It was dawn when Patih Suroto had almost arrived at the place where Prabu Arjunasasrabahu lived in recluse. The atmosphere was still quiet, even though the night had passed. The lurking sun oversaw a beautiful morning. The valley, where Dewi Citrawati and Maespati's princesses were, was peaceful. Prabu Arjunasasrabahu’s meditation brought in peace-radiating power from Batara Wishnu to shun the commotion and cruelty of war from the valley.
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The war had broken out around the valley, but the celestial power was a protective blanket that shielded the nature, keeping the valley free from the war atrocities. Not the slightest sense of the adversaries was felt and heard in the valley where Dewi Citrawati and the princesses of Maespati spent their happy days.
He did not look like a mighty giant who was lying in a cross position and holding the Ganges River from the lake.
Morning arrived. The valley looked gorgeous. Being there, Dewi Citrawati and the princesses were indeed kept apart from the ongoing war that had claimed so many lives. In the south, overlooking the ocean, Prabu Arjunasasrabahu was seen meditating in his deep sleep. He did not look like a mighty giant who was lying in a cross position and holding the Ganges River from the lake.
From a distance, he looked like a mountain carpeted with green slopes. The valley between his feet was cool and lush with diverse trees. Dew dropped on the pandanus and champaca flowers, which spread a fragrance around on the sunny morning. Ashoka flowers bloomed, side by side with katirah flowers. The birds chirped, making the morning even merrier.
In this valley, far away was all trouble. Everyone rejoiced, even the reeds never withered for the wind never blew a restless gust. Above the valley, the clouds held together like an unbreakable rope. Sorrow was gone, only joy reigned like an endless ocean.
Ever joyful, Maespati's princesses woke up to welcome the morning. While singing, they walked up a high cliff. They were all naked, with the valley being impregnatable to male eyes. Going up the cliff, their bodies looked like deer in a long line.
The atmosphere on the edge of the Ganges lake was benign. Here too the ambiance of the peace of Batara Wishnu permeated. The ambiance had become a thick curtain, shielding them from the air of the atrocities on the other side. Even when many giant rafts sank in the lake, the magnitude of mortality and violence did not reach its shores, where Dewi Citrawati and the Maespati palace princesses bathed and played joyfully. They were bathing along with fish. Here and there the fish were swimming and playing with the naked beautiful princesses. After bathing, they flocked back down the cliff, back to the lush shady valley in peace and tranquility. Sadness evidently had no room anymore.
Was her body as fragrantly persuasive as to intoxicate so many men?
Dewi Citrawati felt this too. She did not understand why the sadness had suddenly gone away. She really relished the tranquility in her heart and hoped sadness would not come back. A gust was blowing, sprinkling the flowers down. Dewi Citrawati observed the fallen flowers where, lying on the ground, they still looked beautiful. She was overwhelmed with bliss, seeing how beautiful the falling tanjung (medlar) flowers were. Dewi Citrawati picked one up and slipped it into her bun. A tanjung flower being in her bun, she looked even more beautiful. She also picked one from the avalanche of champaca flowers. She kissed it and acknowledged why the bees were always seen perching on it. Was her body as fragrantly persuasive as to intoxicate so many men?
For a moment, she remembered Sumantri, wondering where he was. The valley’s tranquility pampered her so peacefully it was impossible for her to be carried away by imagining that Sumantri had died. She smiled happily, recalling all the love and memorable events she had spent with Sumantri. Her eyes were cast southward, far to the ocean. She could hear the faint sound of the waves. It was like it was sweeping her away in an endless ocean of love. And when she pulled back from her daydream, she saw the body of her husband, Prabu Arjunasasrabahu, meditating in his deep sleep. The body lay crossed, separating her from the borderless ocean, which she dreamed about.
Patih Suroto had by that time arrived near Prabu Arjunasasrabahu. He wondered how the king of Maespati could let himself lie in deep sleep while his warriors of Maespati were being devastated by their opponents. Meditation freed his lord from everything. But should the meditation distract his concern about the threat on the country and people? Wasn't he a king who had to protect his people, especially when his people were in danger?
Patih Suroto felt disappointed, but he put away his feelings and tried to believe in the wisdom of his lord. Who knew, perhaps in that meditation his lord could see what was really happening. Maybe meditation had sharpened the inner vision of the lord to comprehend what his laymen could not. His lord may have deliberately let the war happen, for the good and glory of Maespati in the future. It was also possible that his lord was deliberately waiting for Ravana's arrival, so that he could destroy him and remove the evil wrath from the earth.
Whatever happened, Patih Suroto felt he had to wake up Prabu Arjunasasrabahu immediately from his asceticism. But he didn't know how he could wake him. In his asceticism, Prabu Arjunasasrabahu had become a mountain-sized giant. Rocked by any means, his body would not feel it.
(This article was translated by Musthofid)
