The Trans-Himalayan Mahatmas Are Men on Earth

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky · Higher Ethics and Devotion Series · 19 pages

A nineteen-page compilation in three parts, each pairing a letter to the editor with Blavatsky's published response and annotations by Boris de Zirkoff. The first exchange comes from The Theosophist, Vol. V, No. 3 (51), December 1883. It belongs with “Mahatmas and Chelas” and “The Mahatmas are the most wise” in this section, which take the same question from other angles.

The structure is a debate conducted in print, and the file preserves both sides of it. Part 1 opens with de Zirkoff's comments on an article by Mohini Chatterji asking directly whether the Himalayan Brothers exist, followed by Blavatsky's editorial response and further annotation. Part 2 is headed testimony from an independent eyewitness: a letter from Preo Nath Banerjee on the existence of the Mahatmas, again with Blavatsky's reply and what de Zirkoff calls historically important notes. Part 3 turns from existence to nature, under the heading that the Himalayan Brothers possess the earth by the power of their occult knowledge; the letter is from R. Ragoonath Row on the Puranic dynasties of the Moryas and the Koothoomi, with Blavatsky's response closing the file. Reproducing the correspondents' letters in full rather than paraphrasing them is what makes the compilation useful: the objections are allowed to stand in their own words, and the reader can judge how far each reply meets them.

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