"Who are you, O Rishi, who without any reason suddenly challenges me to a fight?" asked Prabu Arjunasasrabahu.
“I am a wounded priest. My mother had an affair with a knight. My father could not forgive her. For the sake of honesty, I swore I would kill my mother. I regret that I had an unfaithful mother and an unforgiving father. To make me even more regretful still, how did I have the heart to kill my own mother? I then became a homeless priest. I have circled this universe to carry out my own oath," Rishi Ramabargawa said, finishing his life history.
"What is your oath?" asked Prabu Arjunasasrabahu again.
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“I swear that every knight is my enemy. For the sake of this oath, I circle the universe and kill every knight I meet, if he can't kill me. You are a knight king. Now it's your turn to fight me," answered Ramabargawa, stroking his parashu (large battle-ax).
"Your oath is wrong, high rishi. You have killed many innocent knights, just to vent your pain," said Prabu Arjunasasrabahu.
“In this world nothing is not wrong, O king. You're guilty too. It is not because of your merits and deeds you can reign on a noble and majestic throne. It is your warlords and subordinates who work to uphold your glory. You are proud, as if you got all the glory by yourself. You boast of your false glory and power, O king. That's your fault," said Rishi Ramabargawa fiercely.
Who defeated the giant king, Prabu Darmawasesa of the Widarba kingdom? Where did he get the empress, Dewi Citrawati?
King Arjunasasrabahu was silent. Rishi Ramabargawa's words felt like a knife that cut into him and skinned him. Who defeated the giant king, Prabu Darmawasesa of the Widarba kingdom? Where did he get the empress, Dewi Citrawati? Where did he get Sriwedari Garden from? It was not all because of his heroic deeds. It was Sumantri who did it. Sumantri finally died for his power. And there were many more warlords and kings who perished in defense of him. Where was the service? Rishi Ramabargawa was right, he was wrong because he was proud of his glory, as if he himself was working on it, and for the sake of that, all his warlords died without leaving a name.
"There is still your greater fault, O king. You spend your days in meditation. You think it's a holy deed. However, the duty of a king is not to meditate. A king must rule and exercise power for the welfare, sufficiency and glory of his people, not just be alone in meditation like you are. Meditation can indeed make a person holy. However, the sanctity of meditation can be a hiding place for someone to avoid his obligations. You are a knight, who should meditate on the sword, not in the silence of the mountains. I am a priest who should meditate in silence. But, I go to explore the world to carry out the oath that you said was wrong. But ask yourself, O king, are you not as mistaken as I am?" said Rishi Ramabargawa again.
Again, Prabu Arjunasasrabahu could not argue. He pondered deeply. Ramaparasu's words were true. He liked to be immersed in meditation. Meditation gave him deep inner comfort. However, he admitted that the comfort frequently had nothing to do with the obligations he had to carry out for his people. To make the people noble and prosperous is not through meditation, but by serving and giving oneself – even if that devotion and self-giving does not give him the comfort and serenity he gets from meditating. Meditation often becomes a place to escape, so that he is thought of as a pure and clear king, even though he does not fully work and give himself to his people.
Ramaparasu was right, there was nothing that was not wrong in this world, even he, who originally intended to be holy by carrying out meditation, ended up guilty too.
And wasn’t his meditation the cause of all the calamities that befell Maespati? He wanted to please Dewi Citrawati and the daughters of the Maespati palace by the Gangga River. He blocked the Gangga River with his meditation to make him a giant as big as a mountain that slept across to form the Gangga Lake. In the end, it was this lake that killed Dewi Citrawati and all of Maespati’s daughters, when he woke and picked himself up after a whisper from Patih Suroto that Sumantri was dead. If his meditation gave him clarity, why couldn't he stop himself from leaving as soon as he heard Sumantri was dead? His affection for Sumantri was attached and bound him, making him unable to be free and think clearly. Even his holy meditation was not able to free him from that bondage. And didn't this meditation cause the waters of the Gangga River to overflow? To inundate the hills of Nusa Manik, where Rahwana and his soldiers were? Rahwana raged and there was a massive war. Wasn't this all because of the madness of the meditation anyway? He thought the meditation was sacred, but it turned out that the meditation had derailed him to the point Maespati was struck by disaster. He felt guilty. Ramaparasu was right, there was nothing that was not wrong in this world, even he, who originally intended to be holy by carrying out meditation, ended up guilty too.
"Everything you say is true, O priest. I thank you for reminding me of my mistakes. However, let me ask you. Why do you keep killing knights when you know yourself it's wrong? Isn't there a way for us who are guilty to make amends for our mistakes?” asked Prabu Arjunasasrabahu.
"There is no way, O king, except death itself! Therefore, don’t interpret this wrong, that I just swore this oath to kill all knights. No, O king, I hope there is a knight who can finally kill me, and if that happens, my oath is done. Therefore, for your information, my journey around this universe is not solely to kill knights, but nggoleki dalane pati (to find a way to my own death). I'm tired of this journey, I want to end it, who knows, perhaps you are the one who can finish it, O king," said Rishi Ramabargawa.
(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo)
