Quotes:Rangampalli, Jagannathiah
Zirkoff, Boris
Rangampalli Jagannathiah. Hindu worker in the early Theosophical Movement in India, born in May, 1852, at Cuttack, near Puri (Jagannathpur) in Orissa. His father was a native officer in the 30th Madras Infantry. The young man was enlisted in the regiment as a pension boy on his father’s death, when only one year old, remaining there six years. Education was furnished by his cousin, and since his tenth year he lived in Cuddapah and Bellary. In 1872, he was matriculated from the Government Provincial College, and afterwards served as teacher in the Provincial and Wardlaw Colleges, and as second headmaster in the High School at Secunderabad, Dekkan, for eight years. In religion he was a staunch Vaish- nava of the Visishtadwaita School, but in 1874 his faith was shaken and he eventually joined the National Secular Society of England, then under Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant; he also associated himself with the Freethought Union of Madras.
He first heard of Theosophy in 1882, from a friend who was a Vedantin and a good Sanskrit scholar. His reading of various issues of The Theosophist led to a correspondence with Damodar K. 522 Mávalankar at the Ady ar Headquarters, and later to a visit there. He met H. P. B. who had in her possession some of his contributions to newspapers. It is said that she discussed Theosophy with him “for three days for about three hours a day.” Jagannathiah said: “She satisfied me completely. I admired her genius very much, and her fund of knowledge on science, philosophy, and religion. I observed above all that her replies to my questions were complete answers to the main as well as to all possible side questions. On the 30th of December, 1882, she asked me if I had anything more to ask. I said, None, and she directed me to search the old Aryan religion and Upanishads, ending by suggesting that I join the T. S., with which I complied.” He then began to write for Theosophy.
In the National Reformer of Bradlaugh, the question was raised as to whether a Secularist can be a Theosophist, and, curiously enough, Mrs. Besant wrote strongly against his joining the T. S. Jagannathiah then wrote to Mr. Bradlaugh asking if freethinkers were bound by the dictates of Mrs. Besant, to which Bradlaugh said No. He then resigned from the Union.
In 1885, Jagannathiah was an Inspector for the T. S. In 1887, with the help of his friend, T. A. Swaminatha Aiyar (pictured together with him in our portrait), he founded the Sanmarga Sarnaja on the lines of the T. S., and later declared it a part of the T. S. Through this channel an immense amount of work was done by both in preaching to the villages in the vernacular. He continued in the Government service until July, 1894, when he resigned to devote himself entirely to the work he promised H. P. B. he would do. He continued for years his selfless work at Bellary where, among other things, he conducted a school well thought of by the Government.
As to T. A. Swaminatha Aiyar, he was bom in July, 1868, at Tiruvadi, Tanjore, on the banks of the Cauvery. This is one of the strongest of the orthodox Brahman centers in Southern India, noted for its Vedic learning and Sanskrit knowledge. There was there also a Free Sanskrit College supported at the time by the Maharaja of Tanjore. Some renowned astrologers and poets hail from that district.
Swaminatha belonged to a Vaidiki, a religious as distinguished from a lay, family; his father was a native doctor and an elder brother was known as a singer of the Yajur-Veda. In his eighth year, he was sent to an English school, and later to a Government High School, until 1881. At fourteen, he matriculated from the Native High School of Coimbatore, went to St. Peter’s College 523 at Tanjore for four months, and for a time to the State Government Provincial College of Trichinopoly. He taught school in the latter place and became a clerk in the Revenue Department at Bellary. It is there that he became a close friend of Jagannathiah and joined the T. S. After service in the Survey Office, he was transferred to Madras. He returned to Bellary after a while, where he obtained some work in a mercantile house until 1893; he then resigned to devote himself entirely to spiritual work.
Most of the work done by these two friends was accomplished under much stress and strain, without adequate means, and in difficult personal circumstances. At one time, they received a little help from American Theosophists who were interested in the days of William Q. Judge in promoting Theosophical work in the vernaculars of India. And no one can tell how many seeds for future beneficent harvesting were sown by these two indefatigable workers.
Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 3, pp. 521-523