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chapter 3
residence at Kmanyakkapai was not too far away from Brandolini's own residence. It was Brandolini who witnessed his fourth and fifth vows in 1714.32 Beschi began studying Tamil poetry almost immediately upon entering the mission, as remarked in the annual letter of 1715:
Father Beschi gave himself entirely to the study of Tamil poetry; for nothing in the country is esteemed more than this study. In the space of a few months he made more progress in it than any other missionary since the foundation of the Mission. The result is that he writes Tamil verses most elegantly and he has made no despicable progress in reading the ancient poets, which is the most difficult. From this study he will one day be able to make a choice of beautiful maxims for the formation of a good manners, and of excellent quotations as arguments in support of the faith with these people, who trust only their poets.33
Beschi would go on to perfect his literary abilities to the point of being recognized as a poet both by his fellow missionaries and by competing Lutheran preachers. Whether his Hindu and Muslim interlocutors thought the same is harder to assess, but his success in securing Chanda Sahib's support--our focus in the next section of this chapter--is a strong indication that his scholarly persona commanded general respect. Most official roles Beschi was ever given in the course of his career were connected to his literary abilities. In 1726, at the time of the controversy on the Spiritual Exercises that we analyzed in the prea literature by such members called para cttiraka; see Rafael Klber, "What is Saiva Siddhanta? Tracing Modern Genealogies and Historicising a Classical Canon," The Journal of Hindu Studies 10 (2017): 217, fn. 10. Probably connected to this use is the adoption of the title by Jesuit missionaries, in an attempt to go beyond the Brahmanical model of mission inaugurated by Nobili (see Chakravarti, Empire of Apostles, especially 256257). 32 The official records of the vows taken by Beschi in Kurukkapai in front of Brandolini on 28/10/1714 (the fourth vow of obedience to the Pope with regard to missions, and the five simple vows) are in arsi, Lus. 13, ff. 293294. 33 P[ater] Constantius Jos[ephus] Beschi totum se studiis tamulic poeseos addixit quibus nullum in his terris majori in pretio est, tantumque in iis paucorum mensium spatio profecit, quantum nullus missionarium a missione condit, ita ut versus tamulicos p[er]eleganter scribat, quodque difficilius est, in lectione veterum Poetarum haud spernendos progressus fecerit: ex quo deinceps tum ad mores instituendos egregia effata, tum ad fidem confirmandam optima relat ad istam gentem qu suis Poetis unic credit, argumenta desumi possunt [...]. Louis-Nol de Bourzes to Michelangelo Tamburini, Litter Annu Missionis Madurensis anni 1715 (Varugapatti [Vaukarpai], 23 July 1716), arsi, Goa 54, ff. 550r563v, here 551r. An alternative translation can be found in Besse, Father Beschi, 6667.
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