Sri Ram in Muslim Indonesia

 

Pakubuwono III (1788-1820) of Surakarta, Indonesia, was probably the king who asked Yasadipura Raden Nabehi to retell the story of Ram. So, Yasadipura I (1729-1803), who was the leading poet of the age, wrote the Serat Rama. For the crown prince of Java he wrote the Serat Arjuna Sasrabau, the story of the clash between Rawana and the thousand-armed Arjuna.

Life stories of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, are generally called ‘Seerat un Nabi.’ It was, therefore, a title that came naturally to Yasadipura I. He was, like his king and the crown prince, a practising Muslim—an Islamic preacher, in fact.

            Sunan Kalijaga (1460–?) ranks at the very top of Indonesia’s Islamic hierarchy. He was one the nine Sufis—the wali sanga or sembilan—who converted the majority of the archipelago to Islam. Goswami Tulasi Das is seen by many as a reincarnation of Valmiki, the author of the first Ramayan ever. Sunan Kalijaga has a better claim. Not only did he write what the folk Muslim tradition, wrongly, considers the original Ramayan, like Valmiki he used to rob travellers before he became a saint.

The tradition of writing the Javanese Ramayan anew for each successive era began after most Indonesians had converted to Islam, a process that began around A.D. 1250. Yasadipura II and other Muslim poets continued to write about the incarnations of Wisnu.

The Muslim kings of Java were taught that Rama had told Wibisana that the perfect king should be as generous as Endra, destructive of evil as Jama (Yam), tactful as Surja, cheerful as Tjandra (Chandr), thoroughly observant as Baju (Vâyu), determined to spread prosperity as Kubera, merciless towards the sinful as Baruna and pitiless towards enemies as Brama (Brahma).

The Serat Rama, in a lesson for Javanese kings, made Rama say that he wanted to stay on in the woods as a monk. Laksmana reminded him that God had created both the hills and the city, the material and the spiritual, so a kshatriya could be both a ruler and a saint.

The Ramayan has for ages been told in Indonesia through songs and sculptures. Around A.D. 925 Yogiswara composed the 2,778 verse Kekawin Ramayan. In the 1500s the Ramayan was recorded in the Sunda islands on palm leaves—without any attempt to explain it in Islamic terms. 

Sultan Agung (1613-45), ‘raja of Mataram,’ is credited with the spread of Islam. But he wrote in his Sastra Gendhing that everyone in his kingdom should know the old Kawi texts—which were inspired by ancient Hindu purâns (scriptures written in Sanskrit)—because they contained everything worth learning.

The Serat Cabolek, probably written by Yasadipura I, described Kawi texts about Sri Ram as ‘sufi literature.’ In Java, not only the Ramayan but also Bima Suci and Arjuna Wiwaha were seen as Islamic scriptures. The Muslims of Java continued to get these ancient texts copied to replace old, worn out manuscripts—because possessing them was a pious thing to do.

In the 1600s and 1700s, (Muslim) scholars from the Pasisir region of Java gave themselves a mission similar to mine: to bring together the legends and beliefs of all major religions. These ‘universal histories’ were called Serat Kandha and are a series that includes a Ramayan.

East Javanese poems about Sri Ram are known as Ram Kling. (The Javanese call India Kling, meaning Kalinga.) In Bali—93% of the people of which follow the Agama Hindu Dharma—and Lombok, stories about Sri Ram grew into the Ramayana Sasak.

Muslims everywhere honour Adam as the Nabi (prophet) Aadam (Alaihi al-Salaam). The Serat Kandha traced Nabi Aadam’s descendants, through his great-great grandson Siwa (Guru), right up to the then rulers of Java. In between came events and deities from Hinduism, especially from the Ramayan and the Mahabharat.

And why not? After all, the genealogy given in the Book of Genesis (10:7), which is accepted by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, clearly mentions Raamah as a descendant of Adam. The difference is that here he is the great-grandson of Cush, and not his father.

Published in The Times of India  (The Speaking Tree) 21/03/2010