Article selections from “Two Words about Chelaship” by A. Sankariah | Note by H.P.B.
There were days when all had belief in esoteric theosophy and honored the Brahman’s life and culture. . . . A Brahman was one, only by attention to the culture and duties already mentioned, and not by Aryan descent or political ascendancy.
. . . To become a Hindu or a Brahman is not a matter of mere willingnes or profession, but a matter of qualification duly tested and formally approved by a Brahman council. . . .
As I have again and again said, if you [Olcott] or Mr. —— or Mr. —— study the exoteric and technical System of Hinduism so well as you have studied the Buddhistic system, you will be admitted to all the privileges of the Brahman caste.1
1. Our brother is not aware, it seems, that the sacred Brahmanical thread has been twice given to Col. Olcott—as the highest mark of esteem, of course, and not as an actual admission into caste. The last time, the donor was one of the most celebrated Sanskrit pandits of India, and he made the compliment complete by theoretically taking him into his own Gotra.