Guru Paramanand has seven idiotic disciples. they
were in their previous births followers of saint Arunkeerti
and were well-versed in the holy scriptures. once they
happened to see a celestial woman bathing in a pond with
her friends. the enraged woman cursed them to become
idiots. But she assured them they would be redeemed of
the curse at the time of her marriage with a mortal. As
destined, she happened to marry king nandivardhan and
the curse on the seven disciples of Guru Paramanand was
redeemed.
As disciplesof Guru Paramanand, their pranks ultimately
turn out to be beneficial to the Guru and the society in
general.
1. The Needle oN a log
once Guru Paramanand found his upper garments torn and
were in urgent need of sewing. He summoned his seven idiotic
disciples who were under curse and asked them to go to his
friend Ramiah in the next village Rapur and fetch a needle.
Accordingly, the disciples set out to Rapur.
on their way they came across a stream which was in spate
and almost over flowing its banks. One of the disciples said,
“Friends, the stream is angry. that is why she is running very
fast. If we cross her now, she will eat us. then our guru will
be deprived of his much needed needle and will be left with
tattered clothes. so let us wait till night falls. then the stream
goes to sleep. We will cross it then.”
the others saw point in his argument. they sat there till
the evening wore out. When it was dark, the fury of the flood
abated and the disciples mistook the calmness of the stream to
be its state of sleep.
they got up and crossed the stream one by one, maintaining
strict silence lest the sleeping stream should stir up into spate
again.
they reached Rapur at midnight and knocked at the door.
Ramiah and his wife did not open the door immediately,
thinking the strangers might be bandits. they opened the door
only after the seven disciples announced their identity. “sir,
our Guru Paramanand wants you to give him a needle.”
Ramiah went inside and brought out a needle. He gave it
to one of the disciples. But he did not accept it. He said,”sir,
don’t give the needle to a single person among us and create
rift between us. Give it to all of us.”
Ramiah was at a loss to understand their logic. He said,”I
don’t have seven needles to distribute equally among you.
Moreover, your Guru needs only one needle to sew his clothes.
Hence any of you now come forward and take the needle
carefully.”
But the disciples stuck to their guns. “no, the needle must
be given to all of us equally.” then Ramiah’s wife hit upon a
plan. she pointed to a huge log in a corner of the hall and said
to them, “you pin the needle to the log and carry it to your
guru.”
the disciples liked the idea immensely. When six of them
lifted the log to their shoulders, the seventh one pinned the
needle to the log carefully. “sir,” they said, “grant us leave, We
have to hasten before the stream wakes up and eats us.”
Ramiah had already got word about the idiocy of his friend
Paramanand’s disciples. now he had ample proof of it. so he
and his wife burst into a laughter after the disciples had left.
the disciples crossed the stream “while it was fast asleep,”
and reached Paramanand’s house. they put down the log
carefully on the floor. They requested the guru to pick the
needle and take it. they explained to him of their great pains in
bringing the needle.
“You fools, you will never mend your ways.”the guru
rebuked them.
All of a sudden there was a down pour and the firewood
stocked in the backyard got dampened; it became useless for
cooking.
then the disciples brought an axe and chopped the log,
which they had brought from Rapur, into pieces. the Guru’s
wife utilised the wood pieces to cook food for all of them.
Guru Paramanand was happy that his disciples idiocy served
a good purpose.
2. MassagiNg The guru’s legs
Guru Paramanand was a teacher and a priest too. once he
was invited by a householder of Avantipur to officiate at the
wedding ceremony of his daughter.
Avantipur was eight miles away to the village Ramapur
where the Guru lived. no bullock cart was available in the
village to engage for the journey. so the Guru decided to go
to Avantipur by walk. At Avantipur also he faced the same
problem. He could not get a cart for his return journey. so he
walked back to his village.
the Guru’s legs ached as he walked for a total of sixteen
miles to and fro Avanitpur. He had a light supper that night and
asked his disciples to massage his aching legs. the disciples
agreed.
three of the disciples sat at the Guru’s left leg and while the
rest of the four sat at his right one.
soon the Guru was asleep as the massaging by his disciples
gave a soothing effect to his aching legs. But, as the disciples
were monkey-brained, they soon fell into an argument as to
which of the two legs they were massaging, was greater.
“Mind you, the leg which we are massaging is great.” the
three disciples who were massaging the left leg said, “if you
make any bad comment about our leg, we will chop off your
right leg.” they wanted to prove how serious they were in their
resolve. they got up and went to the backyard of the house.
They searched for axes kept there to cut firewood.
they returned to their place with an axe. they kept it there
and resumed massaging the Guru’s left leg.
not to be outdone, the other four disciples who were
massaging the Guru’s right leg, also went to the backyard, and
brought another axe. “tit for tat”they said, “if you utter any
foul words about our Guru’s right leg, we will cut off the left
one.”
“If you threaten, we will not be afraid.”the first three
said.
this way both the groups of disciples began to quarrel
with one another as to which of the two legs of the Guru was
greater. not to be outdone by the rival, both the groups got up
with raised axes in their hands. “the leg we are massaging is
golden and your leg is lame” cried the three disciples who were
massaging the left leg.
“no, not at all” cried the four disciples who were
massaging the right leg,”our leg is a gem. Your leg is swollen
and ugly.”
the Guru was startled out of his deep sleep by the commotion.
He opened his eyes and soon realised what was going to happen.
Before he could say anything, one of the disciples said, “sir,
don’t move, till we settle scores”
“You fools! You are going to chop my legs. Don’t you know
it? you will not mend your ways.” he cried and jumped out
his bed with great alarm; he ran to a corner of the room, still
trembling with fear.
Just then! A long black cobra which had been lurking under
the bed till then, crawled out and issued forth through the
doorway.
now Guru Paramanand was happy that his disciples’ idiocy
saved his life.
3. The girl’s sweeT sMile
once Guru Paramanand wanted a white pumpkin for a
religious ceremony. He sent his seven disciples to go to a nearby
garden, where all kinds of fruits and creepers were grown. the
seven disciples went to to the gardner and asked “our Guru
Paramanand wants a white pumpkin for a ceremony. How
much does it cost?”
“It would cost one rupee.”the gardener replied.
When one of them was about to give the amount to the
gardner and take delivery of the pumpkin, the other disciples
said,”Friend, there is no hurry. Let us rest here a bit. then we
can buy the pumpkin.”
When the disciples sat under the shade of a coconut tree, the
beautiful teenage daughter of the gardner came over there and
said,”Father, who are these seven gentlemen?”
“Padma,”the gardner replied, “they are Guru Paramanand’s
disciples. they’ve come to buy a pumpkin.”
“ Father, which one of the seven will buy?”Padma asked her
father with a sweet smile.
Before the gardener could reply to his daughter’s question,
the seven disciples trooped in. The first one of them asked the
girl, “o, beautiful one, have you smiled at me?”
Padma did not answer his question. Meanwhile the second
one pushed aside the first one and argued that the girl smiled
at him only. Gradually, all of the seven entered into wordy
duels, each saying that Padma smiled at him. each one of them
flaunted his tuft of hair at the nape of the neck and tried to
impress her how beautiful it was. their antics made the girl
smile even more.
the gardener who had been watching the entire scenario
with amused silence, said that Guru Paramanand was the right
person to tell the cause of his daughter’s smile.
this prompted a disciple to rush to their Guru’s house. He
asked the Guru to dash immediately to the gardener. He told
him as to why his presence was solicited so urgentlly. the Guru
was sad at the idiocy of his disciples. He followed his disciple
to the gardener. He wanted to tender him an apology on behalf
of his idiotic disciples.
Meanwhile, Padma’s continuous smile at the foolishness of
the disciples, turned into peals of laughter and she looked even
more beautiful while laughing.
suddenly her laugher stopped and she stood frozen with
fear. Before her stood the young and handsome local chieftain.
He was the most eligible bachelor of the locality. “Girl, will
you marry me? I wanted to marry a prettyone with a most
beautiful smile on her face.”
Padma was shy. she ran into her hut without a reply.
the local chieftain followed her and spoke to the gardener,
her father. the gardener was very happy to make him his sonin-
law.
the gardener thanked Guru Paramanand profusely
because it was his disciples who had made his daughter laugh
continuously at their antics. But for them, she would not have
won the chieftain’s hand.
When the chieftain heard this, he rewarded the Guru suitably.
the Guru was happy as his disciples’ antics brought him
good luck this way.
4. The dead Cow
Guru Paramanand had a beautiful daughter. the Guru
wanted to marry her off to a handsome youth. He struck a
good alliance for her. the Guru asked his disciples to go to
the nearby village and buy him a good cow to meet the needs
of the wedding. the Guru told them that the signs of a good
cow are that she should yield plenty of milk and she should
not gore the person who milks her or feeds her. the disciples
went to the next village on the errand. A market was going
on in the village. the seven disciples trooped into the market.
they made their way where the cows were being sold. Just
then an old, white cow dropped dead there and the organizer
of the shanty sent for men to carry her away. Meanwhile, the
seven disciples spotted the dead cow. they. liked the dead cow
very much. they thought the cow was sleeping. they wanted
to buy her without disturbing her sleep. they asked the cow’s
owner,”sir, does it yield good quantity of milk?”
the owner replied, “sirs, she does.”
“then sir,”they asked him again,”does she gore any person
who approaches her to feed it?”
“no sirs, she doesn’t”
the disciples did not know that the cow was dead. they
thought that the she was sleeping. they did not want to disturb
it out of her sleep. they just wanted to take home the ‘sleeping
cow’. they paid the money, arranged for a cart and began their
journey homewards.
one of the disciples ran in advance and informed the Guru
that they bought a sleeping cow. the Guru did not understand as
to what they meant by a sleeping cow. soon the other disciples
hauled the ‘sleeping cow’ to the front of the house. one of the
disciples said,”Guruji, the cow was sleeping when we bought
it. so we have brought her here without disturbing her sleep.”
the Guru wanted to bang his head against the wall in anger
and desperation, “You idiots!”he cried,”she is a dead cow. But
you are such fools not to know it.” He knew that there was no
point in scolding them since they were idiots. He bade them go
to the outskirts of the village, bury the cow and bathe before
returning home.
While the disciples went with the cow on the cart, the
headman of the village passed that way. the Guru saw him. He
told him what had happened. He requested him to take the dead
cow seller to task and demand his (the Guru’s) money back.
the headman bowed to the Guru and went to the village
market along with two soldiers. When the headman inquired
of the dead cow seller and spotted him, his surprise knew no
bounds. the cow seller was none but the person, involved in
many crimes of the village. He arrested him and summoned a
panchayat (village court). He invited the Guru also to the court
and rewarded him suitably. But for the Guru’s complaint, he
would not have caught the criminal. the Guru was happy that
his disciples’ idiocy brought him luck again.
5.The Possessed door
once the Guru Paramanand and his wife wanted to visit
their relative in the same village. the Guru called out to his
disciples and said,”Myself and your mother are going out. It
will be evening before we return. shut the doors properly and
remain indoors.”
the disciples nodded meekly in agreement at what their
Guru said.
the Guru and his wife left the house, once again cautioning
the disciples against thieves.
the disciples wanted to close the front door and remain
inside the house as their Guru commanded them. The first of
the disciple wanted to close the door by holding it at the edge
instead of laying the hand on the latch. His hand got crushed.
He cried in pain. then the second disciple wanted to try his
hand. He also put his hand on the door at the edge, instead of
on the latch and pulled it. His hand also got crushed between
the door and the door sill. He also winced in pain. the third one
also tried to shut the door and, in the process his hand also got
crushed in between the doorway and the door. But, being fools,
none of them thought that one should lay his hand on the latch
and pull the door to close it.
While the three were thus groaning in pain, the other four
thought that the door was possessed. they felt that a spirit of
one of the ancestors in the house was responsible for crushing
their hands. they went to their Guru’s book-shelf in a corner of
the room where the palm-leafed books were kept.
one of the disciples laying his hand on a book titled
“exorcising an evil spirit”, cried, “ I’ve found it”. While he
turned over the leaves, the others peeped over him. The first
one, who was reading the manuscript said,”here it is written
that the best way to exorcise a spirit is to burn the object which
it possesses.”
the others agreed. All of them went into the kitchen and
lit the oven. they prepared a long torch woven with shreds of
cloth and soaked it in oil. They dipped the torch into the fire in
the oven. Soon the torch was aflame. Then they ran back to the
front of the house. While the first one torched the door and the
door sill, the others encouraged him to go on.
Soon the door and the door sill caught fire amid the wild
cries of the disciples.
Just then Guru Paramanand and his wife returned and were
aghast at what they saw.
on seeing the Guru, the disciple who was responsible for
‘exorcising the door’, said, “Guruji, we tried to shut the front
door as you ordered. But the door crushed our hands as it was
possessed.”
the Guru wanted to give a good beating to the idiotic
disciples who had burned the strong teak wood door and the
sill. Before he could raise his hand to beat them, wonder of the
wonders happened. the burning door and the sill crashed down
and from the gap of the sill, rained hundreds of gold coins.
the Guru and his wife were wonder struck. the Guru
thought that obviously one of his ancestors must have hidden
a treasure in the wall and placed the sill and the door over it.
He was happy that the idiocy of his disciples brought him good
fortune again.
6. The Four geNTleMeN
Guru Paramanand and wife were invited by his friend Rama
sastri for his daughter’s wedding. the Guru and his wife set
out to the next village Rampur in a bullock cart on a fine sunny
morning. the Guru explained to the disciples in detail the
does and donts that they should abide by, during his (Guru’s)
absence. the Guru told them time and again to honour if any
gentleman visited the house.
on a no moon night, four thieves made a big hole on the
back wall of the Guru’s house and entered the house through
the hole. they had daggers and swords on their persons and
had smeared their bodies with oil so that they could easily slip
away when caught.
When they entered the hall, they were surprised to find the
Guru’s disciples wide awake. they were narrating some folk
tales to each other innocently. they wanted to run away. But
it was too late. the Guru’s disciples spotted them in the dim
light. they inquired them who they were. By now the thieves
realised that the disciples were fools, because they did not raise
any alarm on seeing them. the thieves composed themselves
and replied,”Great sirs, we are gentlemen. We have come here
to have a look at the gold and silver ornaments in the house.”
“sure sirs, you can,” the disciples said. they went into the
Guru’s bedroom and opened the lid of the huge wooden box
and brought out gold and silver ornaments and silver articles.
“Please sirs,” they said, “feast your eyes on them.”
the thieves were very happy for without their efforts, huge
cache of gold and silver came to them. they told the foolish
disciples to wait outside room for a while till they feasted their
eyes on the ornaments.
the disciples obeyed the thieves, still taking them to be
gentlemen and came out of the room and waited there.
the thieves shut the door and set upon their business. they
began to fill their bags with the gold and silver, talking to each
other in hushed tones.
Meanwhile, one of the disciples got a doubt that gentlemen
would always wear spotless white clothes and would never
oil their bodies. He expressed this doubt to one of the mates.
the mate agreed and added,”my grand mother used to say
that thieves always oil their bodies so that they could not be
manhandled.”
soon there were exchanges of opinion as to the credentials
of the strangers.
As bad luck would have it, the thieves forgot to shut the
door of a side window of the room. A disciple who was a
doubting thomas, peeped through the window and his fears
were confirmed. He saw the thieves filling their bags with
the gold and silver. one by one all the disciples saw what
the supposed gentlemen in the room were doing. there were
urgent consultations among them. then some of them stood
on either side of the threshold with clubs in their hands. some
others climbed onto the shade of the door sill, with clubs.
When the four thieves came out of the house one by one, the
disciples stationed at strategic places, hit them hard with their
clubs. When the thieves fell down unconscious, they bound
them hand and foot.
the beat soldiers who were passing by, took the thieves into
their custody.
When Guru Paramanand and his wife returned, a happy
news of reward by the chieftain awaited the Guru.
7. whiTe washiNg The BridegrooM
ParTy
The date was fixed for Guru Paramanand daughter’s wedding.
the wedding preparations were afoot and close relatives began
to pour in to partake in the celebrations. the Guru was busy
ordering this and that. He was seen everywhere. His wife too
did not lag behind. she collected the neighbouring women into
her house and began to prepare black gram laddus (ball shaped
sweets). the Guru suddenly remembered that he had not yet
ordered the white washing of the house. He summoned his
disciples,”Children,”he said affectionately,”You must white
wash before the bridegroom party arrives.”
But the disciples in their enthusiasm did not hear the
preposition “before”. they got it into their heads as ‘whitewash
the bridegroom party.’
they mixed lime stone water in a big vessel and waited in
front of the house for the bridegroom party to arrive. the Guru
was innocent enough to believe that the disciples were on their
job of white washing the house.
the bridegroom party arrived in bullock carts. the disciples
immediately pounced on them and white washed their bodies.
they did not spare even the bridegroom and his father.
the bridegroom party tried to run away but the disciples
held them tight. While one caught the bridegroom another one
white washed him. As the lime water penetrated deep into the
skin, they cried in burning pain. soon their cries reached the
Guru’s ears who was supervising the erection of a canopy at the
backyard of the house for cooking purpose. He immediately
ran to the front of the house and was shocked to see what his
disciples were doing to the bridegroom party. He pushed away
his disciples and saved the marriage party. “You fools, don’t
you know what you are doing?”
then he turned to the bridegroom party and apologised
profusely.”Please sirs, pardon us. our disciples are idiots.
they do not know what they will do. sometimes they resort
to unpredictable things. Please sirs, have a good bath and get
ready for the ceremony.”
“this is too much. If you do not like our alliance you should
have told us before hand. But what right have you to insult us
like this? Down with the alliance. We need this marriage no
more.” But the Guru requested them a lot. But the bridegroom
party did not relent. When the disciples also joined their Guru
in apologizing to them, though they did not know what for, the
bridegroom vomited blood.
the Guru was stunned at this sight.
“sir, pardon me,”the bridegroom said,”I am suffering from
consumption disease. But my parents wanted to conceal the
fact and marry me to your daughter.”
When the bridegroom himself made this confession, his
elders did not know what to do. so they slipped away.
the Guru hugged his disciples and thanked them for saving
his daughter from impending widowhood.
8. The CulPriT CaughT
the Guru and his wife were vexed with the foolish deeds of
the disciples. they scolded them to get lost and die.
the disciples sat down in a corner of the backyard of the
house. they were sad and angry. they decided to die. But
they quarreled among themselves as to how to die. When one
suggested that they should die by drowning into the pond at
the outskirts of the village, the others objected to the plan. If
they drown into the pond, the water will be contaminated. then
it wouldl be a sin to deprive the villagers of drinking water.
Another one suggested setting themselves aflame but the others
rejected this plan too, saying it would be dreadfully painful.
then they thought of climbing to the top of a high hill and
jumping down to end their lives. But some of them did not like
this idea also. they were not sure that death would be certain
if they jumped down the hill. suppose they survive the suicide
attempt by breaking their limbs, the Guru and his wife will
scold them again for disobeying them. But, at last all of them
agreed that death would be painless if they consumed heavy
quantities of poison. one of the disciples said,”brothers, our
kitchen contains large balls of poison in a big bronze vessel.
At first I thought they were laddus (ball shaped sweets). But
mother (Guru’s wife) said they were balls of poison and we
should not touch them.”
now they resolved to eat the balls of poison and end their
lives. they waited till midnight. then they were repentant
of their bad deeds to one another. one of them said to the
other,”brother, pardon me. once I hit you for not doing my
bidding. My soul will not rest in peace unless you pardon me.”
“You must also pardon me,”another one said,” I splashed
water on you for not sharing your guava fruit with me.”
“I forgive you heartily.”said the other one. this way all of
them pardoned one another.
When it was midnight they stealthily walked into the kitchen.
they brought down the vessel of black gram laddus from top
of the shelf. they removed the cloth that served as a lid on the
vessel. everyone of the seven ate one laddu each, thinking it to
be the poison. they had a natural sleep after eating the sweets.
they mistook their sleep as death.
early in the morning they woke, left the house and walked
towards the outskirts of the town, where the king’s palace was
situated. they thought the imposing gate of the palace to be the
gate of heaven. now they were convinced that their souls were
still outside the gate of heaven, which was why they did not
find the celestial king Indra, nor the celestial dancers Rambha,
Urvasi and Menaka.
they approached the gate of the fort and went in.
the palace guards did not stop them. they thought that the
brahmin boys were going to the king to seek alms.
Meanwhile, the chief of the bodyguards of the king who had
made a vain attempt on the life of the king, was running away
from being caught.
the disciples mistook him to be Indra running urgently to
fight demons. They wanted to pay their respects to him for
letting them into heaven. they closed in on him and did not
allow him to move unless he blessed them. When six of the
disciples held him, the seventh one bowed to him. everyone of
them was bent upon doing so.
Meanwhile, the soldiers who were chasing the fleeing chief,
arrived on the scene. they thanked the brahmin disciples for
restraining the chief till they (the soldiers) came.
As the day broke, at the Guru’s house, both the Guru and
his wife were sad as they could not find the disciples. They
thought that the disciples, unable to stomach the insults must
have left for a far off place. the Guru’s wife began to cry. the
Guru tried to comfort her.
then there was a commotion in the street. the Guru and his
wife came out to see what it was about. there were half a dozen
soldiers who escorted the disciples. the soldiers were all praise
for the disciples for their bravery. the head of the soldiers told
the Guru what had happened and the royal reception that was
to take place that evening at the fort for catching the culprit
who had made an attempt on the king’s life.
the Guru was happy that his disciples’ foolishness brought
him luck once again.
the disciples were sad that the poison did not work and they
could not go to heaven.
9.The river eaTs uP a disCiPle
the Guru Paramanand’s friend in a nearby village wanted
to perform an yajna (sacrifice) for the welfare of the villagers.
He was short of brahmins. so he sent for the Guru’s disciples.
the Guru had no objection for his friend’s request but he was
worried of their antics. When he expressed his apprehensions,
his friend assured him that he would take care of his disciples.
the seven disciples began their journey to the other village.
they had to cross a river to reach their destination.
As they crossed the river, one of the disciples got a doubt
whether there were seven of them intact or the waters gobbled
one or two of them. they argued for sometime about this.
“Why can’t we count ourselves and know whether all of us are
alive or not. Why this wasteful argument” advised one of the
disciples who always thought that he was the most intelligent of
all. the others liked the idea. one of them counted everybody
except himself. Hence the number was only six. the other six
too counted like this. The figure was naturally six only. Then
they were convinced that the river ate up one of them.
After crying for the departed friend for a while, they decided
to send a word to the Guru and the Guru’s friend about the
tragedy. one of them wanted to go and inform the Guru’s
friend that they could not attend the yajna as they were in a
period of mourning.
A short and hefty person who was passing by stopped and
asked,”Fellows, why are you crying?”
“Respected sir,” the disciples answered among sobs,”the
river ate up one of us. so we are crying over the loss of our
dear friend.”
the stranger was convinced that the seven persons were
foolish brahmins and they could be duped of their gold ear-
studs, gold rings and gold talisman easily. He wanted to gain
their confidence before he would make good with their
ornaments. “I have some spiritual powers” he said, “I can
make your dead friend alive again.” If I do so, what will you
give me?”
“sir,” the most intelligent among them said,”only gods can
bring back the dead to life. But you don’t seem to be a god.”
“You fellows” the stranger roared in feigned anger.”I am
really a god in disguise. If you give me your gold ear-studs,
rings and talisman, I will definitely bring back your dead friend
to life.”
“Yes, we will,”all of them said at once.
Then he lined up the seven disciples. He asked the first one
to tell his name and count one finger.
The first disciple did so. One by one the other six disciples
also told their names and counted their fingers. As expected
ultimately there were seven of them intact.
the stranger said,”While the six of you closed your eyes to
tell yours names and count your fingers, I brought back to your
dead friend to life, the seventh one.” He continued,”now it is
up to you to keep your word and give me your ear-studs, rings
and talismans.”
“o.K.sure,” the disciples said with gratitude and happiness.
they vied with each other to hold the stranger’s legs in high
reverence. shocked at this unexpected gesture, the stranger
lost his balance and fell down. the disciples too fell on him en
masse.
Meanwhile, the kotwal (commissioner of police) was passing
that way with half a dozen policemen. He halted his horse to
see what the commotion was about. the kotwal soon sighted
the stranger. the stranger tried to disengage himself from the
disciples and run away. But the alert policemen caught him.
the kotwal said to the crowd which gathered there,”He is a
notorious kidnapper who carried away many children by force.
I recommend these brahmin boys to the king to be suitably
rewarded. If they did not engage him so long, we would not
have arrested him.”
the next day the Guru was informed about the brave act of
his disciples. the Guru was happy that the foolishness of his
disciples was instrumental in catching a criminal again.
10. The guru’s 12 wives
the Guru Paramanand was worried as to how to provide
food, clothing and shelter to his new found disciples who were
under curse. He visited noble Rajavardhan of Avantipur for
employment in his court. the noble recognised the scholarship
of the Guru and appointed him chief of the scholars at the court.
As he was comfortably settled down at the court, discoursing
with the noble on various subjects, he suddenly remembered
his wife and daughter. He was sad for them. “o king”, he said,
“my wife and daughter are at a distant village. I will send my
seven disciple to fetch them. Kindly provide two escorts for
them.”
“o learned Guru,” the noble said,”so be it. now itself, I
place two soldiers at your disposal. You can engage them as
you please.”
the Guru called out to his disciples.”Dear sons”, he said
“My wife Lakshmi and daughter Purna are at Village Rampur.
You seven go to Rampur and fetch my wife and daughter. these
two soldiers will escort you. Don’t resort to any untoward
things during the journey.” the Guru provided the route map
to the village on a palm leaf.
the disciples reached Rampur, but to their surprise there
were twelve women named Lakshmi in the village. the
disciples concluded that all of them were wives of their Guru.
they forced them to accompany them to Avantipur.
the brahmin women’s men remonstrated in vain and were
prepared to take oath again that they were the husbands of the
women. But the stupid disciples did not listen to their pleas.
the disciples said that it was a royal order.
the hapless men accompanied their women to Avantipur.
By now the soldiers realized that the brahmin disciples were
fools. But they were afraid to oppose them for fear of being
cursed. they kept quiet and just did their escort duty.
the seven disciples and the twelve women accompanied by
their men reached Avantipur.
the disciples handed over the twelve women to the care of
the Guru innocently. “Guruji,”they said,” though you have
twelve wives, you have forgotten eleven of them. Please accept
your wives and treat them equally”
the Guru was aghast at the foolishness of his disciples. He
begged pardon of the women’s men whom he knew very well.
“My disciples have become idiots under the curse of a celestial
woman.” the Guru continued, “their foolish acts would always
turn out to be beneficial according to the curse. This is their
latest foolish deed. Let us see how it will turn out to be.”
Meanwhile the two soldiers who accompanied the disciples
to Rampur, briefed the noble about the foolish deed of the
disciples. the noble visited the Guru at his house. “Guruji”, he
said, “I should thank your disciples. I am planning to perform
a yaga (sacrifice) which needs brahmins. Now we have handful
of brahmins without asking, thanks to your disciples.”
The Guru was happy again, as his disciples’action benefitted
his fellow brahmins.
were in their previous births followers of saint Arunkeerti
and were well-versed in the holy scriptures. once they
happened to see a celestial woman bathing in a pond with
her friends. the enraged woman cursed them to become
idiots. But she assured them they would be redeemed of
the curse at the time of her marriage with a mortal. As
destined, she happened to marry king nandivardhan and
the curse on the seven disciples of Guru Paramanand was
redeemed.
As disciplesof Guru Paramanand, their pranks ultimately
turn out to be beneficial to the Guru and the society in
general.
1. The Needle oN a log
once Guru Paramanand found his upper garments torn and
were in urgent need of sewing. He summoned his seven idiotic
disciples who were under curse and asked them to go to his
friend Ramiah in the next village Rapur and fetch a needle.
Accordingly, the disciples set out to Rapur.
on their way they came across a stream which was in spate
and almost over flowing its banks. One of the disciples said,
“Friends, the stream is angry. that is why she is running very
fast. If we cross her now, she will eat us. then our guru will
be deprived of his much needed needle and will be left with
tattered clothes. so let us wait till night falls. then the stream
goes to sleep. We will cross it then.”
the others saw point in his argument. they sat there till
the evening wore out. When it was dark, the fury of the flood
abated and the disciples mistook the calmness of the stream to
be its state of sleep.
they got up and crossed the stream one by one, maintaining
strict silence lest the sleeping stream should stir up into spate
again.
they reached Rapur at midnight and knocked at the door.
Ramiah and his wife did not open the door immediately,
thinking the strangers might be bandits. they opened the door
only after the seven disciples announced their identity. “sir,
our Guru Paramanand wants you to give him a needle.”
Ramiah went inside and brought out a needle. He gave it
to one of the disciples. But he did not accept it. He said,”sir,
don’t give the needle to a single person among us and create
rift between us. Give it to all of us.”
Ramiah was at a loss to understand their logic. He said,”I
don’t have seven needles to distribute equally among you.
Moreover, your Guru needs only one needle to sew his clothes.
Hence any of you now come forward and take the needle
carefully.”
But the disciples stuck to their guns. “no, the needle must
be given to all of us equally.” then Ramiah’s wife hit upon a
plan. she pointed to a huge log in a corner of the hall and said
to them, “you pin the needle to the log and carry it to your
guru.”
the disciples liked the idea immensely. When six of them
lifted the log to their shoulders, the seventh one pinned the
needle to the log carefully. “sir,” they said, “grant us leave, We
have to hasten before the stream wakes up and eats us.”
Ramiah had already got word about the idiocy of his friend
Paramanand’s disciples. now he had ample proof of it. so he
and his wife burst into a laughter after the disciples had left.
the disciples crossed the stream “while it was fast asleep,”
and reached Paramanand’s house. they put down the log
carefully on the floor. They requested the guru to pick the
needle and take it. they explained to him of their great pains in
bringing the needle.
“You fools, you will never mend your ways.”the guru
rebuked them.
All of a sudden there was a down pour and the firewood
stocked in the backyard got dampened; it became useless for
cooking.
then the disciples brought an axe and chopped the log,
which they had brought from Rapur, into pieces. the Guru’s
wife utilised the wood pieces to cook food for all of them.
Guru Paramanand was happy that his disciples idiocy served
a good purpose.
2. MassagiNg The guru’s legs
Guru Paramanand was a teacher and a priest too. once he
was invited by a householder of Avantipur to officiate at the
wedding ceremony of his daughter.
Avantipur was eight miles away to the village Ramapur
where the Guru lived. no bullock cart was available in the
village to engage for the journey. so the Guru decided to go
to Avantipur by walk. At Avantipur also he faced the same
problem. He could not get a cart for his return journey. so he
walked back to his village.
the Guru’s legs ached as he walked for a total of sixteen
miles to and fro Avanitpur. He had a light supper that night and
asked his disciples to massage his aching legs. the disciples
agreed.
three of the disciples sat at the Guru’s left leg and while the
rest of the four sat at his right one.
soon the Guru was asleep as the massaging by his disciples
gave a soothing effect to his aching legs. But, as the disciples
were monkey-brained, they soon fell into an argument as to
which of the two legs they were massaging, was greater.
“Mind you, the leg which we are massaging is great.” the
three disciples who were massaging the left leg said, “if you
make any bad comment about our leg, we will chop off your
right leg.” they wanted to prove how serious they were in their
resolve. they got up and went to the backyard of the house.
They searched for axes kept there to cut firewood.
they returned to their place with an axe. they kept it there
and resumed massaging the Guru’s left leg.
not to be outdone, the other four disciples who were
massaging the Guru’s right leg, also went to the backyard, and
brought another axe. “tit for tat”they said, “if you utter any
foul words about our Guru’s right leg, we will cut off the left
one.”
“If you threaten, we will not be afraid.”the first three
said.
this way both the groups of disciples began to quarrel
with one another as to which of the two legs of the Guru was
greater. not to be outdone by the rival, both the groups got up
with raised axes in their hands. “the leg we are massaging is
golden and your leg is lame” cried the three disciples who were
massaging the left leg.
“no, not at all” cried the four disciples who were
massaging the right leg,”our leg is a gem. Your leg is swollen
and ugly.”
the Guru was startled out of his deep sleep by the commotion.
He opened his eyes and soon realised what was going to happen.
Before he could say anything, one of the disciples said, “sir,
don’t move, till we settle scores”
“You fools! You are going to chop my legs. Don’t you know
it? you will not mend your ways.” he cried and jumped out
his bed with great alarm; he ran to a corner of the room, still
trembling with fear.
Just then! A long black cobra which had been lurking under
the bed till then, crawled out and issued forth through the
doorway.
now Guru Paramanand was happy that his disciples’ idiocy
saved his life.
3. The girl’s sweeT sMile
once Guru Paramanand wanted a white pumpkin for a
religious ceremony. He sent his seven disciples to go to a nearby
garden, where all kinds of fruits and creepers were grown. the
seven disciples went to to the gardner and asked “our Guru
Paramanand wants a white pumpkin for a ceremony. How
much does it cost?”
“It would cost one rupee.”the gardener replied.
When one of them was about to give the amount to the
gardner and take delivery of the pumpkin, the other disciples
said,”Friend, there is no hurry. Let us rest here a bit. then we
can buy the pumpkin.”
When the disciples sat under the shade of a coconut tree, the
beautiful teenage daughter of the gardner came over there and
said,”Father, who are these seven gentlemen?”
“Padma,”the gardner replied, “they are Guru Paramanand’s
disciples. they’ve come to buy a pumpkin.”
“ Father, which one of the seven will buy?”Padma asked her
father with a sweet smile.
Before the gardener could reply to his daughter’s question,
the seven disciples trooped in. The first one of them asked the
girl, “o, beautiful one, have you smiled at me?”
Padma did not answer his question. Meanwhile the second
one pushed aside the first one and argued that the girl smiled
at him only. Gradually, all of the seven entered into wordy
duels, each saying that Padma smiled at him. each one of them
flaunted his tuft of hair at the nape of the neck and tried to
impress her how beautiful it was. their antics made the girl
smile even more.
the gardener who had been watching the entire scenario
with amused silence, said that Guru Paramanand was the right
person to tell the cause of his daughter’s smile.
this prompted a disciple to rush to their Guru’s house. He
asked the Guru to dash immediately to the gardener. He told
him as to why his presence was solicited so urgentlly. the Guru
was sad at the idiocy of his disciples. He followed his disciple
to the gardener. He wanted to tender him an apology on behalf
of his idiotic disciples.
Meanwhile, Padma’s continuous smile at the foolishness of
the disciples, turned into peals of laughter and she looked even
more beautiful while laughing.
suddenly her laugher stopped and she stood frozen with
fear. Before her stood the young and handsome local chieftain.
He was the most eligible bachelor of the locality. “Girl, will
you marry me? I wanted to marry a prettyone with a most
beautiful smile on her face.”
Padma was shy. she ran into her hut without a reply.
the local chieftain followed her and spoke to the gardener,
her father. the gardener was very happy to make him his sonin-
law.
the gardener thanked Guru Paramanand profusely
because it was his disciples who had made his daughter laugh
continuously at their antics. But for them, she would not have
won the chieftain’s hand.
When the chieftain heard this, he rewarded the Guru suitably.
the Guru was happy as his disciples’ antics brought him
good luck this way.
4. The dead Cow
Guru Paramanand had a beautiful daughter. the Guru
wanted to marry her off to a handsome youth. He struck a
good alliance for her. the Guru asked his disciples to go to
the nearby village and buy him a good cow to meet the needs
of the wedding. the Guru told them that the signs of a good
cow are that she should yield plenty of milk and she should
not gore the person who milks her or feeds her. the disciples
went to the next village on the errand. A market was going
on in the village. the seven disciples trooped into the market.
they made their way where the cows were being sold. Just
then an old, white cow dropped dead there and the organizer
of the shanty sent for men to carry her away. Meanwhile, the
seven disciples spotted the dead cow. they. liked the dead cow
very much. they thought the cow was sleeping. they wanted
to buy her without disturbing her sleep. they asked the cow’s
owner,”sir, does it yield good quantity of milk?”
the owner replied, “sirs, she does.”
“then sir,”they asked him again,”does she gore any person
who approaches her to feed it?”
“no sirs, she doesn’t”
the disciples did not know that the cow was dead. they
thought that the she was sleeping. they did not want to disturb
it out of her sleep. they just wanted to take home the ‘sleeping
cow’. they paid the money, arranged for a cart and began their
journey homewards.
one of the disciples ran in advance and informed the Guru
that they bought a sleeping cow. the Guru did not understand as
to what they meant by a sleeping cow. soon the other disciples
hauled the ‘sleeping cow’ to the front of the house. one of the
disciples said,”Guruji, the cow was sleeping when we bought
it. so we have brought her here without disturbing her sleep.”
the Guru wanted to bang his head against the wall in anger
and desperation, “You idiots!”he cried,”she is a dead cow. But
you are such fools not to know it.” He knew that there was no
point in scolding them since they were idiots. He bade them go
to the outskirts of the village, bury the cow and bathe before
returning home.
While the disciples went with the cow on the cart, the
headman of the village passed that way. the Guru saw him. He
told him what had happened. He requested him to take the dead
cow seller to task and demand his (the Guru’s) money back.
the headman bowed to the Guru and went to the village
market along with two soldiers. When the headman inquired
of the dead cow seller and spotted him, his surprise knew no
bounds. the cow seller was none but the person, involved in
many crimes of the village. He arrested him and summoned a
panchayat (village court). He invited the Guru also to the court
and rewarded him suitably. But for the Guru’s complaint, he
would not have caught the criminal. the Guru was happy that
his disciples’ idiocy brought him luck again.
5.The Possessed door
once the Guru Paramanand and his wife wanted to visit
their relative in the same village. the Guru called out to his
disciples and said,”Myself and your mother are going out. It
will be evening before we return. shut the doors properly and
remain indoors.”
the disciples nodded meekly in agreement at what their
Guru said.
the Guru and his wife left the house, once again cautioning
the disciples against thieves.
the disciples wanted to close the front door and remain
inside the house as their Guru commanded them. The first of
the disciple wanted to close the door by holding it at the edge
instead of laying the hand on the latch. His hand got crushed.
He cried in pain. then the second disciple wanted to try his
hand. He also put his hand on the door at the edge, instead of
on the latch and pulled it. His hand also got crushed between
the door and the door sill. He also winced in pain. the third one
also tried to shut the door and, in the process his hand also got
crushed in between the doorway and the door. But, being fools,
none of them thought that one should lay his hand on the latch
and pull the door to close it.
While the three were thus groaning in pain, the other four
thought that the door was possessed. they felt that a spirit of
one of the ancestors in the house was responsible for crushing
their hands. they went to their Guru’s book-shelf in a corner of
the room where the palm-leafed books were kept.
one of the disciples laying his hand on a book titled
“exorcising an evil spirit”, cried, “ I’ve found it”. While he
turned over the leaves, the others peeped over him. The first
one, who was reading the manuscript said,”here it is written
that the best way to exorcise a spirit is to burn the object which
it possesses.”
the others agreed. All of them went into the kitchen and
lit the oven. they prepared a long torch woven with shreds of
cloth and soaked it in oil. They dipped the torch into the fire in
the oven. Soon the torch was aflame. Then they ran back to the
front of the house. While the first one torched the door and the
door sill, the others encouraged him to go on.
Soon the door and the door sill caught fire amid the wild
cries of the disciples.
Just then Guru Paramanand and his wife returned and were
aghast at what they saw.
on seeing the Guru, the disciple who was responsible for
‘exorcising the door’, said, “Guruji, we tried to shut the front
door as you ordered. But the door crushed our hands as it was
possessed.”
the Guru wanted to give a good beating to the idiotic
disciples who had burned the strong teak wood door and the
sill. Before he could raise his hand to beat them, wonder of the
wonders happened. the burning door and the sill crashed down
and from the gap of the sill, rained hundreds of gold coins.
the Guru and his wife were wonder struck. the Guru
thought that obviously one of his ancestors must have hidden
a treasure in the wall and placed the sill and the door over it.
He was happy that the idiocy of his disciples brought him good
fortune again.
6. The Four geNTleMeN
Guru Paramanand and wife were invited by his friend Rama
sastri for his daughter’s wedding. the Guru and his wife set
out to the next village Rampur in a bullock cart on a fine sunny
morning. the Guru explained to the disciples in detail the
does and donts that they should abide by, during his (Guru’s)
absence. the Guru told them time and again to honour if any
gentleman visited the house.
on a no moon night, four thieves made a big hole on the
back wall of the Guru’s house and entered the house through
the hole. they had daggers and swords on their persons and
had smeared their bodies with oil so that they could easily slip
away when caught.
When they entered the hall, they were surprised to find the
Guru’s disciples wide awake. they were narrating some folk
tales to each other innocently. they wanted to run away. But
it was too late. the Guru’s disciples spotted them in the dim
light. they inquired them who they were. By now the thieves
realised that the disciples were fools, because they did not raise
any alarm on seeing them. the thieves composed themselves
and replied,”Great sirs, we are gentlemen. We have come here
to have a look at the gold and silver ornaments in the house.”
“sure sirs, you can,” the disciples said. they went into the
Guru’s bedroom and opened the lid of the huge wooden box
and brought out gold and silver ornaments and silver articles.
“Please sirs,” they said, “feast your eyes on them.”
the thieves were very happy for without their efforts, huge
cache of gold and silver came to them. they told the foolish
disciples to wait outside room for a while till they feasted their
eyes on the ornaments.
the disciples obeyed the thieves, still taking them to be
gentlemen and came out of the room and waited there.
the thieves shut the door and set upon their business. they
began to fill their bags with the gold and silver, talking to each
other in hushed tones.
Meanwhile, one of the disciples got a doubt that gentlemen
would always wear spotless white clothes and would never
oil their bodies. He expressed this doubt to one of the mates.
the mate agreed and added,”my grand mother used to say
that thieves always oil their bodies so that they could not be
manhandled.”
soon there were exchanges of opinion as to the credentials
of the strangers.
As bad luck would have it, the thieves forgot to shut the
door of a side window of the room. A disciple who was a
doubting thomas, peeped through the window and his fears
were confirmed. He saw the thieves filling their bags with
the gold and silver. one by one all the disciples saw what
the supposed gentlemen in the room were doing. there were
urgent consultations among them. then some of them stood
on either side of the threshold with clubs in their hands. some
others climbed onto the shade of the door sill, with clubs.
When the four thieves came out of the house one by one, the
disciples stationed at strategic places, hit them hard with their
clubs. When the thieves fell down unconscious, they bound
them hand and foot.
the beat soldiers who were passing by, took the thieves into
their custody.
When Guru Paramanand and his wife returned, a happy
news of reward by the chieftain awaited the Guru.
7. whiTe washiNg The BridegrooM
ParTy
The date was fixed for Guru Paramanand daughter’s wedding.
the wedding preparations were afoot and close relatives began
to pour in to partake in the celebrations. the Guru was busy
ordering this and that. He was seen everywhere. His wife too
did not lag behind. she collected the neighbouring women into
her house and began to prepare black gram laddus (ball shaped
sweets). the Guru suddenly remembered that he had not yet
ordered the white washing of the house. He summoned his
disciples,”Children,”he said affectionately,”You must white
wash before the bridegroom party arrives.”
But the disciples in their enthusiasm did not hear the
preposition “before”. they got it into their heads as ‘whitewash
the bridegroom party.’
they mixed lime stone water in a big vessel and waited in
front of the house for the bridegroom party to arrive. the Guru
was innocent enough to believe that the disciples were on their
job of white washing the house.
the bridegroom party arrived in bullock carts. the disciples
immediately pounced on them and white washed their bodies.
they did not spare even the bridegroom and his father.
the bridegroom party tried to run away but the disciples
held them tight. While one caught the bridegroom another one
white washed him. As the lime water penetrated deep into the
skin, they cried in burning pain. soon their cries reached the
Guru’s ears who was supervising the erection of a canopy at the
backyard of the house for cooking purpose. He immediately
ran to the front of the house and was shocked to see what his
disciples were doing to the bridegroom party. He pushed away
his disciples and saved the marriage party. “You fools, don’t
you know what you are doing?”
then he turned to the bridegroom party and apologised
profusely.”Please sirs, pardon us. our disciples are idiots.
they do not know what they will do. sometimes they resort
to unpredictable things. Please sirs, have a good bath and get
ready for the ceremony.”
“this is too much. If you do not like our alliance you should
have told us before hand. But what right have you to insult us
like this? Down with the alliance. We need this marriage no
more.” But the Guru requested them a lot. But the bridegroom
party did not relent. When the disciples also joined their Guru
in apologizing to them, though they did not know what for, the
bridegroom vomited blood.
the Guru was stunned at this sight.
“sir, pardon me,”the bridegroom said,”I am suffering from
consumption disease. But my parents wanted to conceal the
fact and marry me to your daughter.”
When the bridegroom himself made this confession, his
elders did not know what to do. so they slipped away.
the Guru hugged his disciples and thanked them for saving
his daughter from impending widowhood.
8. The CulPriT CaughT
the Guru and his wife were vexed with the foolish deeds of
the disciples. they scolded them to get lost and die.
the disciples sat down in a corner of the backyard of the
house. they were sad and angry. they decided to die. But
they quarreled among themselves as to how to die. When one
suggested that they should die by drowning into the pond at
the outskirts of the village, the others objected to the plan. If
they drown into the pond, the water will be contaminated. then
it wouldl be a sin to deprive the villagers of drinking water.
Another one suggested setting themselves aflame but the others
rejected this plan too, saying it would be dreadfully painful.
then they thought of climbing to the top of a high hill and
jumping down to end their lives. But some of them did not like
this idea also. they were not sure that death would be certain
if they jumped down the hill. suppose they survive the suicide
attempt by breaking their limbs, the Guru and his wife will
scold them again for disobeying them. But, at last all of them
agreed that death would be painless if they consumed heavy
quantities of poison. one of the disciples said,”brothers, our
kitchen contains large balls of poison in a big bronze vessel.
At first I thought they were laddus (ball shaped sweets). But
mother (Guru’s wife) said they were balls of poison and we
should not touch them.”
now they resolved to eat the balls of poison and end their
lives. they waited till midnight. then they were repentant
of their bad deeds to one another. one of them said to the
other,”brother, pardon me. once I hit you for not doing my
bidding. My soul will not rest in peace unless you pardon me.”
“You must also pardon me,”another one said,” I splashed
water on you for not sharing your guava fruit with me.”
“I forgive you heartily.”said the other one. this way all of
them pardoned one another.
When it was midnight they stealthily walked into the kitchen.
they brought down the vessel of black gram laddus from top
of the shelf. they removed the cloth that served as a lid on the
vessel. everyone of the seven ate one laddu each, thinking it to
be the poison. they had a natural sleep after eating the sweets.
they mistook their sleep as death.
early in the morning they woke, left the house and walked
towards the outskirts of the town, where the king’s palace was
situated. they thought the imposing gate of the palace to be the
gate of heaven. now they were convinced that their souls were
still outside the gate of heaven, which was why they did not
find the celestial king Indra, nor the celestial dancers Rambha,
Urvasi and Menaka.
they approached the gate of the fort and went in.
the palace guards did not stop them. they thought that the
brahmin boys were going to the king to seek alms.
Meanwhile, the chief of the bodyguards of the king who had
made a vain attempt on the life of the king, was running away
from being caught.
the disciples mistook him to be Indra running urgently to
fight demons. They wanted to pay their respects to him for
letting them into heaven. they closed in on him and did not
allow him to move unless he blessed them. When six of the
disciples held him, the seventh one bowed to him. everyone of
them was bent upon doing so.
Meanwhile, the soldiers who were chasing the fleeing chief,
arrived on the scene. they thanked the brahmin disciples for
restraining the chief till they (the soldiers) came.
As the day broke, at the Guru’s house, both the Guru and
his wife were sad as they could not find the disciples. They
thought that the disciples, unable to stomach the insults must
have left for a far off place. the Guru’s wife began to cry. the
Guru tried to comfort her.
then there was a commotion in the street. the Guru and his
wife came out to see what it was about. there were half a dozen
soldiers who escorted the disciples. the soldiers were all praise
for the disciples for their bravery. the head of the soldiers told
the Guru what had happened and the royal reception that was
to take place that evening at the fort for catching the culprit
who had made an attempt on the king’s life.
the Guru was happy that his disciples’ foolishness brought
him luck once again.
the disciples were sad that the poison did not work and they
could not go to heaven.
9.The river eaTs uP a disCiPle
the Guru Paramanand’s friend in a nearby village wanted
to perform an yajna (sacrifice) for the welfare of the villagers.
He was short of brahmins. so he sent for the Guru’s disciples.
the Guru had no objection for his friend’s request but he was
worried of their antics. When he expressed his apprehensions,
his friend assured him that he would take care of his disciples.
the seven disciples began their journey to the other village.
they had to cross a river to reach their destination.
As they crossed the river, one of the disciples got a doubt
whether there were seven of them intact or the waters gobbled
one or two of them. they argued for sometime about this.
“Why can’t we count ourselves and know whether all of us are
alive or not. Why this wasteful argument” advised one of the
disciples who always thought that he was the most intelligent of
all. the others liked the idea. one of them counted everybody
except himself. Hence the number was only six. the other six
too counted like this. The figure was naturally six only. Then
they were convinced that the river ate up one of them.
After crying for the departed friend for a while, they decided
to send a word to the Guru and the Guru’s friend about the
tragedy. one of them wanted to go and inform the Guru’s
friend that they could not attend the yajna as they were in a
period of mourning.
A short and hefty person who was passing by stopped and
asked,”Fellows, why are you crying?”
“Respected sir,” the disciples answered among sobs,”the
river ate up one of us. so we are crying over the loss of our
dear friend.”
the stranger was convinced that the seven persons were
foolish brahmins and they could be duped of their gold ear-
studs, gold rings and gold talisman easily. He wanted to gain
their confidence before he would make good with their
ornaments. “I have some spiritual powers” he said, “I can
make your dead friend alive again.” If I do so, what will you
give me?”
“sir,” the most intelligent among them said,”only gods can
bring back the dead to life. But you don’t seem to be a god.”
“You fellows” the stranger roared in feigned anger.”I am
really a god in disguise. If you give me your gold ear-studs,
rings and talisman, I will definitely bring back your dead friend
to life.”
“Yes, we will,”all of them said at once.
Then he lined up the seven disciples. He asked the first one
to tell his name and count one finger.
The first disciple did so. One by one the other six disciples
also told their names and counted their fingers. As expected
ultimately there were seven of them intact.
the stranger said,”While the six of you closed your eyes to
tell yours names and count your fingers, I brought back to your
dead friend to life, the seventh one.” He continued,”now it is
up to you to keep your word and give me your ear-studs, rings
and talismans.”
“o.K.sure,” the disciples said with gratitude and happiness.
they vied with each other to hold the stranger’s legs in high
reverence. shocked at this unexpected gesture, the stranger
lost his balance and fell down. the disciples too fell on him en
masse.
Meanwhile, the kotwal (commissioner of police) was passing
that way with half a dozen policemen. He halted his horse to
see what the commotion was about. the kotwal soon sighted
the stranger. the stranger tried to disengage himself from the
disciples and run away. But the alert policemen caught him.
the kotwal said to the crowd which gathered there,”He is a
notorious kidnapper who carried away many children by force.
I recommend these brahmin boys to the king to be suitably
rewarded. If they did not engage him so long, we would not
have arrested him.”
the next day the Guru was informed about the brave act of
his disciples. the Guru was happy that the foolishness of his
disciples was instrumental in catching a criminal again.
10. The guru’s 12 wives
the Guru Paramanand was worried as to how to provide
food, clothing and shelter to his new found disciples who were
under curse. He visited noble Rajavardhan of Avantipur for
employment in his court. the noble recognised the scholarship
of the Guru and appointed him chief of the scholars at the court.
As he was comfortably settled down at the court, discoursing
with the noble on various subjects, he suddenly remembered
his wife and daughter. He was sad for them. “o king”, he said,
“my wife and daughter are at a distant village. I will send my
seven disciple to fetch them. Kindly provide two escorts for
them.”
“o learned Guru,” the noble said,”so be it. now itself, I
place two soldiers at your disposal. You can engage them as
you please.”
the Guru called out to his disciples.”Dear sons”, he said
“My wife Lakshmi and daughter Purna are at Village Rampur.
You seven go to Rampur and fetch my wife and daughter. these
two soldiers will escort you. Don’t resort to any untoward
things during the journey.” the Guru provided the route map
to the village on a palm leaf.
the disciples reached Rampur, but to their surprise there
were twelve women named Lakshmi in the village. the
disciples concluded that all of them were wives of their Guru.
they forced them to accompany them to Avantipur.
the brahmin women’s men remonstrated in vain and were
prepared to take oath again that they were the husbands of the
women. But the stupid disciples did not listen to their pleas.
the disciples said that it was a royal order.
the hapless men accompanied their women to Avantipur.
By now the soldiers realized that the brahmin disciples were
fools. But they were afraid to oppose them for fear of being
cursed. they kept quiet and just did their escort duty.
the seven disciples and the twelve women accompanied by
their men reached Avantipur.
the disciples handed over the twelve women to the care of
the Guru innocently. “Guruji,”they said,” though you have
twelve wives, you have forgotten eleven of them. Please accept
your wives and treat them equally”
the Guru was aghast at the foolishness of his disciples. He
begged pardon of the women’s men whom he knew very well.
“My disciples have become idiots under the curse of a celestial
woman.” the Guru continued, “their foolish acts would always
turn out to be beneficial according to the curse. This is their
latest foolish deed. Let us see how it will turn out to be.”
Meanwhile the two soldiers who accompanied the disciples
to Rampur, briefed the noble about the foolish deed of the
disciples. the noble visited the Guru at his house. “Guruji”, he
said, “I should thank your disciples. I am planning to perform
a yaga (sacrifice) which needs brahmins. Now we have handful
of brahmins without asking, thanks to your disciples.”
The Guru was happy again, as his disciples’action benefitted
his fellow brahmins.
No comments:
Post a Comment