Jiri Jakl | Universität Heidelberg (original) (raw)

Papers by Jiri Jakl

AbstrAct Two Old Javanese terms, gaṇḍi and tulup, are discussed in detail. While the term tulup a... more AbstrAct Two Old Javanese terms, gaṇḍi and tulup, are discussed in detail. While the term tulup appears to be unproblematic, gaṇḍi has previously been identified with a score of weapons, including bow, club, war hammer, and sling. I argue that the original meaning of this enigmatic term is " projectile, pellet " , while its second, derived meaning refers in most cases to " sling " , and, occasionally, to " blowgun ". Both weapons are represented in the Old Javanese textual record as the weapons associated with predatory warfare, and with the forces of adharma. I have tentatively suggested that this configuration reflects the pre-modern reality of slingers and the men equipped with blowguns perceived as essentially foreign, non-Javanese elements, and hence possibly identified by pre-modern audiences with mercenaries sourced from Sumatra or other parts of Indonesia where the sling and blowgun were regularly used in warfare.

This article discusses the food symbolism in martial scenes of kakavin, narrative poems composed ... more This article discusses the food symbolism in martial scenes of kakavin, narrative poems composed in Old Javanese between the ninth and fifteenth centuries ce. Starting from the hypothesis that Javanese conceived of a battle and a preparation of food with a common set of ideas and concepts, a striking food metaphor, found in the Bhā ratayuddha, has been analyzed. The slaying of Karn . a, an epic hero who sided with the Pān . d . avas, is likened to the process of steaming rice. Karn . a's body is compared to a dish of half-cooked rice stirred before it is put into the bamboo steamer to be finished over the boiling water. I have argued that Jiří Jákl this literary vignette represents the earliest Javanese detailed description of the method of cooking rice by steaming, the method now common in Java and Bali. In the second part of this article I have analyzed three "literary breakfasts," using the rich evidence of the Kakavin Rā mā yan . a and the Bhomā ntaka. I have demonstrated that in pre-Islamic period the Javanese already had a well-developed concept of breakfast, the first meal of the day. In the third part of the article I have argued that the famous "feasting passage" in Bhomā ntaka, 81.34-49, which describes a meal organized for warriors on the night before their march to battle and which represents an immensely rich account of dishes prepared from hearts, lungs, intestines and marrow, is best understood as a participatory animal sacrifice. The Bhomā ntaka thus supports a view that the consumption of meat in the martial context had a ritual character in pre-Islamic Java.

SUMMARY: Literary representations of the coconut palm in Old Javanese court poetry are analyzed. ... more SUMMARY: Literary representations of the coconut palm in Old Javanese court poetry are analyzed. First, pronounced erotic symbolism of nuts, pervasive in poems, is discussed. In what is clearly a literary cliche, nuts, especially a variety called in the texts " dwarf/ivory nuts " are likened to a woman's breasts. Second, the coconut palm is represented as a plant element typical of the seashore environment, its natural habitat, as well as of remote, often small, villages in the Javanese interior. It is argued that this image reflects the fact that the coconut palm, propagated sexually, cannot travel inland without the human agency, and that harvesting of the coconut palms may have been an important, if not dominant, element of remote inland settlements that relied on the palm economy rather than on rice cultivation. It gives us an interesting glimpse into in " imagined " ancient Java, where palm economy may have represented a backbone of local economy. Third, this dignified status of the coconut palm, all but forgotten now, is further emphasized in a couple of literary images where the palm is represented as one of the divine, " celestial " trees, growing in heavenly gardens.

SUMMARY: Rich and complex literary representations of the sugar palm in Old Java-nese literature ... more SUMMARY: Rich and complex literary representations of the sugar palm in Old Java-nese literature are analyzed. The sugar palm has traditionally been exploited for its sap, leaves, and fire-resistant fibre. Richness of its literary symbolism clearly surpasses that of other palm species found in Java, such as the coconut and the betel palm. First, a proverbial symbiosis of the sugar palm and a variety of a toxic liana are analyzed and explained. Second, it is argued that the sugar palm was perceived in ancient Java as the abode of celestial nymphs, and has been endowed with strong erotic connotations. Third, complex and often problematic relationship between the sugar palm/celestial nymphs and ascetics/ hermits is explored. It is argued that a combination of biological and cultural inhibitions resulted in the fact that the sugar palm in Old Javanese literature is never represented as growing at the precincts of hermitages and other religious establishments. Next, the role of the symbolism of the sugar palm in the pre-modern concept of bravery is explored. Finally , the conceptual interplay between palm syrup/palm sugar/bee honey in Old Javanese is briefly discussed.

The contribution analyses the literary motif of acquiring trophy heads in the context of warfare ... more The contribution analyses the literary motif of acquiring trophy heads in the context of warfare practices depicted in kakavin, court poems composed in a literary register of Old Javanese. In the first part, two terms of unclear meaning, cәnәl and varagan, are discussed in detail. It is argued that Old Javanese cәnәl denotes 'trophy head', a severed head rendered as a token of martial prowess. Evidence of the Navanatya, an Old Javanese account of court etiquette composed in the 14th century, is used to support my claim that fictive kakavin do reflect the practice of head-taking as part of Javanese pre-Islamic warfare culture. It is demonstrated that the status of head-taking in kakavin is ambiguous. Though typically ascribed to the characters of adharma, the king, a protector of dharma, is represented in a couple of texts as a receiver of trophy heads. In the second and third parts of this article the category of combatants called varagan, associated in Old Javanese texts with predatory warfare and with adharma, is analysed. Fighting as individuals in a loosely dispersed swarm, the main objective of the strategy of varaganẇ as to harass enemy settlements, take captives, and spread terror. It is argued that the category of varagaṅrepresented young men who had to prove themselves in battle and whose major objective was to display martial prowess in front of other warriors in one-toone skirmishing.

The Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Working Paper Series has been established to provide an avenue for s... more The Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Working Paper Series has been established to provide an avenue for swift publication and wide dissemination of research conducted or presented within the Centre, and of studies engaging fields of enquiry of relevance to the Centre.

e whale in the Old Javanese kakawin literature: timiṅgila, 'elephant sh' and lĕmbwara revisited1 ... more e whale in the Old Javanese kakawin literature: timiṅgila, 'elephant sh' and lĕmbwara revisited1 J J , University of Queensland SUMMARY: Five words, presumably designating the whale in the Old Javanese kakawin poetry, are analysed. It is argued that Sanskrit loanwords timi and timiṅgila designate in the Old Javanese the whale monster inhabiting the depths of the ocean, rather than any biological species of cetacean. As for the gajamīna and its Old Javanese calque iwak liman, it is suggested that both terms may have indeed designated 'whale' or other large cetacean in pre-Islamic Java. However, both words were commonly used for the mythological sea monster identi ed with the forces of adharma, Finally, the Old Javanese word lĕmbwara, lost in standard Modern Javanese, demonstrably designates the whale as a biological species rather than imaginary whale monster as is the case of other words.

e paper discusses insect imagery pertaining to two kinds of ants, the laru-laru and the kararangg... more e paper discusses insect imagery pertaining to two kinds of ants, the laru-laru and the kararangga, in the Old Javanese kakawin court poetry. Laru-laru denotes a winged form of male ants, airborne for a short mating period when males aggregate in huge, cloudlike swarms. Kararangga designates several species of red tree ants. A common literary image of swarming ants, ying headlong into the ames of re or lamp, is attested in several kakawin, while the image of ghting kararangga red tree ants seems to be exclusive to one passage of the anonymous, possibly 13 century, Bhomāntaka. Swarming laru-laru ants, dying in the ames of re, reminded poets of desperate amok attacks, a strategy regularly ascribed to diverse forms of demonic rākṣasas and warriors ghting for them. Both images are found predominantly in the war passages, and I argue that Javanese and Balinese poets used this ant imagery in an allegorical way in order to ridicule political enemies of their patrons. Unpublished sources: Abhimanyuwiwāha, CB 40 [transliterated by Soegiarto in BCB 26] Hariśraya B, LOr 4234 [transliterated by Soegiarto in BCB prtf 23] Kālayawanantaka, LOr 5104 [transliterated by Soegiarto in BCB prtf 23]