Subhadrāwiwāha : an old Javanese kakawin
Abstract
The Subhadrawiwaha is a kakawin from the later period of Old
Javanese literature, which apart from one brief description (Zoetmulder
1974:383-385) has previously been ignored by Old Javanese scholars.
Although commonly relegated to the category of ' minor' kakawins, most
of which are of Balinese origin, the Subhadrawiwaha is still fairly
close in language and style to the kakawins of the classical period.
Certain changes are apparent which do separate the Subhadrawiwaha
from earlier works but these deviations from traditional Old Javanese
poetical technique are not so great that the Subhadrawaha can be
considered to be of Balinese origin with any degree of certainty.
The Subhadrawiwaha thus occupies a special, though ill-defined,
position in the scheme of Old Javanese literature. This thesis consists of two parts . The first part, the Introduction,
is devoted to a discussion of various as pects of the Subhadrawiha and
begins with a summary of the plot (1.1), and a brief discussion of the
possible themes and function of this text (1.2). In the following two
sections, the structural aspects of the Subhadrau,iwaha - the poetical
requirements of content and form (1.3) and the language of the text (1.4) - are considered. Section 1.5 deals with the dating and authorship of
the poem. The author dedicates his work to the descendant of sri Surawirya
but the identity of this patron has not yet been established. The
work probably dates from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century,
although an earlier time of composition is possible. The occurrence of
the word nirarthaka in the manggala suggests that this may have been the
author's name.
In Chapter 2, the relationship of the SubhadraJ.;Jiwaha to other Old
Javanese literary works is examined . The story of Arjuna's exile, first
recorded in the tenth century Old Javanese Adiparua proved to be very popular in the later period . A second version of the Subhadrawiwaha
has recently been discovered, and this story is also the subject of
two later kakawins., the Kalayawanantaka and KheoJ,r;l.aWa:uJanadahana.
Section 2.1 considers the treatment of the story in each of these
works as well as their relationship to the Old Javanese Adiparwa and
to each other. Section 2 .2 contains a detailed comparison of the two
versions of the Subhadrawiwaha. In terms of content, structure and
degree of verbal correspondence, the two versions are closely
interdependent ·It seems likely that the version edited here is the
later of the two. There are three marriages in the Subhadrawiwaha, and in Chapter
3,this text, and Old Javanese literature in general, are considered
in an attempt to determine how far the marriages described depict the
contemporary Javanese situation and the extent of Indian influence on
ancient Javanese marriage customs. Three aspects of marriage are
examined. Section 3 .1 deals with forms of marriage and the conclusion
is that although Indian influence on fo'rms of marriage was slight,
two forms of marriage - marriage by arrangement and marriage by
abduction - were practised in Java during the kakawin period. Section
3.2 demonstrates that in the choice of marriage partners, in direct
conflict with the teachings of the Indian dharmasastras, cousin
marriage was practised in Java . Section 3.3 draws together the
information in the kakawins concerning the celebration of marriage.
Parallels with present day marriage ceremonies indicate that the kakawins
do depict the contemporary wedding ceremonies of their authors. Part Two of the thesis begins with a brief description of the
manuscripts of the Subhadraiuiwaha and their interrelationship. This
is followed by the Text of the poem together with Variae Lectiones, an
English translation of the Text and Notes to the translation. Appendix I is a list of proper names occuring in the Text
and Appendix II contains a list of the metres used in the
Subhadrawiwaha .