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And little Perdu R Abu heard them
talk; and learnt the great secret of Imper-
manence, and of Sorrow, and the mystery of
IX.
Unsubstantiality.
How you bungle ! growled Ganesha.
And the Government evicted the
Fortunately we are better off this time.
Bhikkhu ; and set guard, quite like the end
Indra has been guillotined for his dastardly
of Genesis iii., and cut down the tree, and all
murder; so his place is vacant. Eurekas !
the Nats perished.
yelled the magus, his very virtue will save
Jehjaour heard and trembled. Perdu R
him from his predecessor s fate.
Abu was only three years old.
Behold Perdu R Abu then as Indra !
But oh, dear me! what a memory he was
VIII.
getting ! It seems to me, he mused, that
I ve been changing a lot lately. Well, I am
It really seemed as if fate was against
virtuous and I read in Crowley s new
him. Poor Jehjaour ! In despair he cried to
translation of the Dhammapada2 that virtue
his partner, O Ganesha, in the world of
is the thing to keep one steady. So I think I
Gods only we shall be safe. Let him be born
as a flute-girl before Indra s throne ! may look forward to a tenure of my
mahakalpa in almost Arcadian simplicity.
Difficult is the task, replied the alarmed
Lady Bhavani, did you say, boy ? Yes, I am
deity, but I will use all my influence. I
at home. Bring the betel! Jeldi ! he
added, with some dim recollection of the
1
The Government, in the intersts of Bud-
dhists themselves, reserves all ground within
1
A whirling disc is Indra s symoblic weapon.
50 feet of a dagoba. The incident described
2
He abandoned this. A few fragments are
in this section actually occurred in 1901.
2
Siam. reprinted in his Oracles.
74
APPENDIX I
British Government, when he was a baby less glum. Ay! cried Ganesha impas-
Nat. sively, let Æon follow Æon down the
The Queen of Heaven and the Lord of vaulted and echoing corridors of Eternity :
the Gods chewed betel for quite a long time, pile Mahakalpa upon Mahakalpa until an
conversed of the weather, the crops, the Asankhya1 of Crores2 have passed away;
affaire Humbert, and the law in relation to and Maha Brahma will still sit lone and
motor-cars, with ease and affability. But far meditate upon his lotus throne. Good,
was it from Indra s pious mind to flirt with good! said the magus, though there seems
his distinguished guest ! Rather, he thought a reminiscence of the Bhagavad-Gita and
of the hollow nature of the Safe, the change the Light of Asia somehwere. Surely you
of money and of position; the sorrow of the don t read Edwin Arnold ? I do, said
too confiding bankers, and above all the the God disconsolately, we Hindu Gods
absence of an Ego in the Brothers Crawford. have to. It s the only way we can get any
While he was thus musing, Bhavani got clear idea of who we really are.
fairly mad at him. The Spretæ Injuria Well, here was Perdu R Abu, after his
Formæ gnawed her vitals with pangs latest fiasco, installed as a Worthy, Respect-
unassuageable : so, shaking him roughly able, Perfect, Ancient and Accepted, Just,
by the arm, she Put It To Him Straight. O Regular Mahabrahma. His only business
Madam ! said Indra. was to meditate, for as long as he did this,
This part of the story has been told the worlds the whole system of 10,000
before about Joseph; but Bhavani simply worlds would go on peaceably. Nobody
lolled her tongue out, opened her mouth, had better read the lesson of the Bible the
and gulped him down at a swallow. horrible results to mankind of ill-timed,
Jehjaour simply wallowed. Indra had though possibly well-intentioned, interference
passed in seven days. on the part of a deity.
Well, he curled himself up, which was
rather clever for a formless abstraction, and
began. There was a grave difficulty in his
X.
mind an obstacle right away from the word
There is only one more birth, he
Jump ! Of course there was really a good
groaned. This time we must win or die.
deal: he didn t know where the four
Goetia1 expects every God to do his duty,
elements ceased, for example:3 but his own
he excitedly lunographed to Swarga.2 But
identity was the real worry. The other
Ganesha was already on his way.
questions he could have stilled; but this
The elephant-headed God was in great
was too near his pet Chakra.4 Here I
spirits. Never say die ! he cried genially,
am, he meditated, above all change ; and
on beholding the downcast appearance of
yet an hour ago I was Indra ; and before
his fellow-conspirator. This ll break the
that his flute-girl ; and then a Nat; and
slate. There is no change in the Arupa-
then a parrot ; and then a Hathi Oh,
Brahma-Loka ! 3 Rupe me no rupes!
the Hathis pilin teak in the sludgy, squdgy
howled the necromancer. Get up, fool!
creek ! sang Parameshvara. Why, it goes
roared the God. I have got Perdu R Abu
elected Maha Brahma. Oh Lord, have
1
Innumerable, the highest unit of the
you really ? said the wizard, looking a little
fantastic Hindu arithmetic.
2
10.000.
1
3
The world of black magic.
See the witty legend in the Questions of King
2
Heaven. Milinda.
3 4
The highest heaven of the Hindu. Forml-ess Meditation may be performed on any of
place of Brahma is its name. seven Chakras (wheels or centres) in the body.
75
THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS
back and back, like a biograph out of order, correct deductions. Yes, you can, if only
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