Copy of a rukkā from King Rājendra confirming Rūpanātha as master of Rānāgāũ monastery (VS 1879)
ID: K_0469_0035
Edited and
translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2018-05-29;
Last modified: 2019-08-26
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Abstract
In the rukkā of which the present document is a copy, the king (according to the date, Rājendra) confirms Mahanta Rūpanātha as master (mālika) of Siddha Bhagavantanātha's monastery (maṭha) in Rānāgāũ, Salyan.
Diplomatic edition
[1r]
⟪136⟫1सहीलो2कवाहादु
3रघरराना
4गाउं¯¯¯1सकलवमोजींनकलदुरुस्तछभनीस्हीछापगर्ने¯¯
2लोकप्रसाद1स्वस्तिश्रीमन्महाराजाधिराजकस्येरुक्का¯ ¯¯¯ ¯¯ ¯ ¯¯
2आगेरूपनाथगोसाईप्रतिअघिदेषिसिद्धभगवंत
3नाथवाटवन्देजगरीराष्याकोजौन्चेलालाईमा[...]
4क्गरीवसालिजान्छुअरुचेलालेजगाकोटहलग
5रीउसैमालीकलाईमानीषानुअँसभाडोनास्तिभ
6निआजचारपुस्तासम्मसोईवमोजीमथामीय़ाको
7रेहेछअघिकावन्देजसंगरहनुभनीथामीमोहो
8रगरीवक्स्यौँहामीलाईआसीरवाददीआफ्नाषा
9तीरर्ज्मासगवसइतीसम्वत्१८७९साल्मीतीअ
9श्विनवदी६रोज७शुभम्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Translation
[1r]
[in the left margin:]
361
Signature [of] Loka Bahādura, residence Rānāgāũ
Lokaprasāda, signing in attestation that the copy is true to the original
[main text:]
Hail. [This is] an executive order of the supreme king of great kings.
In an earlier time SiddhaBhagavantanātha put in place [following] regulation: "Once a disciple is made the master (mālika) and installed [on the throne],2 the other disciples shall obey that mālika by serving the estate. There is [to be] no partition of property (aṃśabanḍā)." We have come to learn that [the monastery has been run] unchanged in accordance with it for four generations up to the present.3 Confirming [this,] we [hereby] issue the [present] mohara, stating "Abide by the earlier regulation." Confer blessings upon us and remain dutiful.
Saturday, the 6th of the dark fortnight of Āśvina of the [Vikrama] era year 1879 (1822 CE).4 Auspiciousness.
Commentary
Rūpanātha, a disciple of MahantaBhuvaneśvaranātha, was the second successor of Bhagavantanātha on the throne of the maṭha in Rānāgāũ. The present document confirming him as mālika of Bhagavantanātha's maṭha is not the first red-sealed document to address him. Already in VS 1877 and 1878 King Rājendra sent lālamoharas to him in order to confirm various land grants in Salyan, Dang, Phalabang etc.5 Thus it seems that Rūpanātha served as mahanta at least from VS 1877 onward, but, as we know from other sources, his position was contested. A later document reporting about the abbatial succession in Rānagāũ mentions that there was a quarrel among the many disciples after Bhuvaneśvaranātha abdicated the throne and left to dwell in Kāśī, and that they decided to petition the government to settle the dispute.6 The present document is probably the king's answer to that.
Rūpanātha was followed in office by his disciple Lokanātha, who received a similar confirmation as mālika by King Rājendra in VS 1889.7 From the time of Lokanātha's successor Jagadīśvaranātha onwards, the wording of the official appointment letter was rephrased. The new mahanta was not confirmed as mālika anymore, but was granted authority (akhtiyāra) over the throne of the monastery (maṭhagaddī).8