weakness. T j a kranegara on the contrary provides a
sympathetic view of D i p a n e g a r a ’s religiosity and it is for us to explore the Javanese view of and reactions to this
aspect of D i p a n e g a r a ’s character.
Unlike most of the princes and higjh officials of Jogjakarta, Dipan e g a r a led a very simple life. H a v i n g
w h o l e h e a r t e d l y accepted the Islamic religion, he turned all his energies to the problem o f salvation in the hereafter
and the absol u t i o n of sin. He became obsessed w i t h death and m a n ’s h e l p l e s s n e s s in the face of his sinful nature:
A m u n g kang kesti wardaja ing besuk jen ingsun mati adja nganti gendong dosa jen tjilaka djroning pati sapa ingkang nulungi
ana ing neraka besuk siksane tumpa-tumpa *2
Convinced he was carrying a great burden of sins,
Dipanegara set about w h i t t l i n g them away by performing acts of piety and by constant prayer and meditation. He
avoided licentiousness, lived an ascetic life, fasted and m a d e frequent gifts to the poor.
^For example, see P.H. van der Kemp, ’Dipanegara, een Ge schiedkundige Hamlettype' , BKX (1 8 9 6), p p . 283-433» 2Canto III, V .5.
The only thing I desire in my heart is that if, in the future, I die may I not carry a burden of sins
for if I do w h e n I die who can help me?
in hell later on
The desire for a simple ascetic life was an ideal of the Sufis, the mystics of Islam,^ They believed that only by eschewing wealth and wordly things could one attain the eternal fruit of Gnosis or knowledge of God. The story of Ibrahim bin A d h a m , one of the earliest Sufi ascetics, shows how this prince abandoned the world when God warned him of
its falseness:
My father was of B a l k h , ’ Xbrahim bin Adham is reported to have said, 'and he was one of the kings of Khorasan. One day I was out riding with my dog, when a hare or a fox started. I pricked on my horse; then I heard a voice behind me saying, 'It was not for this thou wast created: it was not
this thou was charged to do^. ' .... I
stopped and said, 'I have been roused! A warning has come to me from the Lord of the Worlds. Verily, X will not disobey God from
this day on.' Then I returned to my people, and abandoned my horse; X came to'one of my father's shepherds, and took his robe and cloak, and put my raiment upon him. ^
Tjakranegara describes how closely Dipanegara conformed to the Sufi ascetic ideal. When fasting, for example, he
3
ate only once every two months. Moreover he visited his wives in the harem on Thursdays only, and if one can judge
1
The Sufis were the mystical school of Islam which developed under the influence of Christian, Indian and Persian mystical beliefs. Their principal goal was personal knowledge of God through meditation and through the heart. See R.A.
Nicholson, 'The Mystics of I s l a m ' , and A.J. Arberry, 'Sufism', London, 1963« For Sufism in Java see: A.H. Johns, 'Sufism as a Category in Indonesian Literature and History' , Journal of Southeast Asian H i s t o r y , vol.II, July I96I; 'and C.Geertz,
'The Religion of J a v a ', Glencoe,i960. 2
A.J. Arberry, ' Sufism ' , London,
1950
» P •3
^ ■» Canto III, verse4
.f r o m the c o m p l a i n t s of one o f h i s wives, he a b s t a i n e d f r o m 1
s e x u a l • i n t e r c o u r s e e v e n then.
F o r the Sufi m y stic, a s c e t i c i s m w a s no m o r e t h a n a
p r e p a r a t o r y stage b e f o r e one c ould p r o p e r l y t u r n to m y s t i c a l and s p i r i t u a l e x e r c i s e s . D i p a n e g a r a also did not r e s t r i c t h i m s e l f to o u t w a r d d i s p l a y s of piet y , but also i n v o l v e d h i m s e l f d e e p l y in prayer, m e d i t a t i o n and m y s t i c a l r e g i m e n s . D i p a n e g a r a w a s a c c u s t o m e d to m e d i t a t e in the open, s i t t i n g
2
on the UTatu G e g i l a n g , or in one of the m a n y c a v e s he
v i s i t e d in the r e g i o n of J o g j a . H e r e he p e r f o r m e d the o,jrat