Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copy of a purjī from C-in-C Bhīma Śamśera instructing the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to disburse funds to the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā on the occasion of Baḍādasaĩ (VS 1970)

ID: K_0395_0041

Edited by Astrid Zotter in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2019-04-23; Last modified: 2020-05-18
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, 2020. 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 purchasing bread, sweets and yoghurt to feed the poor on the occasion of the Baḍādasaĩ festival in VS 1970 at the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री:\

1श्रीपुर्णेश्वर
2२

1श्रीजङ्गनन्दप्रकासेश्वर
2[...]

1श्री३सर्कार
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1सकलवमोजींनकलदुरुस्तछभनिस्हीगर्ने
2षरीदार∙भवप्रसादउपाध्या१
3स्ही∙लेगोपालउपाध्या१

140

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1स्वस्तिश्रीमद्राजकुमारकुमारात्मजश्रीकम्याणडरइ[?]
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3लामाभातषानेगरीवगुरुवाहरुलाइवदादसैमान्ना[?][?]मो
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6उनाके∙मोरु२७|सत्ताइस्‌रूपैञावक्स्याकोछ¯ ¯३¯कागुठीका[?][?]
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8झदानीजराइटर⟪पृथ्वीमंगक⟫जोसीकासहीछाप[?]स्याहाभर्पाइवमोजीं[?][?]
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Synopsis

[1r]

The purjī of which this is a copy was issued by Commander-in-Chief General Sir Bhīma Samsera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā and is addressed to the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā under Śrī 3 Sarkāra

In keeping with a customary practice, it orders 27 mohararupaiyā̃s to be disbursed for feeding bread, sweets and yoghurt during a Baḍādasaĩ feast for poor persons who take their meals at the kitchen (pākaśālā) of Śrī Purṇeśvara. After the expenditures are recorded in the account book (syāhā) of the Śrī Jaṅganandaprakāseśvara guṭhī the money is to be given to Pṛthvīmaṃgala Josī, the assistant (nāyaba) rāīṭara of the said kitchen. A rebate will be given when accounts are cleared according to the account book and receipt that bear the signature and seal of the said nāyaba rāīṭara.

The purjī is dated Saturday, the 5th solar day (gate) of Āśvina in the [Vikrama era] year 1970 (1913 CE).

The copy was certified to be in accordance with the original by Kharidāra Bhavaprasāda Upādhyā and Lekhanadāsa (text: le.) Gopāla Upādhyā.

Commentary

The present purjī belongs to a series of similar instructions from the period VS 1955 to VS 1970 that pertain to festive meals at the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā during the autumnal Dasaĩ festival (see K_0614_0041, K_0608_0055, K_0660_0052, K_0664_0017, K_0667_0036, K_0488_0009, K_0488_0012, K_0382_0029, K_0384_0064, K_0395_0049).

Exactly the same text was copied again as no. 48 in the same batch of documents (K_0395_0049), leaving out details of the date.

Notes

Glossary

Word	Notes
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.
dasaĩ / daśaĩ	[fr. S. daśāha] var. dasai; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina (baḍā dasaĩ) and, on a smaller scale, over the bright half of the spring month of Caitra (caite dasaĩ).
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 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.
kharadāra / kharidāra	[fr. P.] var. kharīdāra, ṣaridāra; n. secretary, official scribe, office superintendent (cf. Kumar 1967: 166).
lekhanadāsa	[S.] n. person or officer who scribes documents for private or official transactions.
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.
nāyaba	[fr. A.] var. nāeva, nāaiva; adj. deputy, assistant.
pākaśālā	[S.] var. pākasālā; n. 1) kitchen. 2) public kitchen set up to feed the poor and needy (K_0351_0071).
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.
rāiṭara	[fr. E.] var. rāīṭara; n. administrative officer higher than the bahidāra, but lower than the mukhiyā.
śrī 3 sarkāra	lit. "three-times venerable ruler"; title used by the Rāṇā prime ministers (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266).