Documenta Nepalica

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

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A copy of a lālamohara from King Gīrvāṇayuddha appointing Vaijanātha Josī to conduct the Dasaĩ rituals at Gorkhā's Upallokoṭa (VS 1862)

ID: K_0029_0044A

Edited and translated by Astrid Zotter
Created: 2017-05-31; Last modified: 2023-02-17
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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, 2018. 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 copy of a lālamohara from the king, who according to the date must have been Gīrvāṇayuddha, appoints Vaijanātha Josī as being in charge of performing the Dasaĩ rituals at Gorkhā's Upallokoṭa, including recitation, worship (pūjā), fire sacrifice (homa), and animal sacrifice (balidāna).

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1९४नंरु

[Seal of the Jaisīkoṭhā]

[Unknown seal]

1मार्फतराधावल्लभ
2आगेवैजनाथजोसीकेगोर्षाउपल्लोकोटकोदसैगर्नुमानगुठषेतस्मेतती
3मीलाईवक्स्यौपाठपुजाहोमवलीदानवेसगरीगरहामीलाईआसीर्वाद
4दीन्यागरगुठकोभोग्‍यगरईतिसम्वत१८६२सालमितिआसीनवदी
5१रोजशुभम्

Translation

[1r]

Num[ber] 94,1 ru2

Through (mārphat) Rādhāvallabha

Āge: To Vaijanātha Josī

We [herewith] grant you, together with a field [endowed] as guṭha [land], the honour (māna) of performing the Dasaĩ [rituals at] Gorkhā's Upallokoṭa.3 Perform the recitation [of the Caṇḍī], the worship (pūjā), the fire sacrifice (homa), [and] the offerings of animal sacrifice (balidāna) in a fitting manner. Bestow regular blessings on us. Enjoy the guṭha).

…day,4 the 1st of the dark fortnight of Āśvina of the [Vikrama] era year 1862 (1805 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

This text, found in an assemblage of lālamoharas (see n. 1), in all likelihood is a copy of an executive order (rukkā) of King Gīrvāṇayuddha. Not only this text is preceded by the abbreviation ru. The next text copied in the compendium (K_0029_0044B), ordering the courtiers (bhārādāra) in charge of the Dasaĩ rituals at Gorkha to provide certain items to Vaijanātha Josī for carrying out his ritual duties, has the same abbreviation preceding it. It is similar in phrasing to an original rukkā (DNA_0010_0019) regulating the annual provision of certain items to another ritual specialist involved in the Dasaĩ rituals of Gorkha Palace.

Moreover, the two documents K_0029_0044A and K_0029_0044B, issued on the same day and copied one after another, bear witness to the fact that when ritual specialists were appointed by royal decree, often several lālamoharas were issued, not just to the priest appointed (as in K_0029_0044A), but also to those whose duties were affected by this appointment (as in K_0029_0044B). The arrangement fixed by these two documents seems to have been a stable one. L. Bhaṭṭarāī in his 1997 monograph on the Gorkha palace complex describes the goddess of this fort (koṭa) being worshipped on the year’s two Dasaĩs in a way similar to what is stipulated in the present document ( Bhaṭṭarāī VS 2054: 121): On the Baḍā Dasaĩ, worship is carried out throughout the Navarātra period with one recitation of the Caṇḍī on each lunar day from the first to the ninth. On Caite Dasaĩ, worship takes place on aṣṭamī with only one recitation of the Caṇḍī. The Brahmin in charge on these two occasions receives a priestly fee of 250 rupees and 25 rupees from the Kausī Tosākhānā. On the Great Dasaĩ, homa and pūjā are performed, and one he-goat and one bull buffalo are sacrificed (ibid.: 72). On Caitrāṣṭamī, homa is performed, and one ram and one goat are sacrificed (ibid.: 90).

This office of priest seems to have been one reassigned fairly regularly to new persons, or else rotated among a fixed group, Vaijanātha Josī—in other documents also called Vaijanātha Arjyāla or Vaijanātha Josī Arjyāla—being the person most frequently mentioned. In VS 1864 (1807 CE) Narmaḍeśvara Jaisī Arjyāla was appointed to take over Vaijanātha's duties (K_0029_0025A). In August 1816 (VS 1873 Bhādra) duties shifted from Rāmacandra Arjyāla (back?) to two persons, Vaijanātha and Vetu Arjyāla (K_0013_0020E) to be again replaced by Rāmacandra Arjyāla in January 1817 (VS 1873 Māgha, K_0013_0022B). In 1822 (VS 1878) Vaijanātha is again mentioned as being replaced by Nityānanda Josī Arjyāla (K_0013_0033E). All appointees named in these documents came from the Arjyāla clan. Vaijanātha, Narmaḍeśvara and Nityānanda in particular are specified as being Josī (or Jaisī) Arjyālas. It is not known, however, whether this meant that they actually served as astrologers or only indicated their status as Jaisī Brahmins, which was lower than that of Upādhyāya Brahmins in the officially endorsed caste hierarchy. Arjyālas, both Upādhyā and Jaisī, were traditionally among the main Brahmins who served the Śāhas of Gorkha and their deities.

Notes

1. This number refers to the position of the document in an assemblage of lālamohara texts copied from the Jaisīkoṭhā. The bound material, microfilmed sequentially from K_0028_0032 (front cover and index) up to K_0031_0014B, covers the main body (i.e. excluding the initial and final formalities) of 303 royal documents from the period VS 1847–1864 concerning different guṭhīs. [⇑]

2. The abbreviation ru may either stand for rukkā and denote the type of the original lālamohara it was copied from or for ruju and express that the copy was "attested". [⇑]

3. The Upallokoṭa (lit. the "upper fort") is located on a hilltop overlooking the Gorkha Palace at an altitude of over 1,500 metres. When Dravya Śāha conquered Gorkha in 1559 there had been smaller fortifications in this place (Kölver and Sontheimer 1982: 2). [⇑]

4. The number to denote the weekday has been left out. In VS 1862, the said lunar day fell on a Tuesday. [⇑]

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.
aṣṭamī	[S.] n. eighth day of a lunar fortnight, one of the parvan days, often connected with the worship of goddesses.
baḍā dasaĩ	var. baḍā dasai; also mahā dasaĩ; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held over the bright half of the autumn month of Āśvina. Cf. dasaĩ / daśaĩ.
bhāradāra / bhārādāra	var. bhārā n. lit. "burden bearer"; a generic term for high-level functionaries and courtiers.
caite dasaĩ	var. caityā dasai, caitra dasai, caitrā dasai; n. festival to worship the goddess Durgā as slayer of the buffalo demon, held in the bright half of the spring month of Caitra. Cf. dasaĩ / daśaĩ.
caitrāṣṭamī	[S.] var. caitra aṣṭamī; n. eighth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Caitra and major day of the Caitedasaĩ festival.
caṇḍī	[S.] n. 1) "the fierce one," name for a goddess, often for Durgā. 2) also (Durgā)saptaśatī; recitational form of the Devīmāhātmya, popularly recited on occasion of the Dasaĩ festival.
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).
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).
jaisī	[fr S. jyotiṣa] var. jaisi; n. 1) astrologer; 2) Brahman accorded lower status than upādhyāya, said to be the offspring of an upādhyāya Brahmin, and a married woman, widow or girl of a Brahmin or Jaisī caste without formal alliance. There were several categories of jaisī according to the caste of the woman, the father in all cases being an Upadhyaya man (cf. Regmi 2002: 300; Regmi 1972: 227). 3) a Newar caste (cf. Regmi 1978: 859).
jaisīkoṭhā	n. an office usually considered to be a branch of the office treating with foreign affairs (Munsīkhānā) dealing with the foreign correspondencies to Tibet (see e.g. Kumar 1967: 166; Parājulī et al. 1995: s.v.). Adhikari, however, argues that the terms Munsīkhānā and Jaisīkoṭhā were used simultaneously to denote the same office (Adhikari 1984: 83-84). He assumes that the former refered to a location within Basantapur Palace while the latter denoted the office operated from there. That the Jaisīkoṭhā did not exclusively handle paper work related to the north is also evinced in a book of copies of 303 lālamoharas documented from K_0028_0032 (front cover and index) up to K_0031_0014B. These royal orders concern affairs of different guṭhīs both within the Kathmandu Valley and outside.
kausī tosākhānā	n. central state treasury which served several additional functions like the expenses and storage of goods for the royal palace and the appointment of subbās in the Tarai (cf. Edwards 1975: 111). DNA_0011_0035 suggests that even though the Kausī and the Tosākhānā formed one administrative unit headed by the khajāñcī, to a certain extent both were treated as distinct entities.
koṭa / kota	n. 1) fort, typically built on hill-tops for military defense. 2) military builing for keeping weapons, arsenal. 3) place for maulo pūjā.
lālamohara	var. lālmohara, lālamohar, lālmohora; abbreviated mohara; n. royal document bearing the red seal.
mārphat / mārphata	var. marphaṭ, mārphaṭa; "through (the person of)" (Pant and Pierce 1989: 93).
navarātra / navarātri / navarātrī	[S.] var. naurātrī; n. lit. "nine nights", period of nine lunar days on which goddess Durgā is worshipped; Dasaĩ.
ruju	var. rujū; (physically) present, attested (Pant and Pierce 1989: 94; Krauskopff and Meyer 2000: 185).
rukkā	[fr. A. ruq'a] n. an executive order, short note, missive from the highest authority. The king, the crown prince, but also queens and the Rāṇā prime ministers issued rukkās.
upādhyāya	[S.] n. 1.) preceptor in Vedic texts. 2) highest status group among Brahmins in the officially endorsed caste hierarchy.

Bibliography

Bhaṭṭarāī, Lokaprasāda Śarmā. VS 2054 [1997]. Aitihāsika ra sāmājika sandarbhamā Gorakhādarabārakṣetrako sāṃskṛtika pakṣaḥ: Yasako udbhava ra vikāsa: Samājaśāstrīya-mānavaśastrīya adhyayana. Belajhuṇḍī: Mahendra Saṃskṛta Viśvavidyālaya.
Kölver, Bernhard and Günther Dietz Sontheimer. 1982. "Kleine" und "große" Tradition in Nepal: Untersuchungen zu Ursprung, Entwicklung und Struktur von Heiligtümern und ihren Kulten in Nepal. : .