Theosophical Society,
H P Blavatsky
The devotion of Damodar K
Mavalankar to his Guru as outlined by Colonel H S Olcott
This is an extract from Old Diary Leaves, Vol.
III, pp. 265-6
Colonel
H. S. Olcott in old Diary leaves says that:
Damodar's
record since joining H. P. B. and myself at
As
above remarked, he had almost broken down his constitution by incessant
official
work, and when leaving Adyar had begun to spit blood and show signs
of
a rapid decline. Yet, with undaunted courage, he undertook the hard journey
across
the Himalayas, indifferent to the biting cold, the drifted snow, the lack of
shelter and food, intent upon reaching the Guru whom he had first seen in his
youth when lying on a sick-bed, of whom he had lost sight for many years, but
whom he had recovered soon after joining the Theosophical Society, as his
spiritual faculties developed and he was able to seek him in the suksma sarira.
What made him so devotedly attached and unswervingly loyal to H. P. B. was the
discovery that this Guru was one of the Adepts behind our movement, the
intimate associate of "Upasika," as he always subsequently called H.
P. B.
From
the chief coolie of his escort I [Colonel Olcott] got particulars about
him
of great interest. . . . Damodar would not keep any more clothes than the
ascetic
costume he was wearing, nor any of the rice, meal, pulse, or other dry
provisions
with which his friends had supplied him. The most he would do was
to
let the chief coolie bake him a dozen chapaties, or unleavened pancakes.
The
last that was seen of him by the coolies was when, with face turned
towards
the Tibetan frontier, he trudged painfully on and disappeared behind a
turning
of the road. Old Diary Leaves, Vol. III, pp. 265-6
Theosophical Society,