A votive inscription by Harṣa Narasiṃha on the tympanum (prabhā) to be annually installed inside the sanctum of the Bungadyaḥ chariot [NS 990]
ID: NHDP_0001_0140
Edited and
translated by Simon Cubelic
in collaboration with
Manik Bajracharya
Created: ;
Last modified: 2022-11-28
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Abstract
The inscription consists of two parts. The first part encompasses seven Sanskrit verses. The first verse is a creation account of the emergence of the Hindu deities from the body of Padmapāṇi (Avalokiteśvara). The following verses narrate the destruction of the Bungadyaḥ chariot in a fire in NS 988, the restoration of the chariot by Prime Minister Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā and the sponsorship of the tympanum (prabhā) for the deity's sanctum on the chariot by Harṣa Narasiṃha and his family. The second part of the inscription is written in the Newari language and provides further information on the donors. It further reveals that the tympanum was offered to the deity in NS 989 and for the first time installed on the sanctum in NS 990. It also defines the obligations attached to the donation, namely that the guṭhī members are to install the tympanum every year on the 1st of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha, remove it on the day of the jyāvalapūjā and keep it in their custody for the remainder of the year.Diplomatic edition
[1r]
[Carving of the moon][Carving of the sun]1श्री 1᠀ श्री ३ लोकेश्वर ॥1॥ नमो लोकनाथाय ॥॥ अलिकाद् गिरिशो दृशिजौ शशभृत् तरणी1 कमलासन वाहुभवो हरि हृत्प्रभवो मुखजः पव2नो रदजा रमणी जठराद् वरुणो ऽनल नाभिभवो ङ्घ्रिभवा पृथिवी ॥ युगजानुभवौ कमलाधनपौ तनुरुट्प्रभवाः सुरराट्
3प्रमुखाः सकलास् त्रिदशा नखजौ सरितां पतिवाडवकावमिताभाधरं वरपद्मकरं प्रणतो स्मि सदा ॥१॥2 प्राप्ते श्रीनेमपाले3
4गजवसुनिधिभिः संमिते हायने स्मिन् ᠀ श्रीमानार्य्यावलोकेश्वररथचलने ऽयोवरूथो पि क्षित्वा ॥ सौधाग्रप्राप्तरात्रौ सकलजनसमू
5हे शयानं प्रयाते राधे शुक्ले म्वतिथ्यां सुकमलधरयोर्यानयुग्मं प्रदग्धं ॥२॥ दृष्ट्वा यद्यानदग्धं जननिकरमनोदुःखदं भीतिदं तन्नेपालेन्द्रात्सु
6रेन्द्राभिधनृपतिवरात्प्रा⟪प्तभूपा⟫लचिह्नः॥ धीमान् ᠀ श्रीजङ्गवाहादुर इति सततं दिक्षु विख्यातकीर्त्तिस्तूर्ण्णं लो⟪के⟫शयानं सुरचयनमलैर्कारयामास4 यात्रां ॥३॥
7श्रीलोकनाथरथमंदिरमधावर्त्ती जीर्णां प्रभामथविभो रूपवर्हरूपां ॥ सद्धर्म्महर्षसुहृदा हरषो नृसिंहो नूत्ना चकार कनकाषिललिप्तताम्रैः ॥४॥
8ततो ंकनागांकमिते सुवर्षे सुचौ सिते मन्मथनाम तिथ्यां त्रिलोकनाथाय महोस्तवैः संप्रढौकयत्तां हरषो नृसिंहः ॥५॥ अथ च कमलपाणेर्यानमध्ये सु
9कोष्ठे स च हरष नृसिंह पुत्रपत्नीप्रयुक्तः ॥ गगननवनिधानैर्युक्तनेपालवर्षे प्रवरप्रतिपदादारं भयत्न5 स्थापयेत्तां ॥६॥ कृत्वैवं लोकनाथं प्रति हरषनृर्सिं
10हश्च संप्रार्थयति मच्छक्या युष्मदर्थे रचनकृतप्रभां संविचार्य्य सदा मे ॥ गोत्राणां संप्रवृद्धिं कुरु कुरु सततं मां च नित्यं पुनातु त्वत्पादांभोजयुग्मामृतपरम
11रसं देहि देहीति नाथ ॥७॥ ❀॥श्रेयो ऽस्तु॥संम्व९८९ज्येष्ठशुदि १३ सश्री ३ मदार्यावलोकितेश्वरभट्टारकप्रीतियाङंदानपतिललि
12तापुरिमहानगरश्रीहिरण्यवर्णमहाविहारयाहतषाधर्म्मकीर्त्तिविहारगृहाधिवासितश्रीहर्षनरसिंहपुत्रश्रीजीतमानसिंहपत्नीधनथकुंनीस्न
13षामयजुमनीपुत्रीमानीथकुंनीलक्ष्मीथकुनीचिधीथकुनीथ्वतेसहितपरिवारछियांसद्धर्म्महर्षचित्तउत्पत्तिजुयावसुवर्णछत्रसहितथ्वपर
14भादुन्ताजुलो॥थ्वतेपुण्यनं॥- - १-प्रसन्नजुयाओदानपतियासन्तानवृद्धियाङथ्वतेपरभाचिंतनायाङाओ- - १-यासेवायाङंचोङफयकावइह
15लोकससद्धर्म्मसुषसंपत्तिकामनापूर्णजुयावपरत्र- - १-याचरणामृतपानयाङंसुखावतीभुवनसवासप्राप्तिजुयमालधकंहर्षनरसिंहनप्रा
16र्थनायाङाजुलो॥थ्वतेपुण्यनजगतसंसारउद्धारजुयमाल॥॥पुनर्भाखाथ्वपरभावर्षवंधनगुथिहारपनिस्येनंवैशाषशुदि १ सरथसतलओङाओज्यावलपूजाकु
17न्हुरथनक्वकायाओहयमालजुलो॥शुभं॥॥
Translation
[1r]
[Carving of the moon]
[Carving of the sun]
Hail! Thrice glorious Lokeśvara
Obeisance to Lokanātha! From the forehead Giriśa6 [was born]; moon and sun were born from the eyes; Kamalāsana7 arose from the arms; Hari8 arose from the heart; Pavana9 was born from the mouth; Ramaṇī10 was born from the teeth; Varuṇa [arose] from the belly; Anala11 arose from the navel; and Pṛthivī12 arose from the feet. Kamalā13 and Dhanapa14 arose from the pair of knees; the entire Tridaśa15 headed by Surarāṭ16 arose from the hair; the lord of rivers and Vāḍaba17 were born from the toe-nails.18 I always bow down to one who is an attendant of Amitābha and whose hands are most excellent lotuses.
When in glorious Nepāla(?) in the [Nepāla era] year 988 during the chariot procession of—hail!—the glorious, noble Avalok[it]eśvara [the chariot's] iron guard rail was destroyed, and when [the chariot] had reached the palace, during the night of the second day in the bright fortnight of Rādha19 when the whole assemblage of people were sleeping, both chariots20 of the one who holds a beautiful lotus burnt down. Having seen that the burnt chariots created pain and fear in the minds of all people, venerable Jaṅga Bahādura—hail!—who had received the insignia of a guardian of beings from the excellent sovereign with the name Surendra, ruler of Nepāla—wise [Jaṅga Bahādura], whose fame is celebrated always [and] in every direction, quickly had the chariot of Lokeśa beautifully reconstructed and started the procession. Harṣa Narasiṃha (text: Haraṣa Nṛsiṃha), delighting in the good Dharma and with a goodness of heart, renewed the worn tympanum (prabhā) arching [over] the middle of the temple [on] the chariot of the glorious Lord Lokanātha, and having the shape of a beautiful peacock tail of copper completely covered with gold. Afterwards, on the 13th day of the bright fortnight of Śuci21 in the propitious [Nepāla era] year 989, Harṣa Narasiṃha (text: Haraṣa Nṛsiṃha) offered this [tympanum] to Trilokanātha with big celebrations. Then, in the Nepāla era year 990, Harṣa Narasiṃha (text: Haraṣa Nṛsiṃha), together with his sons and wife, erected [the tympanum] on the beautiful sanctum (sukoṣṭha) in the middle of the chariot of the one who holds a lotus in his hand. Having done so, Harṣa Narasiṃha (text: Haraṣa Nṛsiṃha) praised Lokanātha [with the following words]: "Considering that this tympanum has been made for you through my effort, O Lord, let my lineage always flourish, and perpetually purify me and grant me the supreme liquid, the nectar [coming] from your lotus feet." Let it be auspicious. On the 13th day of the bright fortnight of Jyeṣṭha in [the Nepāla era year] 989, out of love for the thrice glorious and noble Lord Avalokiteśvara, the donor, who has his residence in Dharmakīrtivihāra at Hatakhā, which [is associated] with the glorious Hiraṇyavarṇa Mahāvihāra in the great city of Lalitpur, the family unit consisting of the venerable Harṣa Narasiṃha, his son, the venerable Jītamāna Siṃha, his wives Dhana Thakũnī and Snakhā Mayajumanī, and his daughters Mānī Thakũnī, Lakṣmī Thakũnī and Cidhī Thakũnī—these, delighting in the good Dharma, donated this tympanum together with a golden parasol. “Pleased by this meritorious act, may -1- [the thrice glorious Lokeśvara] increase the donors’—[our]—offspring; may he cause us to remember [to take care of] this tympanum and to continue to serve -1- [the thrice glorious Lokeśvara]; may this life be full of the good Dharma, happiness, wealth and pleasure [for us] and may [we] be able to drink the nectar of the lotus feet of -1- [the thrice glorious Lokeśvara] in the next life; may [we] be able to obtain an abode in the Sukhavatī heaven.” Thus Harṣa Narasiṃha prayed. May by this meritorious act the world (jagata-saṃsāra) attain salvation. Moreover, the regulation: During the varṣabandhana on the 1st of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha,22 guṭhī members should go and install this tympanum on the chariot. On the day of jāulāpūjā (text: jyāvalapūjā), they should take it off the chariot and bring it [back]. Auspiciousness.
Commentary
A fire accident similar to the one reported in the Sanskrit portion of this inscription as having occurred in the proximity of the Patan palace is recounted in the Rājavaṃśāvalī (Śarmā 1968, 25). However, there the night following Friday, the 1st of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha in VS 1923, is given as the date. This means that the Rājavaṃśāvalī places the event exactly two years earlier than this inscription. Since the details of the events are too similar not to be the same, one of the dates must incorrect. Given the fact that the inscription was composed only one year after the incident, its dating seems to be more trustworthy.
Even though the inscription records the day of the prabhā's offering (13th day of the bright fortnight of Jyeṣṭha in NS 989), this date cannot be taken as the date of the inscription itself, since the inscription also records the year of the prabhā's first erection in the chariot in NS 990. It is not entirely clear if the inscription was put in place in the same year or later.
Thanks to the epigraphical and anthropological studies carried out by Nuthandar Sharma in 2021 (see LAL0041_I_002), several details relating to the history of the donor family and the object could be brought to light. His findings suggest that the Harṣa Narasiṃha sponsoring the prabhā is the same person who established the Harṣa Bāhāḥ (also known as Dharmakīrti Bāhāḥ) (LAL2630) in Haḥkhā Ṭola, Patan, in 978 NS (1858 CE). According to the descendants of the family, the family remained in the possession of the prabhā and continued its annual installation up to King Birendra's time. With the latter king’s permission, the family handed over the object to the Guṭhī Saṃsthāna to protect it from theft and avoid any responsibility in case the prabhā disappeared.