A tablet inscription at the Kvayanā Sataḥ in Chobhar memorializing its renovation by Nārāṃ Govindadāsa (VS 1996)
ID: NHDP_0001_0069
Edited and
translated by Simon Cubelic and Rajan Khatiwoda
Created: 2021-04-21;
Last modified: 2021-09-06
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Abstract
The inscription at the Kvayanā Sataḥ reports that the rest facility suffered damage during the 1934 CE earthquake, but that no member of the guṭhī responsible for it except Nārāṃ Govindadāsa Bābu Rājavaṃsi (the grandson of the founder of the sataḥ, Viṣṇudāsa) wanted to renovate it. Therefore, he lodged a complaint with the government against his fellow guṭhī members. In response, on the 4th solar day of Kārtika in 1938 CE, the government ordered the Chebhaḍela office of Lalitpur to direct the guṭhī members to renovate the sataḥ. To avoid this obligation, the latter left the guṭhī. Thus the complainant, Nārāṃ Govindadāsa Bābu Rājavaṃsi, alone saw to the renovation with funds of his own. The renovation was completed in 1939 CE.Diplomatic edition
[1r]
1श्रीजलवीनायकगणेशायनमो1[Carving of the moon]1[Carving of Gaṇeśa]1[Carving of the sun]1श्री५सर्कारकीजये1श्री३सरकीजये1उप्रान्त९०सालमाघ२गतेकाभुकंपलेभट्कीवि2ग्रीयोसतलवनाऊनेमासवैगुठीयारमीलीनवनाईआये
3स्तामात्रखानेगरेकालेमु.विष्णुदासकोनातीमु.दे
4वीदासकोछोराकांतीपुरलगनटोलवस्नेनारांगोविन्ददासले
5ठाडोविन्तीचढाऊदा९५सालकार्तीक४गतेल.पु.छेभडेलका
6नाऊमाभयाकाहुकुम्प्रमाङ्गीवमोजींकारवाईभै
7अरूगुठीयारलेमीलीवनाऊनमन्जुरनगरीगुठीनैछोडीजा
8दानिजनारागोविन्ददासवावुराजवंसिलेयकलौटीघैघरा
9नावाटखर्चगरीआफ्नुपुर्खाकोधर्मकीर्तीमरमट
10गरीवनाईतयारगरीजिर्णोऊधारगरेकोइतिसम्व
11त्१९९६सालआषाड७गतेरोज४॥ ॥1[Carving of a radish]
Translation
[1r]
[Carving of the moon]
[Carving of Gaṇeśa]
[Carving of the sun]
Veneration to the glorious Jalavināyaka Gaṇeśa
May the fivefold venerable Sarkāra be victorious!1
May the thrice venerable Sir be victorious!2
Uprānta: [The sataḥ] was damaged by the earthquake on the 2nd solar day of Māgha in the [Vikrama] era year [19]90. Concerning the reconstruction of the sataḥ, the guṭhī members were of one mind not to renovate it, [but still] they kept on enjoying the [guṭhī] revenue. Therefore, Nārāṃ Govindadāsa, grandson of Mu.3 Viṣṇudāsa and son of Mu. Devīdāsa, a resident of Lagana Ṭola, Kāntīpura, filed a direct petition (ṭhāḍo binti) [to the government] and action was taken according to the hukuma and pramāṅgī issued to the Chebhaḍela of Lalitpur on the 4th solar day of Kārtika in the [Vikrama] era year [19]95. The guṭhī members other [than the petitioner], of one mind that they were unwilling to reconstruct [the sataḥ], left the guṭhī. The said Nārāṃ Govindadāsa Bābu Rājavaṃsi alone, and expending his own household [wealth], renovated—repaired and made ready [to live on]—the good deeds (dharma) and good name (kīrti) of his forefathers.
Wednesday, the 7th solar day of Āṣāḍha in the [Vikrama era] year 1996 [1938 CE].
[Carving of a radish]
Commentary
This sataḥ was founded by Viṣṇudāsa, the grandfather of Nārāṃ Govindadāsa Bābu Rājavaṃsi, his family members and other residents of Lagana Ṭola, Kathmandu, in 1817 CE (NS 937). The inscription recording the initial construction, the establishment of a guṭhī for its maintenance and for the ritual obligations on its anniversary is extant and was observed on 9 June 2020 leaning against the plinth of the sataḥ (see CHO4030). In contrast to other donative inscriptions, the present inscription details a preceding dispute among the guṭhī members regarding the renovation of the sataḥ which was damaged during the earthquake of 1934 CE. This dispute resulted in state intervention and eventually led to the breakup of the guṭhī. The inscription, then, not only serves in this case to highlight the donor's meritorious act but also to call to account irresponsible guṭhī members who, despite benefiting from the guṭhī revenue, did not feel obliged to rebuild the sataḥ even when ordered by the Chebhaḍela office to do so.