CHAPTER XVI

EARLY ARYAN CIVILISATION AND EMPIRE
The children of Manu were in no sense a primitive people, beginning, as they did, with many hundreds of thousands of years of civilisation behind them in Atlantis, and thousands of years under their own Manu, in Arabia and northern Asia. The population could all read and write, including all those who did what we should call the lowest work ; for all work was regarded as honourable, being done for the Manu, as His work, no matter what it was. We noticed a man who was clean¬ ing the streets, and as a very dignified and gor¬ geously-clothed priest, evidently in high office, came along, he addressed the sweeper courteously as a brother, as an equal, as one of the brotherhood of the great family of the Manu’s children. The feeling cultivated was that of the brotherhood of the Race, a wonderful fundamental equality — like that which may sometimes be seen among Free¬ masons — and a mutual courtesy ; there was at the same time a full recognition of personal merit, a looking up to the greater people and much gratitude to them for their help, and a complete absence of rude self-assertion. There was a kindly feeling of taking everyone at his best, of taking it for granted
EARLY ARYAN CIVILISATION AND EMPIRE 265
that the other man meant well ; and so quarrels were avoided. This Aryan civilisation was in this extraordinarily different from the more elaborate and luxurious Atlantean one, where each sought his own comfort, and recognition for himself, and where people distrusted each other and were mutual¬ ly suspicious. In this the people trusted one another — a man’s word was sufficient ; it would have been un-Aryan to break it.
Another curious thing was the number of people everyone seemed to know. As now in a small village, so there in a large town, for centuries all the people seemed to know each other, more or less. As the population increased, and this became impossible, it was the duty of the officials to know the people of their districts, and the knowledge of a large number of people was one of the quali¬ fications for office.
The feeling of brotherhood, however, was of a brotherhood of Race ; it did not extend outside the Aryan people themselves, as, for instance, to the Turanians. They were of a different stock, and a different culture ; they were crafty and cunning, and not to be depended on. Towards them they show¬ ed a marked and very dignified reserve; they were not hostile to foreigners, nor did they despise them, but they treated them with reserve, as not of the family. People of other nations were not allowed into the inner parts of their houses, but only into the outer courts. There were special houses and courtyards set apart for the lodging of strangers, of whom, however, there were few ; caravans of merchants came occasionally, and embassies from
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266 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
other nations, and these were received courteously and hospitably, but always with that quiet reserve which indicated a barrier not to be crossed.
In governing foreign nations, as they came to do later, they were occasionally hard : this was observed in a Governor, set over Turanians ; he was not cruel nor oppressive, but was stern and somewhat hard. This stern attitude seemed to be rather characteristic of their foreign rule, and it was compatible with the warmest feeling of brother¬ hood to their own Race.
It would seem that here, as everywhere else, a physical-world-brotherhood demanded a certain common ground of education and culture, of moral¬ ity and honour. A man was ‘ an Aryan,’ a ‘ noble man, ’ and that fact implied a code of honour and of customs which could not be dis¬ regarded. He must be, as we should now say,
* a gentleman, ’ living up to a certain standard of social obligation. He might do any kind of work, he might rise to any grade of learning, but there was a certain minimum of good behaviour and good manners below which he must not fall. Out of this grew the feeling of reserve towards all ‘ outside the pale, ’ as to whose manners and customs, morals and qualities, nothing was known. The children of Manu were a nation of aristocrats, in the true sense of the word, proud of their high descent, and fully recognising the demands it made upon them. For them, Noblesse oblige was no empty phrase.
The civilisation was a very bright and happy one, with much music, dancing and gaiety, and
EARLY ARYAN CIVILISATION AND EMPIRE 267
to this their religion conduced, for it was eminently one of praise and thanksgiving. The people were constantly singing hymns of praise, and they recog¬ nised Devas behind all natural forces. The Dawn- Maidens were joyously hymned with each morning, and the Spirit in the Sun was the chief object of worship. The four Kumaras were regarded as Gods, and Their Presence was evidently felt by a people living so near to Nature as to be sensitive and psychic. Behind the throne of the Chief of the Kumaras in the large Hall of the central Temple was an immense golden Sun, a half sphere, project¬ ing from the wall, and, on days of ceremony, this glowed out with dazzling light. The planet Venus was also imaged as an object of worship, perhaps in consequence of the tradition that it was from Venus that the Lords of the Flame had descended. The Sky itself was worshipped, and at one time there was worship given to the Atom, as the origin of all things, and a manifestation of the Deity in miniature.
An annual ceremony may serve as an example of one of their greater religious festivals.
At an early hour the people — men, women and children — were seen marching in procession along the converging streets into the great crescent which faced the mighty Bridge. Rich silken cloths fluttered from windows and flag-staffs, and the roads were strewn with blossoms ; great braziers sent up clouds of incense, and the people were clad in silks of many colours, often heavily jewelled, and wore splendid coral ornaments, and wreaths and garlands of flowers — a fairyland of colour — and
268 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
they marched with clashing of metal plates and blasts of horns.
Across the Bridge they passed in orderly succession, but all sounds sank to silence as they set foot upon the Bridge ; and in the silence they passed on between the mighty Temples to the central Fane, and onwards into the Hall itself. The great throne hewn out of living rock, gold-encrusted, jewelled richly, stood on its rocky platform, over which great symbols, wrought in gold, were scattered, and before it stood an altar, now piled high with fragrant woods. Above, the huge golden Sun gleamed faintly, and the planet Venus hung in air, high in the vault above.
When the Hall was filled to its utmost extent, save in a space in front and at the sides of the great throne, a stately group entered from the back,
and filled this space, and all bowed low in homage ;
/ • _
there stood the three Manus, arrayed in Their robes of office, and the Mahaguru, the Bodhisattva of the time, Vyasa, standing beside Vaivasvata. And there was Surya, close behind His mighty Brother and Predecessor, and nearest to the throne the three Kumaras ; unseen by the crowd prob¬ ably, but surely dimly felt, hung in the air, in a great semi-circle, gorgeous purple and silver Devas, watchful also, attendant. Then over the whole vast assemblage fell an utter silence, as though men could hardly bear to breathe ; and softly, sweetly, scarce seeming to break the silence, stole out an exquisite strain of music, supporting a chant, intoned by those Mightiest and Holiest who stood around the throne, an invocation to the
EARLY ARYAN CIVILISATION AND EMPIRE 269
Lord, the Ruler, to come among His own. The solemn hushed accents died into silence, and then rang out a single silvery note, as though in answer ; the great golden Sun blazed out in dazzling splendour, and below it, just over the throne, flashed out a brilliant Star, its beams like light¬ ning shooting forth above the heads of the waiting throng ; and HE was there, the supreme Lord of the Hierarchy, seated on the throne, more radiant than Sun and Star, which indeed seemed to draw their lustre from Him ; and all fell on their faces, hiding their eyes from the blinding glory of His Presence.
Then, in His gentleness, He softened that glory, so that all might lift their eyes, and see Him, Sanaf Kumara, the ‘ Eternal Virgin/1 in all the beauty of His unchanging Youth, who was yet the Ancient of Days. And a deep breath of awe and wonder came from the adoring crowd, and a luminous smile, rendering the exquisite strong beauty of the Face yet more entrancing, answered their simple reverent gaze of love and worship.
Then He stretched forth His Hands towards the altar in front of Him, and fire blazed forth upon it, the flames rising high in air. And then He was gone — the throne was empty, the Star had vanished, the golden Sun glowed but faintly, and only the Fire which He had given leapt unchanged upon the Altar. From this a glowing
1 The name, translated from the Samskrt, means 4 Eternal Virgin/ the termination showing that ‘ Virgin * is masculine.
270 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
fragment of wood was given to the priests for the altars of the various Temples, and to each head of a household present there/ and he received it in a vessel with a lid which closed above it, wherein it remained, live fire, unquench¬ able, till it had been carried to the altar of the home.
The processions re-formed and left the Holy Place in silence, again passing to the Bridge and by it reaching the City. Then came an outburst of joyous singing, and hand-in-hand the people passed along, and congratulations were exchanged, and the elders blessed the youngers, and all were very glad. The sacred fire was placed on the family altar, to set alight the flame which was to be kept alive through the year, and brands lighted at it were taken to the houses of those who had not been present, for until the recurrence of the festival when another year had run its course, such fire could not be had to hallow the family shrine. After this, there was music, and feasting, and dancing, until the happy City sank to sleep.
Such was the Festival of the Sacred Fire, held on every Midsummer Day in the City of the Bridge.
Some of the people devoted themselves almost wholly to study, and reached great proficiency in occult science, in order to devote themselves to certain branches of the public service. They be¬ came clairvoyant, and gained control of various natural forces, learning to make thought-forms, and to leave their physical bodies at will. Mindful of
1 In later time, when the population of the City had grown very large, officials received it, to distribute to the houses in their districts.
EARLY ARYAN CIVILISATION AND EMPIRE 271
the melancholy results in Atlantis of occult power divorced from unselfishness and morality, the in¬ structors in these studies chose their pupils with extreme care, and one of the lieutenants of the Manu maintained a general supervision over such classes. Some of the students, when proficient, had it as their special duty to the State to keep the different parts of the Empire in touch with each other ; there were no newspapers, but they con¬ ducted what may be called a news department. News was not published as a rule, but anyone who wanted news about anyone else in any part of the Empire could go to this central office and obtain it. Thus, there were Commissioners for the various countries, each of whom gave inform¬ ation about the country in his charge, obtaining it by occult means. Expeditions sent out on errands of peace or war were thus followed and news was given of them, as in modern days by wireless or other telegraphy.
On one occasion, when Corona was ruling a distant country, the Manu was not able to impress him with His directions ; so He bade one of these trained students to leave his physical body, go as- trally to Corona, and materialise himself on arrival; by this device, the message was delivered to Corona m his waking consciousness. In this way the Manu remained as the real Ruler, no matter how far the Empire extended.
Writing was done on various substances; one man was observed writing with a sharp instrument on a waxy-looking surface in an oblong case, as though he were etching; then he went over it again
272 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
with a hollow pen, out of which flowed a coloured liquid which hardened as it dried, leaving the script embedded in the wax. Occasionally a man would strike out a method of his own.
Machinery was not carried to the point reached in Atlantis ; it was simpler, and more of the work was done by hand. The Manu evidently did not desire the extreme luxury of Atlantis to be repro¬ duced among His people.
From the small beginning of 60,000 B. C., there gradually grew up a thickly populated kingdom, which surrounded the Gobi Sea, and obtained do¬ minion by degrees over many neighbouring nations, including the Turanians who had so mercilessly massacred its forefathers. This was the root-stock of all the Aryan nations, and from it went out — from 40,000 B. C., onwards — the great migrations which formed the Aryan sub-races. It remained in its cradle-land until it had sent out four of these migrations westwards, and had also sent many huge bands of conquering emigrants into India, who subdued the land and possessed it ; its last remnants only left their home and joined their forerunners in India shortly before the sinking of Poseidonis, 9,564 B. C. ; 1 they were sent away, in fact, in order that they might escape the ruin wrought by that tremendous cataclysm.
1 This root-stock is usually called ‘the first sub-race* in Theosophical literature, but it must not be forgotten that this is the original Root Race from which all the branches, or sub-races, went out. The first migration is called the second sub-race , and so on. The emigrants to India all came from this Asian stock, and are the ‘first sub-race ’.
EARLY ARYAN CIVILISATION AND EMPIRE 273
From 60,000 B. C. to 40,000 B. C. the parent- stock grew and flourished exceedingly, reaching the zenith of its first glory at about 45,000 B. C. It conquered China and Japan, peopled chiefly by Mongols — the seventh Atlantean sub-race— going northward and eastward till stopped by the cold ; it also added to its Empire Formosa and Siam, which were populated by Turanians and Tlavatli — fourth and second Atlantean sub-races. Then the Aryans colonised Sumatra and Java and the adjoining islands — not quite so much broken up as now ; for the most part they were wel¬ comed in these regions by the people, who looked on the fair-faced strangers as Gods, and were more in¬ clined to worship than to fight them. An interesting remnant of one of their settlements, still left in Celebes, is a hill tribe called Toala. This island, to the east of Borneo, came under their sway, and they stretched down- over what is now the Malay Peninsula, and over the Philippines, the Liu-Kiu Islands, the Eastern Archipelago, and Papua, the islands on the way to Australia, and over Australia itself, which was still thickly populated with Lemurians — third Root Race.
We found Corona, about 50,000 B. C., ruling over a large kingdom in these island-studded seas ; he had been born in that region, and made for himself a kingdom, recognising the Manu as Over- lord, and obeying any directions which he received from Him. Over all the huge Empire with its many kingdoms, the Manu was Suzerain. Whether He was in incarnation or not, the Kings ruled in His name, and He sent directions from time to time as to the carrying on of the work.
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274 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
By 40,000 B. C., the Empire began to show signs of decline, and the islands and the outer pro¬ vinces were asserting a barbarian independence. The Manu still occasionally incarnated, but usually directed things from higher planes. The central kingdom, however, remained splendid in civilisation, contented and quiescent, for another twenty-five thousand years and more, while activities were chiefly carried on in directions further afield, in the building up of sub-races, and in their spreading in all directions.