Documenta Nepalica

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

Version with DOI and citation guidelines

A copy of a purjī from C-in-C General Bhīma Śamśera instructing the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to disburse funds to mahantas on the occasion of Baḍā Dasaĩ (VS 1968)

ID: K_0382_0036

Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2022-06-14; Last modified: 2022-10-26
For the metadata of the document, click here

Published by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities: Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal, Heidelberg, Germany, 2022. 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 purjī from Commander-in-Chief General Bhīma Śamśera of which this is a copy directs officers of the Gūṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to disburse a customary sum for rituals to be performed during the Baḍā Dasaĩ festival in VS 1968 to Rāma Agya Dās and Gaṃgā Gīrī, the abbots (mahanta) of the akhāḍās of Vairāgī and Daśanāmī ascetics, respectively.

Diplomatic edition

[1v]

1श्री\

1श्रीजङ्गनंदप्रकासेश्वर•
2२

1श्री३सर्कार
2१

1⟪50⟫

1[Unknown seal]

1सकलवमोजीमनकलदुरुष्टछस्हीनौनरोतमध

1स्वस्तिश्रीमद्राज•कुमारकुमारात्मजश्रीकम्यांडरईनचिफ्‌जनरलभीमसम्सेरजङ्गवहादुरराणाकस्य¯ ¯१¯तर्फगुठीष
2र्चअडाकाहाकींकारीं•दा•हरुकेपुर्जिउप्रांतवैरागी•दसनामी•अषडामा•य़ो६८सालकावडादसैमादेवदेवता
3कापुजापाठ्‌•गर्नाकेमोहरु•१२५वक्सवक्स्येकोछतेसअडालाईभय़ाकाअैसव़ालकोरीतपुर्‍याई¯ ¯२¯गुठीका
4स्य़ाहामाषर्चलेषी•सोमोहरु•१२५य़कसय़पचीस्‌•सोवैरागी•दसनामीअषडाका•महंत•हस्तेदीनु
5वहीवुझदा•नीजमहंत.कासहिछापपरेका•स्याहावमोजिम्‌मोजराहोला•¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
6तपसील•

[table1]

1	वैरागीअषडाकेमहंतरामअग्यादास्‌हस्तेदीनेमोहरुय़कसय़	१००
2	दसनामी•अषडाके•महंतगंगागीरीहस्तेदीनेमोहरुपचीस	२५

7ईतीसम्वत्‌१९६८सालमितीआश्वींगते१७रोज३शुभ्म्‌¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Śrī Jaṅganaṃdaprakāseśvara – 2

Śrī 3 Sarkāra – 1

501

[Unknown seal]

The copy is true to the original. Signature2 : Nau[sindā]Narotamadha[ra]

Hail! A purjī of the venerable Commander-in-Chief General Bhīma Samsera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā, a venerable prince born of a prince, to the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā under [Śrī 3 Sarkāra]3

Uprānta: For performing worship of deities and recitations during the Baḍā Dasaĩ of the current year, [VS 19]68 in the Daśanāmī and Vairāgī akhāḍās 125 moha[ra]ru[paiyā]̃s have been allocated [by us]. Follow the customs according to the law and administrative directives (savāla) of your office, write down the expenses into the account book of the [Śrī Jaṅganaṃdaprakāseśvara]Guṭhī and place these 125—[in words] one hundred twenty-five—moharus into the hands of the abbots (mahanta) of those Vairāgī and Daśanāmī akhaḍās. It will be deducted when accounts are cleared according to the account books that bear the signatures and seals of the said mahantas.

Particulars:

[table1]

	To be handed over to the mahanta of the Vairāgī akhaḍā, Rāma Agya Dās, one hundred moharus	100
	To be handed over to the mahanta of the Daśanāmī akhaḍā, Gaṃgā Gīrī, twenty-five moharus	25

Tuesday, the 17th solar day (gate) of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1968 (1911 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

The same order was issued a year later (see K_0384_0065); two years later, the sum provided to the Vairāgī akhaḍā was reduced (see K_0395_0066). The present arrangement of funds for two ascetic institutions operated under the Jaṅgānandaprakāśeśvara Guṭhi. For more on this guṭhī, see Commentary to K_0476_0060.

Notes

1. This number was added by a later hand using Arabic numerals. It refers to the position of the document in the bundle (pokā) number 13 of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā. For more on this number, see note 1 in the edition of K_0382_0029. [⇑]

2. The word "signature" (shī) is written in an ornamental fashion, resembling a fish in shape. This seems to be a pecularity of the scribe; see note 2 in the edition of K_0382_0029. [⇑]

3. Inserted from the space numbered 2 above. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
akhāḍā	[fr. S. akṣavāṭa-] var. akhaḍā. n. lit. "wrestling ground", military station of ascetics; organised group of fighting ascetics. akhāḍās are found e.g. in the traditions of the Śaiva Daśanāmī, the Vaiṣṇava Vairāgī and the Sikh affiliated Udāsī (Clark 2012).
baḍā dasaĩ	var. baḍā dasai; also mahā dasaĩ; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina. Cf. dasaĩ / daśaĩ.
daśanāmī	[S.] n. an order of Śaiva ascetics said to be founded by Śaṅkarācharya.
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).
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā; n. "Guthi Administration Office", office responsible for the management of guṭhīs; established under Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1852-1853 as replacement of the former Guṭhī Kacaharī. Its foundation marks the change from the guṭhīyāri system of the guṭhī management to the contractor based system; remained the central office to coordinate all offices subsequently established for handling different aspects of guṭhī management, including the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā and others. Separate Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 713-715).
Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā	n. office responsible for managing the expenses of the guṭhīs working under the head of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā; two separate Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs.
mahanta	[S.] var. mahaṃta; n. the temporal and spiritual head of a centre (āśrama, maṭha, sthāna, akhāḍā) or wandering group (khālsā) of an ascetic order (cf. Burghart 1976: 100); an abbot.
mohararupaiyā̃	var. mohararupaiyām, mohararūpaiyā, moharaṭaṃkā (New.); often abbreviated as moru, morū, moharu, moharū, moharru, mohorru; n. monetary unit based on and equivalent to two eight-anna silver coins (moharas); in calculations usually broken down into four sukās, 16 ānās or 64 paisās (cf. Pant and Pierce 1989: 93) or 256 dāmas; the exchange ratio with paisās was calculated differently at different times and in different parts of the kingdom, depending on the relative values of silver and copper, ranging between 52 and 80 paisās (Regmi 1982: 73). In documents sums are represented in four numerical fractions, with the rupaiyā represented by numbers; the sukās by one to three daṇḍas or the avagraha sign representing zero; the ānās by one to three diagonal dashes, sometimes as a loop with two or three jags; the paisās again by daṇḍas or numbers; the dāmas by numbers or horizontal dashes.
nausindā	n. a scribe or a clerk of lower rank responsible of translating, registry and accounts; “They were the lowest rank of scribes. There were more personnel in this rank than in any other within the "civilian" hierarchy (and excluding the sipahis). A considerable number of them worked in the offices of registry and accounts. Nausindas registered the papers which came in and left the offices and copied letters and documents.“ (Edwards 1975: 109 ; cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 228 ; Adhikari 1984: 354 ; Kumar 1967: 167 )
purjī	[fr. P. purja] var. purji, pūrjī; n. 1) slip of paper, note. 2) formal letter written by a government institution or an official to another institution or to a person.
savāla	n. 1) an enquiry. 2) a set of directives issued especially for the administrative purposes. Contrary to a sanada which is applicable to general public, a savāla refers to rules within a particular organization or an administrative unit (see Siṃha 1981 sv svāla. 3) rules and regulations enacted based on an existing law; administrative regulations (Adhikari 1984: 356; Karmacharya 2001: 328).
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.
śrī 3 sarkāra	lit. "three-times venerable ruler"; title used by the Rāṇā prime ministers (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266).
uprānta	var. uprāṃta, ūprāṃnta, ūprā̃nta, prāṃta; also yathocita uprānta; conj. after that, besides, in addition to, hereafter. In earlier prose and official documents, this word marked the beginning of a text or paragraph. It has no equivalent in English (Clark 1989: 231). In some (mostly Rāṇā period?) documents, it takes the form of yathocita uprānta.
vairāgī / bairāgī	[S. vairāgin] var. bairagi; a vaiṣṇava ascetic, religious devotee (cf. Turner 1931: s.v. bairagi); specific. a member of the Rāmānandī order