A purjī from the Mulukī Aḍḍā to Guṭhī Bandobasta regarding the admission of Kavirāja Pādhyā to Tīnadhārā Pākasālā (VS 1947)
ID: K_0406_0073
Edited and
translated by Nirajan Kafle and Rajan Khatiwoda
Created: 2025-05-15;
Last modified: 2025-12-08
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Abstract
The pūrjī instructs the Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā to provide meals from the Tīnadhārā Pākasālā to Kavirāja Pādhyā Bhaṭṭarāi of Kusmā, Purkoṭ. It also records Kamān Siṃ Mahata Chetṛ as his surety and directs that a sanad be issued in the name of the Pākasālā.Diplomatic edition
[1r]
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4षवदी∙१३रोज∙५कादीनदेषी∙पाकसालावाट∙षानदिनुभंन्यापुर्जिगरीदिनुभंन्या¯ ¯१¯वाटमर्जिभैक
5मान्सिंमहतछेतृजमानगीआयाकोछ∙तसर्थ∙सोप्रमाँगीवमोजिम्कोपाकसालाकानाउमाजोसन
6दगरी∙पठाइदीन्याकामगर∙इतिसम्वत१९४७सालमितीपौषवदी१३रोज∙५शुभ्म्¯¯¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯¯
Translation
[1r]
Venerable Commander-in-Chief General [i.e. Vīra Śamśera]
64
1[Seal: Muluki Aḍḍā 47]
From the Muluki Aḍḍā:
In accordance with the order (marji) of the Commander-in-Chief General: “The Hākima and kārindā[s] of the Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā shall inspect [our] written order (purjī) and, [on that basis], issue [their own] order to provide food from the Pākasālā to Kavirāja Pādhyā Bhaṭṭarāi, resident of Kusmā, Purkoṭ, beginning Thursday, the 13th of the dark fortnight of Pauṣa, Vikrama era year 1947 (1890 CE).”
Since Kamān Siṃ Mahata Chetṛ has appeared at the Pākasālā as the personal surety (jamāni) [for the aforesaid Kavirāja], you are therefore, in accordance with that pramāṇgī [i.e. the aforesaid order of the Commander-in-Chief], to issue and dispatch a sanada in the name of the Pākasālā. Written on Thursday, the 13th of the dark fortnight of Pauṣa, Vikrama era year 1947 (1890 CE).
Auspiciousness.
Commentary
This document, though formally an ordinary administrative order from the Mulukī Aḍḍā, illustrates how even ordinary Brahmins such as Kavirājas were supported through religious patronage established as acts of piety (dāna) aimed at expiation (prāyaścitta/patiyā; see Michaels 2005 for a detailed discussion). It reflects the close entanglement of state and religion in pre-modern Nepal (see Cubelic and Khatiwoda 2017 on divine kingship and the concept of polity in pre-modern Nepal). Kavirāja’s admission to the Pākasālā provided not only daily maintenance but also access to Sanskrit education. The Pākasālā began with 54 students and later expanded to 210 (see Panta 2025: 187). Before the advent of formal schooling, such institutions served as the primary instrument for producing the educated manpower required for state administration and politics (see Kafle and Khatiwoda 2025: 247–271).
The cultivation of educated elites was not confined to domestic religious-social institutions. Selected individuals were also sent to centers of learning in India, such as Varanasi and Delhi. For example, documents dispatched by Aravindanātha Gajuryāla to the Nepalese royal court describe his studies in Varanasi (DNA_0001_0001, DNA_0002_0069, DNA_0004_0038; also edited in Kafle and Khatiwoda 2025). Members of the ruling elite likewise sponsored education: Queen Consort Devarājalakṣmī, for instance, established a guṭhī with a land endowment to support the education of five students and the appointment of a teacher (K_0442_0054; also edited in Kafle and Khatiwoda 2025).