W. van der Molen Rama and Sita in Wonoboyo

In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 159 (2003), no: 2/3, Leiden, 389-403

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The Wonoboyo bowl

One of the most spectacular finds in Indonesian archaeology during the twentieth century is the Wonoboyo treasure.1 This find came to light in 1990 in the Central Javanese village of Wonoboyo, near Prambanan. It consisted of a huge amount of jewellery and precious utensils made of gold, silver, and ceramic. Palaeographic data on some of the objects point towards the early tenth century as the time of their manufacture (Martowikrido 1994, n.d.). The Wonoboyo treasure was brought to the attention of the wider public as part of international exhibitions in Germany, Japan, and several other countries, in addition to permanent exhibitions in Indonesia itself (Martowikrido and Sutrisno 1992; Eggebrecht and Eggebrecht 1995; Treasures 1997). One of the Wonoboyo objects is a golden bowl on which a story is depict- ed. There can be no doubt about the identity of the story. The scenes of a man hunting a deer and of a woman being kidnapped point in but one direction, the story of Rama and Sita. Although the identity of the story is beyond doubt, opinions vary as to the content of some of the scenes. Presently, there are two divergent views, one held by archaeologist Wahyono Martowikrido and the other by art historian Cecelia Levin (Martowikrido 1995; Levin 1999). I would like to contribute to this debate by drawing into the discussion the narrative of the Old Javanese Ramayanakakawin. In my opinion, the kakawin supports neither of the two views, while it does contain material for an alternative interpretation. For all that, I am not arguing that the kakawin is the source of the illustrations on the bowl, or that the interpretation of the illustrations depends on textual

1 R.E. Jordaan, M.J. Klokke, K.J.J. Korevaart and P.J. Worsley took the trouble of going through earlier versions of this article. I would like to thank them for their comments.

WILLEM VAN DER MOLEN is lecturer in Javanese and Old Javanese at the University of Leiden, where he also obtained his D.Phil, degree. He has published together with Kartika Setyawati and I. Kuntara Wiryamartana, Katalog naskah Merapi-Merbabu Perpustakaan Nasional Indonesia, Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma/ Leiden: Opleiding Talen en Culturen van Zuidoost-Azie en Oceanie, Universiteit Leiden, 2002. Dr Van der Molen may be reached at TCZOAO, PO Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. .

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evidence; visual and textual renderings should be seen as creative versions in their own right. Besides, interpretation always involves more than one possibility. It is in this respect that a comparison with the Old Javanese poem suggests choices which otherwise might go unnoticed. The two text editions of the Old Javanese Ramayana available for com- parative purposes are Kern (1900) and Santoso (1980). The latter is supple- mented by an English translation, but this seeming advantage is deceptive, as the translation, helpful though it is as a means of quick reference, is often at variance with the source text. Moreover, Kern's edition offers a more reliable text from a philological point of view. In this article, therefore, I use Kern's edition. The English translations of the Old Javanese text are my own. My discussion is accompanied by drawings made at my request by Hans Borkent. For a full photographic rendering I refer to the catalogue of the exhi- bition held in Japan.2 A complete set of excellent photos can also be found in the catalogue of the exhibition held in Paris and reproduced in the Brisbane and Sydney catalogue (Bianchini n.d.; Indonesian gold 1999). The other cata- logues show only selected pictures. The Japanese catalogue is my sole source for the content of the scenes; regrettably, during my last visit to the Museum Nasional in Jakarta, I did not have the opportunity to examine the original as it was not on exhibit.

Archaeology and art history

The scenes depicted on the body of the bowl are grouped into four seg- ments or panels, each containing two scenes. Martowikrido's interpretation of the eight scenes can be summarized as follows (see the illustrations in the Appendix): 1.1 Rama makes an obeisance to his father (probably while taking leave before going into exile). 1.2 A deer draws the attention of Sita, who is in the company of Rama and Laksmana. 2.1 Rama hunts the deer. 2.2 The mortally wounded deer is transformed into the demon Marica. 3.1 Sita is seized by Rawana disguised as an ascetic. 3.2 Sita is abducted by Rawana, appearing as the ten-headed Dasamuka. The bird Jatayu is being threatened by Dasamuka's spear. 4.1 Trijata kneels before Rawana. She requests him not to force Sita but to

2 Treasures 1997:116-7. I am grateful to M.J. Klokke for drawing my attention to this cata- logue. It should be noticed that the photos of the catalogue are in reversed order. The captions to the photos are in complete disarray.

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let her try to win Sita over with patience. . 4.2 Sita lies on a bench being watched over by Trijata and another female servant (after Trijata has tried in vain to mollify Sita by singing an ode to the glory of Rawana). Martowikrido (1995: no. 47) points out that the scenes on the bowl should be read clockwise, in pradaksina direction. He does not explain why he thinks 1.1 should be considered the opening scene of the series. (The scenes form an uninterrupted series, without any indication of a beginning or end.) Three of the scenes are open to more than one interpretation, namely scenes 1.1, 4.1, and 4.2. These scenes have no helpful clues such as the presence of a deer in scene 1.2 and a multiheaded Rawana in scene 3.2. Martowikrido fails to mention that there may be a problem of identification here. In spite of his firm, description, we see on the bowl itself no more than the following: • 1.1 Two male figures, bare to the waist, their hair in a knot hanging down on the neck. The figure at left is seated on a bench with his legs crossed in front of him while holding the slip of his sash in his hand; he is look- ing straight in front of him. The figure at right is sitting cross-legged on a mat on the ground, making a gesture of obeisance {sembah). . 4.1 Two figures, one male and one female. The male figure is sitting on a bench, his left foot on the ground, the lower part of his right leg folded under his left thigh. His right arm is stretched out towards the female figure, his hand touching or grasping1 her left hand. His left arm rests on the bench. The upper part of his body is bare. His hair is done up in a knot hanging down on his neck...... The female figure is sitting in front of the male figure, with her legs tucked to her right side. Her eyes are cast down. Her arms are bent and raised, her hands are open,with the palms turned upwards. The upper part of her body is bare. Her hair is done up in a knot hanging down on her neck. 4.2 Three female figures, with the upper part of their bodies bare. One of them is lyingon a bench. Her right arm supports her head; her left arm is stretched out alongside her body. She is lying with her back turned towards the other two figures. Her hair is loosely tied up in a knot rest- ing on her left shoulder. . . The other two figures'are depicted sitting or standing behind the bench. Only the upper part of their bodies is visible. The left one looks to the right one, her right arm bent and raised, with her hand open; her left arm is hanging down. The right one looks at the' female on the bench, her arms crossed in front of her. Bothhave their hair wound up in a large knot hanging down on their necks.

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Levin's analysis is different from Martowikrido's in a number of respects. First, her identification of the figures and what is going on in the three scenes in question is different. Second, she looks for a common theme underlying all eight scenes, a theme that would explain why the choice fell on precisely these scenes to decorate the bowl. Third, she attempts to match up the results of her analysis with the Old Javanese kakawin. Levin (1999:39, 42-3) identifies the figures and actions of scenes 1.1, 4.1, and 4.2 as follows: 1.1 Laksmana makes an obeisance to Rama. 4.1 Rawana tries to win Sita over. 4.2 Two women watch over the lamenting Sita. The identification of scene 4.1 is supported by the Old Javanese text, Levin argues: Trijata pleading before Rawana on behalf of Sita is not found in the text, but Rawana trying to win Sita over is. Another point in favour of the view that we are dealing with Rawana and Sita in this scene, and not with Rawana and Trijata, is that the man seems to be seizing the woman by her wrist, while the woman is holding her hands up under her bowed head, as if she is asking for a favour or catching her tears (Levin 1999:42-3). Levin's interpretation of scene 1.1 is less plausible: she admits that there is no mention in the text of Laksmana making an obeisance to Rama. However, a strong argument for interpreting the scene in this way is that all the scenes seem to share one common theme: that of loyalty. This hypothesis, Levin continues, would explain why Laksmana had to be depicted in this way even though the scene does not actually occur in the Old Javanese Ramayana: he represents one particular type of loyalty, along with five other types distin- guished by Levin. Each type is illustrated by one scene, as follows: 1.1 Laksmana is the prototype of the loyal brother who follows and assists his older brother Rama everywhere in all circumstances. 2.1 Rama's hunting of the deer reflects the loyalty of a husband to his wife, dedicated to the fulfilment of her wishes. 2.2 Even Marica, the demon who changed into a deer in order to lure Rama away from Sita and now reappears in his death agony, represents a particular category of loyalty, in this case the loyalty of a servant to his master, Rawana, for whom he is ready to sacrifice his life. 3.2 Jatayu is the loyal friend who tries to thwart the kidnapping. 4.1 The unshakable loyalty of a wife to her husband (Sita's appeal to Rawana) is illustrated here as well as in the next scene. 4.2 The loyalty of a wife to her husband is again illustrated here, in Sita's lamentation. Levin (1999:43) adds that the alternative interpretation of scene 4.1 (not Sita but Trijata in the presence of Rawana; see Martowikrido) would also fit in with the general theme of loyalty: Trijata, appointed by Rawana to pester Sita,

Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:07:38PM via free access Rama and Sita in Wonoboyo 393 appears instead to protect her 'older sister', yet without betraying Rawana, a conflicting loyalty which eventually lands her in a difficult position. Referring once more to the Old Javanese Ramayana, Levin points out that the topics of Laksmana as Rama's loyal follower, the deer hunt, and Sita's abduction are described in sarga 5 and 6, while Sita's confrontation with Rawana and her lamentation are found in sarga 8 (Levin 1999:39; sarga are the units into which the Old Javanese Ramayana is divided). The comparison with the Old Javanese text leads Levin to two important observations, one of which was already mentioned: a scene in which Laksmana makes an obei- sance to Rama does not occur in sarga 5. The second is the big time gap in the reliefs: from sarga 6 to sarga 8 is indeed quite a leap (Levin 1999:42).

The Old Javanese text

One of the problems in interpreting the scenes on the bowl is that the figures therein are open to more than one identification. For example, the figure in scene 1.1, to whom an obeisance is being made, is Dasarata according to Martowikrido, but Rama according to Levin. In the same scene, the figure who is making the gesture of obeisance is identified by Martowikrido as Rama, but as Laksmana by Levin. Sita in scene 4.1 is interchangeable with Trijata. The only information to be had about the figures is their sex: whether they are male or female can be seen quite clearly from their physical appear- ance. But exactly whom they represent has to be inferred from the context. The context is therefore of crucial importance. The first question I. want to raise is the identity of the woman who is depicted in scene 4.1, supposedly Trijata (Martowikrido) or Sita (Levin). In my opinion, neither of the two hypotheses finds support in the kakawin. I agree with Levin (and not Martowikrido) that Trijata as a mediator between Rawana and Sita, proposing patience rather than the use of force as a means to win Sita over, is not found in the Old Javanese Ramayana (Levin 1999:43). One might even say that such a role is highly unlikely. Trijata is one of the three hundred demonesses ordered by Rawana to guard Sita and to pester her, after his own efforts to win her over have failed, (sarga 8). However, Trijata, instead of pestering Sita, is impressed by her high morals and feels pity for her, and thus takes her side against Rawana. She becomes Sita's confidante and chases the other demonesses away (sarga 8.140-142). Nor is Trijata's torn loyalty, brought forward by Levin as an alternative possibility in support of Martowikrido (see the end of the previous sec- tion), found in the text. Trijata does act as a mediator - not between Sita and. Rawana, but rather between Sita and her liberators. On two occasions Rawana deceives Sita as to the fate of her husband, making her believe that

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Rama has died. In both instances Sita wishes to follow Rama in death, and she asks Trijata to prepare the funeral pyre. But both times Trijata first checks whether the rumour of Rama's death is correct: she travels to the enemy's camp and finds out the truth, with the happy outcome that Sita does not climb onto the funeral pyre (sarga 17.61, 62, 76; sarga 21.5). Levin's own solution, that the woman represents Sita, also seems unten- able from the perspective of the text: Sita would never kneel before Rawana. It is in fact the opposite: Rawana kneels before Sita, who continues to display her great contempt for him. Sarga 6.30: She pointed at him with the finger of her left hand; he did not get the answer that would please him. He addresses her with sweet words, promises, threats, all to no avail. Sita does not deign to answer. She turns her back on him and lets him talk. And when she finally answers, it is to tell Rawana what she thinks of him (sarga 8.128): Bastard! Shame on you Dasanana, debased Rawana, stupid treacherous fool, mean imp! If you match Rama, why did you abduct me while he was not there?

She goes on in this tone for another seven stanzas. There is no room in this text for a humbly kneeling Sita imploring her captor to let her go. It seems equally implausible that the male figure in scene 4.1 could be Rawana. Rawana is known for having ten heads and so is also called Dasamuka ('with the ten heads') and Dasanana ('with the ten faces'). One exception is the moment he wants to kidnap Sita. To be able to do so he has to try to come as near as possible to her without arousing suspicion or fear. Being a demon, he is able to change form, and that is what he does, by adopting the guise of a respectable ascetic mumbling pious prayers. Once he has seized her, he reverts to his normal form. Therefore, Sita calls him Dasanana when addressing him during captivity (sarga 8.128). The scenes on the bowl, parallel to the Old Javanese text, show how Rawana as an ascetic seizes Sita (scene 3.1) and takes on his ten-headed form- again when he flies away with her (scene 3.2). The male figure of 4.1 has one head and therefore cannot be Rawana. Is there an alternative identity for the figures portrayed in scene 4.1, if they do not represent Rawana and Sita, or Rawana and Trijata? I think there is. A closer inspection of the details of the scene yields the following. The man is holding his right arm stretched out towards the woman as if he is about to touch her (he does not, however, seize her wrist, as Levin suggests). The woman is not making a gesture of obeisance; rather, she has her hands raised, holding them as if expecting to receive something (as Levin says). The scene makes me think of the stanzas in sarga 6 of the kakazoin where

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Rama cures the sawara (barbarian) woman. This lady is a hermit discovered by Rama and Laksmana after the kidnapping, when they are looking for Sita. She is doing penance in the forest for a former mistake: she once ate the meat of a wild boar which in reality was1 Wisnu. As a consequence she has turned black. Now her hope is that Rama will release her. How this is done, she explains in the first line of sarga 6.110: Have mercy, Rama. Wipe my face. Rama acts as requested, with the result that the woman recovers from her affliction. What makes the woman think Rama can cure her? The answer is not dif- ficult to find. If Wisnu struck the woman with his curse because she affronted him, he can also undo the curse. According to the Ramayana Rama is iden- tical with Wisnu because he is Wisnu's incarnation on earth. See sarga 1.2 where Dasarata, Rama's father, is called the father of Wisnu: He was Triwikrama's father, through him as a father God Wisnu became man for the well-being of the whole world; that was his aim, the reason why he became man. and sarga 24.200, where God Siwa tells Rama who he really is: You are Wisnu and your best-beloved Sita is Sri. (A separate problem is how the hermit knew Rama's real nature.) The lib- eration of the woman from her discoloured countenance could be seen as foreshadowing the liberation of the whole world from evil, personified by Rawana. Rama does not leave empty-handed: the woman predicts that he, with the king of the apes as his ally, will be reunited with his wife. Let us now turn to scene 4.2. The three women in this scene, one lying on a bench while the other two watch her from behind the bench, have been identified as the lamenting Sita and two women (Levin) or the lamenting Sita and two female servants, Trijata being one of them (Martowikrido). In the Old Javanese text we find this situation of Sita being watched by Rawana's subjects twice: shortly after her arrival in Lengka, described in sarga 6, and much later, when Hanuman spots her in Rawana's gardenias described in sarga 8. The second time we learn new details: Sita has become very thin ('her body was thin and her ribs were showing'; sarga 8.105), and has decided to lie on the ground, rejecting all the amenities offered by Rawana to make her life more comfortable. Furthermore, in sarga 6 Rawana orders his subjects to keep an eye on Sita (rumaksa-raksa 'to guard', in the sense of 'to protect', 'to take care of; Zoetmulder 1982:1492), whereas in sarga 8 the atmosphere has turned grim: three hundred demonesses are ordered to

Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:07:38PM via free access 396 Willem van der Molen pester Sita, until Trijata puts an end to it and sends everybody away, staying behind alone with her (sarga 8.138-143). Looking at scene 4.2 on the bowl, it appears that Sita is not thin at all in comparison to previous scenes, that she is lying on a bench, not on the ground, and that she is being watched over by two women, not pestered by many nor accompanied by only one. My conclu- sion is that this scene must represent the situation in sarga 6, not that in sarga 8. As a consequence scene 4.2 cannot be labelled Sita's lamentation because this only takes place in sarga 8. This conclusion is reinforced by what is going on between the three women. Sita has turned her back on the other two women, as if she does not want to have anything to do with them. The gestures of the two other women and the way one is looking at the other, who in turn is looking at Sita, seem to suggest that they are engaged in conversation. This would imply that Sita is silent, and not uttering a lamentation. At this point I must make a linguistic digression on sarga 6. The situation we are discussing is described in stanza 31. The particular line portrayed in scene 4.2 reads as follows (sarga 6.31d): while he ordered his subjects to keep an eye on Janaki. ('He' refers to Rawana.) The Old Javanese word used to denote 'subjects' is bala. According to Zoetmulder bala means 'strength' or 'power', and 'troops', 'army', 'soldiers of lesser rank' (Zoetmulder 1982:194). Now it is very clear that scene 4.2 is not filled with soldiers but with two unarmed women. On the face of it this would seem to contradict my solution. There is no reason to assume that the Old Javanese text is out of order: there are no variant manuscript readings for this line, and metrically bala is the right word. The only solution I can think of is that Zoetmulder's gloss of bala is too narrow. In order to clarify this point I have checked the entire Ramayana for the use of bala. It is found 142 times in the text, and although in the great majority of cases it must be translated as 'army' or 'soldiers', there are a few instances where it could also mean 'subjects' or 'followers', or where these are indeed the only acceptable translations. I found two places where 'subjects' or 'followers' seems to be the only correct translation. The first example is in sarga 2. When the newly wed Rama and Sita are on their way home, in the company of Rama's father and others, they meet one Parasurama, who threatens them but is successfully chased away. Everybody feels relieved. The text says (sarga 2.77):

The bala shouted, they all made a big noise.

In order to understand who the bala were, we have to know what people were with Rama at the time; Laksmana accompanied Rama when he went

Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:07:38PM via free access Rama and Sita in Wonoboyo 397 to Mitila to compete for Sita (sarga 2.53). Then Rama's father Dasarata was invited by Sita's father to attend the wedding ceremony; he was accompa- nied by high officials and officers {sarga 2.67). When they returned to Ayodya, Sita took her servants with her (sarga 2.66). As this company cannot be con- sidered an army in any meaningful way, my conclusion is that bala should be translated here as 'followers' or 'attendants' (or some similar term referring to the lower-ranking members of the company, comparable to the idea of lesser rank inherent in the meaning of 'army'). The second example is from sarga 3. Dasarata has told Rama that he will not be the future king of Ayodya and must leave the kingdom. The people feel outraged and might have revolted if they had not been calmed down by Rama. It is no wonder then that many choose to follow him when he leaves, escorted by the prime minister, Sumantri. When after a day's march every- body is tired and asleep, Rama seizes the opportunity to slip away. Sarga 3.15 describes the situation during the night:

He watched over all his bala who were in deep sleep. ('He' is Rama.) The crowd is referred to in various ways: as 'the people' (wwang kabeh; stanza 9), 'all those who (wanted him to be king)' (sahana; stanza 14), and finally in the line quoted above as bala. Assuming that in all cases it is the same crowd which is being referred to and not one that all of a sudden has changed into an army, the word bala can only be understood here as 'company' or 'following'. Based on these two cases I conclude that 'subjects' in sarga 6.31 is the correct translation of bala. Kern (1922:123), in his Dutch translation of the text, takes the same view: he renders the bala of this line as 'subjects' ('onderhorigen'). If my conclusion is correct that in scene 4.2 we are dealing with two fol- lowers of Rawana ordered to keep an eye on Sita, this would imply that Trijata, after having been eliminated as a possible candidate in scene 4.1, now definitively disappears from sight, and with her one of Levin's problems, the strange leap from sarga 6 to sarga 8. Unfortunately my solution for scene 4.2 also creates a problem: in the Old Javanese text Sita's lament occurs before Rama's meeting with the sawara woman, not after it, as the bowl has it. I do not have an explanation for this discrepancy between text and bowl. The last scene to be discussed is scene 1.1. The passage in the Old Javanese text that comes closest is found in sarga 2.9, although the farewell itself is not mentioned. Seen from the point of view of the Old Javanese text, Martowikrido's interpretation of this scene as Rama's farewell has the dis- advantage that it does not immediately precede the other scenes depicted on the bowl. All the other scenes take place during Rama's exile. By then it is a long time since he left the court, and new complications have arisen. To

Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:07:38PM via free access 398 Willem van der Molen begin with, Rama's younger brother, Barata, travelled after him to the forest and urged him to return to become king; Rama turned down the request and instructed his brother on the requirements for a good king, then sent him back to town. Next comes the episode of Surpanaka, the demoness who tried to seduce Laksmana; Laksmana did not allow himself to be deceived by Surpanaka's beautiful appearance but brought her real nature to light with a careful blow of his sword; the army of demons she called to the rescue was destroyed. Only then follows Sita's kidnapping. Rama's parting with his father can hardly count as an introduction to this episode. Another argu- ment against Martowikrido's interpretation is that it makes the subject mat- ter of scene 1.1 stand apart from the rest: seven scenes are connected with the kidnapping of Sita, one scene has nothing to do with it. If the tenability of Martowikrido's interpretation of scene 1.1 is doubtful in the light of these considerations, Levin's alternative interpretation that Laksmana is respectfully expressing his loyalty seems equally improbable. True, Laksmana's loyalty is an important theme in the Ramayana. It is men- tioned repeatedly, right from the beginning. In sarga 1 Laksmana is extolled because of his loyalty. He is called an example for people in the service of others (stanzas 59 and 60): The excellent Laksmana shared happiness and sorrow with Rama. His thoughts were always close to Rama, so he went to the hermitage with him. He set an example for those people whose business it is to serve. He obeyed all Rama's orders, never did he stay behind, going wherever Rama went.

Levin observes that an obeisance as an expression of loyalty is lacking in sarga 5. But then, no one would expect it. Laksmana's loyalty is evident from his presence, nothing needs to.be made clear here anymore. An obeisance by Laksmana to express his loyalty at this point in the story would be strange. There are two occasions during the stay in the forest on which Laksmana's loyalty and his making an obeisance are mentioned. The first occasion is when Laksmana, forced by Sita, goes after Rama and informs him what went on between him and Sita during Rama's absence (sarga 6.34-35): While Rama reflected, his thoughts in disarray [about some bad omens he saw], his younger brother came in a terrible state. He became more distressed when he saw Laksmana's dismay. 'No doubt Sita is dead/ he thought despondently. So he asked. His brother answered quickly, honestly informing his older brother of his loyalty and devotion to him. Rama became disheartened just hearing the news. His heart was shattered, he thought the world was desolate.

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The word 'loyalty' in the second line of the second stanza supposedly refers to Sita's insinuations when Laksmana at first refused to go after Rama. No mention is made of an obeisance here. •. . The second occasion is when Laksmana holds back Rama from destroying the whole world after he has worked himself into a fit of rage.about Sita's disappearance (sarga 6.60): . . Thus spoke Ragawa roaring like a lion. He put an arrow on his bow, annoyed and angry with everybody. Laksmana wept, overcome with sadness; out of compassion he made an obeisance to prevent the world from dying though it had not sinned.

Here the word 'obeisance' is mentioned (see the third line), but in a com: pletely different context from Laksmana's loyalty towards Rama. If scene 1.1 does not depict Rama's parting with his father, nor Laksmana's expression of loyalty to Rama, then what else could it be? I propose the fol- lowing solution: scene 1.1 is not the first scene of the series, but the last. In other words, the series starts with scene 1.2 (the couple still together) and ends after Rama and Sita have become separated, showing Sita in 4.2 and Rama with Laksmana sitting in front of him in 1.1. One argument in favour of this interpretation is that sarga 6 of the Old Javanese text ends with exactly the same scene, Rama grieving in the com- pany of Laksmana, described in sarga 6.116-129, after which the story moves on to the king of the monkeys and a new episode starts. Another argument is that Rama in 1.2 and following scenes looks to the left, but not in 1.1: there, he looks to the right. This too seems to suggest that scene 1.1 is the concluding scene of the series. Additionally, note that, in this way, the scenes on the bowl constitute one complete episode of the Old Javanese text: 'Sita's abduction', as told in sarga 6. Still, my interpretation is not without difficulties.. The figure sitting on the mat, Laksmana, is making an obeisance which has no parallel in the corresponding text of sarga 6.116-129.- One might also ask whether scene 1.1 really reflects Rama's lamentation; in fact, it seems closer to the passage discussed above in which Laksmana makes an obeisance'when he tries to hold back Rama from destroying the whole world. But that seems even less plausible, because it would go against the order of the events as related in the text (Rama's anger precedes the meeting with the sawara woman), while on the other hand Rama's posture in scene 1.1 expresses sadness, not anger.3 I have to admit, as in the case of the order of scenes 4.1. and 4.2, thatthere is

3 '[W]ahrend seine Hande vor dem Kdrper auf beiden Seiten die Scharpe halten. Diese Geste ahnelt einer Bewegung javanischer Tanzer der Gegeriwart, mit der das Gefilhl der Trauer zum Ausdruck gebracht wird.' (Martowikrido 1995: no. 47.)

Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:07:38PM via free access 400 Willem van der Molen a problem here for which I have found no solution. Obviously, my interpretation of scenes 1.1 and 4.1 has consequences for the loyalty theme proposed by Levin. If loyalty can no longer be considered the common theme, is there an alternative, and if so, what? I think there is an alternative. The episode of the kidnapping in fact gives the essentials of the Ramayana in a nutshell, both as an entertaining story (about a princely couple, in exile yet very happy, their cruel separation a consequence of cun- ning and violence, and their future reuniting predicted by the sawara woman) and as a story about the salvation of the world, with evil seemingly gaining ground but with the expectation that good will prevail. Given the extraordi- nary length of the Ramayanakakawin, the golden bowl of Wonoboyo uses extreme economy in the lay-out of the story. In the limited space available to him, the goldsmith who created it could not have done better.

Concluding remarks

In the above I show that the reliefs on the Wonoboyo bowl may be better understood if we take into account the narrative of the Old Javanese kakawin. Inspired by the views of Wahyono Martowikrido and Cecilia Levin, I have searched the Old Javanese text for possible clues for scenes that until now have been interpreted with less certainty than one might wish. This attentive reading has led to a readjustment of Martowikrido's and Levin's views in three respects. First, it has been possible to attribute all the scenes on the bowl to one episode, the 'Abduction of Sita'. Second, the figures and narrative actions depicted in the problematic scenes can be identified with a reason- able degree of certainty thanks to the context afforded by the Old Javanese text. Third, the comprehensive nature of the episode of Sita's kidnapping, containing the essential elements of the text, offers a plausible reason why it was chosen to decorate the Wonoboyo bowl. Below I give an ordered list of the scenes in line with the interpretations proposed in this article: 1.2 Rama and Sita are sitting together, with Laksmana at their feet. Sita sees a deer. 2.1 Rama hunts the deer. 2.2 The mortally wounded deer changes back into Marica. 3.1 Rawana, in the guise of an ascetic, seizes Sita. 3.2 Rawana, now with many heads, flies away with Sita. He wards off Jatayu. 4.1 Rama cures the sawara woman. 4.2 Sita grieves, while lying on a bench. Two servants are guarding her. 1.1 Rama grieves in the company of Laksmana.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:07:38PM via free access Rama and Sita in Wonoboyo 401

REFERENCES

Bianchini, Marie-Claude (ed.) n.d. Les ors de Varchipel indonesien; Musee National des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet, 5 mai - 31 juillet 1995. Paris: Reunion des Musses Nationaux. Eggebrecht, Arne and Eva Eggebrecht (eds) 1995 Versunkene Konigreiche Indonesiens. Mainz: Von Zabern. Indonesian gold 1999 Indonesian gold; Treasures from the National Museum, Jakarta. Brisbane: Queensland Art Gallery. Kern, H. 1900 TJ 2 mi 2 mui rim iwn iten IUI IM n Ramayana; Oudjavaansch heldendicht. 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff. 1922 'Zang I-VI van het Oudjavaansche Ramayana in vertaling', in: H. Kern, Verspreide gesch.rifr.en 10, pp. 77-139. 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff. Levin, Cecelia 1999 'Classical Javanese gold reflects some new light on the Ramayana', in: Wilhelmina H. Kal (ed.), Precious metals in early South East Asia; Proceed- ings of the Second Seminar on Gold Studies, pp. 39-44. Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute. Martowikrido, Wahyono 1994 'The gold of Wonoboyo; Preliminary notes', in: Wilhelmina H. Kal (ed.), Old Javanese gold (4th-15th century); An archaeometrical approach, pp. 30-45. Amsterdam: KIT/Tropenmuseum. [Bulletin/Royal Tropical Institute 334.] 1995 'Ramayana-Schale', in: Arne Eggebrecht and Eva Eggebrecht (eds), Versunkene Konigreiche Indonesiens, no. 47. Mainz: Von Zabern. [Martowikrido, Wahyono and Sutrisno] 1992 Khasanah emas Museum Nasional; Gold treasure of the Museum Nasional. Jakarta: n.n. Santoso, Soewito [1980] Ramayana kakawin. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies/ New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture. Three vols. [Sata-Pitaka Series 251.] Treasures 1997 Treasures of ancient Indonesian kingdoms. N.p.: n.n. Zoetmulder, P.J. with the collaboration of S.O. Robson 1982 Old Javanese-English dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff. Two vols. [KITLV]

Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:07:38PM via free access The order of the illustrations follows that of the bowl/going from right to left.

Scene 1.1

Scene 2.2 Scene 2.1

Downloaded from Brill.com09/26/2021 07:07:38PM via free access Scene 3.2 Scene 3.1

Scene 4.2 Scene 4.1

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