d M g i c f A b M li t h e Ma g e
e oo o e ac a o ra e n
By S L Ma c Gre g o r M a t h er s ; c l o t h
, .

. .
,

T ra nscend t l M gi By E li ph a s L e vy ; c l ot h
en a a c. ,

T h My t i
e f M ag i c
s er es By E l i ph a s L e vy ; c l ot h
o .
,

O ccul t S i e ce i I di c By L o ui s Ja c ol li ot ; c l ot h
n n n a. ,

M g i c W hi t
a d Bl k By F r a n z H a r t ma n n M D ; c l o t h
e an ac .
, . .
,

T he L D o c t r i n es o f P a r ac e l sus By F r a n z H a r t ma n n
if e an d
M D ; c lot h
. ,

. .

H er met i c a n d A l c h emi c al Wri ti n g s o f P a r a c e ls us By A E

,

W a i t e ; c l ot h 2 q ua r t o v o l s
. . .

.
, ,

T h e Re a l Hi st o r y o f t h e Ro s i c ruc i a n s By A E W a i t e ; c l ot h . . .
,

T he M h bh ar
a a a ta . By M a n ma t h a N . D ut t ; 10 vo l s , l h
c ot ,

T he Ra ma y a n a . By P r o t a p C h a n dra Ro y ; 3 vols , l h
c ot ,

T he Pa n c h a da s i . By N . D hole c l ot h
, ,

S l f m B ud dh
e e c ti o n s ro a . By Ma x M ul l e r ; c l o t h , 75 c e n ts .

Fl x i u
a L v f mths, ea es ro e Li f e of an I mmort l a By C h a r l es
G L e lan d ; c l t h
.

. o

me
,

B t h e h ood f H e l e
ro r o a rs . Ja s L . M a c be t h B a i n ; l
c ot h
50 c en t s .

De sc r i p t i v e I l l ust ra t e d C l
a t a og ue on App li c a t i on .

T HE O S O PHIC A L PU BL IS HIN G C O MPA N Y

244 L en ox Av e n ue , N ew Yo k r .
 T HE W O RD
A Month ly M g i a az n e de v oted to Phi lo so ph y ,

S c ie n c e Re lig i on E a st e rn T h o ug h t O
, , , cc ult i s mT h e os ,

op hy an d the Bro th e rh o o d o fHuma n ity .

T he mga i
W d or pp r i g m t h ly w i t h 6 4
is a a z ne a ea n on ,

p g s i l r g t yp e a i ly r d b l I t i
a e , n a e t i t
e, de d t o s ea a e . s no n en

f ur i h dd i t i
n s t a t h e f ug i t i v
on s l i t r t ur t h a t fi ll t h
o e e a e s e

m rk t T h W d i a m g i f p pl w h t hi k
a e . e or s a az ne or eo e o n .

M y t hi k ; b ut l g w h t l i
an n A p i g p i t ur e a
a on a n es ? a ss n c ,

s t ray w r d fug i t i v t h ug h t ug h t up by t h em s t s i n
o a e o ca e

my u f hi d u fi i sh d
,

mti o ona l g t rai f dr on n o ea , n as on e , n n e

t h ug h t
o Th e r d r t
s . es d n t l a f t h r ug h t h e
ea e s, oo , n ee o e o

p g e f T h W d T HE W O RD i s f r t h e p e opl e w h o
a s o e or . o

w an t t o t hi k n .

T HE W O RD i f th p pl e w h o w an t t
s or A l m st e eo o see . o

an y b d y i s w il l i g t l k T h a t i n t e ug h O n e must
o n o oo . s o no .

w an t t l o k i t t ly mu t w t t
o o n en , s an o se e .

T h i t w i ll b s
en t h a t t hi s l i t t l e w r ld fl oa t s i n a n
e ee n o

o c u
c l t w rl d ; n y i upp rt d
o a ll
a i d s b y c ul t w r l ds
, s s o e on s e oc o

h i t i t fr m v ry w h r e d e v e ry
,

th t a ul t w r l d r
oc c o s ea c n o o e e e an

wh en F. t h se a l orwh w t t
o i u ly on et hi s d o an o c o n sc o s se e an

c o n sc o i u l y t hi k f t hi f t h
s n l oT h W d i pub s, or os e a on e e or s

li h d t
s e th e T h e W r d i i d d H I E RO S L O G O S I t
o os o s n ee a

ur es o f i c mp a r b l va l u
.
,

i s a st r ftr o e o e as n o a e e .

H r f t h fi r t t i m h s b e p ub l i h d T h S
e e or e s t e a e n s e e e c re

S i c en c e f th Zodi o U p t e A ug u t 1 9 0 7 t hi r t y t h r
ac . o s , ,
-
ee

a rt i l s h v b
c e wr i t t
a eby ueen m d ut h r T h en an nna e a o on e

S e c re t S i f t h Zod i
c e n ce F a c t t hi g t r ut h s fhi dd
o e ac . s, n s, , o en

i mp r t h av b
o st t d h r e pl a i ly
e en d si m ply t h t
a e e e so n an a

s m my
o e ow p r a i v t h m d t h e i r c c ul t m i g a d
n e ce e e an o ean n n
 l v a l ue ; t o t h e un se e i n g or un t hi n k i n g t h e y r e ma i n
oc c u t ,

a s un r e l a t e d a n d un s usp e c t e d a s e v r T HE S E C RE T S C I e .

E N C E O F T HE ZO DI A C i s t h e TH E O S O P H Y O F C O N
S C IO U S N E S S .

T he f ut ur e ill
r i n g a s d i d t h e p a st a r t i c l e s b y t h e
w b , ,

P l a t o n i s t D r Al ex a n de r W i l d e r i n w h o se pen i s st o r e d up
, .
,

t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f s i xt y y e a r s o f p l at o n i c e n t h us i a s m T h e .

o l d t h e oso p hi s t D r Fr an z H art m
, . an n au t h or o f Mag ic ,
“

W hi t e a n d B l a c k a n d a n o ld t i me f r i e n d o f M a da me B la
,

-
,

v a t sk y , w ill c on t i n ue t o w r i t e for T h e W o r d K n ut M . .

P a ul i w ill c on t i n ue t h e C orresp on d en c e s b e t w e en t he Hu “

ma n S oul N umb er s G e o me t ry M us i c C o l o r A st r o n omy

, , , , ,

C he m i st ry a n d t h e H uma n B o d y a n d t h e i r pra c t i c a l a p
,

, ,

p li c a t i o n t o mo d er n pr o bl e ms T h e K a bb a l i s t N urh o d e .
,

M a n h a r w ill c on t i n ue t o t ra n s l a t e a n d c o mmen t o n t h e
S e ph e r Ha Zo h a r o r B o o k o f L i g h t a n d E dua r d H e rr m
,

-
, an n ,

an d T .R P r a t e r w ill e a c h c o n t i n ue h i s a r t i c l e s a n d t r an s
.

l a t i o n s f r o mG e r m a n M y st i cs O ur M a g a z i n e S h e lf br i n g s
“ ”
.

i t s us ua l i m p a r t i a l c r i t i c i smf ro ma t h e oso p hi c a l v i ew o f c on
t em p o r a n e o us b o o k s c omi n g un d e r t h e s ub j e c t s t o w hi c h t h e
ma g a z i n e i s d e v ot ed A F r i e n d w il l c on t i n ue Mome n t s
.
“ ” “

wi t h ds
Fr i e n .
”

T h e W or d i s n t a e p e r i me o n x nt. E xa mi n e an y of t he fiv e
v o l ume s w hi c h a r e c o mp l e t e d .

Ha l fM or oc c o .

Ye a r l y S ub sc ri p ti o n
S i g le
n C o p ie s

T HE T HE O S O PHI C A L PU B L IS HIN G C O
mf
.

2 4 4 L E N O X A V E N U E , N E W YO RK e