Documenta Nepalica

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

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A purjī from C-in-C Bhīma Śamśera instructing the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to disburse funds to the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā on the occasion of Baḍādasaĩ (VS 1960)

ID: K_0660_0052

Edited and translated by Rajan Khatiwoda and Astrid Zotter
Created: 2017-08-22; Last modified: 2018-05-07
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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 purjī from Commander-in-Chief Bhīma Śamśera directs officials of the Gūṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā to release customary sums to the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā for purchasing both gelded goats and ghee and spices to feed the poor on the occasion of the Baḍādasaĩ festival in VS 1960.

Diplomatic edition

[1r]

1श्री\

1श्रीपुर्णेश्वर
2२

1श्री३सर्कार
2१

1श्रीजङ्गनंदप्रकासेश्वर
2३

160

1५९लं

1स्वस्तिश्रीमद्राजकुमारकुमारात्मजश्रीकम्यांडरैइनचिफजनरलभिमसम्सेरजङ्गराणावहादुरक
2स्य¯ ¯ १¯ ¯तर्फगुठीषर्चअडाकाहाकिंकारीन्दाकेपुर्जिउप्रांत•¯ ¯ २¯ ¯पाकसालामाभातषानेगरी
3वगुरुव़ाहरुलाईवडादसैमांनालाई•सावीकमामोरू२४कोषसीरघ्यूमसलाकेमोरू३ज्मामोरू•
4२७गुठीषर्चअडावाट•षर्चलेषीदीय़ाकोर•दरसावीकदेषीपाईआय़ाकोहुनाले•यो६०साल्का•
5वडादसैलाई•सो¯ ¯ २¯ ¯पाकसालामाभातषाने•गरीवगुरुवाहरुलाई•सावीकवमोजिंमोरू•
6२४कोषसीरघ्यूमसलाकेमोरू३ज्मामोरू२७।सताईस्‌•रुपैञावकस्याकोछ•¯ ¯ ३¯ ¯कागुठीका
7स्याहामाषर्चलेषीसो¯ ¯ २¯ ¯पाकसालाकाडीठालालवहादुरहस्तेदिन्याकामगर•वाहिवुझा
8उदामोजराहोलाईतिसम्वत्१९६०सालआश्वीं५गते२वार•शुभम्¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Translation

[1r]

Śrī

Śrī Purṇeśvara, 2

Śrī 3 Sarkāra 1 , 1

Śrī Jaṅganandaprakāśeśvara, 3

no. (text: laṃ[bara]) 59

Hail!

A purjī of the venerable Commander-in-Chief General Bhīma Samsera Jaṅga Rāṇā Bahādura, a venerable prince born of a prince, to the chief and clerk(s) of the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā under [Śrī 3 Sarkāra]3 .

Uprānta: Since the Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍā, as usual, has allocated (lekhidiyāko) 24 mohara rupaiyā̃ (text: morū) [for] gelded goats and 3 morūs for ghee and spice(s), in total 27 morūs [for] expenditure(s) for observing Baḍādasaĩ [with a feast] for the poor people who take their meals (lit. "cooked rice") at the kitchen (pākaśālā) of [Śrī Purṇeśvara]4 , and as [the pākaśālā] has been customarily receiving [these items] at this rate, 24 morūs are granted, according to what is usual, for gelded goats and 3 morūs for ghee and spice(s), in total 27—[in words,] twenty-seven—morūs for the Baḍādasaĩ of the year [19]60 for the poor people who take their meals at the kitchen of [Śrī Purṇeśvara]5 . After recording the expenditures in the account book (syāhā) of the guṭhī of [Śrī Jaṅganaṃdaprakāseśvara],6 carry out the task of delivering [the money] into the hands of Lāla Bahādura, the diṭṭhā of the kitchen of [Śrī Purṇeśvara]7 . It will be deducted at the time of the submission of accounts (bāhi bujhāudā).

Monday, the 5th solar day (gate) of Āśvina in the [Vikrama era] year 1960 (1903 CE). Auspiciousness.

Commentary

The document orders the disbursement of customary funds to the pākaśālā of Pūrṇeśvara for buying gelded goats together with ghee and spices on the occasion of the Dasaĩ, as provisions for those who are fed at this kitchen. From the statement that the expenses should be registered in the account book of the guṭhī of Jaṅganandaprakāśeśvara, it can be inferred that the Pūrṇeśvarapākaśālā was run by that guṭhī, which was set up by Prime Minister Jaṅga Bahādura Rāṇā on the 5th of the bright lunar fortnight of the month of Śrāvaṇa in VS 1903 (1846 CE) at Thapathali (cf. NGMPP K 54/6). The present document is one of several testifying to a long-term arrangement; similar ones are extant for the years VS 1954 (K 614/41), 1961 (K 664/17), and 1962 (K 667/36).

Notes

1. From the date of the document, the ruling prime minister would have been Candra Śamśera. [⇑]

2. This number in arabic numerals was added later (and is mirrored in the registration number of the document given on the NGMPP catalogue card). It probably represents a running count of documents copied in the ledger and differs by one from what was seemingly the original count given below it. [⇑]

3. Inserted from the space numbered 1 above. [⇑]

4. Inserted from the space numbered 2 above. [⇑]

5. Inserted from the space numbered 2 above. [⇑]

6. Inserted from the space numbered 3 above. [⇑]

7. Inserted from the space numbered 2 above. [⇑]

Glossary

Word	Notes
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.
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).
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).
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 Kharca Aḍḍā	n. office responsible for managing the expenses of the guṭhīs working under the head of the Guṭhī Bandobasta Aḍḍā; two separate Guṭhī Kharca Aḍḍās managed the śrī 5 sarkāra guṭhīs and the śrī 3 sarkāra guṭhīs.
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.
purjī	[fr. P. purja] var. purji, pūrjī; n. 1) slip of paper, note. 2) formal letter written by a government institution or an official to another institution or to a person.
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 sarkāra	lit. "three-times venerable ruler"; title used by the Rāṇā prime ministers (cp. Whelpton 2005: 266).
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.