Documenta Nepalica

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

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A bakapatra supplied by Pokharyā re the succession of Mahanta Chetranātha's abbatial succession in Rānagāũ (VS 1964)

ID: K_0469_0040

Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2018-08-01; Last modified: 2018-12-13
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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, 2018. 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 statement, made before Lieutenant Colonel Vīra Bahādūra Basynāt Chetrī of the Salyan dictrict office (gauḍā), the slave Pokharyā answers questions regarding the abbotship of Mahanta Chetranātha in Rānagāũ, Salyan.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्रीले•कर्णेलरणवीक्रमवहादुरराणा
2\

⟪141⟫

[seal]

1दःलेकः[...]
2रवहादू[...][...]
3स्न्यात्‌[...]

1सल्ल्यानामौजेरानागाऊकामहंतछत्रनाथपरलोकभय़ाका•
2हुनालेमहंत्याञीमामेराहकहोभंन्यालोकनाथकावीन्तीप•
3त्रमालेषीय़ाकोसाछी•पोषर्‍याकेटालेसल्ल्यानागौडाकाले
4कर्णैलवीरवहादुरवस्न्यातछेत्रीकासामुनेमाधर्मसमझी
5वकेकोवकपत्र

[table1-part1]

1	सव़ाल•¯¯मामुली¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌मेरोनाऊपोषर्‍यामेरावावुको नाऊ•कुंद्राघर्ति•पेसामठ्‌कोटहलगरि• षाय़ाकोछुजातमठकोकमारोहुँनीजह रूसंगलीनदीनकेहीछैनऊमेरवर्ष१८को भञा¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
2	सव़ाल•¯¯स्वमौजेरानगाऊकामहंत• छेत्रनाथलाईचीनेकाछौकी¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌रानगाऊकामहंतछेत्रनाथछेत्र नाथथीय़ानीजछेत्रनाथये़ही•साल जेष्टमैन्हाका१७गतेकादीनप्रलोकभय़ा छैनं¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
3	सव़ाल•¯¯नीजप्रलोकहुन्यामहंत• छेत्रनाथकाचेलापनीकोहींछंकी•	जवाफ्‌नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथकाचेलालो कनाथछन¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
4	सव़ाल•¯¯नीजलोकनाथकतीवर्ष काछं¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌नीजलोकनाथजमेकोसालमैन्हा कोथाहाछैनअंदाजीवर्ष१२कोनीज लोकनाथकोउमेरभय़ाकोछ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
5	सव़ाल•¯¯नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथले• नीजलोकनाथलाइकैल्हेदेषीचे• लोवनाय़ाकोहो¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌साल्‌मैनादीन⟪[fingerprint]⟫⟪कोथाहाछैन⟫⟪[fingerprint]⟫अंदाजीवर्ष६भ य़ा•नीजछेत्रनाथदाङ्‌चौघेरामापीर वस्तानीजलोकनाथकावावुआमावाट त्यागचुकाईनीजछेत्रनाथलेनीजलोकना थलाइ चेलावनाय़ाकोहो¯ ¯
6	सव़ाल•¯¯नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथप्र लोकभय़ाकाहुनालेसोमहंत्या ञीकोहककस्कोहो¯¯ ¯¯	जवाफ्‌नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथपलोकभय़ाकाहु नालेसोमहंत्याञीकोहकनीजलोक नाथकोहो¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
7	सव़ाल•¯¯नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथकोअरुचेलापनीकोहीछंकी¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथकाअरुचे लाछैनंलोकनाथमात्रहुं¯¯

[1r-part2]

[table1-part2]

1	सव़ाल•महंत्याञीहुन्दासावीक दरसावीकमाकेकेकस्वगरीआ य़ाकोछ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌नीजमहंतकोप्रलोकहुनेअवस्ता भय़ापछीचेलालोकनाथलेसोद्धानी जछेत्रनाथकाचेलाकोपाषुरासमाईपी ठीय़ामा•पीठीय़ामाधापलगाईदीमे रासेषपछीमहंततभैसवस्नुभनीभंन्या काहुंतेतीभैनीजमहंतपलोकभय़ाका हुंप्रलोकभय़ापछीगरीआय़ाबमो जीम्‌काजकृय़ागरीचेलालेमहंतभैगद्दीमावस्नागरीआय़ाकाछन्‌¯¯¯
2	सव़ाल•¯¯महंतछेत्रनाथलाइकस्ले• चेलावनाईमहंत्याञीदीय़ाकोहो•¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथकोगुरु महंतहीरानाथलेनीजछेत्रनाथलाई चेलावनाइमहंत्याञीपाउनगरीरा ष्याकाहुं¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
3	सव़ाल•¯¯महंतहुनेलेसकारमावक्सा इगद्दीमावस्नेगरीआय़ाकोछकी• आफैवसीआय़ाकोछ¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌¯¯¯सोमहंत्याञीगद्दीमावस्ता अघीदेषीसल्ल्यांगौडाकाभारादार संगवक्साइगद्दीमावस्न्यागरीआय़ाका छन्‌¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
4	सव़ाल•¯¯महंतछेत्रनाथप्रलोकहु न्यावषत्‌मासोमठकोकांतीमीले गर्नुभनीनीजछेत्रनाथलेमलाईअ षत्यारगरीदीय़ाकोछभनीदेवीना थजीलेउजुरगरेकोछसोकुराहोकीकस्वहो ¯¯¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथप्रलोक हुन्यावषत्‌मानीजदेवीनाथलाई अषतीय़ारगरीदीय़ाकोहोइननीज चेलालोकनाथलाइदीय़ाकाहुंन्‌
5	सव़ाल•¯¯महंतछेत्रनाथलाईम हंत्याञीदीय़ापछीनीजछेत्रना थगद्दीमावस्नालाईसल्ल्यां गौडाकाभारादारसंगवक्साय़ाको थीय़ोथीये़न ¯¯¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌महंतहीरानाथप्रलोकभय़ा पछीनीजकोचेलामहंतछेत्रनाथगद्दी मावस्नालाईऊस्वषत्‌मासल्ल्यां गौडाकाभारादार¯ ¯ ¯कोपनी सव़ारीभैगद्दीमानीज छत्रनाथ लाईवसाईसर्कारमाजाहेरगरीला लमोहरहुनगय़ाकोहों¯¯¯¯¯¯
6	सव़ाल•¯¯नीजमहंतछेत्रनाथ• कामठ्‌कोआम्दानीलगतकती छवयांगर¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌महंतछेत्रनाथकामठको आम्‌दानीलगतमलाइथाहाछैन¯¯
7	सव़ालय़ोमाथीलेषीय़ाकोव यांतीम्रोदुरुस्तभोकी¯¯¯	जवाफ्‌फरकछैनफरकपारीलेषी दीय़ाकोठहर्‍योऐनवमोजीमवुझा उला ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

6पोषर्‍याकेटा¯¯¯¯¯१
7इतीसम्वत्‌१९६४साल्‌श्राव़णगते१०रोज५शुभ्म्‌¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

1 [fingerprint]

1दःले•कः
2सहि

Translation

[1r]

Venerable L[ieutenant] Colonel Raṇavīkram Bahādura Rāṇā

411

[seal]

[signature of] Da.2 L[ieutenant] C[olonel] [Vī]ra Bahādū[ra] Basynāt [Kṣatrī] - - -

Testimony (bakapatra) given, keeping the dharma in mind, in front of L[ieutenant] Colonel Vīra Bahādura Basynāta Chetrī of the Salyan district office (gauḍā) by the lad (keṭā) Pokharyā, a witness mentioned (lekhīyāko) in the petition (bintīpatra) from Lokanātha which states "inasmuch as Chetranātha,3 the abbot (mahanta) of Rānāgāũmaujā, Salyan, has passed away, the right to the abbotship is [now] mine."4

[table]

	Question: general [introduction]	Answer: My name [is] Pokharyā; my father's name [is] Kuṃdrā Gharti. Profession: I serve the monastery (maṭha). Caste (jāta): I am the maṭha's slave. I have no business dealings5 with the said people. Age: 18 years old.
	Question: You knew Mahanta Chetranātha of that6 maujā, Rānāgāũ, or not?	Answer: The mahanta of Rānāgāũ was Chetranātha. The said Chetranātha passed away on the 17th solar day (gate) in the month of Jyeṣṭha of this year, [VS 19]64. [He is] no more.
	Question: Was there also some disciple of the said late Mahanta Chetranātha , or not?	Answer: There was a disciple of the said Mahanta Chetranātha: Lokanātha.
	Question: How old is the said Lokanātha?	Answer: The year [and] month of birth of the said Lokanātha I do not know. The said Lokanātha is approximately 12 years old.
	Question: When did the said Mahanta Chetranātha make the said Lokanātha [his] disciple?	Answer: The year, month [and] day I do not know.7 It was approximately six years ago. When the said Mahanta Chetranātha was residing as head of the monastery (pīra) in Dang Caugherā 8 [and] the said Lokanātha had conclusively left [his] father [and] mother, the said Chetranātha made the said Lokanātha [his] disciple.
	Question: Now that the said Mahanta Chetranātha has passed away, who has the right to the abbotship?	Answer: Now that the said Mahanta Chetranātha has passed away, the right to the abbotship is Lokanātha's.
	Question: There are other disciples of the said Mahanta Chetranātha, or not?	Answer: There are no other disciples of the said Mahanta Chetranātha. There is only Lokanātha.

[1r-part2]

[table]

	Question: What all is traditionally done [and] how [is it done] in the customary practice when one accedes to the abbotship (mahantyāñī hundā)?	Answer: When the said mahanta was about to die, the disciple Lokanātha asked [him a question].9 The said Chetranātha seized the disciple's upper arm,10 slapped the [disciple's] back [and] said: "After my death make sure that you become11 the mahanta [and] occupy [the throne]." That was the extent of it, and the said mahanta passed away. Traditionally, after [a mahanta] passes away, the disciple performs the kājakṛyā12 according to what is traditionally practised, becomes mahanta [and] occupies the throne.
	Question: Who made Mahanta Chetranātha [his] disciple [and] gave [him] the abbotship?	Answer: The guru of the said Mahanta Chetranātha, Mahanta Hīrānātha, made the said Mahanta Chetranātha [his] disciple and appointed him [his successor] so that he would receive the abbotship.
	Question: Is it the tradition that a mahanta-to-be occupies the throne after being authorized by the government, or is it rather the tradition that he occupies [it] on his own?	Answer: Once the [one who is selected for] the abbotship [is set to] occupy the throne, it is the tradition from earlier timesto do so [only] after being authorized by the bhārādāra of the Salyan district office.
	Question: Devīnāthajī has submitted a complaint, saying "When Mahanta Chetranātha was passing away, the said Chetranātha gave me the authority, saying 'You do the work of [overseeing] the maṭha'." Is it so, or how is it?	Answer: When the said Mahanta Chetranātha was passing away, [he] gave authority not to the said Devīnātha. [He] gave it to the said disciple Lokanātha.
	Question: After [his guru] gave Mahanta Chetranātha the abbotship, was the said Chetranātha authorized to occupy the throne by the bhārādāra of the Salyan district office, or not?	Answer: After Mahanta Hīrānātha passed away, in order for his (nījako) disciple Mahanta Chetranātha to [be able to] occupy the throne, the then13 bhārādāra of the Salyan district office, [venerable L[ieutenant] Colonel Raṇavīkram Bahādūra Rāṇā], 14 came (savārī bhai), installed the said Chetranātha (on the throne), informed the government [and the process of issuing] a lālamohara was initiated.
	Question: How much was the said Mahanta Chetranātha's assessment of the maṭha's revenue? Declare [the amount].	Answer: I do not know [how much] the said Mahanta Chetranātha's assessment of the maṭha's revenue [was].
	Question: The declaration of yours written above is15 the exact truth, or not?	Answer: There is no deviation. If it is proven that [the statement] deviates [from the truth], I will pay the price according to the law.

The lad Pokharyā - - - 1

fingerprint

signature Da.16 L[ieutenant] C[olonel]

Thursday, the 10th solar day (gate) of Śrāvaṇa in the [Vikrama] era year 1964 (1907 CE). Auspiciousness.17

Commentary

For more information about the background to such witness statements and related documents, see the Commentaries to K_0469_0033 and K_0469_0038.

Notes

1. This archival notation indicates the card number (of bundle 15 of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā records). [⇑]

2. The meaning of this abbreviation remains unclear. Perhaps it stands for darabāriyā or darabārī, that is, a courtier. [⇑]

3. The name, here written Chatranātha, occurs everywhere else in the document as Chetranātha. Therefore the latter spelling is used in the translation. [⇑]

4. For this bintīpatra, see K_0469_0033. [⇑]

5. Lit."there is no giving [and] taking". [⇑]

6. I understand sva as graphic variant of so (cf. kasva for kaso below). [⇑]

7. The scribe added a few missing syllables above the line, and Pokharyā confirmed the addition with his fingerprints. [⇑]

8. For further details about this office, see note 9 in K_0469_0038. [⇑]

9. As other documents report, he asked his guru what to do (cf. note 10 in K_0469_0038). [⇑]

10. The document mistakenly has chetranāthako for °le (cf. K_0469_0038), and so literally says "the upper arm of the disciple of the said mahanta Chetranātha" without specifying the subject of the sentence. [⇑]

11. The document has ta bhais for mod. Nep. tã bhaes. In other documents the simplier construction mahanta or mahantyāi bhai basnu is used (see K_0469_0038, K_0469_0039 and K_0469_0044). [⇑]

12. Kājakṛyā (mod. Nep. kājakiriyā) denotes the ritual actions performed during the first thirteen days after a death. [⇑]

13. The translation follows the parallel passage in other documents (see K_0469_0038 and K_0469_0039), which read bakhatkā instead of bakhatmā. [⇑]

14. Inserted from the upper margin. [⇑]

15. The past tense "became" (bho for bhayo) is used. [⇑]

16. Cf. note 2. [⇑]

17. The word śubhaṃ is written in an ornamental fashion. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
bakapatra	[baka+patra] var. vakapatra; n. testimony, witness statement.
bhāradāra / bhārādāra	var. bhārā n. lit. "burden bearer"; a generic term for high-level functionaries and courtiers.
bintīpatra	[fr. S.] var. bintipatra, biṃtipatra, bīntīpatram; n. formal letter written to an authority; more specifically, a petition or request letter. Cf. bintī.
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; 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).
jāta	[S.] n. lit. "species"; a caste or ethnic group, see also jāti.
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.
maujā	[fr. A. mauja] var. mauje, maujye; n. 1) unit of land revenue administration in the Tarai (cf. Krauskopff and Deuel Meyer 2000: 184). 2) revenue subdivision constituted by a group of villages in some hill districts and the Kathmandu Valley (cf. Michael 2012: 132).
pīra	[P.] n. 1) a venerable old man, a spiritual guide. 2) a Muslim saint. 3) (esp. in the Nātha tradition) used as title for the head of important maṭha (Bouillier 2017: 60 and passim).