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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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| The Tales of
Paramartha Guru – The Trial of Salt, The Amazed Guru 1. In a small village, there lived a guru named Paramartha in a modest ashram, with five disciples. All of them were quite foolish, performing every task in the most senseless manner possible, often leading themselves into disappointment because of their foolish actions. 2. One day, as they all were preparing to go on a pilgrimage, Paramartha Guru asked one of his disciples to go to the market to buy some pure salt needed for cooking. He gave the disciple some money and a cloth bag, instructing him to buy the salt. 3. The disciple set off and crossed a river to reach the market. At a shop, he asked the shopkeeper if he had pure salt. The shopkeeper weighed out some salt and placed it in the disciple's bag. The disciple, looking at the salt, questioned if it was truly pure. 4. Hearing this, the shopkeeper replied that there was no such thing as pure or impure salt; salt is always the same. The disciple, insisting foolishly, demanded the shopkeeper only confirm its purity, claiming his guru had told him about pure salt. 5. Amused by the disciple's naivety, the shopkeeper humorously suggested that if one wished, they could wash the salt like vegetables before cooking to 'clean' it. The disciple, pleased with this answer, paid the shopkeeper, and left, believing he had bought pure salt. 6. On his way back, crossing the river, the disciple thought of washing the salt in the river water to ensure its purity before presenting it to his guru, believing this would please him. So, he dipped the bag in the river, and unsurprisingly, the salt dissolved completely. 7. Upon returning home, the guru asked why he was late and if he had brought the salt. The disciple, unaware the salt had dissolved, proudly handed over the bag, only for the guru to find it empty. 8. The guru was confused when the disciple explained he had washed the salt in the river to purify it, as the shopkeeper had suggested. Both Paramartha Guru and his disciples pondered over the vanished salt, forgetting to cook and deeply immersed in thought about the disciple's 'wise' idea. See! How great fools they were! |