THE BOOK OF CABOLtK
Saya persembahkan kepada Ayah dan Ibu Almarhum yang tercinta kepada Bapak Siswadarsana dan Bapak Hadiwiyata serta kepada isteriku, Elly.
BIBLIOTHECA INDONESICA published by the KONINKLIJK INSTITUUT VOOR TAAL-, LAND-EN VOLKENKUNDE 10 THE BOOK OF CABOLEK A Critical Edition with Introduction, Translation and Notes AGontribution to the study of the Javanese Mystical Tradition by S. SOEBARDI SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. 1975
The Bibliotheca Indonesica is a series published by the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Royalinstitute of Lingttistics and Anthropology), Leiden. The series contains critica[ editions of texts in various Indonesian languages, together with a translation and commentary in English. Through the publication of this series the Institute hopes to contribute to the opening up of the Indonesian literatures, which are not only of literary interest but also of value to anthropologists, linguists, historians and other scholars of South-East Asia. It aims to help preserve the wealth of the Indonesian literary heritage by drawing the attention of international scholarship to it and by encouraging its further study. ISBN 978-94-017-4584-0 ISBN 978-94-017-4772-1 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-4772-1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Australian National University in 1967. The dissertation consists of three volumes, Volume One containing an Introduction to the Text; Volume Two the Romanised Text and an English translation, together with Notesand a Bibliography; and Volume Three, Four Appendices, one of which discusses the variae lectiones. For the purposes of the present publication, coming as it does eight years after the submission of the dissertation, I have slightly revised the Introduction to the Text and the Notes; and altered the spelling of the Romantransliteration of the J avanese text. I have also omitted the V ariae Lectiones originally included in the dissertation. In the Foreword to the dissertation I acknowledged my indebtedness and expressed my gratitude to a nurober of scholars and colleagues who in the course of its preparation provided me with most valuable guidance, counsel and assistance, without which the work could never have been completed. However, I would like to take this opportunity to express once again my sincere thanks to Professor A. H. Johns, head of the Department of Indonesian Languages and Literatures at the Australian National University, who helped me with constant intellectual stimulation, encouragement and guidance. He painstakingly read every page of the draft of the book, offering many valuable suggestions and comments, particularly with regard to the English. I wish to stress, however, that any shortcomings the work may possess are entirely my own responsibility. Through Professor Johns I also express my sincere thanks to the Australian National University for all the assistance given me during the preparation of this work. I am also indebted to the late Professor F. H. van Naerssen, former head of the Department of Indonesian and Malay Sturlies at the University of Sydney, for his valuable advice during the early stages of the writing of the book. I am extremely grateful to Professors C. C. Berg and A. Teeuw, both of the University of Leiden, and Dr. Ph. van Akkeren of the University of Sydney who as examiners carefully read the dissertation and generously offered their valuable comments, from which I benefited greatly in the revision of the work.
Vl THE BOOK OF CABOLEK The publication of this work would have been impossible without the generous financial support of the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde in Leiden. I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to the Koninklijk Instituut and its Board for their generosity, therefore. I would like furthermore to thank the Leiden U niversity Library for its permission to reproduce the photographs of pages from MSS. A. and E. (Cod. Or. 2325 and 1795 respectively) on pp. 64 and 65. Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation and thanks to my wife Elly for her moral support and boundless understanding for all the time I worked on the book. This work, therefore, is dedicated to her, as well as to the memory of my beloved parents and to both my respected guardians. Faculty of A.sian Studies, The_ A.ustralian National University, Canberra, A..C.T., A.ustralia. April, 197 4. S. SOEBARDI
PREFACE The Scope of the Work The main purpose of this work is to give a critical edition of a Javanese text - the Serat Cabolek - together with an Introduction, an English translation of the text, and Notes. The present publication is a slighdy revised version of a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Australian National University in 1967. The Introduction to the text begins with a brief description of each of the extant MSS of the Serat Cabolek to be found in the Manuscript Sections of the Jakarta Museum Library and the Lembaga Kebudayaan Indonesia and in the Griental Manuscripts Section of the Leiden University Library. In addition, a description is given of a printed version of the Serat Cabolek. The eleven MSS and the printed text are compared with one another on the points of form, structure and content, in order to discover their mutual relationship. From this comparison it becomes clear that no matter how much these eleven MSS and the printed text of theserat Cabolek may differ the one from the other, they all share a common core and all ultimately derive from a single source. The kernel of the Serat Cabolek in all probability comprised only the following sections: (1) the story dealing with the trial of Haji Mutamakin by the Kartasura tribunal; (2) the teaching of Dewa Ruci to Bhima; and (3) a commentary on Dewa Ruds counsel to Bhima. The various differences and discrepancies between the versions are to be attributed to the liberties taken by copyists in adapting the form of the story and inserting episodes from other works to suit their individual taste, interests and convictions- not to mention vanity. The Introducdon continues with a brief account, based on the available sources, of the career of the author of theserat Cabolek, Kyahi Yasadipura I, as the founder of Javanese Iiterature at the time of the early kingdom of Surakarta. Yasadipura I, in his capacity as court poet during the reign of Paku Buwana III ( 1749-88 A.D.) and afterwards under Paku Buwana IV (1788-1820 A.D.), was a prolific and versatile writer, and may be studied equally as a poet, a historian, and a religious teacher and mystic. In this Introduction, therefore, the most important works of Yasadipura I are briefly discussed in order to demonstrate how extensive was the range of his interest in and knowledge of the Javanese cultural tradition.
VIII THE BOOK OF CABOLEK This is followed by a summary of the contents of the text edited here. Following this summary, the Introducdon attempts an interpretation of the significance of theserat Cabolek as a document portraying certain tensions in the Javanese religious life resulting from particular developments in Javanese society after the acceptance of Islam. The principal tension described in this text is that between those cu[amä' who considered themselves the adherents and defenders of the shanca, and those who rejected the more legalistic form of religion and professed a traditional J avanese mysticism. It is very striking to see how Haji Mutamakin, the protagonist of our text, is described as a mystic who propagated the 'Science of Reality' to the uninitiated in imitation of Shaikh Siti Jenar, Sunan Pa13guJ3, Ki Bebeluk and Shaikh Amo13 Raga. In this connection an attempt is made to discuss in the Introduction the motif of conflict between Javanese mysticism and orthodox, legalistic Islam as reflected alike by the Javanese traditions of Shaikh Siti Jenar, Sunan Pa13gu13, Ki Bebeluk and Shaikh Amo13 Raga, in order to gain some insight into the theme and the significance of the Serat Cabolek. In the stories of Shaikh Siti Jenar and Sunan Pa13gu13, where we find descriptions of the tensions between the heretical mystics on the one hand and the cuzamä' who firmly uphold the shar'ica on the other, the authors generally show a tendency to side with the former group. The Serat Cabolek, on the other hand, is a document in which the writer overtly sides with the cuzamä' who uphold the shar'ica as the necessary watf,ah ( vessel) for religious belief. The author of the Serat Cabolek emphasizes again and again the importance of the shanca as an essential guide for the exterior life of man. At the same time, however, our author demonstrates through Ketib Anom Kudus, the antagonist of Haji Mutamak.in in our text, the importance of the teachings of Dewa Ruci as the mainstay of the spiritual life of the Javanese. It is because of this, in my view, that the story of Dewa Ruci has found pride of place in the text edited by us. The last part of the Introducdon contains a brief analysis of the ethical and mystical teachings of the Dewa Ruci story, which may be regarded as the piece de resistance of our text, and concludes with a brief Note on the language of the text. The part of the book following the Introducdon contains the Romanised text of the Serat Cabolek, which is based on two MSS, A and E, tagether with an English translation of this text. The notes, whilst aimed at giving linguistic explanations of various words, expressions, phrases and sentences occurring in the text, also give account of the conjectures and amendments made in our edition. The V ariae Lectiones presented in the original manuscript of the work have not been included in the present publication. Interested readers who wish to study the variant readings of the text are kindly referred to the dissertation, which is available at the Library of the Australian National University and elsewhere.
PREFACE IX A Note on the Spelling All Javanese words and proper names occurring in the Introduction to this text and in the English Translation and Notes are speit according to the system followed for the Roman transliteration of the Serat Cabolek as outlined briefly in the Note on Transliteration (vide infra). As indicated in this Note, the following modifications have been made in the traditional system of romanising Modern Javanese. The old spelling tj is replaced by c, dj is replaced by j, ng by 13, nj by ii, j by y, and oe by u. Three separate symbols: e, e and e, are used to represent the sounds: [e], [E], and [~] respectively. lndonesian words and proper names are written according to the new Indonesian orthography.
CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. PREFACE. V-VI VII-IX INTRODUCTION TO THE TEXT 1. The Extant MSS of the Serat Cabolek 2. The Relationship of the MSS. 3. The Author of the Serat Cabolek. 4. The Works of Kyahi Yasadipura I. 5. Summary of the Contents of the edited Text. 6. The Significance of the Serat Cabolek. 7. The Significance of the Dewa Ruci story 8. Note on the Language of the Text. 9. Text and Transliteration TEXT AND TRANSLATION. NOTES Notes to the lntroduction. Notes to the Text and Translation. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS GLOSSARY BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES Appendix 1: List of Proper Names occurring in the Text. 219 2 6 16 20 26 35 45 53 58 63 155 171 Appendix 2: Words of Arabic Derivations occurring in the Text. 225 Appendix 3: Selected Word Index 228 203 205 209