"Begawan," said Dewi Sokawati breaking the silence, "Maybe it is fate that just now your eyes are open, that the ugliness is not necessarily lust. In contrast, now it is proven that lust is good. But what's the use of differentiating between the good and the bad? Since both of them were in my womb, I received both of them as my children."
Dewi Sokawati paused for a moment, recalling what she said in the past. "Throwing out the ugly is the same as throwing out the good, Begawan. And in the lives of your two children it has become real; the good one required the bad, so that the good could be prevented from a bad fate and purified by the bad. Because of his good looks as a human, Sumantri was tempted to feel himself to be perfect, even though the perfection made him unaware, so that he did not feel that the darkness of his lust, and was quietly suffocating and absorbing him. Meanwhile, because he was bad, apparently a demon, Sukrosono was freed from being teased to feel perfect, until the sanctity had strengthened him, so that the darkness of his brother was prevented from the bad fate and cleaned. Wasn't it Sukrosono who helped Sumantri until Sumantri could arrive at this place, Begawan?"
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The Bajang Child Swinging the Moon (153)
Together with the words of Dewi Sokawati, Mega Malang’s natural world shook. A series of lights were seen falling, sparkling like swords slashing at the shadows. At that time, all fantasies disappeared – that the good was better than the bad, that the good did not need the bad to achieve sanctity. For a moment, Dewi Sokawati seemed like an angel who left kahyangan (heaven) who put her breasts on the tray.
"Sumantri, when I used to breastfeed you, I felt there was a snake on my chest. The snake seemed to want to swallow me with lust. Meanwhile, only briefly could I breastfeed your younger brother, before I put him on the edge of the forest, and I felt on my chest there was a man who fell asleep calmly. I looked at him that night, really he was not a demon," said Dewi Sokawati.
"Mother, the snake was me. And the snake continues to be lustful for the rest of its life," Sumantri said. He also remembered how the snake continued to live in the futility of his chivalry and in his uncontrolled love affairs with Dewi Citrawati and of course in his feeling of shame to admit and accept his younger brother, Sukrosono, who was a demon.
"The snake came from me, Sumantri," Begawan Swandagni interrupted. "I'm the one who shaped you in your mother's womb, until you were born as a handsome knight. The snake turned out to cheat me. I thought you were the son of sanctity because of your good looks. Meanwhile, your younger brother was the son of lust because he was ugly until I dared to throw him away. In this waiting place, it is clear to me that the snake of lust infiltrated you, while in your younger brother, sanctity lives and flows. How I have been cheated by my lust, my son."
Dewi Sokawati felt how Swandagni Begawan recognized his lust in Sumantri. Then she said, “Begawan, wasn't I reminded that without your lust, it was impossible for me to give birth to your children. So don't blame your lust. What you have to blame is how you differentiated lust and sanctity. As soon as you distinguished them, the lust began looking for its own way and quietly infiltrated into Sumantri. The lust turned and cheated your eyes, making you think Sumantri was the only one who was sacred. The differentiation that you made for the sake of sanctity then dwelled in Sukrosono, whom you considered to be the fruit of lust. But in Sukrosono it was impossible for the sanctity to stay away from the lust, as sanctity transforms in the body of lust. The sanctity becomes unclear, as what is clear is the body of lust, in the form of the ugly Sukrosono. Because he didn't stay away from lust, Sukrosono could always love Sumantri, who lived from the lust."
Indeed, their journey was the journey of lust and sanctity, which wanted to return to being inseparable. What they wanted to reach has been around since they were in my womb.
Briefly, Dewi Sokawati was silent. She stared deeply at her two children. And she continued, "Sanctity and lust are inseparable, Begawan. That is why, throughout his life Sumantri always needed Sukrosono. Indeed, their journey was the journey of lust and sanctity, which wanted to return to being inseparable. What they wanted to reach has been around since they were in my womb. Then, their journey was not toward something they were looking for but the journey that returned to the origin they had. This Mega Malang is where they are reunited in their birth, Begawan."
Upon hearing their mother's words in the realm after death, both Sumantri and Sukrosono felt like being born again. They also hugged each other, like they didn't want to be separated. They were carried away into their mother's stomach again. It was the time when they experienced the unity of birth and death. They felt as if they were being born, but it turned out only to be death, and death turned into birth again. Life was what separated both of them, when life did not become love. And when in Mega Malang this love united them, made them realize that birth and death were actually never separated.
Seeing how intimately they hugged, Dewi Sokawati felt they were twins who had dwelled peacefully in her womb. Dewi Sokawati was carried back into the happiness of when she bore her children. Suddenly, the darkness became a roof in Mega Malang. The stars came to borrow the night so they could be brightly scattered. Dewi Sokawati beamed happily. She was happy to pick up the stars, like collecting bananas. Shortly afterwards Mega Malang was glowing, like night in Taranggana Sekar.
The event in which he got the gold banana suddenly came back to him at this waiting place.
"Sokawati, in this place, I found a gold banana you desired when your child was in the womb," said Begawan Swandagni, surprised. The event in which he got the gold banana suddenly came back to him at this waiting place.
"It’s true Begawan, this Mega Malang is Taranggana Sekar. It is no wonder that in this place, both of our children, Sumantri and Sukrosono, who are closely embracing, do not want to be separated, such as gold bananas whose fruit and skin should not be separated," said Dewi Sokawati.
The stars were increasingly bright. And the moon came, not wanting to miss out. In the distance of the past, life was felt as a tiring afternoon. Now came the night, which took all the burden and provided a peaceful break. While hugging, Sumantri and Sukrosono were invited to return to their mother's womb, where they could not be separated.
(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo)
