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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.
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| 1. The sound of
‘’Gnyyyy‘’(buzz of a mosquito)” pierced recumbent Paramarthar's ears. He
got up and looked up. A few mosquitoes were flying around his head.
Immediately he called his disciples. 2. “Gurudev! It is so strange. We have never seen such tiny birds before!” said Matti. 3. Then some mosquitoes bit the Guru and the disciples. 4. The Guru, unable to bear the pain, shouted and the disciples joined him in shouting. 5. “Guru Natha! Why are these birds biting us?” Madaiyan asked. 6. Paramartha did not know that they were mosquitoes. He thought that the disciples would laugh if he told the truth. “Once I went to the forest to hunt. There were a hundred birds in one tree. I killed all of them with an arrow. Its spirits are now coming and giving trouble,” he said. 7. At once the disciples prayed to every mosquito, "Dear Spirit, forgive our Guru's offense and do not trouble us." 8. “Shhhh…don't make noise…spirits can hear us talking. So, you must catch all the birds by trickery,” Muttal said softly. 9. “Master! Every bird should be caught and hanged!” Mudan jumped. 10. “Rather than that, you can induce laughter in the birds by tickling them in the armpits (give it a “kichu kichu”) and kill it with a needle while it is laughing!” said Mandu. 11. “Ok…ok…catch each bird first” ordered the Guru. 12. Muttal thought of hitting a mosquito sitting on Mandu's bald head. He hit him hard on the head with the burning torch. When the fire hit his head, Mandu screamed "Aiyyo..." 13. Matti caught a mosquito by stealth. Madaiyan tickled. Paramarthar tried to crush the mosquito with his staff. By then it had flown away. 14. Soon all the mosquitoes flew away. 15. “Guru” These birds seem to know magic. They came to know about our plan and magically disappeared,” he said. 16. Mandu said, "You have to catch it in a different way." 17. “we should bring in natural enemies such as insects to kill these birds. Both will be fighting. We can sleep peacefully,” said Muttal. 18. According to Muttal's plan, they caught and let loose the bedbugs throughout the monastery. 19. Two days passed. Along with mosquitoes, bedbugs also bit. 20. “Che! (disgust) We got into big trouble! what to do?" asked Paramartha. 21. “Master! A brilliant idea came to me. They say, "He burned the house because he was afraid of bedbugs"! What if we do that? asked Matti. 22. “Yes Guru! Let us burn the monastery with valor and without fear!” said Madan. 23. “Master! Let's implement another project! We will burn with the burning monastery!” Mudan said. 24. “We will all die if we do that?” said Mandu. 25. “Only death can make us spirits. By changing into spirit, we can easily catch all the little birds that are bothering us!” Mudan said. 26. “Bale (Bravo) Muda!” Paramartha praised him. 27. According to his plan, after setting the monastery on fire, everyone went inside and stood. 28. "The fire roared with Diku, Diku sound" they started shouting and emitting wild noise. 29. On hearing the noise, the neighbors ran to see. After extinguishing the fire, they saved the Guru and the disciples from the fire. 30. Even then “Che (expression of disgust)! These ignorant people have ruined our wonderful plan!” murmured and muttered, Paramarthar! |