Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal

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A copperplate inscription recording a land endowment by Bhīma Malla for feeding foreign Brahmins and ascetics and for worshipping Paśupatinātha (NS 760)

ID: PN_0004_0062

Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter
Created: 2021-05-05; Last modified: 2021-12-15
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Published by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities: Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal, Heidelberg, Germany, 2021. Published by the courtesy of the National Archives, Kathmandu. The copyright of the facsimile remains with the Nepal Rashtriya Abhilekhalaya (National Archives, Government of Nepal). All use of the digital facsimiles requires prior written permission by the copyright holder. See Terms of Use.
The accompanying edition, translation/synopsis and/or commentary are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Abstract

The copperplate inscription records the endowment of 32½ ropanīs of land as a trust (guṭhi) by Bhīma Malla in the name of his father, Puraṇa Malla. With the revenue from the land, foreign Brahmins and ascetics are to be fed daily and Paśupatinātha is to be worshipped on Śivarātri with specified items. Two persons are appointed in charge of the guṭhi.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1[siddhaṃ],ओंअद्य||व्रह्मणोद्वितीयपरार्द्धेश्वेतवराहकल्पेःवैवस्वतमनो,रष्ताविंशतितमस्यचतुयुगस्यकलेप्रथमपादेजम्वुदीपेभरतखण्डे
2भारतवर्षेहिमवतदक्षिनपादेनेपारदेशेश्री३पशुपतिसंन्निधानेवासुकिक्षेत्रेवाग्मःत्यांपश्चिमकुले,श्री३विष्णुमत्यांपुव्वकुले,
3श्री३पशुपतिस्थानेइहैवपुण्यदुमौ|पौषमास्यशुक्लपक्ष|पुर्ण्णमास्यान्तिथौपुनर्व्वसुनक्षेत्रेवैधृतिजोगेयथाकरणमुहुर्त्तरेआदित्यवास
4मक्ररासिगतेसवितरिमिथूनरासिगतेचंद्रमसि||मक्रसंक्रान्तौमहापर्व्वदिने|श्री३पशुपतिसंर्न्निधाने,प्रत्यहंप्रस्थपरिमिता,न्न,मतिथिभ्यो
5दापयितुं|पितुश्रीश्रीपुरणमल्लदेवस्यनाम्ना,पुत्रेनश्रीश्रीभीममल्लदेवन,श्री३पशुपतिप्रीत्यर्थंसार्द्धद्वात्रिंशद्रोपनीपरिमितंसुनपानामक्षे
6त्रंसप्रदत्तं|अस्मिन्नर्थेऽन्यथाकर्त्तापंचमहापातकीभविख्यती,त्यस्मिन्नर्थेसाक्षिणआदित्यादयोदेवाइति||अनेनकृतपुण्यनश्री३पशुपतिश्व
7रप्रीतिरस्तु||अतपलंदेशभाखास्थानम्यर्पाश्चिमदिशिप्रदेशेवाग्वडकुसिसुनपाखोलक्षेत्रनामसंज्ञकंश्रीश्रीराजकुलक्षेत्रेनपश्चिमतोउत्तरत
8श्च,मयासिंहआचार्यकस्यक्षत्रेनपुर्व्वता,मार्ग्गेनदक्षिनतो,एतेषांमध्यसार्द्धद्वात्रिंशतिरोपनीकंक्षत्राङ्कतोपिवुरो३२चुलं२थतेवुयावलसानंनित्य
9न्हिनजाकेफं१कुल१श्री३पशुपतिश्वरजुयादक्षिणद्वारसचोङाव∙सदावर्त्तपरदेसिव्राह्मणयातं,संन्यासिजंगमजोगिआदिन,परदेसियातं
10थ्ववुयाजाकेननित्यन्हिथकवियमालथ्वगुलिवुयाअर्न्नसुनानंपरदेसिप्राह्मणसंन्यासिजंगमजोगियातसदावर्त्तमविस्यसुनानंथ्वगुलि|
11अर्न्ननेपारसवृत्तिदयावचोङव्राह्मणसंन्यासिजंगमजोगियातविरसाश्री३पशुपतिश्वरजुयाकुदिष्टिपंचमाहापतकराक्वफलजुरोपुन
12भाखाजाकेफं१०दवथ्यशिवरात्रचतुर्द्दशीकुन्हुपंयामृतवेलपात्रस्वानदयकावश्री३पशुपतिश्वरजुस्केपूजायायमालथ्वतेसप्रसेखकेफं९०८
13वथ्यगुथिसनिस्त्रपुह्मयातजुरो,थ्वयागुथिचुखाच्छेयाचंगुपुजावालिगोपारदुच्छेयाध्यानगुणथ्वतेगुथिकतकनथ्वपतिभाखाथ्यमनिस्त्र
14पंरोभयातसागोहथ्याप्रह्महथ्यागुरुहथ्यावालहथ्यास्त्रीहथ्याएतेपंचमाहापातकराकजुरो,रोभमयास्यंनिस्तपंहकारेअनिग्रहउताफ
15लजुरोथ्वतेभाखायादृष्टसाक्षिजावतचंद्रार्क्कमे
16दनि||सम्वत्७६०लिखितंमयुरध्वजंशुभमस्तुसर्व्व
17दाशुभं||

Translation

[1r]

[Success!]1 Oṃ! Today, in the second, the latter half of Brahmā's [life], in the śvetavārāhakalpa, in the first quarter of the kali[yuga] of the 28th four-yuga[-cycle] of the vaivasvata[manvantara], in jambudvīpa, in the bharata sector (bharatakhaṇḍa), on the Indian subcontinent (bhāratavarṣa), at the southern foot of the Himavat (Himalaya), in the country Nepāla, in the environs of threefold glorious Paśupati, in the sacred field (kṣetra) of the serpent king Vāsuki, on the western side of the Vāgmatī, on the eastern side of the threefold glorious Viṣṇumatī, at the threefold glorious Paśupati's seat2 —here on such meritorious ground on the full moon day in the bright half of the month of Pauṣa, when the lunar mansion (nakṣatra) is punarvasu, when the yoga is vaidhṛti, in such and such a karaṇa and muhūrta, on Sunday, with the sun in Capricorn (makara) [and] the moon in Gemini (mithuna), on the day of the great festival of Makarasaṃkrānti, twofold venerable Bhīma Malla Deva, the son of [and] in the name of [his] father, twofold venerable Puraṇa Malla, in order to please threefold glorious Paśupati, has donated a field named Sunapā measuring 32½ ropanīs so as to have [one] prastha measure of food be given daily to guests in threefold glorious Paśupati's environs. Whoever acts against the aim of the deed will be one who has committed one of the five heineous crimes (pañcamahāpātakī). The witnesses to this deed are deities—the Sun etc. May threefold glorious Paśupati's favour be accorded by reason of the merit that has been garnered! From here onward in the local language: In the region west of [this] place, [west of] the Vāgvata River (kusi for khusi?), the field known under the name of Sunapākhola, [situated] west and north of the fields belonging to the twofold venerable royal family, east of the field belonging to Mayāsiṃha Ācārya, and south of the road—in the midst of these—a field measuring thirty-two and a half ropanika, [in numbers] 32 ro[panī]s,3 2 culas. From the landowner's (i.e. the guthi's) annual share of grains (balasāna) of this field 1 phaṃ, 1 kurha (text: kula)4 of husked rice [shall be provided] daily. Standing at the southern gate of threefold glorious Paśupatijyu sadābarta with husked rice from this land, one shall give [it] daily to foreigners, including foreign Brahmins, Saṃnyāsīs, Jaṅgamas and Jogīs. If someone does not give the yield of this land to foreign Brahmins, Saṃnyāsīs, Jaṅgamas and Jogīs, [or] if someone gives this yield to Brahmins, Sannyāsīs, Jaṅgamas and Jogīs who possess property in Nepāla, the malevolent stare of threefold glorious Paśupatiju [will fall on him, and] the result will be [similar] to that brought on by the pañcamahāpātaka. Again [another] regulation: [With an amount] equivalent to 10 phaṃ of husked rice (lit. "as if having 10 phaṃ of husked rice") one shall perform worship (pūjā) of threefold glorious Paśupatīśvaraju with pañcāmṛta, bela leaves and flowers on Śivarātri fourteenths.5 The remainder of this [harvest yield], about 908 phaṃs of rice, are for the caretakers in the guṭhī 6 . [The persons responsible] for this guthī are Gopāla, a temple priest (pūjāhārī) [of] Caṃgu (i.e. Cāṅgu Nārāyaṇa?) from Cukhācche, [and] Dhyānaguṇa from Ducche. Members of this guthi who do not follow these regulations [or] covet [its funds] attain the result of these five heinous crimes: the killing of a cow, the killing of a Brahmin, the killing of one's guru, the killing of a child and the killing of a woman;7 whoever observes the rules without coveting, [shall] obtain the supreme result, which cannot be taken away over time (kāle anigraha uttama phala). The witnesses to these rules: the Moon, Sun and Earth for as long as [they exist]. Written by Mayuradhvaja, [in the Nepāla] era 760 (1640 CE). May there be auspiciousness eternally! Auspiciousness.

Commentary

For other transcriptions of the inscription, see Taṇḍana VS 2041: 27–28 and Taṇḍana 1999: 162–163. In the present edition, spelling and writing mistakes have been corrected throughout in the Sanskrit portion of the text, while in the Newari portion (after ataḥ paraṃ deṣabhāṣā) orthographic variance, especially that pertaining to the length of i- and u-vowels, the free variation of -kha and -ṣa, -ra and -la, and -na and -ṇa, has been treated as part of the language and corrections have been confined to more grave inconsistencies.

The text of the inscription follows standards for land endowments. Different registers are used for Sanskrit and Newari. The Sanskrit portion starts with the specification of the time and place in terms of the default Puranic temporal and spatial parameters (Gonzáles-Reimann 2020), the same parameters that are also part of the usual formula for declaring the ritual commitment (saṃkalpa, see Michaels 2005). As in a saṃkalpa the purpose of the endowment and the name of the donor are mentioned in addition to time and place, but unlike such a ritual commitment, the inscription phrases these details not as a declaration in the first-person, but with the donated land as its third-person subject. Among the local specifications, after the supra-regional level, which accords with saṃkalpas from all over South Asia,8 the regional part contains typical Nepalese elements, including the Himalaya, the Paśupati locale, the kṣetra, and the location in relation to rivers.9 After the common announcement of the switch into the second language (ataḥ paraṃ deśabhāṣā), the Newari portion of the text also exhibits default phrasings, as found, for example in paper documents from the Malla period (Kölver and Śākya 1985, Lubin 2018: 61–66). It states the dedicated land's exact location and its name, along with more details of its intended usage and administration.

The inscription concerns the feeding of foreigners at the Paśupatinātha temple on Śivarātri, a well-known practice observed still today (Michaels 1994: 272–276).10 Apart from Brahmins the text mentions ascetics—naming three specific groups as examples—as potential receivers. It stresses further that those who have property in Nepal should not be fed.

The donor of the deed, Bhīma Malla, is a well-known person in Nepalese history. In the vaṃśāvalīs, the chronicles, he appears as a tragic figure (see A. Zotter 2013: 245–247, Ṭaṇḍana VS 2041 for more details). As an apt and loyal minister (kājī) to the king of Kathmandu, Lakṣmīnarasiṃha, he earned great merit, but became the victim of political intrigue and was unjustly killed on the king's orders. The curse his wife allegedly uttered as a satī on her husband's funeral pyre that proper judgement would never be obtained from the royal court has become proverbial. Thus Nepal has been known as "country cursed by a satī" (satīle sarāpeko deśa). The chronicles make Bhīma Malla a relative of the royal family and associate his death with the removal of the old king, Lakṣmīnarasiṃha, from the throne around 1641. Some chronicles call him Pratāpa Malla's brother, others the latter's sister's husband.

The record Bhīma Malla left in epigraphic and documentary material tells a different story. Bhīma Malla commissioned a number of inscriptions. Apart from the present one, they include a follow-up copperplate, dating to the fullmoon day in Kārttika in NS 763 (1642 CE). It tops up the present endowment by 4 ropanīs of land in order to feed foreigners during intercalary months.11 On the same day, another copperplate, found at the Cā̃gunārāyaṇa temple at Changu, was issued. It records a land endowment by Bhīma—also in the name of his father and also amounting to 4 ropanīs—in order to finance the worship of Cā̃gunārāyaṇa on the 12th of the bright fortnight of Kārttika, on Kṛṣṇajanmāṣṭamī and on the full moon day of Phālguna. Three days earlier, on the 12th of the bright fortnight of Kārttika in NS 763 (1642 CE) he had consecrated a temple at Yaṭakhā Ṭola (Kathmandu) by setting up a pinnacle (gajuli) on it, as an in situ inscription on a stone slab states.12 The temple houses a śivaliṅga, which, according to Regmi's transcription of the inscription, is called Pūrṇeśvara (Regmi 1966: 79) or Pūraṇaiśvara (ibid.: 80). As this name betrays, and as is also made explicit in the text of the inscription, it was dedicated to Bhīma's father,13 whose name is rendered as Pūrṇa Malla in Regmi's transcription and in the copy and translation of the NS 763 copperplate at Paśupatinātha (PN_0008_0018), and as Pūraṇa Malla in the copperplate itself (PN_0002_0006). As Bhīma Malla performs all these deeds in the name of his father, they have unanimously been interpreted as acts to commemorate his deceased progenitor.

Bhīma Malla's deeds suggest that he and his father were indeed of royal descent. Their names are prefixed with two śrīs, as was common for royals' names in the Malla period. Bhīma's and his father's name in some cases even carry the royal honorific "Deva".14 The idea, however, that he was a biological brother of King Pratāpa is confuted by the evidence. That he may have been a classificatory brother (i.e. a cousin or the like) is nevertheless possible. What is also noteworthy is that Bhīma Malla endows land for pious purposes—a royal privilege—and, interestingly, mentions neither the reigning king nor any other human at all.

Bhīma Malla's death or that of his wife cannot be pinned down exactly in the available epigraphic sources. These do at least rule out that he had been killed in 1641. He was alive at least till 1645 CE (NS 765), as in that year he acted as a witness to a land sale by Pratāpa Malla (E_2131_0029). Maybe, then, the death the vaṃśāvalīs build their story up to and which they place around 1641—the year when Pratāpa Malla followed his father on the throne after the latter, as the story goes, had gone mad or at least had become of clouded judgement—was not Bhīma's, but that of his father. This could have occured shortly before the present inscription, the first of the extant deeds in his memory, dated NS 760 (1640 CE), three years before a commemorative temple was finished in his name. This scenario is, however, a highly speculative one.

What is also clear from Bhīma Malla's deeds is that probably one and the same person penned the texts of the known inscriptions. The writer, called Mayuradhvaja in the present inscription, is identified as a royal astrologuer (rājadaivajña) Mayūradhvaja Bhāro in the follow-up copperplate inscription from NS 763 (PN_0002_0006). In the stone inscription at Yaṭakhā Ṭola from the same year, he is called Rājadaivajña Mayūradhvaja (Regmi 1966: 80). The three texts share numerous phrases. The two copperplates are largely parallel except for the particulars pertaining to the donation. In the stone inscription, some devotional verses are slotted in before the statement of the date, but otherwise it displays a parallel structure.

So far no further corroborative evidence has been found for a royal astrologer bearing the writer’s name. Another person mentioned in the inscription, however, is possibly a known historic figure. The name of the owner of the land bordering on the dedicated plot, Mayāsiṃha Ācārya, is similar to that of the author of the Puṣpacintāmaṇi. In Puṣpacintāmaṇi 4.96 he is called Māyāsiṃha and the son of one Kṛṣṇācārya, but evidence for the identity of the two persons remains inconclusive (A. Zotter 2013: 243–244).

Notes

1. The transcription of this symbol found as an auspicious sign at the beginning of the main text of many Nepalese manuscripts as [siddhaṃ] and its translation follows the common practice adopted by different scholars (e.g. in Kölver and Śākya 1985). For different possible interpretations of the sign, see Pant 1997: 163 n. 20. [⇑]

2. Paśupatisthāna must here refer to the Paśupatinātha temple at Deopatan (similar to the use of Nep. thāna, e.g. in DNA_0001_0066, K_0001_0035C, K_0013_0020B). [⇑]

3. The syllables pi bu ro are here interpreted as 1) the classifier for plots of land (pi, see Kölver and Shresthacharya 1994: s.v.), 2) the word for land (bu), and 3) an abbreviation for ropanī. [⇑]

4. While the Sanskrit text above stipulates 1 prastha as the amount of husked rice to be distributed daily, the Newari portion gives 1 phaṃ, 1 kurha, i.e. one quarter of a prastha more. [⇑]

5. It is not clear whether the pūjā is to be performed on the fourteenth of each dark lunar fortnight or only on that of the month of Phālguna, known as the Mahāśivarātri, the "great night of Śiva". As each fourteenth day of dark lunar fortnights can be called Śivarātri, both interpretations are possible. [⇑]

6. The copperplate renders the term in its Newari spelling as guthī. [⇑]

7. Interestingly, the five heinous crimes listed here differ from the more classical list, which comprises the killing of a Brahmin, drinking intoxicating liquor, theft, committing adultery with the wife of one's teacher or elder, and associating with anyone guilty of these crimes (Manusmṛti 11.257; Olivelle 2015: 315). The mention of cow, Brahmin and woman in one breath can be called typically Nepalese and is also found in the first article of the Mulukī Ain: "This is the only Hindu kingdom in the Kali era which has a Hindu king and whose Ain is such that it bans the killing of cows, women and Brahmins; with a palace, [a location] in the Himalayas (himavatkhaṇḍa), the land of Vāsukī (i.e. the king of snakes), a pilgrimage place of Āryas, that contains Paśupati’s jyotirliṅga and the venerable abode (pīṭha) of Guhyeśvarī—such a land of merit is our own" (Khatiwoda et al. 2021: 103). [⇑]

8. See Michaels (2005: 51, 52) for two parallel examples. [⇑]

9. In other similar examples—e.g. the Saṃkalparatnāvalī quoted in Michaels (2005: 52), the Śāradīyadurgāpūjāpaddhati (Rāṇā VS 2032: 6), and also the concluding passage of the Puṣpacintāmaṇi (A. Zotter 2013: 179, 237–238)—Paśupati instead of Vāsuki is the Lord of the kṣetra. Denoting Nepal as vāsukikṣetra is not uncommon, though, as illustrated by Mulukī Ain 1.1., quoted in note 7 above. [⇑]

10. While A. Michaels holds that the practice can be traced back at least to the 19th century and deals with the popularization of feeding ascetics on Mahāśivarātri under Rāṇā rule at Kālamocanaghāṭa and other locations at the Bagmati (see also K_0230_0035), the present inscription shows that the practice goes back at least to the middle of the 17th century. Whether Bhīma Malla's is the first endowment of its kind still needs to be investigated. At least for the practice of feeding Jogīs at the Kaṣṭamaṇḍapa on the 14th of the dark fortnight of Āṣāḍha, another śivarātri day, there is earlier evidence (see C. Zotter forthcoming, K_00055_0001). [⇑]

11. PN_0002_0006; for transcriptions, see Taṇḍana VS 2041: 29–30 and Ṭaṇḍana 1999: 165–166; for a copy together with a Nepali translation, see PN_0008_0018. [⇑]

12. For a transcription, see Regmi 1966: 79–80. [⇑]

13. To dedicate votive liṅgas is the earliest Śaiva religious practice attested in Nepalese inscriptions, from the fifth century onwards (Mirnig 2016). Already in 496 CE Guṇavatī, a wife of King Mānadeva established a liṅga in the name of her deceased father (ibid.: 319). To name a liṅga after its patron is also attested early on, someone named Jayalambha having set up a liṅga named Jayeśvara in the Paśupatinātha temple compound in 491CE (ibid.: 324). The first clear testimony for the practice to name the shrine after a deceased person is the liṅga Anuparameśvara set up by his wife on the occasion of Anuparama's death (ibid.: 325–326), but N. Mirnig (personal communication, 29 September 2021) assumes that among the early votive liṅgas there may be other examples of such post-mortem dedications, even if not explicitly stated. For later Nepalese examples of votive liṅgas reflecting the name of the donor or of a deceased person in whose memory it was set up, see Michaels 1994: 71–77. For the pan-Indian convention to name liṅga shrines by adding -īśvara to the patron's name, see Sanderson 2003–2004: 415 n. 250. [⇑]

14. His name in the present inscription and his and his father's in the stone slab inscription in Yaṭakhā Ṭola have this addition. [⇑]

Word	Notes
bela	[fr. S. bilva] var. bel; n. the wood apple tree (Aegle marmelos (L.) Corrêa).
cula	var. cul, cura, cu; n. unit of land measurement, one fourth of a ropanī or khā.
guṭha / guṭhi / guṭhī	[fr. S. goṣṭhī] var. guṭh, guthi; n. 1) a socio-religious organization that manages and finances religious and charitable functions, a trust. 2) “endowed lands or other sources of revenue for financing religious and charitable functions“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 132; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
jambudvīpa	[S.] n. "island of the rose-apple", central of seven concentric circular continents in the Puranic cosmography on which this world is located, subdivided into seven territories called varṣas (González-Reimann 2020).
jaṅgama	var. jaṃgama; n. 1) wandering ascetic; 2) ascetic of the Vīraśaiva tradition.
kājī	var. kāji; n. “an officer of ministerial rank superintending civil and military affairs“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 133; cp. Edwards 1975: 105).
kaliyuga	[S.] n. last and supposed to be the most degenerated of four ages within the cycle of four yugas, the present age according to Puranic time reckoning.
karaṇa	[S.] n. a division of time and one of the calendric parameters of the pañcāṅga, with two karaṇas being equal to a lunar day. There are eleven named karaṇas.
kṛṣṇajanmāṣtamī	[S.] n. festival celebrating the birth of Kṛṣṇa on the eighth of the dark fortnight of the month of Bhādra.
kurha	[New., fr S. kuḍava] var. kuḍa, kurha, kurhu, kula; n. a volumetric measure equivalent to two mānās (Malla 2000: sv. kurha), with four kurhas in one paṃ / phaṃ. The unit is used mostly used for measuring grain.
makarasaṅkrānti	var. makarasaṃkrānti, māghesaṃgrā̃tī, māghyāsaṃkrānti; n. 1) day marking the passage of the sun into the zodical sign of capricorn (makara) and first day of the solar month of Māgha. 2) the festival held on that day.
muhūrta	[S.] var. muhurta; n. a division of time equivalent to 48 minutes; the 30th part of a day.
nakṣatra	[S.] n. sector of the ecliptic reckoned as lunar mansion, of which there are 27 (or 28), and one of the calendric parameters of the pañcāṅga.
pañcamahāpātaka	[S.] n. five grave sins or offenses causing loss of caste, enumerated as: killing a Brahmin, drinking intoxicating liquor, theft, committing adultery with the wife of one's teacher or elder, and associating with anyone guilty of these crimes (Manusmṛti 11.257) (Olivelle 2015: 315).
pañcamahāpātakī	[S.] n. person guilty of having committed one of the five grave sins or offenses causing loss of caste (pañcamahāpātaka).
pañcāmṛta	[S.] n. the "five nectars of immortality"; a mixture of milk, yoghurt, ghee, honey and sugar.
phaṃ / paṃ	[New.] n. 1) container to measure grains or liquids; 2) volumetric measure (synonym to prastha and pāthi) with four kurhas in it and equivalent to a 8 mānās.
prastha	[S.] n. 1) a partic. weight and measure of capacity (= 32 Palas or = ¼ of an Āḍhaka; or = 16 Palas = 4 Kuḍavas = ¼ of an Āḍhaka; or = 2 Śarāvas; or = 6 Palas; or = 1/16 of a Droṇa) (Monier-Williams 1964: 699). 2) A volumetric unit; 32 prasthas = 1 mānikā (Malla 2000: 386). Also called paṃ or paṃchi, it is also mentioned as pāthī. A tradition of accepting a measure of 4 kuḍa/kuḍavas is equivalent to 1 prastha has continued from the ancient to medieval period and is still being accepted today (Ḍhuṅgela and Pradhānāṅga: 236). (#new#RS)
pūjā	[S.] var. pujā; n. 1) worship, honour. 2) formal worship ritual of a revered being with offerings.
pūjārī / pūjāhārī	var. pujārī, pujāhārī; n. person formally appointed to conduct the worship (pūjā) of a deity and therewith earning one's livelyhood, temple priest.
ropanī	[fr. S.] var. ropani; n. unit of land measurement in the hill region, including the Kathmandu Valley, comprising four murīs. The area may vary according to the grade, but current standard area for a ropanī comprises 5,476 square feet (cf. M.C. Regmi 1999: 235 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 864; Whelpton 1991: 286; M.C. Regmi 1995: 77; M.C. Regmi 1978: 163; M.C. Regmi 1988: 270).
sadābarta	[S. sadāvrata] var. sadāvartta, sadāvarta, sadābartta; n. 1) regular distribution of alms or food to mendicants, guests, pilgrims or the poor (cp. Adhikari 1984: 356). 2) a kitchen where raw or cooked food is supplied to these groups (cp. M.C. Regmi 1978b: 864). 3) a charitable foundation for the provision of food to poor, mendicants and pilgrims (cp. M.C. Regmi 2002: 302).
saṃkalpa	[S.] n. ritual declaration, ritual commitment.
saṃnyāsī / sannyāsī	[fr. S. saṃnyāsin-] var. saṃnyāsi; n. renouncer, specif. a member of the Daśanāmī order.
satī	n. 1.) widow, concubine or female slave who follows her deceased husband or master into death by immolating herself either on her husband's or master's fire, or on a separate funeral pyre. 2.) the ritual of self-immolation.
śivarātri	[S.] var. śivarātrī; also mahāśivarātri; n. lit. "Śiva's night", festival in honour of Śiva celebrated in the night of the 14th of the dark fortnight, on a bigger scale (then called mahāśivarātri) in the night of the 14th of the dark fortnight of the month of Phālguna.
śrī	[S.] n. word of blessing, can be used as apprecatio, in which case it means 'good fortune' (Pant and Pierce 1989: 12), can be used as a prefix to names of persons and gods, in which case it means 'venerable' or 'glorious' respectively. The number of śrīs used varies, depending on context.
śvetavārāhakalpa	[S.] also varāhakalpa; n. "aeon of [Viṣṇu's incarnation as] the white boar", the present cosmic cycle and first of the second half of the life of Brahmā (González-Reimann 2020).
vaivasvatamanvantara	[S.] n. age of the Manu Vaivasvata, current cosmic cycle and 7th manvantara in the present Vārāhakalpa (González-Reimann 2020).
yoga	[S.] n. division of time based on "the sum of the ecliptical longitudes of the sun and moon, arranged in 27 segments of 13°20 Min each, parallel to but not identical with the nakṣatras" (Gansten 2018) and one of the calendric parameters of the pañcāṅga.
yogī / jogī	[fr. S. yogin-] var. jogi; n. 1) ascetic, religious mendicant. 2) specif. a follower of the Nātha tradition; see also kanaphaṭṭā. 3) member of the Kusle community.
yuga	[S.] n. age of the world of which there are four (satya-, tretā-, dvāpara-, and kaliyuga) with 71 of these four-yuga cycles making up for one manvantara.