Documenta Nepalica

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

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A votive inscription on the lip of a ritual tray recording its donation to Buṅgadyaḥ by a group of devotional singers (VS 2018)

ID: NHDP_0001_0159

Edited and translated by Simon Cubelic and Rajan Khatiwoda in collaboration with Manik Bajracharya
Created: 2023-04-11; Last modified: 2023-12-19
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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.
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 inscription records the offering of a ritual tray by a group of devotional singers reciting the Nāmasaṁgīti in praise of Buṅgadyaḥ. The members of the group raised money for the tray during a week-long recitation of the text and also contributed themselves.

Diplomatic edition

[1]

1वि.स.२०१८माघ१गतेश्रीकरुणामयनामसंगीतीन्हनुन्हेचातक:पाठजुगुलिचन्दावगुमगागुदाखलनतनावहयावभु६०तोलालुयादयो५मासाश्रीकरुणामयन्हीछकपाथयातचरेयानागुजुल॥Xतुयु:तारा:मोति:आसा:मन्त:काछा:सप्त:वेखा:छत्रराज:मान:सुखु:हाकु:से:हे:चीका:वा:वु:हरी::वेभी:नसी:लोक:सानु:चमा:सीव:सुखु:काजी:का:काछादा:चीरी:फसी:लक्ष्मी:वु:सख:जीत:व़नाहे:हमा:हा:क:ख्या:काजी:

Translation

[1r]

[Offered] on the 1st solar day of Māgha in Vikrama era year 2018 (1972 CE). Of the donations collected during the recitation of the Nāmasaṁgīti for seven days and nights [in service of] Karuṇāmaya, the recitation group added what was lacking and offered a ritual tray (babhu) [weighing] 60 tolās of silver with a golden image of a deity [embedded in the middle of the tray]1 [weighing] 5 māsās for the purpose of reciting [the Nāmasaṁgīti] once every day. [The group members who contributed to the donation are] Tuyu, Tārā, Moti, Āsā, Manta, Kāṃchā (text: Kāchā), Sapta, Bekhā, Chatrarāja, Māna, Sukhu, Hāku, Se, He, Cīkā, Bā, Bu, Harī, Bebhī, Nasī, Loka, Sānu, Camā, Sīva, Sukhu, Kājī, Kā, Kāṃchā (text: Kāchā), Dā, Cīrī, Phasī, Lakṣmī, Vu, Sakha, Jīta, Vanāhe, Hamā, Hā, Ka, Khyā, Kājī.

Commentary

The inscription is engraved on the backside of the lip of a ritual tray. Another inscription is engraved on the outside rim and records the donation of silver for the restoration of the object in VS 2070 (2014 CE). According to Owens 1989, 239-40, the Nāmasaṅgīti is recited every morning before sunrise by a group of people from different castes and localities during the chariot procession. During their recitation, they are offered dakṣiṇā by the devotees worshipping Buṅgadyaḥ.

Notes

1. Another inscription engraved on the rim of the same object dated VS 2070 (2014 CE) identifies the deity as Nāsaḥdyaḥ (see NHDP_0001_0160). [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
dakṣiṇā	[S.] var. dachiṇa, dachīnā, dachenā; sacrificial fee or wage paid to the priest at the end of a ritual.
māsā	var. māśā; n. a measure of weight, equaling 1/10th or 1/12th of a tolā according to Rāma Śāha's edict (MA-KM 2022: 695) or 1/12th of a tolā in other sources (McGregor 1993 sv. māśā).
Nāmasaṅgīti	[S.] n. hymn of praise dedicated to Mañjuśrī. It is the short form of Āryamañjuśrīnāmasaṅgīti. The verses of Nāmasaṅgīti are a recitation of the 812 names of Mañjuśrī. Therefore, it is the song of 812 names of Mañjuśrī described in the form of a mantra-letters to be sung in the right manner (Vajrācārya 2006: b). The hymn is also worshipped as the twelve-armed deity Nāmasaṅgīti.
Nāsaḥdyaḥ	[fr. old New. Nāśvaradeva] n. lit. "the deity of nāsaḥ (charm, grace and ability to be the center of attraction)", Nāsaḥdyaḥ is widely revered by the students of dance, drama and music, as nāsaḥ is the chief quality they need to possess if they are to succeed in the field. Nāsaḥdyaḥ is, therefore, a unique deity of amorphous nature usually represented only by a triangular or oblong hole on a wall in the Newar pantheon. The center of worship is a hole or several holes through which divine energy flows, spiritually perceived by Nāsaḥdyaḥ's devotees. In all adjacent walls and buildings in front of and behind the shrine these holes (nāsaḥpvāḥ) continue like a flight path which must not be blocked, either by buildings or humans. While performing a nāsaḥpujā, the devotee steps a little aside to avoid interference with the subtle flow. This practice and the concept of a linear progression of divine energy prompts one to suspect that origin of the Nāsaḥdyaḥ worship is a pre-Hindu tradition (Wegner 1992: 125). Every new session of lessons on Newar musical instruments or rehearsals of dance and drama begins with the worship of Nāsaḥdyaḥ. He is known as Nṛtyeśvara in Sanskrit.
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

Owens, Bruce McCoy. 1989. The Politics of Divinity in the Kathmandu Valley: The Festival of Bungadya/Rato Matsyendranath. New York: Columbia University.