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The Illusion of an Allusion: A Soothing Song for the Exiled Prince Dipasana (d. ca 1840) in Ambon1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

Edwin Wieringa
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Extract

Javanese literature can boast a distinct genre of works about the adventures of wandering students/scholars, who travel about the countryside in pursuit of esoteric knowledge. Journeying and undergoing various trials and tribulations on the way is regarded in Javanese culture as an ascetic practice, preparatory to ultimate enlightenment. An early, pre-Islamic representative of this genre is the Kidung Subrata, dated 1541. The best-know examples, at least by name, i.e. the Cĕnṭini and Jatiswara, probably originate from the beginning of the seventeenth century. In the course of time these two stories were constantly reworked until by the beginning of the nineteenth century they reached massive proportions and were made into storehouses of encyclopaedic knowledge of all kinds of things Javanese. The so-called Major Cěntini, compiled in 1814 at the Surakarta Crown Prince's court, has hitherto received most attention. Quite a few scholars, guided by Pigeaud's table of contents, have tapped this source for information on many topics.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , July 2000 , pp. 193 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 2000

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Footnotes

1

This article is based on a paper read at a Congress of the Dutch Oriental Society, held at the University of Leiden, 4–5 June 1998, “Fantastic Travel Stories: Visions of the Other”.

References

2 Ng. Poerbatjaraka, R. M., Kapustakan Djawi (Djakarta/Amsterdam, 1952), p. 80Google Scholar arrives at this date on the basis of a chronogram. The text is briefly discussed in I. Kuntara Wiryamartana's (as yet unpublished) paper “Kidung Subrata: Kisah perjalanan dan alegori”, presented at the international ESF workshop “Encompassing knowledge: Indigenous Encyclopedias in Indonesia in the 17th–20th Centuries”, held at the University of Leiden, 8–10 December 1997.

3 In recent years a complete transliteration in 12 vols. appeared, ed. Kamajaya, , Sĕrat Cênthini (Yogyakarta, 1985–1991)Google Scholar.

4 Pigeaud, Th., De Sĕrat Tjabolang en de Serat Tjěntini (Bandoeng, 1933)Google Scholar.

5 The full name of the department is Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – PreuBischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung. The Ms is described in Pigeaud, Theodore G.Th., Javanese and Balinese manuscripts and some codices written in related idioms spoken in java and Bali (Wiesbaden, 1975), pp. 212–13Google Scholar. In the appendix of this article the canto-composition is given. The library of the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde in Leiden keeps a transliteration of the text (signature: ii 256 N+), but this contains too many errors to be of much use.

6 The collection consists of Mss or. oct. 173–175, or. quart. 349–359, and, or. fol. 401–402. It seems to be a motley collection, consisting of 18th- and 19th-century texts, identified by Pigeaud, , Javanese and Balinese manuscripts, pp. 175–6; 207–13; 225–7Google Scholar a s originating from Central Java, East Pasisir, Central Pasisir, Yogya, etc.

7 Ibid., p. 172.

8 Ibid., p. 213.

9 Cf.Ras, J. J., “The Babad Tanah jawi and its reliability: Questions of content, structure and function”, in The shadow of the ivory tree. Language, literature and history in Nusantara (Leiden, 1992), pp. 198–9Google Scholar.

10 Staatsbibliothek Berlin Ms. or. quart. 359, p. 17, canto 5:11.

11 Staatsbibliothek Berlin Ms. or. quart. 359, p. 19, canto 6:1.

12 Staatsbibliothek Berlin Ms. or. quart. 359, p. 32, canto 8:27.

13 Staatsbibliothek Berlin Ms. or. quart. 359, pp. 3–4, canto 1:12–17.

14 Tĕngran is the shortened form of tĕngĕran, here meaning “name”, see Gericke, J. F. C. and Roorda, T., Javaansch-Nederlandsch handwoordenboek (Amsterdam/Leiden, 1901), vol. 1, p 722Google Scholar.

15 Cf. the common royal title of panatagama, “regulator (upholder) of religion”. Another possible translation of nata agama eslam would be “(he is a) Muslim king”.

16 See Arps, Bernard, Tembang in two traditions. Performance and interpretation of Javanese literature (London, 1992)Google Scholar, passim.

17 Ras, J. J., De schending van Soebadra: Javaans schimmenspel (Amsterdam, 1976), p. 84Google Scholar; Pink, Peter Wilhelm, Gathutkaca nagih janji. Gathutkaca fordert die Einlösung eines Versprechens (Berlin, 1977), p. 386, n. 10Google Scholar.

18 For an overview of the successive scenes, see e.g. Ras, , Schending, p. 36–9Google Scholar; Pink, , Gathutkaca, 36–7Google Scholar, or in English: Van Groenendael, Victoria M. Clara, The dalang behind the wayang. The role of the Surakarta and the Yogyakarta dalang in Indonesian-Javanese society (Dordrecht, 1985), pp. 222–5Google Scholar.

19 Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. or. quart. 359, pp. 22–23, canto 7:7 lines a – c.

20 The attentive reader will have noticed that 1 rendered radin earlier in the description of Giri Layangan as “well-ordered”. The meaning “flat”, however, is also possible and fits the context better here, see Gericke, and Roorda, , Handwoordenboek, vol. 1, p. 336Google Scholar s.v. rata.

21 I interpret rĕmbĕg as rĕmpĕg (see Gericke, and Roorda, , Handwoordenboek, vol. 1, p. 365Google Scholar s.v. rĕmpĕg and pp. 362–3 s.v. rampak.)

22 Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. or. quart. 359, p. 23, canto 7:10.

23 Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. or. quart. 359, p. 27, canto 7:38.

24 The Javanese language has many metaphorical terms for describing the act of coitus. The word nggĕcĕk lit. means “to pound, pulverise, crush”; the reduplicated verbal form with the suffix -an gives the meaning of doing it together.

25 Carey, Peter, The British in java 1811–1816: A Javanese account (Oxford, 1992), p. 478 n. 376Google Scholar.

26 Babad Ngayogyakarta is kept in 3 vols. at the Museum Sonobudoyo in Yogyakarta (MSS nos. A. 135, A. 136, and A. 144); it is briefly discussed in Wieringa, Edwin, Babad Bangun Tapa. De ballingschap van Pakubuwana VI op Ambon 1830–1849 (Ph.D thesis University of Leiden, 1994), pp. 248–9Google Scholar.

27 Karya refers to the extent of land which one farmer and his family could cultivate; it was usually reckoned to cover some 7,096 square metres (Carey, , The British in java, p. 451, n. 246Google Scholar).

28 Babad Ngayogyakarta vol. 2, canto 28:32Google Scholar.

29 “darbe cipta dudu”, Ibid., canto 23:14.

30 Triyoga, Lucas Sasongko, Manusia Jawa dan gunung Merapi. Persepsi dan kepercayaannya (Yogyakarta, 1991), p. 50Google Scholar; Schlehe, Judith, Die Meereskönigin ties Südens, Ratu Kidul. Geisterpolitik im javanischen Alltag (Berlin, 1998), pp. 112–13Google Scholar. There are more Sapujagads in Javanese mythology, cf. Pigeaud, Th. G. Th., Literature of Java; vol. 3 (The Hague, 1970) p. 375Google Scholar s.v. Sapu jagad and Sapu jagat. In a spiritual geography of java, one Sapujagad is situated in Jipang, Ricklefs, M. C., Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubwni 1749–1792. A history of the division of Java (Oxford, 1974). P 405Google Scholar. In Malay literature Sapujagad is the favourite name for a cannon, Kern, W., Commentaar op de Salasilah van Kutai (Nijhoff, 1956), p. 39Google Scholar. In Bali Sapujagad is an epithet of the ferocious and terror-inspiring goddess Durga, Weck, Wolfgang, Heilkunde und Volkstum auf Bali (Jakarta, 1986), p. 206QGoogle Scholar.

31 Schlehe, , Die Meereskönigin pp. 112, 177Google Scholar.

32 Cf. Kuiper, F. B. J., “Cosmogony and conception: A query”, History of Religions 10 (1970), pp. 91–138CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

33 Kĕnanga is a particular kind of tree with fragrant flowers, Cananga odorata (de Clercq, F. S. A., Nieuw plantkundig woordenboek voor Nederlandsch Indiè (Amsterdam, 1909), p. 190–1 no. 601)Google Scholar or Canagium odoratum (Heyne, K., De nuttige planten van Indonesiè ('s-Gravenhage/Bandung, 1950), p. 628fF.Google Scholar)

34 Babad Ngayogyakarta vol. 2, canto 23:19c–20aGoogle Scholar.

35 Guḍang rĕmpĕlas lit. means “vegetable dish of rĕmpĕlas-leafs”, and is comparable to the saying pècèl alu, "“vegetable dish of pestles”, denoting a stiff-necked or hot-headed person. Leaves of the rĕmpĕlas (identified by De Clercq, , Plantkundig woordenboek, p. 240Google Scholar as Ficus semicordata Miq., but by Heyne, , Nuttige planten, p. 572Google Scholar as Ficus melinocarpa BL) are used as an abrasive and are also used in the concentrated food of fighting cocks, Gericke, and Roorda, , Handwoordenboek, vol. 1, p. 611Google Scholar s.v.guḍang; De Clercq, , Plantkundig woordenboek, p. 240–241, no. 1514Google Scholar.

36 According to Dutch sources, Dipasana was initially sentenced to death, but after some deliberation this was officially commuted on 18 May 1822 to banishment for life to Ambon thanks to his relationship with the Sultan, see Leiden University Library (Western MSS), Collection Nahuys van Burgst, BPL 616, portfolio 7, 3.

37 Babad Ngayogyakarta vol. 2Google Scholar, canto 35:4ff.

38 See Carey, P. B. R., “The origins of the Java War (1825–30)”, English Historical Review 91 (01 1976), pp. 52–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

39 Eruption of Mt. Mèrapi: Ricklefs, M. C., A history of modem Indonesia (London and Basingstoke, 1981), IIICrossRefGoogle Scholar. Hiccups and succession: Louw, P. J. F., De Java-oorlog van 1825–30. Vol. 1 (Batavia/Hage, 1894), p. 45Google Scholar.

40 Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. or. quart. 359, p. 1, canto 1:1.

41 I interpret the word order of these lines as follows: Asmaradana tinulis layang, kawulanira sang katong, tansah ngĕla-ĕla, jĕng sinuhun ing Mĕtaram.

42 See van Groenendael, Clara, The dalang behind the wayang, pp. 103–4Google Scholar.

43 Cf. Hooykaas, Jacoba, ”Upon a white stone under a nagasari-tree”, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 113 (1957), pp. 324–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

44 Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. or. quart. 359, canto 1:2.

45 Title: Behrend, T. E. (ed.), Katalog induk naskah-naskah Nusantara. Jilid 1: Museum Sonobudoyo Yogyakarta (Jakarta, 1990), p. 408Google Scholar. Date: Ricklefs, , Jogjakarta, pp. 188, 196Google Scholar.

46 Ricklefs, , Jogjakarta, p. 188Google Scholar. Respectful name: Lindsay, Jennifer, Soetanto, R. M. and Feinstein, Alan (eds.), Katalog induk naskah-naskah Nusantara. Jilid 2: Kraton Yogyakarta (Jakarta, 1994), p. 113Google Scholar. For obvious reasons it could not be microfilmed during a microfilm project in the early 1980s.

47 Rickleft, , Jojgakarta, p.198Google Scholar.

48 Ibid.

49 Ibid., p. 200.

50 Ibid., p. 210.

51 Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. or. quart. 359, p. 4, canto 1:20 reads: “lirpindah Yusuftumĕdak”.

52 Dipasana would spend the rest of his life on Ambon. His daughter married the exiled Solonese king Pakubuwana VI there (Wieringa, , Babad Bangtm Tapa, pp. 89–90Google Scholar). Probably he died around 1840, because he is not mentioned in the lists of exiles on Ambon in 1841. Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Leiden), MS H 70, “Verslagen uit het Gouvernement der Molukken”, ff. 30–34; cf. Wieringa, ibid., p. 94.

53 Staatsbibliothek Berlin, Ms. or. quart. 359, p. 3, canto 1:11.

54 Burrow, J. A., Medieval writers and their work. Middle English literature and its background 1100–1500 (Oxford, 1982), p. 87Google Scholar.

55 Ibid.

56 Ibid.

57 Pitiful: “abdi kawlas-ayun” (canto 1:2) and “jalma kawlas-arsa” (canto 1:3).