Documenta Nepalica

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

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Copy of a purjī from the Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Bahī Bujhnyā Aḍḍā to Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotirāja Śreṣṭha ordering the termination of haṇḍīs of two departing Vairāgī ascetics at Kālamocanaghāṭa (VS 1944)

ID: K_0583_0073

Edited and translated by Christof Zotter
Created: 2024-11-13; Last modified: 2024-12-20
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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, 2024. 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

In the purjī of which the present document is a copy, the Thāpāthalī Guṭhī Bandobasta Bahī Bujhnyā Aḍḍā instructs Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotirāja Śreṣṭha to terminate the daily food supplies (sīdhā haṇḍā) of two named ascetics who had left the Vairāgī akhāḍā at Kālamocanaghāṭa, Thāpāthalī.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1⟪26⟫

1ह्स्तेपुर्णभान्‌•

1स्वस्तिश्रीथापाथलिगुठिवन्दोवस्तवहिवुझ्‌न्याअडाकस्यविसेट्‌डिट्ठाजोतीराजश्रेष्टकेपुर्जि
2उप्रान्त•थापाथलि•कालमोचन•वैरागीअषडाकामहंतजयेरामदास्‌काअषडामारह्या
3कादरवंदीकासाधुमध्ये•४४सालजेष्टसुदि५रोज६रोजदेषीअषडाछोडी•जानेतपसी
4लकासाधुजना२कोसीधाहंडा२वंदभयाकोछवंदगर्न्याकामगर¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
5तपसील

[table]

सीतारामदास्‌१को¯¯¯१

लालदास्‌१को¯¯¯१

6इतिसम्वत्‌१९४४सालमीजेष्टसुदी६रोज७श्भ्म्‌¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[In the left margin:]

261

Through (haste) Purṇabhān

[Main text:]

Hail! [This is] a purjī from [the section of] the Thāpāthalī (text: Thāpāthali) Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā that is in charge of account books (bahībujhnyā) to Biseṭa Diṭṭhā Jotirāja Śreṣṭha (text: Jotīrāja Śreṣṭa).

Uprānta: Among the sādhus of the registered contingent (darabandī) who live in the akhāḍā of Jayerāmadās, the mahanta of the Vairāgīakhāḍā at Kālamocana[ghāṭa], Thāpāthalī, the 2 daily food supplies (sīdhā haṇḍā 2 ) of the 2 sādhus in the details [below] stopped [when they] left the akhāḍā on Friday, the 5th of the bright half of Jeṣṭha of the [Vikrama] era year [19]44,3 . Perform the task of terminating [these food supplies].

Details (tapasila):

[table]

1 [daily food supply] of Sītārāmadās 1

1 [daily food supply] of Lāladās 1

Saturday, the 6th of the bright half of Jeṣṭha in the [Vikrama] era year 1944 (1887 CE). 4 Auspiciousness.

Notes

1. For this running number, see K_0583_0048 note 1. [⇑]

2. Like e.g. K_0583_0050, the present document uses the word haṇḍā (text:haṃḍā) instead of haṇḍī, the more common term for "alms". [⇑]

3. The date corresponds to 27 May 1887. [⇑]

4. The date corresponds to 28 May 1887. [⇑]

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).
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.
biseṭa diṭṭhā	[biseṭa + diṭṭhā] var. viseṭ diṭhā; a post related to management and accountancy of temples and akhāḍās in the Thāpāthalī area.
darabandī	[P.] var. daravaṃdī, daravaṃdi; n. a designated position with a fixed salary for operating a government or non-government office; determination of the required number of staff (cf. Parājulī et al VS 2067: s.v.); #a register of alms recipients#
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā, Guṭhi 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).
haṇḍā	var. haṃḍā; n. a large pot made of metal or clay; cauldron. Used in some documents instead of haṇḍī (alms).
haṇḍī	[H.] var. haṇḍi; 1) n. an earthen pot. 2) an earthen pot to give alms mainly regularly by the government or other institution to ascetics, students, poor people etc. 3) alms regularly given by the government or another institution to ascetics, student etc., consisting of a “quantity of rice, lentils, vegetables, spices, salt, etc., given as a dole for a full meal.“ (M.C. Regmi 1978: 859)
haste	[fr. S. hasta] adv. care of; through;
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.
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.
sādhu	[S.] n. lit. "the good one", a holy man, an ascetic; a righteous person. See also sādhu santa
sidhā	n. 1) uncooked food. 2) a plate of uncooked rice, lentils, vegetables, salt, turmeric powder and ghee, etc. given to a Brahmin priest by his patron during a ritual or sacrifice. 3) food provision regularly given by the government or another institution to servants, poor people, ascetics, students, prisoners etc., consisting mainly of a “quantity of rice, lentils, vegetables, spices, salt, etc., given as a dole for a full meal.“ (M.C. Regmi 1978: 859)
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.
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