But, in the esoteric teaching, they are the progenitors of the true spiritual SELF in the physical man -- the higher Prajapati, while the Pitris, or lower Prajapati, are no more than the fathers of the model, or type of his physical form, made "in their image." Four (and occasionally five ) are mentioned freely in the exoteric texts, three Kumaras being secret.** (Compare what is said of "The Fallen Angels" in Book II.).
The Exoteric four are: Sanat-Kumara, Sananda, Sanaka, and Sanatana; and the esoteric three are: Sana, Kapila, and Sanat-sujata.
Special attention is once more drawn to this class of Dhyan Chohans, for herein lies the mystery of generation and heredity hinted at in Book I.
( See the four Orders of Angelic Beings; Comment on Stanza VII.
) .
Book II.
explains their position in the divine Hierarchy.
Meanwhile, let us see what the exoteric texts say about them.
They do not say much; nothing to him who fails to read between the lines.
"We must have recourse, here, to other Puranas for the elucidation of this term," remarks Wilson, who does not suspect for one moment that he is in the presence of the "Angels of Darkness," the mythical "great enemy" of his Church.
Therefore, he contrives to elucidate no more than that these (divinities) DECLINING TO CREATE PROGENY*** (and thus rebelling against Brahma), remained, as the name [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * They may indeed mark a "special" or extra creation , since it is they who, by incarnating themselves within the senseless human shells of the two first Root-races, and a great portion of the Third Root-race -- create, so to speak, a new race: that of thinking, self-conscious and divine men.
** "The four Kumaras (are) the mind-born Sons of Brahma.
Some specify seven " ( H.
Class.
Dict.
) .
All these seven Vaidhatra, the patronymic of the Kumaras, "the Maker's Sons," are mentioned and described in Iswara Krishna's "Sankhya Karika" with the Commentary of Gaudapadacharya (Sankaracharya's Paraguru ) attached to it.
It discusses the nature of the Kumaras, though it refrains from mentioning by name all the seven Kumaras, but calls them instead "the seven sons of Brahma," which they are, as they are created by Brahma in Rudra.
The list of names it gives us is: Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, Kapila, Ribhu, and Panchasikha.
But these are again all aliases.
*** So untrustworthy are some translations of the Orientalists that in the French Translation of Hari-Vamsa , it is said "The seven Prajapati, Rudra, Skanda (his son) [[Footnote continued on next page]] [[Vol.
1, Page]] 458 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
of the first implies, ever boys, Kumaras: that is, ever pure and innocent, whence their creation is also called the "Kumara." ( Book I.
chap.
v.
, Vishnu Purana.
) The Puranas, however, may afford a little more light.
"Being ever as he was born, he is here called a youth; and hence his name is well known as Sanat-Kumara" ( Linga purana , prior section LXX.
174.) In the Saiva Purana , the Kumaras are always described as Yogins.
The Kurma Purana, after enumerating them, says: "These five, O Brahmans, were Yogins, who acquired entire exemption from passion." They are five , because two of the Kumaras fell .
Of all the seven great divisions of Dhyan-Chohans, or Devas, there is none with which humanity is more concerned than with the Kumaras.
Imprudent are the Christian Theologians who have degraded them into fallen Angels, and now call them "Satan" and Demons; as among these heavenly denizens who refuse to create , the Archangel Michael -- the greatest patron Saint of Western and Eastern Churches, under his double name of St.
Michael and his supposed copy on earth, St.
George conquering the D RAGON -- has to be allowed one of the most prominent places.
(See Book II., "The Sacred Dragons and their Slayers.") The Kumaras, the "mind-born Sons" of Brahma-Rudra (or Siva) [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- [[Footnote continued from previous page]] and Sanat-Kumara proceeded to create beings." Whereas, as Wilson shows, the original is: "These seven .
.
.
created progeny; and so did Rudra, but Skanda and Sanat Kumara, restraining their power , abstained from creation." The "four orders of beings" are referred to sometimes as "Ambhamsi," which Wilson renders: "literally Waters," and believes it "a mystic term." It is one, no doubt; but he evidently failed to catch the real esoteric meaning.
"Waters" and "water" stand as the symbol for Akasa, the "primordial Ocean of Space," on which Narayana, the self-born Spirit, moves: reclining on that which is its progeny ( See Manu ) .
"Water is the body of Nara; thus we have heard the name of water explained.
Since Brahma rests on the water, therefore he is termed Narayana " ( Linga , Vayu , and Markandeya Puranas ) ".
.
.
Pure, Purusha created the Waters pure .
.
." at the same time Water is the third principle in material Kosmos, and the third in the realm of the Spiritual: Spirit of Fire, Flame, Akasa, Ether, Water, Air, Earth, are the cosmic, sidereal, psychic, spiritual and mystic principles, pre-eminently occult , in every plane of being.
"Gods, Demons, Pitris and men," are the four orders of beings to whom the term Ambhamsi is applied (in the Vedas it is a synonym of gods): because they are all the product of WATERS (mystically), of the Akasic Ocean, and of the Third Principle in nature.
Pitris and men on earth are the transformations (rebirths) of gods and demons (Spirits) on a higher plane.
Water is, in another sense, the feminine principle.
Venus Aphrodite is the personified Sea, and the mother of the god of love, the generator of all the gods as much as the Christian Virgin Mary is Mare (the sea), the mother of the Western God of Love, Mercy and Charity.
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The passage explicitly identifies 'Waters' as the symbol for Akasa, the 'primordial Ocean of Space,' which is the cognate universal medium of occult philosophy.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The passage states that Water is 'the third principle in material Kosmos, and the third in the realm of the Spiritual,' and that 'Pitris and men on earth are the transformations (rebirths) of gods and demons on a higher plane,' making each level a legible map of the others.
Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.
The passage narrates the origin of the Kumaras (created by Brahma in Rudra), the formation of physical forms 'in their image,' and the primordial Ocean of Space on which Narayana reclines.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage describes a cascading hierarchy from Brahma through the Kumaras and Pitris down to gods, demons, and men, with each level derived from the one above.
The Hermetic doctrine that a masculine-feminine generative principle operates on every plane of being, not only the biological — present at all times as a structural feature of creation itself. Distinct from divine_marriage (a specific reunification event or symbol) and aeons (paired divine beings arranged in syzygies, not a universal structural claim).
The passage explicitly states 'Water is, in another sense, the feminine principle' and draws parallels between Venus Aphrodite as personified Sea and the Virgin Mary as Mare, showing the masculine-feminine generative principle operating on every plane.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The entire passage is structured around the distinction between exoteric and esoteric meanings, with explicit statements that the texts say 'nothing to him who fails to read between the lines' and that three Kumaras are 'secret.'
A non-physical dimension of reality, interpenetrating the physical world, populated by forces, beings, and forms ordinarily imperceptible to physical senses and instruments, that can affect embodied life without being seen — Dion Fortune's 'mind-side of nature,' the astral plane of Western esotericism broadly construed. Distinct from astral_light (a specific transmitting medium or fluid operating within this realm, not the realm itself), pleroma (the divine fullness at the summit of a cosmic hierarchy, not a parallel plane coextensive with ordinary life), and animism (particular indwelling spirits bound to specific natural objects, not the general unseen dimension itself).
The passage describes a non-physical dimension populated by Kumaras, Dhyan Chohans, and spirits who incarnate within 'senseless human shells,' interpenetrating the physical world.
The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.
The passage describes the Kumaras incarnating within 'senseless human shells' of the Root-races to create 'a new race: that of thinking, self-conscious and divine men,' a structured descent of spirit into matter.
The passage explicitly states that 'Pitris and men on earth are the transformations (rebirths) of gods and demons (Spirits) on a higher plane,' describing transmigration across planes.