Documenta Nepalica

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

Version with DOI and citation guidelines

A copy of a purjī from Eastern Commanding General Dharma Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā instructing the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to disburse funds to ascetic institutions on the occasion of Baḍā Dasaĩ (VS 1974)

ID: K_0394_0028

Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter
Created: 2022-12-01; Last modified: 2023-02-16
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, 2023. 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

The purjī from Eastern Commanding General Dharma Śamśera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā of which this is a copy directs officers of the Gūṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to disburse 85 rupees for rituals to be performed during the Baḍā Dasaĩ festival in VS 1974 to representatives of different ascetic institutions.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1⟪78⟫

1⟪न११९⟫

1स्वस्तिश्रीमद्राजकुमारकुमारात्मजश्रीपुर्वतर्फकाकम्यांडीङ्जनरलधर्मसम्सेरजङ्गवहादुरराणाकस्यश्री३
2सर्कारतर्फगुटिषर्चअडाकाहाकीम्‌कारीन्दाहरुकेपुर्जिउप्रान्ततपसीलकाअषडाअषडाकामहंतसाधुहरुले
3७४साल्‌कावडादसैमापाठ्‌पुजागर्नालाईसावीकवमोजीम्‌षर्चवक्सेपुजापाट्‌गराऊदाहुभनीश्री३सर्का
4रतर्फगुटिवन्दोवस्तअडामार्फत्‌हाम्राहजुरमाविन्तीचढायाकोहुनालेतपसील्‌काअषडाअषडामायो७४सा
5मल्कावडादसैमापुजापाठ्‌गराऊनालाईज्मामोरु८५|पचासीरुपैञावक्स्येकोछश्रीजगनन्दप्रकासेश्वर
6कास्याहामाषर्चलेषीतपसील्‌कामहंतसाधुहस्तेदीनेकामगरवहीवुझदानीजहरुकासहीछाप्‌[?]कास्या
8हाभर्पाईवमोजिम्‌मोजराहोला¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
9तपसील्‌

[table1]

1	वैरागीअषडाकेमहंतरामदासवैरागीहस्तेदीनेमोरुपचीसरुपैञा	२५\|
2	दसनामीअषडाकेमहंतगंगागीरीहस्तेदीनेमोरुपचीसरुपैञा	२५\|
3	ऊदासीअषडाकेमहंतकोसट्टाकामगर्नेसाधुउत्तमदासहस्तेदीनेमोरुआठ्‌रुपैञा	८।
4	नाथअषडाकेमहंतसपेतनाथहस्तेदीनेमोहरुपाचरुपैञा	५।
5	संषमुलअषडाकेमहंतस्यामदासहस्तेदीनेमोहरुपाचरुपैञा	५।
6	आर्ज्याघाट्‌पारीराममंडीरकाअषडाकेमहतकासट्टाकामगर्नेत्रिभुवननारायणदासह स्तेदीनेमोरुपाचरुपैञा	५।
7	राजेश्वरीअषडाकेमहंतहरिदासनीर्मलाहस्तेदीनेमोरुसातरुपैञा	७।
8	वीष्नुमतीनानक्‌मठ्‌केमहंतत्रिवेनिदासहस्तेदीनेमोरुपाचरुपैञा	५
9		८५

10ईतीसम्वत्‌१९७४साल्‌कार्तीक्‌२गतेरोज५शुभ्म्‌¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

[table2]

1	सकलवमोजीम्‌नकलदुरुस्तछभनीसहीछापगर्ने षरिदारभवप्रसादऊपाध्या	१
2	मुषीयाराजमान्‌	१

1[Seal with the legend: भवप्रसाद]

Translation

[1r]

781

no. 1192

Hail! A purjī of the venerable Eastern Commanding General (pūrva tarphakā kamyāṃḍiṅ janarala) Dharma Samsera Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā, a venerable prince born of a prince, to the chief and clerks of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā under Śrī 3 Sarkāra

Uprānta: The abbots (mahantas) and ascetics (sādhus) of the akhāḍās [listed in the] particulars (tapasila) [each] submitted an application (bintī) to us through the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā stating: "I am one [of those] having the worship and recitations performed that you have provided expenses for in order for [such] worship and recitations to be performed during the Baḍā Dasaĩ of the year [VS 19]74". Therefore for performing worship and recitations during this the year [VS 19]74's Badā Dasaĩ altogether 85—[in words] eighty-five—rupees have been allocated to the different akhāḍās [listed in the] particulars. Write down the expenses in the account book of the Śrī Jaganandaprakāśeśvara [Guṭhī] and hand [the money] over to the mahantas and sādhus [listed in the] particulars. It will be deducted when accounts are cleared according to the account books and receipts that bear the signatures and seals of the said persons.

Particulars:

[table1]

	to be handed over to Rāmanātha Vairāgī, the mahanta of the Vairāgīakhaḍā: twenty-five mo[hara]ru[paiyā̃]s, rupees	25
	to be handed over to Gaṃgā Gīrī, the mahanta of the Daśanāmīakhaḍā: twenty-five morus, rupees	25
	to be handed over to Sādhu Uttamadāsa, acting on behalf of the mahanta of the Udāsīakhaḍā: eight morus, rupees	8
	to be handed over to Sapetanātha, the mahanta of the Nāthaakhaḍā: five moharus, rupees	5
	to be handed over to Syāmadāsa, the mahanta of the Śaṃkhamulaakhaḍā: five moharus, rupees	5
	to be handed over to Tribhuvananārāyaṇadāsa, acting on behalf of the mahanta of the Rāma temple opposite Ārjyāghāṭ: five morus, rupees	5
	to be handed over to Haridāsa Nīrmalā, the mahanta of the Rājeśvarī akhaḍā: seven morus, rupees	7
	to be handed over to Trivenidāsa, the mahanta of the Sikh (nānaka) monastery (maṭha) [at] the Viṣṇumatī [River]: five morus, rupees	5
		85

Thursday, the 2nd solar day (gate) of Kārttika in the [Vikrama] era year 1974 (1917 CE). Auspiciousness.

[table2]

	Certifying that the copy is true to the original: Kharidāra Bhavaprasāda Ūpādhyā 3	1
	Mukhiyā Rājamān	1

Commentary

With this order, provisions for the rituals of the autumnal Dasaĩ were allocated to different ascetic institutions at Kathmandu and Deopatan, which all operated under the Jaṅgānandaprakāśeśvara Guṭhi4 ; for the locations of the individual akhaḍās and maṭhas, see notes to the edition of K_0395_0065.

Similar orders are extant for earlier years, including K_0382_0036 for 1911 (VS 1968), K_0384_0065 for 1912 (VS 1969), and K_0395_0065 and K_0395_0066 for 1913 (VS 1970).

Notes

1. This number was added by a later hand using Arabic numerals. It refers to the position of the document in bundle (pokā) number 9 of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā. For more on this number, see note 1 in the edition of K_0395_0049. [⇑]

2. This number added at the left upper margin of the document probably represents an earlier arrangement of documents. Similar numbers are present in the neighbouring documents of the ledger, but the numbers do not form a linear count: K_0394_0026 has the number 118, K_0394_0027 has the number 116, K_0394_0028 the number 119 and K_0394_0029 the number 112. [⇑]

3. The seal that goes along with the name of the kharidāra bears Bhavaprasāda's name as a legend, the syllable pra being framed by a hexagon of two intersecting triangles. [⇑]

4. For more on this guṭhī, see the Commentaries to K_0476_0060 and K_0636_0036. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
akhāḍā	[fr. S. akṣavāṭa-] var. akhaḍā. n. lit. "wrestling ground", military station of ascetics; organised group of fighting ascetics. akhāḍās are found e.g. in the traditions of the Śaiva Daśanāmī, the Vaiṣṇava Vairāgī and the Sikh affiliated Udāsī (Clark 2012).
baḍā dasaĩ	var. baḍā dasai; also mahā dasaĩ; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina. Cf. dasaĩ / daśaĩ.
bintī	[fr. S.] var. biṃtī; n. request, supplication, prayer; application, petition. Cf. bintīpatra.
dasaĩ / daśaĩ	[fr. S. daśāha] var. dasai; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina (baḍā dasaĩ) and, on a smaller scale, over the bright half of the spring month of Caitra (caite dasaĩ).
daśanāmī	[S.] n. an order of Śaiva ascetics said to be founded by Śaṅkarācharya.
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 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).
Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā	n. office responsible for managing the expenses of the guṭhīs working under the head of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā; two separate Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs.
kharadāra / kharidāra	[fr. P.] var. kharīdāra, ṣaridāra; n. secretary, official scribe, office superintendent (cf. Kumar 1967: 166).
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.
maṭha	[fr. S.] n. abode of ascetics, monastery.
mohararupaiyā̃	var. mohararupaiyām, mohararūpaiyā, moharaṭaṃkā (New.); often abbreviated as moru, morū, moharu, moharū, moharru, mohorru; n. monetary unit based on and equivalent to two eight-anna silver coins (moharas); in calculations usually broken down into four sukās, 16 ānās or 64 paisās (cf. Pant and Pierce 1989: 93) or 256 dāmas; the exchange ratio with paisās was calculated differently at different times and in different parts of the kingdom, depending on the relative values of silver and copper, ranging between 52 and 80 paisās (Regmi 1982: 73). In documents sums are represented in four numerical fractions, with the rupaiyā represented by numbers; the sukās by one to three daṇḍas or the avagraha sign representing zero; the ānās by one to three diagonal dashes, sometimes as a loop with two or three jags; the paisās again by daṇḍas or numbers; the dāmas by numbers or horizontal dashes.
mukhiyā	var. mukhīyā, muṣiyā, muṣīyā; n. a designation for an administrative post used at the local, district and central level. At the local level mukhiyās functioned as village headmen and revenue functionaries (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93; M.R. Pant 2002: 134; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 269). District headmen were also called mukhiyās. In the central administration, mukhiyās were writers who kept accounts or supervised officials of lower ranks (Edwards 1975: 107 ; cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 228 ; M.C. Regmi 1978: 862 ; Kumar 1967: 16).
nānaka	var. nānak; n. 1) Guru Nānaka (1469 –1539), founder of the Sikh tradition. 2) ascetic of the Sikh tradition.
nātha	[S.] n. a follower of the tradition of Gorakhanātha. See also jogī.
purjī	[fr. P. purja] var. purji, pūrjī; n. 1) slip of paper, note. 2) formal letter written by a government institution or an official to another institution or to a person.
pūrva tarphakā kamyāṃḍiṅ janarala	var. purva tarphakā kamyāṃḍīṅga janarala; n. eastern commanding general; fourth in the Rāṇā hierarchy and third in the Rāṇā roll of succession.
sādhu	[S.] n. lit. "the good one", a holy man, an ascetic.
śrī	[S.] n. word of blessing, can be used as apprecatio, in which case it means 'good fortune' (Pant and Pierce 1989: 12), can be used as a prefix to names of persons and gods, in which case it means 'venerable' or 'glorious' respectively. The number of śrīs used varies, depending on context.
śrī 3 sarkāra	lit. "three-times venerable ruler"; title used by the Rāṇā prime ministers (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266).
tapasila	[fr. A.] var. tapasīl, tapasīlā, tapsīl; n. particulars, details; can be a self-sustained document, but is more often appended as a list after the narratio of documents.
udāsī	[S. udāsin-, lit. "one who is detached, indifferent"] var. udāsi; n. 1) ascetic affiliated to the Sikh tradition. 2) a category of ascetics, possibly, belonging to a Shaiva sect.
uprānta	var. uprāṃta, ūprāṃnta, ūprā̃nta, prāṃta; also yathocita uprānta; conj. after that, besides, in addition to, hereafter. In earlier prose and official documents, this word marked the beginning of a text or paragraph. It has no equivalent in English (Clark 1989: 231). In some (mostly Rāṇā period?) documents, it takes the form of yathocita uprānta.
vairāgī / bairāgī	[S. vairāgin] var. bairagi; a vaiṣṇava ascetic, religious devotee (cf. Turner 1931: s.v. bairagi); specific. a member of the Rāmānandī order