Documenta Nepalica

Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal
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A copy of a lālamohara from King Rājendra appointing Pratāpanātha as priest of Śrī Ratannātha at Phalabang (VS 1879)

ID: K_0014_0009A


Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2021-10-12; Last modified: 2022-03-01
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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 Pratāpanātha to perform the regular and occasional worship of Śrī Ratannātha at Phalabang.



Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1२०१­

1पो­१५­पा­५३­सी­२६६­

1पूजागुठी­

1भं•­नौ­हर्ष­
2हे•­नौ•­राम­
3 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

1आगे­प्रतापनाथके­फलावाङ्•का­रतननाथको­गुठी­•लक्ष्मीनाथका­
2नाऊको­मोहर­•हानी­•वक्सौ­परापुर्वका­रीतले­नीत्य­नैमीत्य­पुजामा­
3रुजु­रही­हाम्रो­जये़­मनाई­पुजामा­लग्‍याकोलाई­सेष­रह्याको­ली­आ
4फ्ना­षातीरज्मासीत­गुठ­जानी­भोग्‍य­गर­ईती­सम्वत­१८७९­साल­भ
5द्र­वदी­३०­रोज­      शुभं­¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

[in the left margin:]

2011

Bundle (po[kā]) 15, pā 53, sī 2662

[Concerning a] pūjāguṭhī3

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

The one who watched (he. for herne) [was] the clerk Rāma4

[main text:]

Āge: to Pratāpanātha

We have annulled the mohara [regarding] the guṭhī of Ratannātha (text: Ratana°) of Phalabang (text: Phalāvāṅ) [that was issued] in the name of Lakṣmīnātha5 [and] 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], take what remains after covering worship [expenditures], [and] enjoy [the attendant fruits].

[Saturday,] the 30th of the dark fortnight of the month of Bhādra, in the [Vikrama] era year 1879 (1822 CE).6 Auspiciousness.7


Commentary

According to Nārāyaṇanātha's Rājaguruyogīvaṃśāvalī (Naraharinātha n.d.: 69) Pratāpanātha was a disciple of the former pūjārīVuṭinātha. After some problems with an alliance between foreign yogīs and local officials (amālī) who "apparently spoiled and ruined the shrine by annually conducting a pajanī" (pardesi jogī ra amālī mīlī varṣa prati pajanī gardā thāna bīgrana ujrana gayecha) Pratāpanātha was re-appointed as pūjārī in VS 1884 (see K_0636_0013; Naraharinātha VS 2022: 494). In VS 1891, the office was assigned to his disciple (cf. Naraharinātha n.d.: 69) Brahmanātha (K_0013_0048A and K_0636_0012), who later on faced problems similar to what his guru had with the foreign yogīs (see K_0008_0032A and K_0636_0010).8

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. The documents seem to have been given a variety of keywords for identification purposes during the copying and archiving process. Other documents bear, for example, the word guṭha in the corresponding place (NGMPP K 13/20E). [⇑]

4. 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). [⇑]

5. For Lakṣmīnātha's appointments as pūjārī of Śrī Ratannātha at Phalabang, see Commentary in K_0013_0029E. [⇑]

6. The date corresponds to 17 August 1822. Thus the reigning king in whose name the original lālamohara must have been issued was King Rājendra. [⇑]

7. The last syllable of the word śubham seamlessly blends into the horizontal stroke used to fill the rest of the line. [⇑]

8. The above phrase regarding the pardesī jogīs occurs also in some documents relating to the office of the pūjārī of Ratannātha in Caughera (see e.g. Naraharinātha VS 2022: 494, 501; cf. Bouillier 1997: 158). [⇑]