In front of Rahwana, Sumantri felt that returning to Jatisrana was so beautiful. He became undeterred by death, because for him death and life were no longer apart
By
Sindhunata
·5 minutes read
Following Darmawati's death, when he bade farewell as he was about to go to the battlefield, he had said, "I will return to Jatisrana." At the time he didn't really understand what he was saying, despite an urge to say it. With the demon of death standing before him, he really understood now what "I will return to Jatisrana" meant.
It turned out that with those words he was actually invited to experience his rebirth that would usher him to pick up his death. So, he felt self-justified that, on the battlefield where death awaited, he forced himself to wear the clothes he had worn when he lived in Jatisrana.
In front of Rahwana, he felt that returning to Jatisrana was so beautiful. He became undeterred by death, because for him death and life were no longer apart. Death was not necessarily an end. If death was just an annihilation, he wondered what was the meaning of the services and lives of his younger brother Sukrosono and Darmawati, who had loved him so much they were willing to sacrifice their lives? He became convinced that life and death were in cycle. Death was not the end of life. And he imagined death, should he die, bringing back to Jatisrana, where he would be reborn to experience life with a wholly new beginning. As in Jatisrana he was born to eventually die, who knew if death on the battlefield, if it had to happen, would give him a rebirth in an unknown place.
Again he imagined that unknown place being Jatisrana. Jatisrana was beguiling, there Sukrosono and Darmawati were waiting for him. There he would meet both of them, ever inseparable. Those imaginations and feelings seemed vividly to be real with him facing the demon of death in front of him. And this all gave him a sense of peace and ease as the demon of death was growling before him.
"Sumantri, love your life. Off you are now, or you die by my hands," growled Rahwana who had been beginning to lose forbearance.
"Rahwana, why [do you think] I can't say it is you who will die by my hands," reproached Sumantri boldly.
"You bastard, Sumantri. You stubbornly are not aware of being reprieved. Perish you do in my hands today," Rahwana roared in fury.
"Rahwana, death makes you and me the same. What's the difference between you and me, if now or later you and I will surely die too. Why should I be scared of you?” Sumantri threw down the gauntlet.
CAHYO HERYUNANTO
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“Little demon, why should I waste time dealing with you? You don't deserve to be my opponent at all. Not you, but your king, Arjunasasrabahu, is the one who deserves to fight me. Don't give away your life for nothing. Get out of me right now, before I trample you to death," growled Rahwana threateningly.
“Rahwana, this battlefield has taken us all to the same destiny. I can kill you too," said Sumantri, not showing even the slightest fear.
"Sumantri, I am the death you are destined to," yelled Rahwana, his thundering voice sending the trees wobbling. The giant king felt his restraint was so unbearable he ambushed Sumantri. Sumantri swiftly dodged, leaving Rahwana gasping down. Rahwana got up and launched another attack on Sumantri. He thought Sumantri's hands were weak. But when the hands held his attack, he felt them unbelievably steely. With composure, Sumantri repulsed Rahwana's punch and pushed the giant king to the ground. The soldiers of Maespati cheered with joy in glorification of Sumantri, the senapati of Maespati. On the other side, the Alengka troops, the giants, were astonished how their king could fall down in the hands of his opponent, a seemingly weak human creature. Urged by admiration and astonishment, the soldiers both from Maespati and from Alengka halted their fights. For them, Sumantri and Rahwana's duel appeared to be more interesting to watch.
Staggering to his feet, Rahwana was embarrassed to see the opposing army cheering against him. He felt humiliated in front of the giant army, who were perplexed he could be brought down by his weak opponent. Rahwana himself could not believe he was in desperation end against Sumantri, who he had thought would have gone with a single stomp. He wondered where his opponent had gained the power from?
Rahwana simply did not realize he was the death that encouraged Sumantri to fight with such an unwavering determination that no longer distinguished between life and death. That resolute determination became the supernatural shield of Sumantri's self-defense that made him unafraid of death. Neither would he let the death glide over to pick him up. With his approach on death, Sumantri had gained extraordinary power, which could defeat anything. If he was not afraid of death, what else could he have been deterred from? He could dispel all the weapons and powers of Rahwana. When Rahwana attacked him with the mace, he held him back with his sword. Clashing with Sumantri's sword, the giant mace shattered into pieces.
Rahwana then hurled Sumantri with his spears. Sumantri’s gandewa [arrows] repulsed and turned the spears back on Rahwana devastatingly.
The giant king cracked his mouth open widely, and blazing daggers shot out into the sky. The daggers rocketed high, making the sky jagged with flurry of daggers. Before the blazing daggers reached him, Sumantri pulled out his Nagapawaka weapon.
In an instant, the sky was adorned with dragons. Weaving through the air, the dragons swallowed the daggers like doves. Sumantri’s weapon was as powerful against death as his submission to it that no longer was he perturbed whether he would live on or die.
