A MAGIC WAND

[Lucifer, Vol. VIII, No. 44, April, 1891, p. 137]

In the People’s Journal (Lahore) for February, quoting from the Hindu Runjika of Rajshahye, we find narrated how a Himalayan Sannyasi (an ascetic, or Yogi) saved the life of Rajah Sashi Shekhareshwar Roy, Zemindar of Tahirpore. The holy man accomplished his phenomenon (for such it was) by means of what the writer terms his “stick,” whereas the stick is in reality a kind of wand, of bamboo or wood, with which no initiated Sannyasi will ever part. The day may yet come, when the occult potency (the very quintessence of human will and magnetic force) generated and preserved in such wands, will be fully recognized by modern science. Meanwhile, all such facts have to be regarded by sceptics as cock-and-bull stories. It happened as follows:—

After the meeting of the Bharat Dharma Mahamandal at Delhi, the Rajah went to a place, called Tapoban, on the Himalayas, where many Sadhus still reside. He went there for taking the advice of the Sadhus in regard to the Dharma Mandal. On his way from Hardwar to Tapoban, he had to pass through hilly forest tracts, infested by wild beasts. While he was going to Tapoban in a palanquin, a wild elephant suddenly made a rush at him from the jungles, and the whole party was in an awful state of excitement. In this dilemma, a Sannyasi appeared, and assured the party in Hindi not to take fright. He stood in front of the party with a stick, and requested the bearers and the Rajah’s men to shout out, “Kader Swami ki jai.” The elephant on hearing this, returned to the jungles at once, and the Sannyasi mysteriously disappeared!