Documenta Nepalica

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

Version with DOI and citation guidelines

A copy of a royal order authorizing the head pāniju of Buṅgadyaḥ to investigate misappropriation of the deity's surplus funds (VS 1872)

ID: K_0630_0054

Edited and translated by Manik Bajracharya in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2021-05-31; Last modified: 2026-04-28
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, 2026. 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

This executive order of the king authorizes the head priest of Buṅgadyaḥ to investigate misappropriation of the deity's surplus funds. He is instructed to prepare and submit a detailed report on the guthi's income and expenditure and to ensure that any future surplus amount is deposited into the deity's treasury account.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1२३५नं

1पो१२व९पा६४मी४३२
2१०९नं

1गुठीकोसम्‌
2भारगर्न्या

1[unknown seal]

1आगेसाला⟪सा⟫कानाये़क∙पानिजुके∙श्रीमछिन्द्रनाथका∙ज्मागुठिवाटभंडारमा∙
2दाषिलभै∙मामुलिकाजमा∙खर्चगरीवाकिरह्याकोकारवारीहरुहीना
3मीनागराऊदा∙रह्याछंनअघिपनीजाचनपठाय़ा ∙कोकेहिदीय़नन∙
4गुठिमाअसुलीकतिहुदोरहेछ∙पुजागुठि∙मामुलिखर्च∙वर्षकोकटिहुदो
5रहेछ∙वाकिरह्याको∙कोखादोरहेछ∙विसेटकाडीठ्ठा∙नाय़क∙वतिसवाडाम
6ध्ये़का∙जान्याजानन्यावाडा∙राषिखसोखास∙जाचि∙ठहराईवहि[?]वही
7पुर्जाहाम्राहजुरमाल्याऊनुवाकिरह्याकोभंडारदाषिल⟪गराउनु⟫गरनुय़सकाज
8कोअषत्यारवक्स्यौंहाम्राजय़मनाई∙परापुर्वदेखिचलिआय़ावमोजीं
9हर्षतनगराईकामचलाऊनुन्यलेष्यामाफिककाकाजमा∙सामेलभैख
10सोखास∙नदीन्यानमानन्या∙लाई∙हाम्राहजुरमाविंतिगरीसासनागरीवक्स्यौं
11लाईतिसंवत१८७२सालआश्वींवदी३०रोज२सुभं¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

No. 2351

Po. 12 va 9 pā 64 mī 4322

No. 1093

[Regarding] oversight of the guṭhī.

Āge: to the head pāniju in Lhasa (text: lāsā).

It has come to our attention that, after covering the usual expensis for the deity, stewards (kārabārīharū) of the surplus of funds collected for the treasury by Matsyendranātha's (text: machindranātha) aggregated (jmā) guṭhī have been misappropriating them. We had previously sent [envoys] to investigate, but they failed to provide any information. How much is contributed to the guṭhī? What are the customary annual expenses for its rituals? Who has been taking the remaining funds? These matters must be determined through an impartial examination in the presence of the Head Ḍiṭṭhā (ḍiṭṭhā nāyaka) of the biseṭs, together with the knowledgeable members among the thirty-two Bā̃ḍās.4 [Once this investigation is complete,] bring the ledger (bahi) and notes (purjā) to us. [Ensure that] the surplus funds are deposited in the [deity's] treasury account. I grant you authority to carry out this task. Celebrate our victories and carry out the customary duties as they have been performed, without committing any violations (harkat, text: harṣata. Report to us anyone who refuses to truthfully comply with the [above] instructions, and we will punish him.

Monday, the 30th of the dark fortnight of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1872 (1815 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

This document of which this is a copy is a royal executive order. The usual eulogy of the king has been left out. From the date, the issuing king can be identified as Gīrvāṇayuddha Vikrama Śāha. It is addressed to the head priest of Buṅgadyaḥ (Matsyendranātha), who at the time was in Lhasa, Tibet. The order authorizes the head priest to investigate the alleged misappropriation of surplus funds from the deity’s guṭhī. The document orders an inquiry and submission of financial records, and instructs that any surplus funds be deposited into the deity’s treasury account. The king grants the head priest full authority to carry out this task.

The document reveals concerns about financial misconduct within the guṭhī system associated with Buṅgadyaḥ. The king’s direct intervention suggests that such financial irregularities were taken seriously, likely because the Śāha rulers increasingly felt it necessary to exercise state authority over temple finances. Similar royal orders—including the documents K_0341_0018 of 1805 and RRC_0005_0159 of 1806—warned against misappropriation of the deity's funds. These decrees of kings reflect the direct involvement of the Śāha monarchy in the religious and economic affairs of Buṅgadyaḥ.

A related document (K_0630_0067), issued three months later in Pauṣa, mentions the dispatch of the head pāniju priest back to Bhoṭa (Tibet), reinforcing the connection between the head priest and Tibetan affairs. It is, however, unclear what the purpose of the priest's stay in Tibet was.

Notes

1. This probably is the page number of the book containing the document copies. [⇑]

2. This set of letters and numbers probably refers to the archival location of the original document. [⇑]

3. This is the serial number of the document within the bundle, assigned at the Guṭhī Saṃsthāna. [⇑]

4. The thirty-two bā̃ḍās here are the community (saṅgha) of pāniju priests responsible for carrying out rituals relating to Buṅgadyaḥ. In fact, the saṅgha consists of only thirty-one mortal members, the thirty-second member being Buṅgadyaḥ himself, also known as Śrī. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
āge	[fr. S. agre] adv. lit. "henceforeward" (Riccardi 1976: 150 n. 6), especially used in administrative and legal documents to mark the beginning of a text or paragraph. In its function it is similar to uprānta.
bahī	var. vahi; n. ledger or account-book for account keeping (see K_00175_0018 for the stages of account keeping). To what stage of account keeping it exactly refers remains unclear.
bā̃ḍā	[fr. Skt. vandya] var. bāḍā, vāḍā; n. generic term commonly used by non-Newars to refer to the two highest Buddhist Newar sub-castes, the Śākya and Vajrācārya, who traditionally work as goldsmiths amongst others; the Mulukī Ain groups them below the Śreṣṭhas (MA-54 145.8).
biseṭa	var. biseṭ, viseṭ, viseṭa, besata; n. 1) a temple steward (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 855) or a person responsible for administering a religious institution. 2) an official responsible for accountancy of temple trusts, as e.g. of the Paśupatinātha Bhaṇḍāra (Michaels 1994: 158-161). Michaels renders the term as "viśeṣ" and relates the different spellings attested to Skt. viśeṣa (ibd.: 160 n. 138). As the earliest reference quoted goes back to the Malla period (NS 794) and renders the term as beseta (G. Vajrācārya 1966: 23) it seems more likely that the term comes from Newari and is a variant of New. besata/byaṣṭa, "messenger" (cp. Malla et al. 2000: s.v.).
ḍiṭṭhā	var. ḍīṭṭhā, ḍiṭhā; a civil servant ranking above a mukhiyā and lower than a subbā (cf. Stiller 1981: 379). According to Edwards 1975: 107, ḍiṭṭhās originally had been the judges who presided over the courts in Kathmandu but later could serve in a number of other offices (such as the kausī, the hāttīsāra or the sadara daphtarakhānā; see also Kumar 1967: 165; M.C. Regmi 1978: 226). The Mulukī Ain distinguishes three categories of the ḍiṭṭhās; the jaṅgī kote ḍiṭṭhā (probably, combatant personnel), the lājimā ḍiṭṭhā and the ḍiṭṭhā in charge of Elephant or horse stable or cowshed (MA-54.31.11).
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 Saṃsthāna	n. a public corporation established in 1964 (VS 2021) overseeing the management of rājaguṭhīs.
pānju	var. pāniju, pāneju, pānijyu; n. 1) the attending priest of Buṅgadyo (Matsyendranātha). 2) one of thirty one Vajrācāryas and Śākyas of the saṅgha at Buṅgamatī who are entitled to serve as attendants to Buṅgadyo (Owens 1989: 408).