Charles Johnston
Charles Johnston, a Sanskrit scholar and translator of several Hindu classics, was a founder of the Dublin Lodge of the Theosophical Society of which William Butler Yeats and A.E. or Æ, as George William Russell was known, were also members.
In August, 1888, he married Vera Vladimirovna de Zhelihovsky, daughter of Madame Vera Petrovna de Zhelihovsky and H. P. Blavatsky's niece. The ceremony took place at H.P.B.'s home, 17, Lansdowne Road, London. Col. Olcott, visiting London at the time, represented Vera's mother and the rest of the family at the civil marriage at the registrar's office.[1]
The Johnstons became members of the Theosophical Society in America headed by Ernest Temple Hargrove in New York.
Early life
Teaching
Charles Johnston advertised a Sanskrit course on the inside back cover of Theosophy magazine in September 1897. It mentions classes formed in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Oregon, California, and Canada.[2]
Writings
Mr. Johnston translated several important Sanskrit works into English.
- The Bhagavad-gîta: "The songs of the master". Flushing, N.Y.: C. Johnston, 1908. Available online at Internet Archive.
- The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom by Śankarâchârya.[3]
- Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. 1912. Available online at Wikisource.
- Useful Sanskrit Nouns and Verb in English Letters. London: Luzac, 1892. Text available online at Internet Archive. Advertised on page 59 of Luzac's Oriental List and Book Review, Volume 4 by Luzac & Co., booksellers. Advertisement is available online at Google Books.
- From the Upanishads. Portland, ME: Thomas Mosher,1899. Available online at Internet Archive.
He also published several articles in The Open Court:
- "The Vedanta Philosophy" in February, 1906. Available at OpenSIUC.
- "The Kingdom of Heaven and the Upanishads" in December, 1905. Available at OpenSIUC.
- "The Childhood and Youth of St. Paul" in April, 1911. Available at OpenSIUC.
Notes
- ↑ Henry Steel Olcott, Old Diary Leaves Fourth Series (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 71.
- ↑ "Sanskrit Revival" advertisement in Theosophy 12.6 (September 1897).
- ↑ Sankaracharya, The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom (Vivekachudmani), translated by Charles Johnston, available at Theosophical University Press Online Edition [1]