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Guru Paramartha or Gooroo Paramartan is a fictional monk introduced in
(retrieved November 6, 2024) "How Catholic ‘Repackaging’ Of An Indian Fable Destroyed Its Purpose" (Online: swarajyamag.com/culture/how-catholic-repackaging-of-an-indian-fable-destroyed-its-purpose ) It had a considerable influence on Tamil culture and even in modern says the name "Guru Paramartha" is synonymous to "fool". It has also been adapted into other South Asian languages. Examples include Mahadenamutta in Sinhala.
(retrieved December 31, 2024) One of the stories goes as follows. One day they came to a river they had to cross, but they were afraid to do so while the river was awake. To test if the river was asleep, Moodan touched the water with a firebrand, and hearing the ‘hissing’ sound he reported that the river is still awake. After a while Madayan used the same firebrand for testing the river, but since it was already extinguished, there was no sound, and Madayan reported that the river was asleep, so they crossed it. After they crossed the river, they tried to count themselves to make sure all six were safe. But each time anyone counted, he got only five, because he didn't count himself. They went on mourning the missing person, but luckily a passer-by declared himself having powers to recall the one swallowed by the river, for a reward. After that he placed them in a row and counted all six of them.
pp. 56, 57
/ref> Neelakandan further remarks that the origin of the "counting" story might be in Hindu spiritual literature. '' Panchadasi'' contains a chapter which quotes the story about 10 persons crossing a river and lamenting the missing 10th person. This humorous tale was used in ''Panchadasi'' to comment on direct knowledge (''
"HUMOR IN DEPICTING APOSTLES OF JESUS AND DISCIPLES OF PARAMARTHA GURU"
''Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)'', Vol.7.Issue 3. 2019, pp. 361-367
Guru Paramartha or Gooroo Paramartan is a fictional monk introduced in Tamil culture
Tamil culture refers to the culture of the Tamil people. The Tamils speak the Tamil language, one of the oldest languages in India with more than two thousand years of written history.
Archaeological evidence from the Tamilakam region indicat ...
by Catholic missionary Constanzo Beschi
Constantine Joseph Beschi (8 November 1680 – 4 February 1747), also known under his Tamil name of ''Vīramāmunivar'', was an Italian Jesuit priest, missionary in South India, and Tamil language littérateur.
Early years
Born in Castiglione ...
(known for Tamils as Veeramamunivar) in his book ''Paramarthaguruvin Kadhai'' (பரமார்த்த குருவின் கதை - ''The Adventures of Guru Paramartha''). Published in 1728, it is a collection of satirical stories about a naive religious teacher and his equally obtuse disciples, Matti (dull-head), Madayan (fool), Pethai (ignoramus), Moodan (moron) and Milechan (lowly dull-wit).South Asian tales of the “foolish guru”(retrieved November 6, 2024) "How Catholic ‘Repackaging’ Of An Indian Fable Destroyed Its Purpose" (Online: swarajyamag.com/culture/how-catholic-repackaging-of-an-indian-fable-destroyed-its-purpose ) It had a considerable influence on Tamil culture and even in modern says the name "Guru Paramartha" is synonymous to "fool". It has also been adapted into other South Asian languages. Examples include Mahadenamutta in Sinhala.
(retrieved December 31, 2024) One of the stories goes as follows. One day they came to a river they had to cross, but they were afraid to do so while the river was awake. To test if the river was asleep, Moodan touched the water with a firebrand, and hearing the ‘hissing’ sound he reported that the river is still awake. After a while Madayan used the same firebrand for testing the river, but since it was already extinguished, there was no sound, and Madayan reported that the river was asleep, so they crossed it. After they crossed the river, they tried to count themselves to make sure all six were safe. But each time anyone counted, he got only five, because he didn't count himself. They went on mourning the missing person, but luckily a passer-by declared himself having powers to recall the one swallowed by the river, for a reward. After that he placed them in a row and counted all six of them.
Commentary
While in South India, Beschi compiled a collection of stories about various foolish deeds and attributed them to a Hindu guru from a monastery. Aravindan Neelakandan remarks that these stories were not invented by Beschi. Benjamin Babington ofEast India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
translated them in English in 1822 and noted the similarity of them with the stories about the Wise Men of Gotham
Wise Men of Gotham is the early name given to the people of the village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, in allusion to an incident where they supposedly feigned idiocy to avoid a Royal visit.
Legend
The story goes that John of England, King John int ...
, concluding that either they were either borrowed from the latter or they had a common source.''The Adventures of the Gooroo Paramartan''pp. 56, 57
/ref> Neelakandan further remarks that the origin of the "counting" story might be in Hindu spiritual literature. '' Panchadasi'' contains a chapter which quotes the story about 10 persons crossing a river and lamenting the missing 10th person. This humorous tale was used in ''Panchadasi'' to comment on direct knowledge (''
abhijñā
Abhijñā (; Pali pronunciation: ''abhiññā''; ''mngon shes''; zh, t=六通／神通／六神通, p=Liùtōng/Shéntōng/Liùshéntōng; ) is a Buddhist term generally translated as "direct knowledge", "higher knowledge"Rhys Davids & Stede (1 ...
''), indirect knowledge (''paroksha
In Indian philosophy, Paroksha refers to mediate knowledge or indirect cognition, mediated by sensory-intellectual apparatus, in which thought systems psychological insights that have evolved in the context of two levels of realities, empirical and ...
''), and ignorance.
Neelakandan notices that while the Hindu treatise used this story to elaborate on wisdom, commenters wrote that Beschi's goal was to satirize Hindu monks. The reason is that Buddhist monasteries were seen as an obstacle for Christian proselytizing
Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Carrying out attempts to instill beliefs can be called proselytization.
Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between Chris ...
. In particular, the "counting" story portrays monks as fools and an ordinary Hindu as a con man
A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...
. Combined with the teachings that Catholic missionaries are enlightening the Tamils, Beschi's book essentially imposed the feeling of civilizational inferiority onto the colonized people.
Notes
References
{{reflistFurther reading
*M. RAJENDRA PANDIAN"HUMOR IN DEPICTING APOSTLES OF JESUS AND DISCIPLES OF PARAMARTHA GURU"
''Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)'', Vol.7.Issue 3. 2019, pp. 361-367
External links
*:File:Paramāṟatakuruviṉa katai = The adventures of the Gooroo Paramartan - a tale in the Tamul language - accompanied by a translation and vocabulary, together with an analysis of the first story (IA b24975643).pdf *:File:The adventures of the Gooroo Paramartan- a tale in the Tamul language- accompanied by a translation and vocabulary, together with an analysis of the first story (IA b28747677).pdf *:File:Strange surprising adventures of the venerable Gooroo Simple, and his five disciples, Noodle, Doodle, Wiseacre, Zany, and Foozle (IA strangesurprisin00besc).pdf Tamil-language literature Fictional Buddhist monks Archetypal fools