Rao Sahib Soobiah Chetty was one
of the first members who joined the Theosophical Society when it installed in
India. And both, he and his brother Narasimhalu Chetty, they met Master Morya
even before the founding
of the Theosophical Society, when the Mahatma visited
the city of Madras in 1874.
About this meeting, Soobiah Chetty
related the following:
« H.P.B. and Col. Olcott arrived in Madras on December 19, 1882. A
few days after their arrival, on a Sunday morning, Madame Blavatsky was
unpacking, assisted by "the boys" - Damodar K. Mavalankar,
Narasimhulu Chetty, Subbiah Chetty, and Krishnaswami, known as
"Bhavaji."
Among the articles were found two
portraits; and Narasimhulu and Subbiah were examining them intently, as they
recognised in one of them a saddhu they had seen some years before.
Noticing them handling the
pictures, H.P.B. pounced upon them and forbade it, saying they were pictures of
the Masters. The two brothers said they had seen the person portrayed in one of
them. H.P.B. declared this could not be true; but a fortnight later she was
told that they had indeed seen the Master M. in 1874; that He had visited the
city of Madras in His physical body; and that they were two of the four persons
who had seen Him then.
She asked them to describe the
visit.
They said that early one morning
a saddhu entered their home unannounced. A strikingly tall man, clothed in a
long white dress and white pagri, with black hair falling on His shoulders, and
black beard, stood within the door. Of the three persons present one left the
room, and the other two (Narasimhulu and Subbiah) drew near to him.
He made certain signs which the
brothers did not understand, but remembered vividly. He asked for one pice; and
when they went to the money-box they found it contained exactly one pice, which
they gave to Him.
He turned and left the house,
followed by the two brothers, and suddenly disappeared, to their great
astonishment. They could find no trace of Him in the street. It was this sudden
and mysterious disappearance that impressed the visit so deeply upon them that
they always remembered it in detail.
H.P.B. added the information that
He was on His way to Rameshvaram, one of the great places of pilgrimage in
India.
G. SUBBIAH CHETTY
Editor's Note: This is a hitherto unpublished incident. »
(This text was first published in
Adyar Notes and News,
October 25, 1928, p.2)
Soobiah Chetty also saw the Masters in 1883 in a
couple of occasions:
« In 1883 H.P.B. spent the summer with General and Mrs. Morgan at
"The Retreat" in Ootacamund. She invited or rather directed me to go
there, and I obeyed the call with pleasure.
I was glad to avail myself of the
opportunity given me of having the rare privilege of living for some time under
the same roof as H.P.B. and under her influence. H.P.B.’s intense desire was to
attract the attention of men of position to Theosophy. For this purpose she
worked hard and succeeded eventually.
One day as we were discussing as
to how this object could be secured, a very strong influence was felt. This was
due to the appearance of Master M. in the room.
He materialised partly, and I was
able to see a hazy form and though hazy I saw His arm clearly handing something
to H.P.B.
My surmise that He had come there
to give directions as to how the desired object could be gained was found to be
correct. H.P.B. told me so.
During the same year also Master
K. H. appeared in my house in Mylapore. Early next morning when I met H.P.B. at
Adyar, she told me that the same Master had appeared before her about the same
time and presented her with yellow roses which she showed me. Let me say that
yellow roses were then very rare, in fact unobtainable in Madras. »
(The Theosophist, May 1924, p.244-245)
In July 1883, Soobiah Chetty
received a note from Master Kuthumi written in Tamil:
« You better come. Give
my thanks to your father. He has done
what he could, and — could do no more.
K.H. »
This text was first published in the
book Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom. First Series, letter 35, pag.
98. And the Editor, Jinarajadasa, wrote the following explanation:
« Transcribed from the original at Adyar. This brief note comes in a
letter sent by Blavatsky on 17 July 1883, from Ootacamund, Nilgiri Hills, to Mr
G. Soobiah Chetty in Madras, in which she sends him an invitation to visit her
in the hills.
The main part of the letter
refers to Mr G. Muttuswamy Chetty, a judge of the Small Causes Court of Madras,
and father of Mr G. Soobiah Chetty. Mr Muttuswamy Chetty received in Tamil a
letter, posted at Amritsar, from the Master K.H., the translation of which, I
am informed, was as follows:
-
“Sinnett’s paper is the only saviour for India. You must work towards
it. Koot Hoomi.”
On receipt of this, Mr Muttuswamy
Chetty tried among his friends to raise something towards the capital required
for The Phoenix newspaper (see Letter 14). He was not, however, successful. »
(Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom, p.122)
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