Madame Blavatsky on Whether the Rishis Exist Today

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky · Blavatsky Speaks Series · 7 pages

Seven pages answering a question put with some care by a correspondent signing himself A Hindu Theosophist. Following the example of a Parsi gentleman whose letter had appeared the previous year, he asks whether there are Hindu Mahatmas among the Himalayan Brothers — meaning by Hindu a believer in the Vedas and the gods they describe — and, if not, whether anyone will say plainly whether the Rishis of old still exist in flesh and blood.

His reasoning for asking is the interesting part, and it is a fair piece of logic: the adept Brothers, having explored the unseen universe, must necessarily know whether the Rishis exist. He names the seven whom tradition holds immortal at least for the present kalpa — Ashvatthama, Bali, Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Kripa and Parashurama — and a footnote from another hand adds pointedly that no chela need answer this except the editor. The reply that follows is short and direct, and the piece is a good illustration of how the questions actually reaching The Theosophist from Indian readers differed from those arriving from London.

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