From a distance, Prabu Arjunasasrabahu saw how the sea became deadly, swallowing them up and leaving no trace of life at all.
By
Sindhunata
·5 minutes read
Patih Suroto shouted to wake Sang Prabu (the king). But his screams echoed back, deafening his ears. If he were to climb onto the king's body and trample on him, he would have been only like an ant crawling up a mountain. Neither would he have given any strokes of a sword to the body of his lord.
Patih Suroto became desperate and did not know who to turn to for help. When he was about to give up, with a feeling of resignation he approached Prabu Arjunasasrabahu's ear and whispered in a weak voice, "Sang Prabu, Raden Sumantri has died." Patih Suroto was surprised to see Prabu Arjunasasrabahu suddenly squirming after hearing the name of Sumantri despite being mentioned so faintly.
"Uncle Patih, is it true what I have just heard from you, that Sumantri has died?" Prabu Arjunasasrabahu looked in sheer shock.
"That's right, Your Majesty. Raden Sumantri, Mahapatih Suwondo, died on the battlefield," replied Patih Suroto, relieved to see his king waking up from his meditation.
“Who killed him?" queried Prabu Arjunasasrabahu again.
"Rahwana, the ruler of Alengka, the king of giants attacked Maespati's army, while Your Majesty was in asceticism," said Patih Suroto.
"Sumantri died? Rahwana killed him?" Prabu Arjunasasrabahu repeated Patih Suroto's words as if he could not believe it. He suddenly growled loudly. His growl echoed, overpowering the swooshing of the ocean waves. "You can't die, Sumantri!" shouted Prabu Arjunasasrabahu again. His screams were so loud he could not hide his sorrow for losing Sumantri. He had really loved Sumantri more than anyone he had all his life. He had not expected Sumantri to leave him so quickly. "Uncle, I can’t take it, Sumantri has perished. I have to avenge his death. I have to kill Rahwana right now!” Prabu Arjunasasrabahu growled.
Prabu Arjunasasrabahu, in his giant form, immediately got up. He straightened his legs and ran as fast as he could. He was completely unaware that his body had been the water-shielding dam at the mouth of the Gangga river. His giant feet had become the embankment for the valley, where Dewi Citrawati and the princesses of Maespati were settled. As soon as he pulled up his feet, the embankment was gone and the lake that had been dammed by his body simultaneously broke. A torrent rushed down to the valley. Dewi Citrawati and Maespati's daughters were caught by the incoming flood. They screamed in horror. Their hands were waving for help. Their cries were heard helplessly. No matter how painful the screams were, no one could help them. In the engulfing floods, the bodies of the beautiful princesses swirled cruelly in the strong current of the vast water.
CAHYO HERYUNANTO
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Who would have thought that death would have come as instantly as the flood? Death knew no time. In the face of death, joy and sorrow were the same. No sooner had the beautiful princesses shared their fun in the heavenly valley when the floods mercilessly threw them all into the ocean. Like the other princesses of Maespati, Dewi Citrawati had not thought death would come so soon. Death did the same to her as any other princess. Despite her incomparable beauty and majesty, Dewi Citrawati was no different from the others, being swept away by the torrential waters of the Gangga river. With them, Dewi Citrawati was thrown far and finally disappeared into the endless ocean. Before she had been overwhelmed by a seemingly endless love, she was now overpowered by an apparently ensuing death. Death saw no day when it came.
The roar of the Gangga overflowing was so powerful it reverberated through the ears of Prabu Arjunasasrabahu. He stopped running and looked back at the river estuary he had left. He heard the faint screams of Maespati's princesses. He saw them waving their hands for help. He saw Patih Suroto, the senior punggawa (retainer) of Maespati, struggling against the current and looking for a hold for survival, but in the end, he also drifted away into the sea.
From a distance, Prabu Arjunasasrabahu saw how the sea became deadly, swallowing them up and leaving no trace of life at all. He did not believe Dewi Citrawati, Maespati’s princesses and Patih Suroto had vanished in the blink of an eye. And it was all his fault. Why did he wake up abruptly from his meditation upon hearing about Sumantri’s death? If he had not got up in such haste, with his body as big as a mountain, he would have been able to hold the Gangga river. He would have directed the incoming water to the lake that he had created himself to flow into another outlet. With the water able to recede slowly, Dewi Citrawati and Maespati’s princesses could have been saved.
Being an incarnation of Batara Wishnu, Prabu Arjunasasrabahu was definitely able to destroy the lake as he had been to create it, without endangering anyone's life, let alone Dewi Citrawati and the concubines. Moreover, did not he create the lake for Dewi Citrawati and the princesses to be able to savor life? The artificial lake turned out to lead the people he had loved to perish. Why did all this happen when he was immersed in meditation? He could not understand why.
What he felt was a tremendous loss. He had lost Sumantri, Patih Suroto, Dewi Citrawati and the innocent princesses. He really was distraught. Struggling to hold back his agitation, he ran into the battlefield, resolved to take on Rahwana to avenge the death of those he loved.
He saw Rahwana raging around and tearing apart the Maespati army. He heard that almost all of Maespati's senapati (war leaders) had been killed in confrontation against Rahwana. He immediately approached Ravana. The king of Alengka, who had also turned into a monstrous giant, was perplexed. He had felt himself an immense giant, but now in front of him was standing a giant much more immense than him.
