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 Aḍḍā to Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotīrāja Śreṣṭha ordering that the haṇḍī of a Nātha ascetic who had departed Kālamocanaghāṭa be terminated (VS 1944)

ID: K_0584_0019

Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2024-11-18; Last modified: 2025-02-17
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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, 2025. 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 Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā instructs Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotīrāja Śreṣṭha to terminate the daily food supply (sīdhā haṇḍā) of a named ascetic who had left the Nātha akhāḍā at the Kālamocanaghāṭa, Thāpāthalī.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1⟪47⟫

1ह्स्तेज्मादारहर्षन
2र्सीं•

1स्वस्तिश्रीथापाथलिगुठिवन्दोवस्तअडाकस्यविसेट्‌डिट्टाजोतिराजश्रेष्टकेपुर्जिउप्रान्तथापाथलिका
2लमोचनघाट्‌नाथअषडाकामहंतगंगानाथकाअषडामारह्याकारुद्रनथसाधुजना१लेअ
3षडाछोडीजादा४४सालश्राव़णसुदि६रोज३देषीनिजको•सिधाहंडा१वंदभयाकोछवंदगर्न्या
4कामगरइतिसम्वत्‌१९४४सालश्राव़णसुदि६रोज३श्भ्म्‌¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯

Translation

[In the left margin:]

471

Through (haste) Jamādāra (text: jmādara) Harṣa Narsiṃ

[Main text:]

Hail! [This is] a purjī from the Thāpāthalī (text: Thāpāthali) Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā to Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotīrāja Śreṣṭha (text: Jotīrāja Śreṣṭa).

Uprānta: Inasmuch as 1 sādhu, Rudranātha—[who] stayed in the akhāḍā of Gaṃgānātha, the mahanta of the Nāthaakhāḍā at Kālamocanaghāṭa, Thāpāthalī—has left the akhāḍā, the 1 daily food supply (sīdhā haṇḍā 2 ) of the said [sādhu] stopped from Tuesday, the 6th of the bright half of Śrāvaṇa in the [Vikrama era] year [19]44. Perform the task of terminating [this food supply].

Tuesday, the 6th of the bright half of Śrāvaṇa in the [Vikrama] era year 1944 (1887 CE). 3 Auspiciousness.

Notes

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

2. Like K_0583_0050, the present document uses the word haṇḍā (text:haṃḍā) instead of haṇḍī, the more common term for "alms". [⇑]

3. The date corresponds to 26 July 1887. [⇑]

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).
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;
jamadāra / jamādāra	var. jmādāra, jaṃdāra; n. a low ranking commissioned officer in the army (cf. Adhikari 1984: 350; Kumar 1967: 166; M.C. Regmi 1978: 227; Stiller 1981: 380) who could be also assigned to civil offices (Edwards 1975: 108), below the subedāra and above havaladāra (Whelpton 1991: 283). According to Edwards 1975: 108: “In the Kausi two jamadars supervised the work of harkaras, or menials, who carried in supplies and were sent on errands as messengers.“
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)
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.