H. P. Blavatsky

Sishta. The great elect or Sages, left after every minor Pralaya (that which is called “obscuration” in Mr. Sinnett’s Esoteric Buddhism), when the globe goes into its night or rest, to become, on its re‐awakening, the seed of the next humanity. Lit. “remnant.”

Source: H. P. Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary, art. Sishta