Pesindon I and II (914-08-14)

Editor: Tyassanti Kusumo Dewanti.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSIDENKPesindon.

Language: Old Javanese.

Repository: Nusantara Epigraphy (tfc-nusantara-epigraphy).

Version: (9d06222), last modified (6019256).

Edition

⟨1r1⟩ // svaṣti śaka-varsātĭta 836 śrăvana-măsa tiṭhi pacammi ⟨1r2⟩ kr̥ṣna-pakṣa tu po Ā vāra tatkā⟨la⟩ ḍaṁ hyaṁ guru sivi-⟨1r3⟩ ta sumoce Avak·nira, plat· bvas· saha rabi sakalan·ḍu, kanyā / ⟨1r1⟩ // svaśti śaka-varsătĭta 836 śrăvana-mă-⟨1r2⟩ śa tiṭhi pacami kr̥ṣṇa-pakṣa tu po Ā ⟨1r3⟩ vāra tatkā⟨la⟩ ḍaṁ hyaṁ gu⟨⟨ru⟩⟩ sivita sumoce ⟨1r4⟩ Avak·nira, (plat)· bvas·, saha rabi sakala{ṁ}ḍu, kanyā /

Apparatus

⟨1r1⟩ 836 • D, 826 K. Damais (1955: 50), said that from epigraphical and calendrical point of view, it is impossible to accept Kern’s reading. After having calculated and converted it to the CE year, Damais concluded that the number for the tens must be read as 3. When we refer to the Tableau comparatif des chiffres indonésiens (Damais 1952: 107), the figure for the units in two inscriptions dating to 823 (Kayu Ara Hiwang and Rongkab), the shape of the 3 is quite similar to what we have in the two Pesindon plates, which were the source for Damais’ specimen of 3 in that table. ⟨1r1⟩ tiṭhi • K, tithi D. ⟨1r1⟩ pacammi • corr. pañcami. ⟨1r2⟩ tatkā⟨la⟩ • tatkā K, tatkāla D. Kern, left a note just after tatkā, “d.i. tatkāla”. ⟨1r3⟩ bvas • K, br̥s D. ⟨1r3⟩ sakalan·ḍu, kanyā • K, sakalan·ḍukanyā D. In the 1917 facsimile, a stroke that might be a punctuation mark is present. ⟨1r1⟩ svaśti • K, svasti D. ⟨1r1⟩ 836 • D, 826 K. ⟨1r2⟩ tiṭhi • K, tithi D. ⟨1r2⟩ pacami • corr. pañcami. ⟨1r3⟩ tatkā⟨la⟩ • tatkā K, tatkāla D. Kern did not leave the same comment as he did previously for this word in the first plate. Possibly because he was thinking that the remark should be regarded as applicable to both cases. ⟨1r4⟩ (plat) • [..]lat D, plət K. ⟨1r4⟩ sakala{ṁ}ḍu, kanyā • sakalaṁ ḍu, kanyā K, sakalaṁḍukanyā D. We omit the anusvāra and the punctuation mark to conform the reading of the first plate. In the 1917 facsimile, the anusvāra does not appear though.

Translation into English

Hail! Elapsed Śaka year 836, month of Śravana, fifth tithi of the waning fortnight, Tuṅlai, Pon, Sunday. It was the time that the venerable master (ḍaṅ hyaṅ guru) Siwita cleaned away his body, his stiff sexual organ (plat bvas), together with (his) spouse (called) Sakalaṇḍu [and their] daughter(s).

Commentary

1r2 daṅ hyaṅ guru Sivita only appears in the other plate, Pesindon II (1r3), but not elsewhere. We translate it as the venerable master, while Sarkar has “the spiritual teacher”. The title daṅ hyaṅ guru is found in Mandang I (Sucen I) and Mangulihi B. Both of those inscriptions come from the north area of Central Java. Mandang was found in desa Kandangan, kabupaten Temanggung. As for the later inscription, the find spot was in the Wonosobo area. An East Java inscription, Dinaya II, also has daṅ hyaṅ guru (line 2).

For the editions, see NBG 1888: 21–22, Sarkar 1971–72, vol. I: 14–15 (no. XV), Boechari 1985–86: 203.

For the editions, see Damais 1955: 206.

1r3 The word sumoce is not recorded in OJED. It might be a verb that comes from the word śoca or śuci, whose meaning revolves around the idea of cleanliness and purity. Although in OJED, there is no indication of purification with fire, in his translation, Kern supposed that the context evokes the idea of ablutions, cleansing the body with fire and leaving the mundane life on earth (Kern 1917: 15). Sarkar commented on Kern’s notion that “The interpretation is not fully warranted by the data. It is just possible that they took ablutions or did other purificatory rites in a holy place and then went to their own quarters” (Sarkar 1971–72, vol. II: 144, n. 19).

1r3 The meaning of plat bvas is hard to understand. Here, we think about plat as a registered word in OJED, meaning “male sexual organ” and bvas as bos, which in OJED is listed as “sullen, surly? stern, stiff?”. Kern seems to have another point of view for this expression, as could be seen from his remark: “plət (of plat) bvas. Denkelijk eene zelfde uitdrukking als b.v. ’t Jav. mak bləs [zooveel als ons «pang, weg!»]; plat is eene variatie van plas, en bvas van blas, in vorm gelijk bos (jəbos, bus); plat bvas geeft «in eens weggaan» te kennen.” (Kern 1917: 15, n.1) To sum up, he was thinking of an onomatopoeic expression which is expressive of the personages “going away” or “departing somewhere” at a fast pace. That understanding was adopted by Sarkar in his translation (1971–72, vol. II: 144). Wisseman Christie’s translation goes into different direction, since she opt the reading of br̥s rather than bvas. That term was analyzed by her as a derivation from the Sanskrit word vr̥sa, meaning “husband, man, bull, the most excellent” and also the other epithet for Siwa as the procreator.

The english translation is as follows: “plət (or plat) bvas. Probably the same expression as e.g. the jav. mak bləs [as much as our “bang, gone!”]; plat is a variation of plas, and bvas of blas, similar in form to bos (jəbos, bus); plat bvas indicates “go away at once”.

1r3 The last phrase of this short inscription (1r4 in the second plate), which both plates read as saha rabi sakalanḍu, kanyā is very unusual and difficult to discern. All possibilities that come to mind still raise some problems. We try to deduct and think of these three points:

There is a connection with the Sanskrit word sakala (all) and duḥkha (misfortune) and the text intended to say something like ‘cleaned away (sumoce)... all misfortune’.

What comes after rabi is considered as a personal name. The name Sakalaṇḍu, whatever weird it may sound, to our mind is harking back to the name of dyah Salaḍū. The whole sequence then can mean ”daughter of Sakalaṇdu” or “wife Sakalaṇḍu [and their] daugther(s)”.

We may have a word laṇḍuh (uninterrupted, prosperous) or its other form makalaṇḍuhan (in peace and prosperity). But this seems hard to fit in the context rather than the two previous points.

At this present state of knowledge, we opt for the second point. Translations given by other scholars are also varied, as they also read it differently. Kern translated it as “with his wife (or wives) and guṇḍik’s”. He took the word sakalaṅ and ḍukanyā separately, which for the first word, he understood it as meaning “all”, and the latter means the girl(s). As for Sarkar, he understood sakalaṅ as “all” and remarked the morpheme ḍu as it might stand for ḍua, i.e. “two”. Therefore his translation becomes “all (his) wives and two daughters”. Wisseman Christie, however, took the sakalaṅ as the Saskrit term sakala, meaning “in visible, material form, embodied”. Her translation reads “together with his wife, embodied in visible form (sakala) at that time.

Kern 1917: 15. The Dutch version is as follows: “.. met zijn vrouw (of vrouwen) en guṇḍik’s.”

See Kern 1917: 15 (n. 2 and n. 3). The English translation for n.2: “sakalaṅ = “all” (cf. Malay) takes the ṅ as a number concept; n is the change of ṅ for a subsequent lingual or dental; according to correct spelling it had to be a ṇ; in like manner piṅḍo has passed into piṇḍo, often spelled pinḍo.” The English translation for n.3: “ḍukanyā (ḍu. kanya) no doubt contains ḍuk= Jav. həṇḍuk (girl), of which gəṇḍuk is a variation. A finer pronunciation, a kind of krama of gənduk is guṇḍik. —The question remains, however, whether ḍukanya is solvable ukan, which may be a plural of ḍuk, and nya, “his”; or that ḍukanya is a conjunction of a Old Javanese and Sanskrit word, which means as the same thing, viz. ḍuk and kanyā, “girl”. The little mark between ḍu and k makes me suspect the latter. It, however, does not change the meaning.”

Bibliography

The sigla Br and Na refer to Brandes’ and Nakada’s editions, respectively. In view of the fact that the fifth section was read by Kern and Nakada, both of them yielding rather different readings, for this part I use the siglum K, which stands for Kern.