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An inscription recording the manufacture of a silver pot for the bathing ceremony of Buṅgadyaḥ (NS 971)

ID: NHDP_0001_0147

Edited and translated by Simon Cubelic in collaboration with Rabi Acharya and Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2023-02-16; Last modified: 2023-08-29
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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, 2023. The image(s) on which this edition is based on is/are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the copyright lies with NHDP. All use of the digital facsimiles requires prior written permission by the copyright holder. See Terms of Use.
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Abstract

This inscription, engraved on the lip of a silver vessel for the bathing ceremony of Buṅgadyaḥ records the vessel's date of manufacture, the officials who authorized it, the source of its funding and the amount of silver required for its production.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1⟅शुभ॥सम्वत९७१म्तिचैत्रशुदि१५रोजथ्वकुन्हुश्री३करूनामयया
2न्हओनस्नानयातदिट्ठाधिजनालांङाषाचुइषालुषुविस्यतमार्फत्॥वालि
3विक्रिया दामनथ्वओहयाद्वावलदयकाजुरो॥तुकओहतोला३जर्तिसमे
4तओहतोला२३६शुभ॥

Translation

[1r]

Auspiciousness. On the 15th of the bright fortnight of Caitra in the [Nepāla era] year 971—on that day—this silver wash pot (text: dvāvala)1 for the bath of the thrice glorious Karuṇāmaya was made with the approval (mārphat) of DiṭṭhāDhija Nālāṃ and the biseṭs of Ṅākhācu and Ikhālukhu with money from the sale of the harvest. Including a loss of 3 tolās of silver [during the production process], [a total of] 236 tolās of silver [were] required. Auspiciousness.

Commentary

This object is one of several silver vessels used in the context of the bathing ceremony (New. naḥvaṃ, Skt. mahāsnāna) of Buṅgadyaḥ which takes place on the first day of the dark fortnight of Vaiśākha (Locke 1980, 262–65; Owens 1989, 201–04). One is the so-called brahmakõ (Skt. jīvaghaṭa), a jar into which, during the kalaśapūjā at Taḥ Bāhāḥ, the spirit of the deity is transferred while the image is being brought to Lagankhel for bathing (see NHDP_0001_0139). Others are four small silver pots into which nāgas are invoked during the same pūjā (Owens 1989, 201). They are brought to the bathing platform at Lagankhel by Nyekhus. From these silver pots water to which pañcāmṛta is added is poured on the image. The pot on which this inscription is engraved is placed at the bottom of the image as a receptacle for some of the bath water. The Pānjus and Nyekhus on the platform use this water to sprinkle on spectators of the ritual as a form of blessing (Owens 1989, 202). An edition of this inscription is published in Koirālā VS 2052, 64.

Notes

1. See Mālī NS 1130 s. v. dvābātā. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
biseṭa	var. biseṭ, viseṭ, viseṭa, besata; n. 1) a temple steward (cf. M.C. Regmi 1978: 855) or a person responsible for administering a religious institution. 2) an official responsible for accountancy of temple trusts, as e.g. of the Paśupatinātha Bhaṇḍāra (Michaels 1994: 158-161). Michaels renders the term as "viśeṣ" and relates the different spellings attested to Skt. viśeṣa (ibd.: 160 n. 138). As the earliest reference quoted goes back to the Malla period (NS 794) and renders the term as beseta (G. Vajrācārya 1966: 23) it seems more likely that the term comes from Newari and is a variant of New. besata/byaṣṭa, "messenger" (cp. Malla et al. 2000: s.v.).
ḍiṭṭhā	var. ḍīṭṭhā, ḍiṭhā; a civil servant ranking above a mukhiyā and lower than a subbā (cf. Stiller 1981: 379). According to Edwards 1975: 107, ḍiṭṭhās originally had been the judges who presided over the courts in Kathmandu but later could serve in a number of other offices (such as the kausī, the hāttīsāra or the sadara daphtarakhānā; see also Kumar 1967: 165; M.C. Regmi 1978: 226). The Mulukī Ain distinguishes three categories of the ḍiṭṭhās; the jaṅgī kote ḍiṭṭhā (probably, combatant personnel), the lājimā ḍiṭṭhā and the ḍiṭṭhā in charge of Elephant or horse stable or cowshed (MA-54.31.11).
mārphat / mārphata	var. marphaṭ, mārphaṭa; “through (the person of)“ (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93).
nāga	[S.] n. snakes, or specifically cobras, considered to be equipped with supernatural powers. They are regarded as suppliers of water and often worshipped as providers of fertility (cf. Cozad 2018). In Buddhism they are considered as keepers of the treasures of Dharma (Huntington and Bangdel 2003, 531).
nyekhu	[New.] var. nikhu, niyekhu; n. A Śreṣṭha sub-group who carry out the painting of the image of Buṅgadyaḥ (Toffin 1995: 241).
pañcāmṛta	[S.] n. the "five nectars of immortality"; a mixture of milk, yoghurt, ghee, honey and sugar.
pānju	var. pāniju, pāneju, pānijyu; n. 1) the attending priest of Buṅgadyo (Matsyendranātha). 2) one of thirty one Vajrācāryas and Śākyas of the saṅgha at Buṅgamatī who are entitled to serve as attendants to Buṅgadyo (Owens 1989: 408).
tolā	n. a unit of weight and standard measure for gold and silver comprising of 100 or 96 rati, 10 or 12 māsās and being 1/80th of a sera; the actual weight differed according to place and time, as weight of the Bombay or Sicca Rupee between 11.599–11.642; as standardised in 1833 in British India as 180 troy grains (11.663 8038 grams).

Bibliography

Koirālā, Kulacandra. VS 2052. Śrīmatsyendranātha. Kāṭhamāḍauṁ: Guṭhī Saṃsthāna.
Locke, John K. 1980. Karunamaya. The Cult of Avalokitesvara Matsyendranath in the Valley of Nepal. Kathmandu. Kathmandu: Sahayogi Prakashan/Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University.
Mālī, Indra (ed.). NS 1130. Nepālabhāṣā Taḥkhãgvaḥdhukū (Practical Nepal Bhasa Dictionary). Kathmandu: Nepālabhāṣā Ākādemi.
Owens, Bruce McCoy. 1989. The Politics of Divinity in the Kathmandu Valley: The Festival of Bungadya/Rato Matsyendranath. New York: Columbia University.