Paramārthar
Guru Stories
Constantine Joseph Beschi (8
November 1680 – 4 February 1747), also known under his Tamil name
of Vīramāmunivar
(வீரமாமுனிவர்),
was an Italian Jesuit priest,
missionary in South
India,
and Tamil language littérateur (a
literary person, esp. a writer of literary works)..-Wiky
He mastered the Tamil language and published many books with Christian
teachings in Tamil under the name Vīramāmunivar.
His narrative poem "Dembavani" is famous. In the 18th century, he
translated books such as Tirukkural, Devaram, Thiruppugazh and Athichudi
into Latin and other languages. Parmathaguru Kathas, which he wrote in
Tamil culture, adapted from the comic stories popular in Europe at that
time, were famous for their humorous nature and were translated into
many Indian languages.
Vīramāmunivar
wrote the Paramārtha
Guru stories in Tamil, steeped in humor. The naïve Guru and his five
disciples, Matti, Madaiyan, Pēthai, Mūdan, Milēcchan engage in acts,
which
Paramārtha
guru narrates in a story-form with humor. Their names are
everyday pejorative monikers in Tamil Nadu to describe people with
varying degrees of stupidity.
1. Paramartha Guru and his disciples were fast asleep.
2. In his sleep, Paramartha was mumbling, "Ah! Gold! Silver! Diamonds!"
3. The startled disciples, woke up and then woke him up by tapping on him, having discovered his mumbling.
4. Awakening, Paramartha scolded them, "Fools! Why did you wake me? I was having a wonderful dream. You've ruined it!"
5. Immediately, everyone surrounded him, asking, "A dream? What dream did you have?" After a moment, Paramartha exclaimed, "Treasure! Treasure!"
6. "Treasure? Where? Where?" the disciples jumped in excitement.
7. After looking around, Paramartha said, "In my dream, it was the garden behind this room. In the northwest corner of the garden, there lies a pot filled with gold and silver!"
8. Overjoyed, Matti exclaimed as he fell down, "A pot full of gold?"
9. They all asked Paramartha, "Master! What shall we do with this treasure?" Foolishly, one suggested, "We could buy a grand, beautiful horse for our guru, and each of us could also have a horse!"
10. "We could also each buy a horse for ourselves!" Matti said, delighted.
11. Another disciple suggested, "This place is not suitable. We should demolish it and build a palace fit for a king!"
12. "Then we will have no more worries. We can eat vadai and pāyāsam (sweet pudding) every day!" another exclaimed, jumping in excitement. Vadai: fritter, a deep-fried batter, made of green gram that looks like a doughnut with a central hole.
13. "Master! In that case, let's all go and dig up the spot right now!" the fool suggested.
14. "Indeed! That's a good idea. If we dig during the day, the whole village will find out. Then, everyone will want a share!" Matti said.
15. "Matti is right. Let's go dig it up right now!" they decided and headed to the garden.
16. The fool stood with a torch in hand, looking out for onlookers, then Paramartha marked a round spot on the ground with his hand cane.
17. Soon, Matti and Madaiyan began to dig with their bare hands, making the parak, parak noise. பரக் பரக் = onomatopoeic sound made when a person scratches the ground with the fingers to dig a hole.
18. After a short while of digging, they complained, "Our hands are hurting!" They sat down to catch their breath.
19. "Master! We mustn't give up on the treasure!" they continued to dig as urged by the fool and another disciple.
20. As the foursome took turns digging, they suddenly struck something white.
21. "Ah! The treasure! The treasure!" Matti jumped and exclaimed, digging even faster.
22. Paramartha reached into the hole and found something round.
23. They all eagerly brought it into the light to see.
24. In Paramartha's hand was a human skull. That was all! "Oh no! Oh no!" they screamed, each scattering in his chosen cardinal direction.