When Varghese Angamaly (K.P. Varghese) got this book way back in 1985 the only thing that interested him was its antiquity.
Printed in 1804 at the Propaganda Press, Rome, on handmade paper using the ancient stone press, some of the pages of this book on Sanskrit grammar was moth-eaten, but still in a remarkably good condition. It became a prized possession in Varghese’s personal library.
The book, Vyàcarana seu locupletissima Samscrdamicae linguae institutio by Paulino A.S. Bartholomaeo who is known by several other names, the most popular one being Paulinus Padre, is credited with being the author of the first edition of the first Sanskrit grammar book Sidharubam seu grammatica Samscrdamica (1790) to be published in Europe. This work, together with Paulinus’ Vyàcarana and the grammar of Paulinus’ predecessor in Kerala, Father Johann Ernst Hanxleden (Arnos Padre) helped to cast light upon the sources utilised to teach Sanskrit grammar in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A published short story writer, Varghese who also writes travelogues and articles in most of the leading regional publications, browsed through this work occasionally and kept it back safely. “A couple of years back I chanced to read a book by Father Abraham Adapoor, a scholar who has made seminal studies on the life and works of Arnos Padre. He created a flutter by stating that the works of Paulinus Padre, all of them, were not original. The argument was that Paulinus, who had spent time in Kerala returned to Rome with the works of Arnos Padre, copied them and had them printed under his name. That was when I realised that I had one of the ‘original’ books of Paulinus Padre. I wrote about this in a regional weekly. Father Adapoor met me, took photo copies of some of the relevant pages but the controversy raged on,” says Varghese.
Things took a different turn after an interview with Carmela Mastrangelo, an Italian Sanskrit scholar, was published in The Hindu MetroPlus (February 27, 2014). Carmela’s noteworthy work was on Sanskrit grammar in 18th century Kerala pivoted on the work of Paulinus Padre. This was the subject for her PhD thesis and it aimed to reconstruct the history of the studies on Sanskrit grammar in Kerala through the work of Paulinus Padre, who settled in Malabar from 1776 to 1789. She focussed in particular on Paulinus’ Vyàcarana . Carmela states that Paulinus Padre brought Sanskrit grammar to Europe, studied in Italy but his work was hidden by the Englishmen of the Asiatic Society. Soome of the manuscripts have been lost, but some remain in the National Museum in Rome, she adds.
“I managed to get in touch with Carmela, who confirmed that the original manuscripts of Paulinus’ Vyacarana were still there in Rome. I told Father Adapoor about this and he was convinced about the originality of Paulinus’ works. And now I realise that the copy I have with me is the only one available in India making it so invaluable.”
This book of 331 pages is on Sanskrit-Latin grammar but provides interesting information on a whole lot of other subjects. “There are certain observations like origin of name of places like Kozhikode, it has an introduction by Cardinal Stephen Borge, it has a dictionary with sketches and the most interesting aspect is that Sanskrit is not used in Devanagari script but in Malayalam.”
Varghese, a retired bank manager, is the author of three books - Angamaly Rekhagal (2002) on the local history of the place, two short story collections, Punitha Varuvel Bandset (2013) and Kovilkalakal (2013). “I’m working on a novel and a travelogue titled Red Sea to Dead Sea . History excites me and that’s why after graduating in Commerce I took a post-graduate degree in History. Every travel is an exploration, a revisiting, of what I have read in those history books,” says Varghese.
Varghese has now decided to donate this rare copy of Paulinus’ Vyacarana to any institution, “preferably one involved in teaching Sanskrit and will promise to preserve this with care for posterity.”
