Documenta Nepalica

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

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A kabuliyata from Bharapuranātha Jogī to the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā re his appointment as the new abbot of the monastery of Gorakhanātha (VS 1978)

ID: K_0252_0022

Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter and Christof Zotter in collaboration with Pabitra Bajracharya
Created: 2021-02-11; Last modified: 2022-11-11
For the metadata of the document, click here

Published by Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities: Documents on the History of Religion and Law of Pre-modern Nepal, Heidelberg, Germany, 2022. 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

In this deed of acceptance (kabuliyata) submitted to the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā, Pīramahanta Bharapuranātha, the new abbot of the monastery of Gorakhanātha at Mṛgasthalī, declares that he will perform the tasks of the monastery as usual, including its regular and occasional rituals, and will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the monastery's property.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री:\

1⟪ड∙षपुरुषोतंप्रसाद⟫

1२८

1सहिपिरमहंतभर्पुर्नाथजीकाठ्माडु

1लीषीतं∙दैलेष∙ज्वालाजी∙मठ्‌कोजनम्‌∙हाल्‌∙काठ्‌माडौ∙वस्नेवर्ष∙४०को∙पी
2रमहंतभरपुरनाथ∙जोगीआगे∙मृगस्थलीगोरषनाथका∙पीरमहंत∙परम
3हंसनाथ∙मरीषालीभय़ाकाठाऊमा७८साल्‌आश्वीं१५गते६कादीन∙श्री३माहा
4राजवाटभरपुरनाथ∙पीरमहंतमाभर्नाभैसडरस्मेतगरीनीजलेरुपैञास्मे
5तराषीसकेकोहुनालेभोलीदेषीघटस्थापना∙गरी∙नवरात्रीकोकामचला
6ऊनुपर्नेभय़ाकोहुनालेनीजलाईवाहाल्‌गर्नालाई∙धीलागर्न∙नहुनेहुंदा
7सनड्‌∙हुनढीलाभयेतापनी∙नीज∙भरपुरनाथ∙लाईवाहालीपुर्जीआजै
8गरीदी∙वुझवुझारथकोकां∙लाई२।४दींढीलाभयेतापनी∙भोलीडेषी
9कोकांलाई[?]ड्काऊनहुनेगरीजोगर्नुपर्नेवंदोवस्तस्मेतमीलाई∙पठाई
10[?]भनीश्रीवडागुरुज्युवाटमर्जीभय़ाकोहुनालेलेषनेकांभय़ाकोछतस
11र्थ∙स्ववमोजींगर्नेकांभय़ावढीयाहोलाकांअड्‌काऊहुननपाव़सभं
12ने७८साल्‌आश्वीं१६गते७माश्री६वडागुरुज्युकातहवील्‌वाटयेसअडा
13कानाऊमालेषौट्‌भैआय़ाकोहुनाले∙सनदभै∙आय़ापछी∙सोवमोजींको
14कवुलीयेत∙स्मेतजोहुनेहुनेछतपनी∙हालै∙वाहालगरीकांचलाऊना
15लाईकांचलाऊनालाई∙कवुलीयेतगरीडेऊभनीसोधनीभय़ाकोमा
16सोमठ्‌मा∙भोली∙आश्वीं१७गते१कादीन∙दसै∙कोघटस्थापनास्मे
17तकोकांगर्नुपर्नेहुनालेभोलीवेहानैमठ्‌मावाहाल्‌गरी∙सावीकडरी
18चलीआय़ाकोलगतडांसीलापत्र∙सनड्‌पंजीलवमोजीं∙नीत्येपर्वस्मे
19तकाकांकाज्‌चलाउनेरअैंसव़ाल्‌∙वमोजीं∙मोहीरैतीलाईवढीटंटा
20दुषपीरनलगाईतर्तहसीलगर्नेस्मेतकांगरुंला∙सोमृगस्थलीमठ्‌रसो
21मठ्‌तालुक∙ईन्द्रचोककाठ्‌माडौस्मेतठाऊठाऊको∙मालमत्तानगडीजींसी
22जोभय़ाकोसावीकका∙पालाकोवुझीलीय़ावमोजींरमेरापालामाथप
23आय़ाकोस्मेत∙हीफाजतसाथनोक्सानहुननपाऊनेपरीवंधपुर्‍याईरा
24षुंला∙मठ्‌घरभी⟪ट⟫केवी∙ग्रेकोमर्मतगरीतय़ारीराषुंला∙लेषीय़ावमो
25जींनगरी∙धर्मलोप∙गरेको:वा∙मठ्‍कोकांमाल्‌वेहीसावभंगजत्रतत्र∙
26गरेकोस्मेतठहर्‍योभने∙अैंसव़ालसनड्‌वमोजींवुझाऊला∙भनीकवुलीयेत
27लेषी∙श्री५सर्कारतर्फगुठीवंडोवस्तअडामाचढाञ्यां∙ईतीसंवत१९७८
28साल∙आश्वीण१६गतेरोज१श्भ्म्‌¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

[Invocatio:]

Śrī

[In the upper left corner:]

[In the upper margin:]

da. kha.2 Puruṣotaṃ Prasāda

283

[In the left margin:]

Signature: Pīramahanta Bharpurnāthajī, Kathmandu (text: Kāṭhmāḍu)

[Main text:]

Written by Pīramahanta Bharapuranātha Jogī, born in Jvālājī Maṭha, Dailekha, now living at Kathmandu (text: Kāṭhmāḍau), aged 40

Āge: "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 Bharapuranātha to the vacant office, and also validated [the appointment], on Friday, the 15th 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] Navarātrī rituals need 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." As on Saturday, the 16th solar day of the month of Āśvina a written note (lekhauṭ) from the accounts office (tahabila) of Śrī 6 Baḍā Gurujyu was addressed to your office stating thus,5 and as there has been an enquiry (sodhanī) [sent by your office to me] stating: "After the sanada is issued together with the deed of acceptance (kabuliyata) in accordance with it, what is to be [done] will be [done]. Still, in order to get on with the task of appointing [a new pīramahanta], immediately write a deed of acceptance", I am writing [this] deed of acceptance (kabuliyata) and submitting it to the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā under Śrī 5 Sarkāra, stating: "As in this monastery (maṭha) tomorrow, Sunday, the 17th solar day of the month of Āśvina, the rituals of Dasaĩ with the ghaṭasthāpanā need to be performed, I shall, after being appointed [to the post of pīramahanta] in the maṭha tomorrow morning, perform the work [of the maṭha] related to carrying out the regular and festival rituals and other business (kāmakāja) according to what has been determined in the records (lagata), deeds of gift (dāna[patra]), stone inscriptions (śilāpatra), prime ministerial decrees (sanada) and registers (paṃjīla)6 and I shall also collect the revenue and so on7 in accordance with the laws (ain) and directives (savāla), without obliging the tenants and ryots to [pay] more [or] inflicting botheration, distress and pain on [them]. I shall see strictly to it that no harm comes to whatever cash or material items this Mṛgasthalī monastery has, together with the proprietary rights (tāluka) the monastery possesses at different places, including at Indracoka [in] Kathmandu, according to what has been understood as its possessions in previous terms of office along with what is added during my term of office. I shall make provisions to repair what collapses8 or breaks in the monastery building. If it is found that I do not act in accordance with what is written [here], so that rightfulness (dharma) is made to perish or that countless monastery-related tasks and things are broken or thrown into disarray, I shall provide compensation in accordance with the laws (ain), directives (savāla) and decrees (sanada)."

Sunday,9 the 16th solar day (gate) of the month of Āśvina in the [Vikrama] era year 1978 (1 October 1921). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

This document concerns the succession of Bharapuranātha to the office of pīramahanta of the Nātha tradition of Mṛgasthalī following the death of his predecessor, Paramahaṃsanātha. As the appointment process leading to the full appointment papers, including a sanada from the prime minister, was still ongoing, a provisional appointment was fast-tracked in order to ensure that the autumnal Dasaĩ rituals, starting the next day, would be performed properly. The present document is the deed of acceptance (kabuliyata) by Bharapuranātha that, according to its text, was asked for, probably by the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā itself, to which office it was submitted. The kabuliyata is only one of several documents that were all issued on the same day (or are at least all dated the same day) by several offices and actors. It quotes one of these, an order by the Baḍā Gurujyu's account office verbatim (K_0252_0021) and itself is quoted by the bahālī purjī issued by the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā on the very same day the request was received (K_0054_0053, K_0177_0004). 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. They are also found on the NGMPP catalogue card, where they have been noted under "Short Title". The count starts with 1 in K_0252_0015 and continues up to 36 in K_0052_0050. All documents in this series concern the guṭhī of Gorakhanātha at Mṛgasthalī in the months following the death of Pīramahanta Paramahaṃsanātha on the 18th solar day (gate) of Śrāvaṇa in VS 1978 (1921 CE). [⇑]

2. It remains to be ascertained what these two akṣaras, seemingly abbreviations, stand for. Does the second, ṣa (for kha), stand for kharidāra? The name noted vertically in the space above the main text probably belongs to a person involved either in scribing the document or in chanelling it through the institutions. [⇑]

3. This number added by a later hand probably represents an earlier archival number. [⇑]

4. The receipt for 1 mohararupaiyā̃ submitted by Bharapuranātha in connection with the issuing of his bāhālī purjī was issued by the Guṭhī Tahasīla [Aḍḍā] on the same day as the present document. It is extant as K_0252_0020. [⇑]

5. What is described here as stemming from a written note (lekhauṭ) is a direct quotation of a document, calling itself basically the same thing (lekheko), from the accounts office of the Baḍā Gurujyu that was filed immediately prior to the present document (K_0252_0021). [⇑]

6. The word pañjīla must denote a type of document. The dictionaries, however, only list pañjī or pañjikā, in the sense of registers or lists. The catalogue card to K_0499_0048 gives the type of document as panjila, but the document itself does not contain this term. [⇑]

7. Here tartahasila is understood as a word formation parallel to that exhibited by taratamasuka (… tamasuka ādi kāgaja, Parājuli et al. VS 2067: s.v.) or taratākitā (... tākitā ādi kāma, ibid.). [⇑]

8. The word bhaṭake in the present document is marked as a correction in the present document. K_0054_0053, which quotes it directly, reads bhatke in this place. [⇑]

9. The 16th of Āśvina in VS 1978 (1 October 1921 CE) was a Saturday, as is confirmed in all other documents issued on the same day in connection with the same case and also by the two dates given in the present document with the 15th of Āśvina being a Friday and the 17th a Sunday. So the reference to the weekday should be 7 instead of 1 here. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
āge	[fr. S. agre] adv. lit. "henceforeward" (Riccardi 1976: 150 n. 6), especially used in administrative and legal documents to mark the beginning of a text or paragraph. In its function it is similar to uprānta.
ain	var. āin, aina; n. 1) laws, statutes, rules, regulations enacted by authority 2) law-code of Nepal, first promulgated in 1854 during the rule of Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā and amended several times before it was completely revised in VS 2022. The revised law-code was renamed as Mulukī Ain.
baḍā gurujyu	var. baḍā gurujyū; also buḍhā gurujyu; n. chief royal preceptor.
bahālī purjī	n. document appointing a government officer to his post.
dānapatra	[S.] n. deed of gift.
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.
guṭha / guṭhi / guṭhī	[fr. S. goṣṭhī] var. guṭh, guthi; n. 1) a socio-religious organization that manages and finances religious and charitable functions, a trust. 2) “endowed lands or other sources of revenue for financing religious and charitable functions“ (M.R. Pant 2002: 132; cf. M.C. Regmi 1988: 267).
Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā	var. Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍā, Guṭhi 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).
Guṭhī Tahasila Aḍḍā	n. office responsible for collecting revenue in cash and kind from guṭhī lands, established before 1891 (K_0402_0058).
kabuliyata	n. a deed of consent, agreement or acceptance.
kharadāra / kharidāra	[fr. P.] var. kharīdāra, ṣaridāra; n. secretary, official scribe, office superintendent (cf. Kumar 1967: 166).
lagata	var. lagat; n. record; descriptive list of items, persons etc. concerning a certain subject; a registry of staff in an office; “assessment or stipulated rent of land“ (Adhikari 1984: 352 )
marjī	n. an order from the mukhtiyāra, Prime Minister or other high-ranked officers.
maṭha	[fr. S.] n. abode of ascetics, monastery.
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).
savāla	n. 1) an enquiry. 2) a set of directives issued especially for the administrative purposes. Contrary to a sanada which is applicable to general public, a savāla refers to rules within a particular organization or an administrative unit (see Siṃha 1981 sv svāla. 3) rules and regulations enacted based on an existing law; administrative regulations (Adhikari 1984: 356; Karmacharya 2001: 328).
śilāpatra	var. silāpatra, sīlāpatra; n. stone deed, stone inscription.
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.
tāluka	var. tāluk; n. a proprietary right signifying a holding.

Bibliography

Parājulī, Kṛṣṇaprasāda et al. (ed.). VS 2067 [2010]. Nepālī Bṛhat Śabdakośa. 7th ed. Kathmandu: Nepāla Prajñāpratiṣṭhāna.