Documenta Nepalica

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

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A written note from of the accounts office of the Baḍā Gurujyu to the Guṭhi Bandobasta Aḍḍā re the appointment of Bharapuranātha as the new abbot of the monastery of Gorakhanātha (VS 1978)

ID: K_0252_0021

Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: ; Last modified: 2021-11-11
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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, 2021. 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

This written note from the accounts office (tahabila) of the Baḍā Gurujyu conveys the latter's order to the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā to issue a provisional appointment letter (bahālī purjī) raising Bharapuranātha to the office of abbot (pīramahanta) of the Mṛgasthalī monastery so that he may perform imminent Navarātra rituals.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1२९

1श्री:\

1[Seal with the legend: श्री रा∙गु∙ज∙तहविल ६७]

1श्री६वडागुरूज्यू
2कातहवीलवाट

1श्री५सर्कारतर्फगुठी∙
2वन्दोवस्तअडालाई
3लेषेको

1उप्रांन्त∙मृगस्थली∙गोरषनाथ∙कापीरमहंत∙परमहंस
2नाथ∙मरीषालीभय़ाकाठाउमा७८साल∙आश्वीं१५ग
3ते∙६कादीन∙श्री३माहाराज∙वाट∙भरपुरनाथलाईपी
4रमहंतमाभर्ना∙भैसदरस्मेत्‌∙गरी∙नीजलेरुपैञास्मेत्‌
5राषीसकेको∙हुनाले∙भोलीदेषीघटस्थापनागरीन
6वरात्रीको∙कामचलाउनुपर्ने∙भय़ाकोहुनाले∙नीजला
7ई∙वाहालगर्नालाईधीलागर्ननहुनेहुदा∙सनद∙
8हुनढीला∙भये़तापनी∙नीज∙भरपुरनाथ∙लाई
9वाहालीपुर्जी∙आजैगरीडी∙वुझवुझारथ∙कोकांला
10ई२।४दींधीलाभये़तापनी∙भोलीदेषीको∙कां∙
11लाईअड्‌काउनहुनेगरीजोगर्नुपर्नेवंदोवस्त∙स्मेत्‌मी
12लाई∙पठाईदीनुभनीश्रीवडागुरुज्यू⟪वाट⟫मर्जीभय़ाकोहुना
13लेलेषनेकांभय़ाकोछतसर्थस्ववमोजींगर्नेकां
14भय़ावढीय़ाहोलाकांअडकाउहुननपावस़्ईती
15सम्वत्‌१९७८सालआश्वीं१६गतेरोज७शुभ्म

1[Seal with the legend: श्री रुद्रप्रसाद ६६]

Translation

[1r]

292

Śrī

[Seal with the legend: śrī rā. gu. ja. tahabila 67]3

From the accounts office (tahabila) of Śrī 6 Baḍā Gurujyu

To the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā under Śrī 5 Sarkāra

A written note (lekheko)

Uprānta: The task of writing [to your office] has arisen because there is an order (marjī) by the Śrī Baḍā Gurujyu stating: "The pīramahanta of the Gorakhanātha [monastery] at Mṛgasthalī, Paramahaṃsanātha, having died, Śrī 3 Mahārāja appointed Bharapūranātha to the vacant office, and also validated [the appointment], on Friday, the 6th solar day (gate) of the month of Āśvina in the [Vikrama era] year [19]78. Given that the said [Bharapūranātha] has already submitted [1] rupee,4 , and as the ghaṭasthāpanā [and other] Navarātra rituals have to be performed from tomorrow on, issue a provisional appointment letter (bahālī purjī) today, even if the prime minister's letter of appointment (sanada) is delayed, so that the appointment of the said person is not delayed further. Even if matters related to the transfer of office (bujhabujhāratha) may be 2 to 4 days late, make the necessary arrangements for what needs to be done and have [the provisional appointment letter] sent so that the [ritual] tasks [to be performed] from tomorrow on are not obstructed." It would be good, therefore, if the matter is attended to accordingly. May the [ritual] tasks not be obstructed!

Saturday, the 16 solar day (gate) of the month of Āśvina in the [Vikrama era] year [19]78 (1 October 1921 CE). Auspiciousness.

[Seal with the legend: Śrī Rudraprasāda, 66]5

Commentary

This document concerns the succession of Bharapuranātha to the office of pīramahanta of the Nātha tradition of Mṛgasthalī. It conveys an order by the royal preceptor (baḍā gurujyu) to issue a provisional appointment letter (bahālī purjī) because the appointment process leading to the full appointment papers, including a sanada from the prime minister, was still ongoing. The main argument for fast-tracking the appointment is concern that the autumnal Dasaĩ rituals, starting the next day, be performed properly. The bahālī purjī was indeed issued by the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā on the very same day the request was received. For further related documents and more on this case, see the Commentary to K_0252_0018.

Notes

1. This Arabic numeral by a second hand was probably added when documents were either sorted or, more likely, when they were microfilmed. The count starts with 1 in the document K_0252_0015 and continues up to 36 in K_0052_0050. All documents in this series concern the Gorakhanātha Guṭhī of Mṛgasthalī in the months following the death of Pīramahanta Paramahaṃsanātha on the 18th solar day (gate) of Śrāvaṇa in VS 1978 (1921 CE). [⇑]

2. This number, added by a later hand, probably represents an earlier inventory number of the documents in the batch. [⇑]

3. This seal goes along with a statement by the sender following it. The legend could be an abbreviation for śrī rājaguru ja...(?) tahabila, [VS 19]67. What word the syllable ja (or ta?) abbreviates is unclear. The year given could be the date of the office's establishment. [⇑]

4. The receipt for 1 mohararupaiyā̃ submitted by Bharapuranātha is extant as K_0252_0020. [⇑]

5. This scribal seal marks the end of the text. It is also used at the beginning and the end of the correction in line 12 and probably states the name of the scribe and the year of his appointment. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
baḍā gurujyu	var. baḍā gurujyū; also buḍhā gurujyu; n. chief royal preceptor.
bahālī purjī	n. document appointing a government officer to his post.
dasaĩ / daśaĩ	[fr. S. daśāha] var. dasai; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina (baḍā dasaĩ) and, on a smaller scale, over the bright half of the spring month of Caitra (caite dasaĩ).
ghaṭasthāpana	[S.] n. lit. "setting up the jar", a ritual that marks the beginning of the Navarātra festival.
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī 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).
marjī	n. an order from the mukhtiyāra, Prime Minister or other high-ranked officers.
mohararupaiyā̃	var. mohararupaiyām, mohararūpaiyā, moharaṭaṃkā (New.); often abbreviated as moru, morū, moharu, moharū, moharru, mohorru; n. monetary unit based on and equivalent to two eight-anna silver coins (moharas); in calculations usually broken down into four sukās, 16 ānās or 64 paisās (cf. Pant and Pierce 1989: 93) or 256 dāmas; the exchange ratio with paisās was calculated differently at different times and in different parts of the kingdom, depending on the relative values of silver and copper, ranging between 52 and 80 paisās (Regmi 1982: 73). In documents sums are represented in four numerical fractions, with the rupaiyā represented by numbers; the sukās by one to three daṇḍas or the avagraha sign representing zero; the ānās by one to three diagonal dashes, sometimes as a loop with two or three jags; the paisās again by daṇḍas or numbers; the dāmas by numbers or horizontal dashes.
navarātra / navarātri / navarātrī	[S.] var. naurātrī; n. lit. "nine nights", period of nine lunar days on which goddess Durgā is worshipped; Dasaĩ.
pīramahanta	[P. pīra + S. mahanta] var. pīramahaṃta; n. (esp. in the Nātha tradition) title of the head of a monastery (maṭha), esp. a pañcāyātī maṭha (cf. Bouillier 2017: 60 and passim).
sanada	var. sanad; n. a regulation, order, decree or certificate of appointment, esp. from the prime minister (prāimaminisṭara yaṇḍa kamyāṇḍara ina cipha) or the commander-in-chief general (kamyāṇḍara ina cipha janarala); "government orders" (Karmacharya 2001: 327).
śrī	[S.] n. word of blessing, can be used as apprecatio, in which case it means 'good fortune' (Pant and Pierce 1989: 12), can be used as a prefix to names of persons and gods, in which case it means 'venerable' or 'glorious' respectively. The number of śrīs used varies, depending on context.
śrī 3 mahārājā	var. māhārāja, mahārāja. lit. "thrice venerable great king"; title referring to the Rāṇā prime minister. On August 6 1856, King Surendra, through a lālamohara, conferred upon Jaṅga Bahādura the title of mahārāja of Kaski and Lamjung (cf. Agrawal 1976: 10). The title was subsequently passed on to all Rāṇā prime ministers.
śrī 5 sarkāra	lit. "five-times venerable ruler"; commonly used to refer to the Śāha king (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266) and often indistinctively to his government (Lecomte-Tilouine 2015).
tahabila	[lw. H. taẖwīl fr. Ar.] var. tahabil, tahabīla; n. 1) account keeping of household expenditure. 2) an office for private accounts.
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.