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

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A bintīpatra sent by Vīra Bahādūra Basnyata Kṣatṛ re the succession of Mahanta Chetranātha (VS 1964)

ID: K_0469_0046

Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2020-05-26; Last modified: 2023-03-06
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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, 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

In this bintīpatra Lieutenant Colonel Vīra Bahādūra Basnyāta Kṣatṛ reacts to orders in a baḍāpatra and informs the prime minister about his examination of the situation in Siddha Bhagavantanātha's monastery in Rānāgāũ, Salyan, after the death of Mahanta Chetranātha. He concludes that Chetranātha's disciple, Lokanātha, although still a minor, is the legitimate heir to the monastical throne and proposes appointing a representative to administer the monastery until Lokanātha is older.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1वीन्‌तिपत्र¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
2ऊप्रांन्तगरिप्रवरकरुणानीधान्‌सर्कारकागाथसदाकुसलआरोग्‍यरहिवक्स्यातावे
3दारकोप्रतिपालऊद्धारहोलासल्ल्यानारानागाऊकोमहंतछेत्रनाथप्रलोगभय़ामा
4हक्‌व़ालाकोहीछैनभतिजा११वर्षकोलाईगद्दीमाराषेभतिजालेपाऊनेहोईनसो
5मठ्‌कोमेरानाऊमासनदगरिपाऊभनिमृगस्थलीवस्न्याजैमान्‌नाथजोगीलेवींती
6चढाय़ामासोमठ्‌मा११वर्षकोनावालषलाईगद्दीमाराषेकोहोहोइननीजकोव़ा
7रेसकोछऐनसव़ाल्‌लेनीजनावालषलेपाऊन्याहोहोईनसोमठ्‌कोसव़ाल्‌सनद
8केछआम्दानीषर्चकतिहुन्छ¯ ¯\ ¯ तर्फगुठीवन्दोवस्तमार्फत्‌जाहेरगर्नुभनि६४
9सालपौष५गतेरोज६मावक्सभय़ाकोवडापत्रकोसीक्ष्याऐं१७गतेरोजमादर्स
10न्‌पाईसीरचढाञासोमठ्‌मा११वर्षकोनावालषलाईगद्दीमावसाय़ाकोछैन
11वुझदानीजछेत्रनाथलेलोकनाथलाईचेलोगराय़ाकोभंने७जनालेका
12गज्‌लेषीदीय़ाकोहुनालेसोमठ्‌महंतछेत्रनाथकोचेला११वर्षकोलोकनाथ
13लेपाउनेदेषिय़ाकोहुनालेनीजलोकनाथ१६वर्षनपुगेसम्मव़ारीसराषीकांग
14र्ने१६वर्षपुगेपछीनीजलोकनाथकातजविजलेगर्नेगरिवक्सनुपर्लाकीभंनेलग्छ
15सोवमोजींगरिवक्सनेरअरुथोकवक्सीनेसर्कारकोजोतजविजभंन्यारफला
16वाङ्‌राज्यमाल्‌कोलेफटेंसाछीराषीषडाभय़ाकोआम्दानीषर्चस्मेत्‌षोलीये़
17सवीसये़माभय़ाको मठ्‌कोलालमोहरसनदमीसील्‌कागज्‌स्मेत्‌गरि६४साल
18कार्त्तीक८गतेकोरपोट्‌¯ ¯\ ¯ तर्फगुठीवन्दोवस्तअडाकानाऊमाषाम्गरिस
20ल्ल्यांहुलाकघरमावुझाईसोहुलाकवाटकार्त्तीक१३गतेकादीनचलांभैसकेको
21हुनालेभय़ाकोवेहोरासर्कारमाजाहेरगरेकोछुहर्फकोकंवेस्‌माफपाउना
22काआधारमाछुप्रभुजोमर्जि¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
23 [seal] सदातावेदारले•कर्णैल्‌वीरवहादुरवस्न्यातक्षतृको
24कोटीकोटीकुर्णैस्‌कुर्णैस्‌¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
25ईतीसम्वत्‌१९६४सालपौष२२गतेरोज२सुभ्म्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

1एकरुपैञाकागजन[...][...]

Translation

[1r]

Petition (bintīpatra)

Uprānta: O caretaker of the poor!1 O treasure store of compassion! As long as Your Lordship (sarkārakā gātha) is well and healthy, the protection of servants will be supported. Jaimānnātha Jogī, living at Mṛgasthalī, made petition, [stating,] "Now that Abbot (Mahanta) Chetranātha of Rānāgāũ, Salyan 2 , has passed into heaven, there is no one exercising authority [in the monastery]. [Even] if the 11-year-old son of his brother (bhatijo)3 is installed on the throne, the brother's son is not [entitled] to receive it. May I receive a sanada [granting the abbotship] of that monastery in my name."4 On the 17th solar day [of Pauṣa, VS 1964], 5 I saw and submitted myself to the instructions of the baḍāpatra issued on Saturday, the 5th solar day of Pauṣa of the [Vikrama era] year [19]64 ordering that the Guṭhī Bandobasta of [Śrī 5 Sarkāra]6 provide information about [the following issues:] "Has the 11-year-old minor been installed on the throne of that monastery or not? Who is the heir (vāresa) of the said [abbot]? Is the said minor allowed by the law to receive [authority over the monastery] or not? What are the administrative rules and regulations (savāla sanada) of that monastery? How much is [its] revenue and expenditures?" Having found out that the 11-year-old minor has not [yet] been installed on the throne in that monastery, [I make the following proposal:] Since 7 people have attested in writing that the said Chetranātha made Lokanātha his disciple,7 and since it [therefore] appears as if the disciple of the said Abbot (maṭhmahanta) Chetranātha, the 11-year-old Lokanātha, will receive [authority over the monastery] ], the question is whether [Your Lordship] should arrange for a representative (vāresa) to be installed to do the work as long as the said Lokanātha has not reached [the age of] 16 years, [and whether the said Lokanātha] does as he proposes [only] after [he] has become 16 years old. 8 Whether to so act and take further steps is for Your Lordship to consider. I have [furthermore already] informed Your Lordship of the [following] details [about the situation in the monastery]: I have disclosed the determined revenue and expenditures attested by the lieutenant in the revenue office (māla) of the kingdom of Phalabang in a report of the 8th solar day of Kārttika, [VS 19]64,9 [placed this information] in an envelope in the name of the Guṭhī Bandobasta of [Śrī 5 Sarkāra] together with the monastery's lālamoharas, sanādas [and] other related records (mīsīl kāgaj), taken [it] to the Salyan post office (hulāka) [and] sent [it] off from that post office on the 13th solar day of Kārttika. I trust I shall receive forgiveness for [whatever is] too little or too much in [my] letters. O Lord, whatever [is your] wish [I shall obey].

[seal] Crores and crores of salutations from L[ieutenant] Colonel Vīra Bahādūra Basnyāta Kṣatṛ, ever [your] servant.

Monday, the 22nd solar day (gate) of Pauṣa of the [Vikrama] era year 1964 (1908 CE).10 Auspiciousness.

[stamp in the lower margin:] One rupee paper number ... 11

Commentary

This bintīpatra, addressing (to judge by the panegyric at the beginning) the prime minister (according to the date, Candra Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā), belongs to a series of documents regarding the succession of the recently deceased Mahanta Chetranātha. The quarrel over Siddha Bhagavantanātha's monastery started in Jyeṣṭha VS 1964 when—just a few hours after the demise of Chetranātha—his elder brother, Devīnātha, informed the premier of the mahanta’s death and claimed that he had been given authority over the monastery (see K_0469_0015). Two months later, in Śrāvaṇa VS 1964, the young Lokanātha submitted a bintīpatra explaining that it was he who had been selected by his guru Chetranātha as successor (see K_0469_0033). His claim was supported by the seven witness statements recorded in the presence of Lieutenant Colonel Vīra Bahādūra Basnyāta Kṣatṛ of the Salyan district office (gauḍā), the sender of the present bintīpatra. 12 As reported in the present document, further examinations within the maṭha followed in the next months, not at least because another claimant to the monastical throne in Rānāgāũ entered the scene: Jaimānnātha Jogī from Mṛgasthalī, the leading monastery of the bārhapantha in the Kathmandu Valley. 13 Although the gauḍā officer responsible for collecting and submitting this information did not agree with all details furnished by the interviewed witnesses14 he supported neither Devīnātha's nor Jaimānnātha's claim but rather suggested a compromise in favour of Lokanātha in his petition.

Half a year after the present document, in Aṣādha VS 1965, the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā informed the Salyan gauḍā that the Mulukī Bandobasta had processed Jaimānnātha Jogī’s bintīpatra (no. 2825) of Jaimānnātha Jogī and ordered the gauḍā to act in accordance with a ratified sanction (sadara bhāeko toka).15 Unfortunately, this toka sadara has not been found in the NGMPP material, but it probably has to do with instructions from Kathmandu to Vīra Bahādūra Basnyāta Kṣatṛ and Śamśera Bahādura Śāha, the king of Salyan, that they together submit another detailed report discussing certain of the monastery’s assets and provide further details about the knotty spiritual and biological relations among the mahantas of the maṭha16 in Śrāvaṇa VS 1965 (K_0468_0061).

Notes

1. The form garipravara (found elsewhere also as garīparvara or the like) is to be understood as garibaparavara. [⇑]

2. The name in the document—here given in its anglicized form— occurs in the spellings Sallyānā and Sallyāṃ [⇑]

3. As we know from another document (K_0468_0061) the young boy assigned by Chetranātha as his successor was not his bhatijo but the son of his guru Hīrānātha. [⇑]

4. The translation simplifies the complex syntax of the Nepali text, the sentences continuing on here. [⇑]

5. In the Nepali text, the baḍāpatra (see below) given with full date comes first; here the text states only the day of the month, signifying the unstated parts with "dtto." (aiṃ). [⇑]

6. The text inserted here is written at the very beginning of the document and is not contained in the present photo but seen rather at the end of the facsimile of K_0469_0045. [⇑]

7. For these witness statements, see Commentary below. [⇑]

8. For Lokanātha's bintīpatra requesting to be installed as the successor of his guru, see K_0469_0033. [⇑]

9. A report issued on that date cannot be found in the NGMPP material, but among the signers of the detailed written witness statement (muculkā), dated Saturday, Bhādra gate 8, VS 1964 (see K_0469_0017), is a lieutenant of the Phalabang revenue office named Padma Jaṅ Malla, who is said to have been appointed as a witness "in accordance with a baḍāpatra," probably the one issued on Monday, Āṣāḍha gate 31, VS 1964 mentioned at the beginning of the said muculkā. [⇑]

10. The date corresponds to 6 January 1908. [⇑]

11. The stamp indicates that a fee of one rupee was paid. The number of the bintīpatra is not visible because it is hidden under a fold. [⇑]

12. For these statements, see K_0469_0038-K_0469_0044. Some weeks later, Vīra Bahādūra Basnyāta Kṣatṛ also recorded a witness statement made on behalf of Lokanātha's rival candidate, Devinātha (see K_0469_0045). [⇑]

13. This was not the first time a yogī from Mṛgasthalī interfered in the affairs of Bhagavantanātha's monastery. For a quarrel between Mahanta Khīmanātha (the father of Chetra- and Devīnātha) and Pīramahanta Haṃsanātha from Mṛgasthalī, see Zotter 2018: 455f. (with further references). [⇑]

14. Like Jaimānnātha, he gave the age of Lokanātha as 11 years while all the latter's seven witnesses claimed that the boy was 12 years old, i.e. had already reached adulthood. On this issue, see Commentary to K_0469_0033, esp. n. 35. [⇑]

15. See K_0469_0014 and K_0474_0056. [⇑]

16. On this issue, see also Commentary to K_0469_0045. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
baḍāpatra	n. a letter from the king or high authority containing an order.
bārhapantha	[bārha + pantha; Hindi: Bārahapantha] var. vārhapaṃtha, vārapantha; the twelve paths or branches of the nātha yogīs (Briggs 1938: 35, 63; Bouillier 2008: 32-35 and 2017: 54-57 and passim; Mallinson 2011).
bintīpatra	[fr. S.] var. bintipatra, biṃtipatra, bīntīpatram; n. formal letter written to an authority; more specifically, a petition or request letter. Cf. bintī.
garibaparavara	[gariba+paravara] var. garīparvara, garīpravara; n. lit. "caretaker of the poor"; an epithet found at the beginning (after uprānta) of petitions (bintīpatra, arjī) to the prime minister, often in combination with other epithets, such as karuṇānidhāna or prabhu.
gaũḍā / gauḍā	var. gaurā; n. 1) a fortification, fortress (see Parājulī et al. 2052: s.v. gaũḍā and gauḍā); 2) certain districts were known as gauḍā, according to Adhikari (describing the situation after 1850): Doti, Salyan, and Palpa in the West and Dhankuta in the east (Adhikari 1979: 16); 3) a district office for maintaining law and order (cf. Karmacharya 2001: 91) established in the districts known as gauḍā. According to Adhikari this judicial offices were placed under responsible military officials—at first under kājīs or sardāras, and later on, under generals (janarala) and colonels (karṇela). In the Ain the chief officer of a gauḍā is referred to as hākima or mālika. Gauḍās decided original cases and served as appellate courts. They had jurisdiction regarding pañcakhata cases but could order a death sentence only after receiving a lālamohara from the kausala (Adhikari 1979: 16). The other levels of courts in the disctricts besides gauḍās or gaũḍā adālatas (cf. Adhikari 1984: 310) were: adālata (sometimes also called aḍḍās) and amāla (Adhikari 1979: 14). According to Kumar there were three "first courts of appeal" known as gauḍās covering twelve lower courts after the reorganisiation of the country's judiciary by Vīra Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā in 1887: I. Palpa gauḍā (covering 1. Salyan, 2. Piuthan, 3. Pokhara, 4. Doti, 6. Bhagwanpur, 6. Taulihawa), II. Doti gauḍā (covering 7. Jumla, 8. Dailekh, 9. Banke, 10. Kanchanpur), III. Dhankuta gauḍā (covering 11. Morang, 12. Saptari) (Kumar 1967: 129f.).
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).
hulāka	n. system of transportation for official mail and civil and military supplies through relays of porters.
lālamohara	var. lālmohara, lālamohar, lālmohora; abbreviated mohara; n. royal document bearing the red seal.
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.
māla	n. an office for collecting revenues (M.L. Karmacharya 1996: 63; M.C. Regmi 1978: 862). Cf. māla aḍḍā
muculkā / mucalakā	var. mucalakā; n. a witnessed written statement.
Mulukī Bandobasta	n. civil department, office created before July 1908 under PM Candra Śamsera Rāṇā as part of his reforms to decentralize the administration (M.C. Regmi 1976: 55, 59; M.C. Regmi 1984: 12).
pīramahanta	[P. pīra + S. mahanta] var. pīramahaṃta; n. (esp. in the Nātha tradition) title of the head of a monastery (maṭha), esp. a pañcāyātī maṭha (cf. Bouillier 2017: 60 and passim).
sanada	var. sanad; n. a regulation, order, decree or certificate of appointment, esp. from the prime minister (prāimaminisṭara yaṇḍa kamyāṇḍara ina cipha) or the commander-in-chief general (kamyāṇḍara ina cipha janarala); "government orders" (Karmacharya 2001: 327).
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 5 sarkāra	lit. "five-times venerable ruler"; commonly used to refer to the Śāha king (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266) and often indistinctively to his government (Lecomte-Tilouine 2015).
toka sadara	var. toka sadar, tok sadar: a written ratification of a decision, order, sanction or directive; see also toka.
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.

Bibliography

Zotter, Christof. 2018. "Ascetics in Administrative Affairs: Documents on the Central Overseer of Jogīs and Saṃnyāsīs in Nepal." In: Studies in Historical Documents from Nepal and India, edited by Simon Cubelic, Axel Michaels and Astrid Zotter, 445-491. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing.