Damalung Words

SALOMO TOBING

Saras Dewi

Mount Merbabu appears on the horizon, soaring amid the clouds that surround it. Merbabu is a place for a spacious savanna, the freedom of the alap-alap (eagle), a soft whisper of the Edelweis song, and a spring that sparks enlightenment for its worshipers.

Mount Merbabu is the knitting of experience for its adherents, concluding knowledge as a volcano with a distinctive ecosystem. It is a source of livelihood, as well as an anchor of cosmological knowledge.

Mount Merbabu is mentioned and is glorified in ancient lontar leaves from the 16th to 18th century. Its observers even suspected the slopes of Mount Merbabu had always been a meeting place for thinkers to develop knowledge about the teachings of mysticism.

Judging from the research of Willem van der Molen and Kuntara Wiryamartana, the Merapi-Merbabu manuscripts were preserved by a Buddhist priest named Windusana who used to live at the foot of Mount Merbabu. However, the two researchers stated that the manuscripts were not only from Mount Merbabu, but also came from Mounts Merapi, Telamaya and Wilis.

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The manuscripts are also diverse from the period of creation to their contents. Since the discovery of these manuscripts in 1822, their existence is full of puzzles. The majority of around 400 manuscripts stored in the National Library have not yet been dated or examined in depth.

One interesting thing, namely the conclusion of van der Molen and Wiryamartana, that the various manuscripts that are grouped as Merapi-Merbabu manuscripts are not only around the text of Hindu-Buddhist beliefs in the ancient Javanese, but there are several Islamic manuscripts, one of which is titled Tapel Adam. This text tells the story from Prophet Adam to the struggle of Prophet Muhammad, which was raised in the manuscript as Baginda (Majesty) Muhammad. These researchers hold the view that the collection of Merapi-Merbabu manuscripts showed that the Hindu-Buddhist and Islamic texts were studied in an intellectual community that respected a variety of literary forms and they protected the traditions.

As a researcher with a background in philosophy, I admire the expertise of philologists, especially their accuracy, when investigating history and language structure in ancient texts. This is what is meant by Martin Heidegger, a philosopher from Germany, who also quoted Wilhelm von Humboldt, an ancient Javanese reviewer, that an investigation of words and language essentially is an endeavor to reveal the construction of human reality itself. So, philologists are people who have the skills to witness this reality not only as factual phenomena, as we all perceive it, but are also carefully seeing the framework, bones of the building that we call the world or buana.

Heidegger also underlined how Humboldt understands the uniqueness of the ancient Javanese language, which is basically speech. Humboldt considered that language is actually an articulated voice. He argued further, the practice of language surrounds the expression of the minds of individual speakers, but simultaneously the desire to be comprehensive in unity.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

The peak of Mount Merbabu seen from Ngagrong Village, Ampel District, Boyolali Regency, Central Java, Friday (6/1/2023).

Heidegger strengthened the idea of language by quoting Aristotle, a philosopher from ancient Greece. He discussed the virtue of understanding language as a voice raised from the depth of the human soul to show affection. Aristotle reflected, there is no vocal sound that is completely identical to another. However, at the same time, every human being has the same language to show what is important in their lives.

Ancient manuscripts are a recording of the language activities of people from the past. Even though centuries have passed, it does not erode the reality of language that describes a dynamic and meaningful life. These manuscripts bridge the range of time and bring the readers together with pieces of instructions about the world of the past.

That is what Damalung's blueprint community does. It consists of anthropologists, philologists, archaeologists, musicians, sculptors, and dancers who are determined to reread the Merapi-Merbabu manuscripts and translate them into part of their daily lives. The word Damalung is the old naming embedded in Mount Merbabu. They reread the inscription of Ngaduman which stated, Om Sri Sarasoti kreta wukir hadi Damalung // uriping buwana anakra murusa patirtan palemaran. Praise Saraswati, Praise Mount Damalung, the source of world life.

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These researchers are now not only at the stage of search and preservation, but are rather more radical. They invite a new generation to support the manuscripts. The manuscripts are also valuable. Various manuscripts urgently need to be copied, published, properly classified in catalogs, and digitized. This is all in my opinion very important and more needs to be preserved to pay attention to these ancient manuscripts.

Damalung researchers have also collaborated with artists, interpreting the manuscripts into painting, music composition, and even a literary work. In my opinion, this is an invitation to slip the scripts back into our souls and daily behavior.

Why do we look back at ancient manuscripts? Moreover, patience and willingness are needed in studying and then enlivening these manuscripts. Reflecting the manuscripts also requires meditative moments.

Sometimes I reflect on that in reading the yoga text by Patanjali, which outlines eight stages of yoga, in fact we are engaging in yoga. The essence of this parable is that there is no short, or fast way, or rules that make the manuscripts into a clear string of description. Because in reading the scripts, one is also meditating. How much time is needed, especially now, when danger surrounds humans from all directions; environmental disasters, wars, inequality and disease.

Saras Dewi, Lecturer of Philosophy at the University of Indonesia

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.