WESTERN IDEAS ABOUT AGARTTHA
CONTAINED in the posthumous work Mission de l'Inde, by Saint-Yves d'Alveydre (published in 1910), [1] there is a description of a mysterious centre of initiation called Agarttha; many readers have no doubt assumed it was a purely imaginary story, a sort of fiction without any foundation in reality. In fact it does contain, if one takes it absolutely literally, unlikelihoods which could justify such an opinion, particularly for those given to seeing only external appearances. The author no doubt had his reasons for not publishing the book himself, although it was written long ago (albeit left unedited). The only previous mention in Europe of Agarttha and its chief the Brahmatma was made by a rather superficial writer called Louis Jacolliot, [2] who cannot be considered authoritative and who seems to have heard tell of these things whilst in India, and created his own fantasy about them as he did with the rest. However, in 1924 a book entitled Beasts, Men and Gods appeared unexpectedly on the scene. In this book Ferdinand Ossendowski wrote of a thrilling journey made across central Asia in 1920 and 1921, using descriptions that tally, especially in the latter part of the book, almost identically with those of Saint-Yves. The keen interest aroused by this book has provided a favourable opportunity at last to break the silence on the question of Agarttha.
There were hostile and sceptical critics, of course, quick to accuse Mr Ossendowski of plagiarizing Saint-Yves, and supporting their case by pointing out the parallel passages in the two books: there are in fact a good number which show an astonishing similarity even of detail. For example, one of
one of the most improbable statements offered by Saint-Yves must be that an underground world exists, its network branching everywhere - underneath whole continents, even oceans - to attain and maintain communication with all the regions of this world. Ossendowski does not attempt to verify this from his own experience, and indeed admits that he does not know what to think of it, but gives the testimony of various people he met in the course of his journey. There is also, on more particular points, the passage where the 'Lord of the World' is depicted in front of his predecessor's tomb and where the question is raised of the origin of the gypsies, [3] who are said to have lived originally in Agarttha. Saint-Yves writes that there are moments during the subterranean celebration of the 'cosmic Mysteries' when desert travellers stop motionless and even animals are silent; [4] Ossendowski assures us that he was present himself at such a moment of universal contemplation. Most important of all, both writers by strange coincidence tell of an island - now vanished - inhabited by extraordinary men and beasts. Saint-Yves cites the summary of the journey of Iambulus by Diodorus of Sicily, whereas Ossendowski describes the journey of an old Buddhist from Nepal; both accounts are remarkably similar, so that if there do really exist two versions from such widely different sources it would be interesting to rediscover them, in order to compare them carefully.
Although it is necessary to make all these observations, it should be emphasized that we are convinced that the charge of plagiarism is wholly unfounded; in any case it is not our intention to enter on a discussion which is of little interest for us. Independently of the evidence offered by Ossendowski, we know through other sources that stories of this kind are widely current in Mongolia and throughout Central Asia, and we can add that there is something similar in the traditions of
most peoples. From another point of view, however, it is difficult to see why, if Ossendowski did copy parts of the Mission de l'Inde, he should deliberately omit certain passages or change the spelling of words, such as writing 'Agharti' instead of 'Agarttha'. However, this is easily explained if he was basing his information on a Mongolian source and not on Saint-Yves's Hindu sources (it is known that the latter had been in contact with at least two Hindus). [5] Likewise, he would hardly name the head of the Initiation Hierarchy 'Lord of the World' when that title does not appear anywhere in Saint-Yves's work. And even if a certain amount of plagiarism were to be admitted, the fact remains that Ossendowski puts forward various original ideas which definitely are not to be found in the Mission de l'Inde and which he certainly would not have been able to invent in their entirety. Added to which, he was far more preoccupied with politics than with the pursuit of ideas or doctrines, and so ignorant of anything which touched upon the esoteric, that he was manifestly incapable himself of seizing their true import. For example, he tells the story of the 'Black Stone' that had originally been sent by the 'Lord of the World' to the Dalai Lama and subsequently taken to Urga in Mongolia, where it disappeared approximately one hundred years ago. [6] In fact, 'black stones' play an important role in many traditions - from the one which is the symbol of Cybele to the one which is enshrined in the Kaaba at Mecca. [7] Here
is another example: the 'Bogdo-Khan' or 'Living Buddha' who resides at Urga preserves, amongst other precious memorabilia, the ring of Genghis Khan that is engraved with a swastika and a copper plaque bearing the seal of the 'Lord of the World'. It appears that Ossendowski only managed to see the first of these two objects, but if this is so, would it not then have been extremely difficult for him to have conjured the other from his imagination? And would it not have been more natural for him to have described a gold plaque?
These preliminary observations must suffice, as it is not relevant here to discuss either individuals or polemics. If we cite Ossendowski and even Saint-Yves it is only to serve as a point of departure for considerations well beyond what one might think of either, and the importance of which infinitely surpasses their individualities, as also our own, which should in any case be of no significance in such discussions. Nor is it proposed here to hold a 'critical examination' of their work, but to reveal information that has, to our knowledge, until now been unavailable and that might help to some extent to clarify what Ossendowski calls the 'mystery of mysteries'. [8]