Documenta Nepalica

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A copy of a lālamohara from King Rājendra appointing Lakṣmīnātha as priest of Śrī Ratannātha at Phalabang (VS 1878)

ID: K_0013_0029E


Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2021-10-09; Last modified: 2022-03-04
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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 CCby-SA.

Abstract

In the original of which this document is a copy, the king, who according to the date must have been Rājendra, appoints Lakṣmīnātha to perform the regular and occasional worship of Śrī Ratannātha at Phalabang.



Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1१०४­नं­

1पो­१४­पा­३५­सी­१[?]५­
2भं­नौ­हर्ष­
3हे­नाराराम­

1आगे­लक्ष्मीनाथके­फलालवाङ्गकाश्रीरतनंनाथको­पुजाहारी­•षाली­हुंदा­
2वुटीनाथको­मोहर­हानी­वक्सौ­परापुर्वका­रीतले­नीत्य­नैमीत्य­पु
3जामा­रुजु­हुनु­रही­हाम्रो­जये़­मनाई­पुजामा­थानमा­ [unknown seal] लग्‍याकोलाई­
4सेष­रह्याको­आफ्ना­षातीरज्मासीत­गुठ­जानी­भोग्‍य­गर­ईती­सम्वत­
5१८७८­साल­अषाद­सुदी­१२­रोज­५­सुभं­¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

[in the left margin:]

Number 1041

Bundle (po[kā]) 14, pā 35, sī 1[?]52

The one who said (bhaṃ for bhaṃne) [was] the clerk (nau for nausindā)Harṣa

The one who watched (he for herne) [was] Nārārāma (?)3

[main text:]

Āge: to Lakṣmīnātha

As [the post of] pūjarī of Śrī Ratannātha (text: Ratana°) of Phalabang (text: Phalā[...]vāṅga) is becoming vacant, we have annulled the mohara of Vuṭīnātha [and] have granted [you the following rights]: As [was] the earlier custom, be present for the regular and occasional worship, celebrate our triumphs, [be] conscious of your duty, conceive the guṭha [as yours, and] enjoy what remains after covering worship and shrine [expenses].

Thursday, the 12th of the bright fortnight of the month of Āṣāḍha, in the [Vikrama] era year 1878 (1821 CE).4 Auspiciousness.5


Commentary

From the available documents it seems that the post of the pūjārī of Śrī Ratannātha at Phalabang was occupied in a rotating system, at least in the time of Lakṣmīnātha. According to an executive order (rukkā) from VS 1869 (see K_0636_0011) the pūjārī of the said shrine was one "Vuṭinātha" (cf. Naraharinātha VS 2022: 449, who spells the name as "Buṭinātha"; see also Commentary in K_0013_0020B). Then, in VS 1873, "Vuṭhīnātha" was replaced by one "Lachīnātha", probably the Lakṣmīnātha of the present document (see K_0013_0020B), and, in VS 1877, the mohara of "Lachinnātha" was annulled and "Vuṭinnātha" (re)appointed (see K_0015_0012B). The arrangement under the present document (re)appointing Lakṣmīnātha lasted for 14 months. In Bhadra VS 1879, it was ordered to annul this mohara and appoint one Pratāpanātha as pūjārī (see K_0014_0009A); according to the Rājaguruyogīvaṃśāvalī of Nārāyaṇanātha published by Yogī Naraharinātha, he was a disciple of Vuṭinātha (Naraharinātha n.d.: 69). Interestingly, this vaṃśāvalī does not mention Lakṣmī- or Lachīnātha among the disciples who stayed at the rājagurupīṭha of "Siddha Ratnanātha" at Phalabang after Siddha Bālakanātha. Thus he probably belonged to another lineage. If he is the "Lakṣmīnātha" mentioned in a document from VS 1873 (K_0013_0020C) as guru of Sādhunātha and Darīpaūnātha, he came from Caughera to Phalabang.

Notes

1. This number refers to the place of the document in the government ledger it is part of (for more on this archival material, see note 1 in K_0013_0020B). [⇑]

2. While the first abbreviation, po, probably stands for pokā ("bundle") it remains unclear what words the following pā and sī are abbreviations of. That these indeed are abbreviations is clear from other entries, where the same syllables are followed by a dot. [⇑]

3. These two lines state the names of the clerks involved in copying the documents or in checking whether copies were true to originals (cf. note 3 in K_0015_0022B). The signature of the second clerk cannot be read with certainity. [⇑]

4. The date corresponds to 12 July 1821. Thus the reigning king in whose name the original lālamohara must have been issued was King Rājendra. [⇑]

5. The last syllable of the word subhaṃ (for the standard śubham) seamlessly blends into the horizontal stroke used to fill the rest of the line. [⇑]