Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa

Curuppumullage Jinarājadāsa (1875–1953), was a Sri Lankan scholar, lecturer, and writer who served as the fourth President of the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India from 1945 to 1953. An accomplished linguist, he traveled extensively for fifty years an an international lecturer, speaking in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. He was known to his wide circle of friends as "Raja", "Brother Raja", or "CJ".

Early years and education

Mr. Jinarājadāsa was born on December 16, 1875 in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) of Sinhalese Buddhist parents. His association with Theosophy began at the age of thirteen when, as one of the first students of Ananda College, he met C. W. Leadbeater. The following year, A. P. Sinnett asked Mr. Leadbeater to return from India to England to tutor his son Denny and George Arundale, Leadbeater brought Raja with him. The three boys were close in age: Raja was born in 1875, Denny in 1877, and George in 1878.

In 1889, Jinarājadāsa met Madame Blavatsky for the first time. He became a member of The Theosophical Society on March 14, 1893 through the London Lodge. He entered St John’s College, Cambridge in 1896, and four years later took his Degree in the Oriental Languages Tripos, and also studied Law. He then went back to Ceylon where he became Vice-Principal (1900-1901) of the Ananda College in Colombo, founded by Mr Leadbeater. In 1902 he returned to Europe to study literature and science at the University of Pavia, Italy. In 1904 he went to America, where he began his career as an international lecturer of the Theosophical Society,

Final years

Memorial service was held
in Olcott Library, 1953.
Image from TSA Archives.

Ashes scattered in Fox River
in 1953. From TSA Archives.

Writings

C. Jinarājadāsa was a very prolific writer, and a list of his works is in a separate article, Jinarājadāsa writings.

Articles are indexed in the Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals. Over 1600 articles are listed under the name Jinarājadāsa.

Searching under CJ will result in a list that includes work by Charles Johnston, a Sanskrit scholar who was married to Madame Blavatsky's niece, and who was also known by those initials. Within the results list, the articles by Mr. Jinarājadāsa will include those in the periodicals: The Adyar Bulletin, The American Theosophist, The Australian ES Bulletin, The Herald of the Star, The Messenger, Sishya (The Student), The Theosophic Messenger, The Theosophist, and World Theosophy. Articles by Charles Johnston appear in Theosophical Quarterly, Theosophy, The Path, and The Irish Theosophist.

Photo gallery

• 

  CJ with Ensor and Yarco,
  Theosophical Messenger,
  March 1911

• 

  CJ in tent in Chicago,
  summer 1911.

• 

  CJ as Fire Guard
  in World War II London.
  Image from TSA Archives.

• 

  CJ with Sidney Cook,
  on Olcott campus, 1930s or 1940s.

Online resources

Articles

• "C. Jinarajadasa" by Surendra Narayan. This article was originally published in Quest 93.6 (November-December 2005): 228-229.

Social media

• Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa on Facebook.