Documenta Nepalica

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

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Copy of a purjī from the Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Bahī Bujhnyā Aḍḍā to Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotirāja Śreṣṭha ordering the termination of food supplies for two Nātha ascetics at Kālamocanaghāṭa (VS 1943)

ID: K_0583_0049

Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2024-10-16; Last modified: 2024-12-05
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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, 2024. 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

In the purjī of which the present document is a copy, the Thāpāthali Guṭhī Bandobasta Bahī Bujhnyā Aḍḍā instructs Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotīrāja to terminate the daily food supplies (sīdhā haṇḍā) of two named ascetics, who fomerly stayed in the Nātha akhāḍā of Mahanta Gaṃgānātha at Kālamocanaghāṭa.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1⟪2.⟫

1ह्स्तेविसेट्‌दिठाजोतिराज•

1स्वस्तिश्रीथापाथलीगुठीवन्दोवस्तवहिवुझ्‌न्याअडाकस्येवीसेट्‌डिट्ठाजोतीराजश्रेष्ठ
2केपुर्जीउप्रान्तथापाथलीकालमोचन्‌घाट्‌नाथअषडाकामहंतगंगानाथकाअ
3षडामारहेकातपसिलकासाधुजना२लेतपसिलकामीतीमीतीमाअषडा
4छोडिजादा•सोमीतीदेषीनिजहरूलाइठेकीयाकोसीधाहंडा२वंदभयाको
5छ•वंदगर्न्याकामगर¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯
5तपसिल

[table]

	चैत्रसुदी९रोज७देषीअषडाछोडीजान्यासतपतिनाथसाधु जना१को¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	१
	ऐंसुदी६रोज४देषीअषडाछोडिजान्यामाधौनाथसाधुजना१को¯¯	१
		२

6इतीसम्वत्‌१९४३सालमीतीचैत्रसुदी११रोज२श्भ्म्‌¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[In the left margin:]

2.1

Through (haste) Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotirāja

[Main text:]

Hail! [This is] a purjī from [the section of] the Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā that is in charge of account books (bahībujhnyā) to Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotirāja Śreṣṭha.

Uprānta: Since the 2 sādhus in the details [below] (who stayed in the akhāḍā of Mahanta Gaṃgānātha of the Nāthaakhāḍā at Kālamocanaghāṭa, Thāpāthalī) left the akhāḍā on the dates [given in] the details, the daily food supplies (sīdhā haṇḍā 2 ) alloted for the said persons stopped as of those dates. Perform the task of terminating [these food supplies].

Details (tapasila):

[table1]

	[food] for 1 sādhu, Satapatinātha (?), who left the akhāḍā on Saturday, the 9th of the bright half of Caitra	1
	[food] for 1 sādhu, Mādhaunātha, who left akhāḍā on Wednesday, the 6th of the bright half of di[tto, i.e. Caitra]	1
		2

Monday, the 11th of the bright half of Caitra in the [Vikrama] era year 1943 (1886 CE). 3 Auspiciousness.

Notes

1. Concering this running number, see K_0583_0048 note 1. [⇑]

2. Like e.g. K_0853_0050, the present document uses the word haṇḍā (text:haṃḍā) instead of haṇḍī, the more common term for "alms". [⇑]

3. Concerning irregularities in dates falling in the bright half of Caitra VS 1943, see K_0583_0050 note 4. [⇑]

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).
bahī	var. vahi; n. ledger or account-book for account keeping (see K_00175_0018 for the stages of account keeping). To what stage of account keeping it exactly refers remains unclear.
biseṭa diṭṭhā	[biseṭa + diṭṭhā] var. viseṭ diṭhā; a post related to management and accountancy of temples and akhāḍās in the Thāpāthalī area.
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā, Guṭhi 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).
haṇḍā	var. haṃḍā; n. a large pot made of metal or clay; cauldron. Used in some documents instead of haṇḍī (alms).
haṇḍī	[H.] var. haṇḍi; 1) n. an earthen pot. 2) an earthen pot to give alms mainly regularly by the government or other institution to ascetics, students, poor people etc. 3) alms regularly given by the government or another institution to ascetics, student etc., consisting of a “quantity of rice, lentils, vegetables, spices, salt, etc., given as a dole for a full meal.“ (M.C. Regmi 1978: 859)
haste	[fr. S. hasta] adv. care of; through;
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.
nātha	[S.] n. a follower of the tradition of Gorakhanātha. See also jogī.
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.
sādhu	[S.] n. lit. "the good one", a holy man, an ascetic; a righteous person. See also sādhu santa
sidhā	n. 1) uncooked food. 2) a plate of uncooked rice, lentils, vegetables, salt, turmeric powder and ghee, etc. given to a Brahmin priest by his patron during a ritual or sacrifice. 3) food provision regularly given by the government or another institution to servants, poor people, ascetics, students, prisoners etc., consisting mainly of a “quantity of rice, lentils, vegetables, spices, salt, etc., given as a dole for a full meal.“ (M.C. Regmi 1978: 859)
tapasila	[fr. A.] var. tapasīl, tapasīlā, tapsīl; n. particulars, details; can be a self-sustained document, but is more often appended as a list after the narratio of documents.
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.