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Kakawin are long narrative poems composed in Old Javanese, also called " Kawi ", written in verse form with rhythms and meters derived from Sanskrit literature. [1] Poets used a formalized literary language, rather than the vernacular. Poets composed and performed the poems at the courts of central and east Java kings between the 9th and 16th centuries, [1] and in Bali. [2]
Although the poems depict events and characters from Hindu mythology, the narratives are set in the local landscapes of the islands. They are rich sources of information about courtly society in Java and Bali. [3]
A kakawin stanza consists of four lines. Each line has a set number of syllables per line, set in patterns of long and short syllables based on Sanskrit rules of prosody. A syllable which contains a long vowel is called guru (Sanskrit for "heavy"), while a syllable which contains a short one is called laghu (Sanskrit for "light"). The term guru laghu denotes the structure of a line.
For example, each line of the kakawin metre called "Śardūlawikrīd[?]ita" consists of 19 syllables. The guru laghu of each line is as follows" ---|UU-|U-U|UU-|--U|--U| U. The notation "-" means that the syllable in question is long, while the "U" means that the syllable is short.
As an example, the opening stanza of the Kakawin Arjunawiwaha , which is in the metre Śardūlawikrīd[?]ita, is taken:
A syllable which contains a long vowel is automatically long (ā, ī, ū, ö, e, o, ai, and au) and thus guru. But on the other hand, a syllable with a vowel followed by two consonants is also long. In addition to that the last syllable of a line may both contain a long or a short syllable. It is an anceps .
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Javanese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northern coast of western Java. It is the native language of more than 68 million people.
Old Javanese or Kawi is the oldest attested phase of the Javanese language. It was spoken in the eastern part of what is now Central Java and the whole of East Java, Indonesia. As a literary language, Kawi was used across Java and on the islands of Madura, Bali, and Lombok. It had a sizable vocabulary of Sanskrit loanwords but had not yet developed the formal krama language register, to be used with one's social superiors that is characteristic of modern Javanese.
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The Javanese script is one of Indonesia's traditional scripts developed on the island of Java. The script is primarily used to write the Javanese language, but in the course of its development has also been used to write several other regional languages such as Sundanese, Madurese, and Sasak; the lingua franca of the region, Malay; as well as the historical languages Kawi and Sanskrit. Javanese script was actively used by the Javanese people for writing day-to-day and literary texts from at least the mid-15th century CE until the mid-20th century CE, before its function was gradually supplanted by the Latin alphabet. Today the script is taught in DI Yogyakarta, Central Java, and the East Java Province as part of the local curriculum, but with very limited function in everyday use.
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The Kawi or Old Javanese script is a Brahmic script found primarily in Java and used across much of Maritime Southeast Asia between the 8th century and the 16th century. The script is an abugida, meaning that characters are read with an inherent vowel. Diacritics are used, either to suppress the vowel and represent a pure consonant, or to represent other vowels.
Kakawin Ramayana is an Old Javanese poem rendering of the Sanskrit Ramayana in kakawin meter.
Kakawin Bhāratayuddha is an Old Javanese poetical rendering of some books (parva) of the Mahabharata by Mpu Sedah and his brother Mpu Panuluh in Indian meters. The commencement of this work was exactly 6 November 1157 by Sedah, and finished by Panuluh. The year of the composition is given in a chronogram sanga-kuda-śuddha-candramā which gives the year 1079 Saka. This is the equivalent of 1157 AD. Bhāratayuddha means "India's War" or "War of Bharat".
Bharatayuddha or Bharat Yudha is a term used in Indonesia for the Kurukshetra War, and to describe the Javanese translation and interpretation of the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata was translated into (old) Javanese under the reign of king Dharmawangsa of Medang. The current poem was started by Sedah in 1157, and finished by mpu Panuluh. Mpu Panuluh also wrote the Kakawin Hariwangsa.
The Nagarakretagama or Nagarakṛtāgama, also known as Desawarnana or Deśavarṇana, is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king of the Majapahit Empire. It was written on lontar as a kakawin by Mpu Prapanca in 1365. The Nagarakretagama contains detailed descriptions of the Majapahit Empire during its greatest extent. The poem affirms the importance of Hindu–Buddhism in the Majapahit empire by describing temples and palaces and several ceremonial observances.
Kakawin Hariwangsa is an Old Javanese poem in Indian metres which tells the story of Krishna, as an Avatar of Vishnu, when he wished to marry the Goddess Rukminī, from the land of Kundina, and daughter of Lord Bhishmaka. Rukmini is an avatar of the goddess Śrī.
Javanese poetry is traditionally recited in song form. The standard forms are divided into three types, sekar ageng, sekar madya, and sekar macapat, also common with the ngoko terms: tembang gedhé, tembang tengahan, and tembang macapat. All three types follow strict rules of poetic construction. These forms are highly influential in Javanese gamelan.
Kakawin Sutasoma is an Old Javanese poem in poetic meters. It is the source of the motto of Indonesia, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, which is usually translated as Unity in Diversity, although it means '(Although) in pieces, yet One'. It is not without reason that the motto was taken from this kakawin as the kakawin teaches religious tolerance, specifically between the Hindu and Buddhist religions.
Sanskrit prosody or Chandas refers to one of the six Vedangas, or limbs of Vedic studies. It is the study of poetic metres and verse in Sanskrit. This field of study was central to the composition of the Vedas, the scriptural canons of Hinduism, so central that some later Hindu and Buddhist texts refer to the Vedas as Chandas.
Metrical poetry in Sanskrit is called Chhandas or Chhandas and Chhandassu(Telugu: ఛందస్సు). The term Chandas means "pleasing, alluring, lovely, delightful or charming", and is based on the root chad which means "esteemed to please, to seem good, feel pleasant and/or something that nourishes, gratifies or is celebrated". Chandas refers to the Vedas themselves. Lord Krishna refers to the Vedas as leaves of the tree of creation. Vedas being in verse-form (Chandas), also came to be known as Chandas. The term also refers to "any metrical part of the Vedas or other composition". Prose and poetry follows the rules of Chhandas to design the structural features of 'poetry'. Chhandas is a definable aspect of many definable and indefinable aspects of poetry. Chhandas generates rhythm to the literature when the rules are properly followed. Rhythm is important to literature as a preliminary attraction.
Mandākrāntā is the name of a metre commonly used in classical Sanskrit poetry. The name in Sanskrit means "slow-stepping" or "slowly advancing". It is said to have been invented by India's most famous poet Kālidāsa,, who used it in his well-known poem Meghadūta. The metre characterises the longing of lovers who are separated from each other, expressed in the Sanskrit word viraha विरह "separation, parting".
Śiwarātrikalpa, also known as the Kakawin Lubdhaka is an Old Javanese Hindu kakawin text written by Mpu Tanakung. This text aimed to spread the observance of Maha Shivaratri from the Vijayanagara Empire, who had given a great impetus to the revival of Saivite Hinduism, to the Hindus of Indonesia. It is believed to have been composed about 600 years ago, between 1466 and 1478, at a point when the Saivism sect of Hinduism dominated Java. Scholars have theorized that this revivalist zeal in Java was the result of the emerging Malacca Sultanate, through which Islam had been making gains in Java, and Indonesia in general.
Mpu Tantular was a famous Javanese poet of Javanese literature who lived in the 14th century, during the reign of king Hayam Wuruk. Tantular was a Buddhist, and was respectful to other religions. This can be seen in two items of kakawin or poetry, the Kakawin Arjunawijaya and Kakawin Sutasoma. One of the verses from the Kakawin Sutasoma was later taken as the motto or motto of the Republic of Indonesia: "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" or different but one.
According to the Kakawin Nagarakretagama canto XIII and XIV, the following areas are recognized as conquered or subordinate to Majapahit. The conquered states in Java were not mentioned because they were still considered part of the royal "mandala".