Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa

Unicode|Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa is an Old Javanese rendering of the Sanskrit Ramayana in Indian meter. It is thought that this work of art was written in Central Java, nowadays in Indonesia around 870. IAST|Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa is a so called "kakawin". Kakawin is the Javanese form of "kāvya", a poem modelled on poetical Sanskrit using Indian meters.

Among the Javanese kakawins the Unicode|Rāmâyaṇa has always had pride of place. The number of manuscripts which have been preserved bears witness to its popularity. It is the lengthiest of all the Old Javanese kakawins of the Hindu-Buddhist period of Java.

ource

It was discovered by literary experts that the Indian source of the Old Javanese kakawin IAST|Rāmâyaṇa might have been the Sanskrit poem IAST|Rāvaṇavadha of IAST|Bhaṭṭi-kāvya by the Indian poet IAST|Bhaṭṭi between the 6th and 7th century AD/CE. The first half of IAST|Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa is more or less an exact rendering of IAST|Bhaṭṭi-kāvya. Then things start to diverge more and more.

ynopsis

Dasaratha from Ayodya had four sons; Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna.Then one day an ascetic named Viswamitra requested Dasaratha help to help him to release his hermitage from the attack of the demons.Then Rama and Laksmana departed.

In the hermitage, Rama and Laksmana finished all the demons and afterwards they headed to the Mithila country where a "swayambara" was being held.

Who won could get the daughter of the king who was named Sita. The participants were told to draw the bow that accompanied the birth of Sita.Not a single one was successful except for Rama, then they got married and returned to Ayodya. In Ayodya, Rama was prepared to become the king, because he was the eldest son.

However Kaikeyi, one of the wives of the king Dasaratha who was not the mother of Rama said that the king promised her that her son Bharata will become the king.

Dejected king Dasaratha granted him the kingship because he had indeed promised her. Afterwards Rama, Sita and Laksmana went to leave the palace. Not long afterwards king Dasaratha died and Bharata looked for them.

He felt he did not deserve to become the king and asked Rama to come back. But Rama refused and gave his sandals to Bharata as the symbol of his authority.

After that Bharata returned to the palace with Rama's sandals. Rama with his two companions then went to the woods to live there. Then one day there was a female demon called Surpanakha who saw Laksamana and then fell in love. So she disguised herself as a beautiful female human. But Laksmana was not interested in her and even cut the tip of her nose. She was enraged and told this to her brother; Rawana who was a king in Langka. She even told him about the beauty of Sita and was able to persuade him to kidnap her.

So one day Sita saw a beautiful deer and asked Rama to catch it. Rama then went to catch it but Laksmana was left behind to protect Sita. But he went away anyway looking for Rama. At this moment Sita was abducted by Rawana.

Then Rama and Laksmana tried to get her back. In their endeavour they got help from the illustrious white monkey Hanuman.

In the end Rawana was killed. Rama and Sita then returned to Ayodya. There Rama was installed as the king. This is the end of the story as contained in IAST|Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa.

Bibliography

*C. Hooykaas, 1955, "IAST|The Old-Javanese Rāmāyaṇa kakawin", VKI 16, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. This book is about the connection with the Indian IAST|Bhaṭṭi-kāvya.
*Hendrik Kern, 1900, "IAST|Rāmāyaṇa Kakawin. Oudjavaansch heldendicht", ’s Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.
*Soewito Santoso, 1980, "IAST|Rāmāyaṇa kakawin", New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture. 3 volumes.
*P.J. Zoetmulder, 1974, "Kalangwan. A Survey of Old Javanese Literature", The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. (Recension, page 218-233) ISBN 9024716748

ee also

* Ramakavaca
* Yogesvara
* Ravanavadha (Bhattikavya)

External links

* [http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Indonesian/ramayana/ramafs.htm The Episodes of Ramayana Stories] (Indonesian version)