This summary provides an overview of the key points from the document: 1. The document discusses the creation myth and cosmology presented in the Balinese text Purwa-agama-gosa. It describes the primordial entities that emerge from Sang Hyang Suksma's meditations to eventually create the world. 2. Comparisons are drawn between the dualities presented in the Balinese text and those of the Hindu Samkhya philosophy of materiality and consciousness. 3. The philosophy of yoga is also discussed as a means of reversing attachment to the illusions of the material world and achieving liberation through remembering the steps of cosmic involution.

1. Chapter Three: Balinese Philosophy
In the Javano-Balinese tradition of meeting and synthesis, redundant repetitions can be
found on all levels of discourse. If Balinese tattwa and tutur texts are translated as
philosophy, it is important to show that philosophical clarity, depth and resolution are
defined and anticipated differently than those found in narrative-based traditions. Not
unlike Western history, philosophy and literature, Javano-Balinese traditions hinge on
both the writer’s and reader’s recognition of logical steps beginning with a locally logical
premise, based in ignorance, a debated premise, and then leading towards a conclusion,
an argument and, in the case of religious philosophy, the achievement of eschatological
closure. This final resolution, if its logic is clear, is transparent to the reader and,
therefore, fulfills the purpose of philosophy. As religious philosophy, its very
composition justifies the agreement of priests, yogis and supportive/or opposed, elites.
As a foreigner interested in the priest’s impressions of Indonesian philosophies, it
was necessary for me to continually ask Ida Bagus Ketut Sudiasa what the “function” of
syncretism, meeting and differention are in Balinese philosophical texts. Any sort of
definitive term or “true” definition was often difficult to procure from Ida Bagus. It is,
after all, a question that is easier to ask than to answer. His usual reply was simply to read
a section from a selection of texts such as: 1) Purwaagamagosa (1938); 2) Wrspatti
Tattwa and the 3) Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan (10th-
11th
century). The similarities that
link these texts was almost always the fundamental importance of the meta-textual
features that all these texts, Balinese offerings, ritual arrangements and letters (aksara)
share in common. This commonality was always the function of the nawasanga or the
theoretical and practical coordination of the cardinal points of the Balinese rose of the
winds. Whether the focus was upon the origins of the universe or the manner in which
consciousness or society should be ordered, sustained and advanced. Regardless of the
subject being discussed, Ida Bagus created a patchwork of philosophies, all of which
were founded on similar principles and methods of explanation. By investigating some of
these themes, their redundancy and the tools of philosophical interpretation, the nature
and function of philosophical clarity in Kawi philosophy will become more apparent.
Purwa-agama-gosa:
My first example of a philosophical text is an interesting creation-myth-cosmogram
taken from an anthology of lontars compiled by Ida Pedanda Made Sidemen of Griya
Delod Pasar, Intaran, Sanur. This creation myth marked the beginning of the Purwa-
agama-gosa, a palmleaf-lontar manuscript approximately 640 lontar leaves in length.
Needless to say, it was much larger than most of the religious texts of the period. Around
the same time, however, Javanese (Surat Centhini), Sikkhanese (Codi Codex) and the
Buginese of Sulawesi were composing similar works, works the authors believed codified
the ancient era for the needs of its descendents. The literal translation of the text’s name,
Purwa Agama, is Old Religion. The text is never mired in speculation, however, but
always exhibits a story, an ideological conflict linked to gender-Buddhism-Saivism or a
literary challenge to modern humanity. It also signals that these conflicts are also
parodies of Ego, the same Ego found in the status claims of ideological leaders and
1

2. protectors of cultural practice.This text exhibits the phenomenon of the relationship
between polar forces and redundancy as a sign of religious power (Sakti). See as follows:
The great ineffable one gave forth:
Atma (soul), Tattwa (rarefied knowledge) and Maya (illusion)
Beneath the Tattwa the following was explained. Atma Tattwa is synonymous with
pradhana (earth mother). Maya Tattwa symbolizes man.
In those texts Sang Hyang Suksma (the great ineffable one) mentioned perdana (mother
earth) and purusa (father body). It is this pair of forces which are the mother and father of
all humanity. Sang Hyang Suksma perforced Yoga once more and released Sang Hyang
Tri Pramana:
Sang Hyang Tri Pramana (the triumvirate deity) consists of:
1) Bayu (Strength or Energy)
2) Sabda (Speech)
3) Idep (Thought)
The Sang Hyang Tri-Pramana can also be called:
1) Tri Hita Karana (The three blessed Causes)
2) Tri Guna Tattwa (The Three Blessed Purposes)
3) Sang Hyang Tri-Samaya (the three rights of passage or birth, life and death)
These divisions may also be reduced to a dyadic code or rwa-Bhinneda. For instance,
they can be called sekala/niskala.
The singular reality is referred to as Sunyata or the Ultimate Void. All of this emerges
from Maya (illusion).
Kw. Mijil ta karing Maya Sang Hyang Dapur Tiga (Out of this creation come the three
fundamental divinities or Tri-Murti):
1) Brahma
2) Wisnu
3) Iswara
These deities co-originate with the following:
1) Sang Hyang Surya (Sun)
2) Sang Hyang Candra (moon)
3) Sang Hyang Bintang (stars)
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3. All three of these enter the human body. Sang Hyang Suksma once again performed
yoga. Thus, in divine ruminations, the following thinking ensued. Remember then, one
must be as a babe in the womb (thinking without distraction) as the high priest Kendung
once stated. If Sang Hyang Yogiswara (the patriarch of yogis) speaks, then his words are
‘windu’ or emptiness itself. Sang Hang Yogiswara can travel between Sekala (the
manifest world) and Niskala (the unmanifest world of spirits).
Once again Sang Hyang Adi Suksma performed Yoga, thus releaseing Sang Hang Catur
Suksma and Catur Bata or the four cardinal directions. Sang Hyang Suksma performed
yoga which produced the Panca Tan Matra (the five associations or trace perceptions,
such as memories). There are five but it is hard to know about them since they are
unexplainably without measure. Sang Hyang Suksma continued to perform Yoga and out
of his yoga came Panca Mahabhuta (the five elements):
1) Pertiwi
2) Apah
3) Teja
4) Bayu
5) Akasa
The Panca Wibuti or the five riches also came forth. These are the darknesses like that
of a person in prison. Among them was the term for bad conduct or Anakara. This
distinction was given by the heavenly poet, Sang Kawi Wara Sura. A person who does
not know these characteristics is in a dream.
Once again Sang Hyang Suksma performed yoga:
Out of Sang Hyang Suksma’s yoga came Buana Nawa Dunia, a world with nothing but
water. But despite all this there also came light which is Tanta Gagana (A thread of light
connecting the sky and the world of water) made by Sang Hyang Kawi Swara (the
prince of poets).
At this stage of creation, width could not yet be measured. The world appeared like an
egg. At this phase, the world was Andabuana (the world egg). If Sang Hyang Yogiswara
speaks, his speech is referred to as Yoga Stiti (the stable, unwavering, Yoga). At this
stage, Sang Hyang Suksma has meditated seven times.
Sang Hyang Sulis fused Panca Tan Matra with Panca Mahabhuta thus the Panca
Wisaya (the five senses). Out of this fusion also came Panca Karma Nria or the five
material pleasures.
After the Panca Karma Nria emerged out of this union, there followed nature and
humanity!
(Ida Bagus Ketut Sudiasa, November 9, 1990; translation of the Purwa Agama)
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4. The final product of the fusion of Panca Tan Matra (the five trace extensions…like
memories, the five Niskala elements) and the Panca Mahabhuta (the five physical or
Sekala elements) are the living creatures of earth. Humanity came about simultaneously
with the animals and the trees. It is only humanity, however, that has the ability to
recognize its origins. Why is that?
Ida Pedanda Ketut translated the Purwa-agama further, “Humanity has the Atma Tattwa
and the Maya Tattwa to explain it to them. It is important to highlight that, in the creation
myth of the Purwa Agama, the first dyadic pair composing the universe, the Atma
Tattwa, should be seen as texts and not elements. One can see, once more, that Javano-
Balinese reverence for the word antedates the chronology of creation in Ida Pedanda
Made’s text. A look into the scientific Hindu philosophy of Samkhya, one of the most
orthodox Hindu schools, which in Sanskrit literally means “enumeration” may assist us in
our search for some meanings behind the dyadic meetings, synethesis and creation in so
many Javanese and Balinese texts. Edeltraud Harzer explains the essentials of Samkhya
philosophy as:
Understanding the distinction between contentless consciousness (purusa-male) and
materiality (prakrti-female), two essentially different principles. Nothing exists apart
from these two principles. Contentless consciousness is the opposite of materiality in that
it is inactive, yet conscious, and therefore not subject to change. Materiality, on the
contrary, is potentially and actually active, but unconscious. Materiality is both manifest
and unmanifest. The unmanifest materiality may also be called the original materiality
because it is from this that the whole manifest universe emerges. (Harzer, 1987, pg. 47).
The interesting polarity set up between these two texts is that of man and woman.
Mothers and fathers, daughters and fathers, sons and mothers, wives and husbands are all
equally distinct and blurred identities, manifest as individuals and yet unmanifest in the
qualities they share and, in union, create. Sang Hyang Suksma (the great ineffable one)
said that the Atma Tattwa is the perdana (female) while the purusa (male) is the Maya
Tattwa. This creates an immediate tension between the two opposites, male and female,
and thus suggests that a consistent polarity between Maya Tattwa and Atma Tattwa to the
effect that the male would take on the Niskala (unmanifest real of spirits) and the female
would assume the Sekala (manifest) pole of the dyadic pair. The distinctions made in
Samkya philosophy have a similar duality between contentless consciousness (purusa)
and materiality (prakrti). I suppose that the contentless consciousness, in its primordial
state, at least in the Purwaagamagosa, is represented by the mediating creator, Sang
Hyang Suksma. What leads me to think this way is that Atma and Maya are both, by
definition, products of ignorance and confused perception. Creation is, in this myth, the
by-product of misrecognition. Contentless Consciousness, then, could not be either of
their properties.
What is more like the Maya/Atma set can be seen in the dual nature of Samkhya’s
category of unconscious materiality. This dual nature is described as the “manifest
(sekala) and unmanifest (niskala)”. The Maya Tattwa is the “inmanifest reality” and may
be called the “causal materiality” because it is from this that the whole manifest universe
emerges. In the Purwa-agamagosa text, this unmanifest male Mayatattwa is of primary
4

5. importance. From Maya (illusion) comes all things: the tri-une divinites Brahma, Visnu,
Iswara, the sun, the moon and stars, the Panca Mahabhuta and Panca Tan Matra .
According to Harzer (’87), in Samkhya:
..the universe undergoes cycles of evolution and absorptions…Unmanifest (Maya)
transforms into manifest materiality and keeps on transforming from one principle to the
other until the original materiality is manifested itself (in all the necessary pairings).
(Harzer 1987, p. 47).
The materiality of the atman would refer to its contingency to Maya (from which all
distinction comes) to provide a physical vehicle for the ignorant Ego-self. The character
of the materiality of the Atman and its place in the aforementioned Samkhya school will
be presented in greater detail in the Saivite (Samkhya) text, the Wrhspatti Tattwa.
For now, suffice it to say that the Atma is the reference to the Upanisadic atman
(essential self) which is real, in the sense that it is the universal consciousness (Brahman).
In this text, the perception of the Self is to be an entity separate from Brahman (universal
consciousness) and is the first half of what traps us within the cycle of rebirth (sangsara).
The second deceiving aspect of worldly existence is clear in the word Maya (illusion). In
Hindu philosophy, all we see is illusion. Because of a selfish, desiring, inclination, we
have mis-construed the primordial one, Brahman, as the world of deception and
differentiation we see before us. Together, Atma (Ego) and Maya (self-deception) are the
mother and father of our attachment to worldly existence. From these paternal and
maternal principles we can follow the countdown stemming from the Sang Hyang
Suksma. Sang Hyang Suksma could be translated as the Unmoved Mover or simply the
Passive and Active force towards which the design of release and attachment gravitate. If
this meditative gravitas is reversed by the yogic efforts of humanity, the meeting of these
pairs, aggregates of primordial components of life, a window towards Sunyata is created.
The patterns of this reversal can be seen in two sources, Samkhya and Yoga. In the
Samkhya analysis, the reversal through remembrance “recalls the one-by-one involution
of the manifest materiality into the unmanifest original materiality at the time of the
active absorption of the universe….In Samkhya, knowledge of this metaphysic leads to
liberation.” (Harzer 1987, pg. 49). Saivite Tantra, unlike Buddhist Tantra, is not as taken
with remembrance as a primary instrument for release. Samkya, unlike the later Tantric
schools, initiated the philosophical gesture of remembering the steps one has tread, a
meditative gesture of incredible importance to philosophically oriented brahmana priests
and ‘noble lineage’ minded nobles. Mircea Eliade, in his book, Yoga: Immortality and
Freedom, provides important details as to how one remembers in yoga:
The procedure, then, consists in starting from a particular moment, the nearest to the
present moment, an traveling through time backward (pratiloman---as opposed to forward
progress or, anuloman) in order to arrive, ad originem, when the first life “burst” into the
world, setting time in motion, thus one reaches the paradoxical moment beyond which
time did not exist because nothing was yet manifested.” (Eliade, 1969, pg. 184)
As one will see throughout the philosophical texts, the technical explanatory texts
on script and metre, and the kakawin poem itself, the transition from
5

6. ‘evolution/distortion’ to ‘involution/resolution’ and clarity is important to understand
Balinese concerns with literary transparency. Pratiloman means to go against the fur, or
to go back in memory and time. Anuloman, is less backward looking. It means to go
with the fur and, therefore, to follow the path of natural design. Ida Pedanda Ketut
explained to me in 1993 that Pratiloman and Anuloman, mean entirely different things
to Balinese literati. Ida Pedanda reminded me that the passive and active tenses of
Balinese textual grammar are described as pratiloman and anuloman. Where anuloman
would imitate the active passage of logical thought (with the fur), pratiloman suggests a
grammatically counter-voice to literary convention (against the fur). It employs the
passive tense, a tense that can confuse philosophical logic and the agentive aspect of
literature’s claim to reflect reality. These same literary tendencies were philosophical
and, hence, yogic tools, among mendicants more concerned with undermining taboo than
obeying it.
Although a brief synopsis of events like the one above is often useful, a look into the
philosophical agents and binary coupling of these agents is very important. Therefore,
attention should be shown towards Sang Hyang Suksma or The Ineffable One, Sang
Hyang Yogi Swara (the Prince of Yogis) and Sang Hyang Kawi Swara (The Prince of
Poets).
Sang Hyang Suksma (SHS) is the high, ineffable God from whom all is created. In
SHS’s meditations, the world of differentiation springs forth in sets of two (rwa), three
(tri), four (catur) and five (panca). Interaction between the various sets. Interaction
between the various sets and the above mentioned agents of the myth creates
significance, life, light and understanding, without narrative closure. These two
primordial entities were distinct from each other yet complimentary and, in their meeting,
causally responsible for the existence and perception of the world and its metaphysical
sets.
The next stage of the text entails the association of three sets, the ‘synonymization’ of
previously unrelated sets. In this section, Sang Hyang Tri Pramana (Bayu---strength or
energy, sabda—Speech, idep---though. This triad is equated with the Tri Purusa (Three
Patriarchs), Tri-Anta Karana and Tri-Guna Tattwa. All of these sets of three are equated
with the hierarchy of spiritual release when the author writes, “These can also be referred
to as: 1) Sekala (manifest world), 2) Niskala (unmanifest world) and 3) Sunyata
(emptiness).” (Purwa Agama). Sunyata, a Buddhist term, seems useful here in that it
conveys total emptiness as opposed to the worldliness of ‘sekala’ and other-worldliness
of ‘niskala’ (i.e. unmanifest-maya). With this hierarchy established, Maya (illusion)
creates the vault of heaven with its ornaments (surya-the sun, candra-the moon, wintang-
the stars) and their cooriginating deities or the Sang Hyang Dapur Tiga (Brahma, Wisnu,
Iswara).
After the levels of Sekala, Niskala and Sunyata have been defined out of Maya, the
text states that, “If Sang Hyang Yogi Swara speaks, it is emptiness”. He knows nothing
because nothing disturbs his thoughts. He can travel freely between the levels of Sekala
and Niskala. In this part of the text, the function of Yoga becomes apparent. Yogya
requires no thought because it is born out of nothing. The Prince of Yogis speaks
emptiness because he will not disturb his mind with profane expressions of Kama—alias
desire, love and the arts. Kama, the divinity of desire and beauty, either complements the
Buddhist or undermines the Saivite attention to purity.
6

7. Perhaps the most important distinction made in this section of the Purwaagamagosa is
the one made between ‘Panca Mahabhuta’ and ‘Panca Tan Matra’. One cannot go into
any detail about the Panca Tan Matra because they define discreet, subtle, elements that
deny clear description. What can be spoken of is Panca Mahabhuta. The Panca
Mahabhuta (the five elements) deal with the repetitive necessity of explaining the
metaphysical organization of the levels of heaven and earth. Although the Panca
Mahabhuta can be taken simply as a composite of elements, certain attention must be
given to the Balinese affinity for identification of the Mircosmos with the Macrocosmos.1
If one looks at the order of the Panca Mahabhuta, it consists of the five earthly elements
that compose all earthly things: 1) Prtiwi (earth); 2) apah (emptiness); 3) Teja (fire); 4)
Bayu (energy); 5) akasa (air). There is a metaphysical hierarchy to these elements
although they are considered an alchemic composite created by Sang Hyang Suksma’s
meditation. Such an organized series of distinctions increases the authority, thus the
power of the creation. It informs the reader that it is an important distinction. Like the
aforementioned “heaviness” associated with calendrical cycles in Bali, so does their
philosophy portray abstract “auspiciousness” through the form of coincidental birth to
creation. The creation of opposites generates a tension between the components of the
pair for one of two purposes: life through evolutionary creation or liberation through
involution of the pairs and the processes which brought them together. This type of
portrayal of the abstract resonates internally and externally in Bali. The philosophical
examples, usually a deeply esoteric expression, are made to explain the importance of the
storied scene but are construed not in contrast but rather through scenes that are in a
similar configuration.2
This is, for lack of a better term, cultural verisimilitude as
philosophy.
The tension between the polarized pair is the requisite ritual and philosophical tension.
A war, or a contest, is in order between the rival ideologies. In the same way that Sang
Hyang Yogi Swara explains the function of Yoga, the author uses Sang Hyang Kawi
Swara is used to portray the aesthetically primordial relation to the divine. The text’s
portrayal of the divine relation between pertiwi (mother, earth) and purusa (male, sky)
appears to be the only tie between the gross earthly elements and the imperceptible vault
of heaven.
The roles of Sang Hyang Suksma, Sang Hyang Yogi Swara and Sang Hyang Kawi
Swara come to fruition at the meeting of Panca Mahabhuta and Panca Tan Matra, the
meeting which creates life, humanity and desire. The roles are no longer ordered. The
binary sets, once created, have come forth and met. From these meetings emerged the
illusory existence of attachment, randomness, sentient and emotional suffering. So, here
rests humanity, at the veritable bottom of the differentiating Mayic totem pole. As was
untimated through the mentioning of Yogi Swara and Kawi Swara, there are two paths to
1
The Buana Alit (lesser cosmos of the body) and Buana Agung (Greater Cosmos of the
supracorporealworld) distinction is seemingly always used for the interpretation of texts and ritual
engagements with them. In this case the five elements of the human body must somehow represent the
cosmic order, a macrocosmic order of which the body mirrors internal to itself.
2
From this type of repetition a motif emerges. For instance in rwa-bhinneda (binary opposites), the couplet
meet, contrast, unite in synthesis yet maintain their independent characteristics. For this reason, when a
‘pepaosan’ reading group discusses an unclear point in a text, the tendency is to attach the lack of clarity to
an authoritative theme seen in other stories, thus emphasizing a kind of agreement (founded in a
traspararent, therefore redundant, theme) over these scholarly meetings in lieu of argumentation.
7

8. follow in order to be released from the final extension of Maya: Yoga and Poetry.
Because these two characteristics were privy to the protogenesis process of creation, they
are also privy to the knowledge of release from it.
Wrhspatti Tattwa:
In order to provide a means of comparison within the Saivite canon, Ida Bagus Ketut
Sudiasa decided to translate a section of the Wrhspatti Tattwa, which is a dialogue
between the venerable Wrhspatti and Siwa. When looking at this text in comparison to
the Purwaagamagosa it is easy to recognize emphasis on the buana-alit (microcosm) and
buana agung (macrocosm). Such an emphasis reinforces the necessity of cosmological
hierarchies in relation to the physiological composition of humanity. Siva teaches these
multi-leveled associations to Wrhspatti as a means of exposing the true reality, the
underlying truth within all the gross elements (Pancamahabhuta/predhanatattwa).
The Wrhspatti Tattwa was written in the late 18th
century in the Balinese village of
Kaliwuan by a scholar named Samyag-jnana.(Devi, 1957, p. 7). Ida Bagus is of the
opinion that in order to understand the Purwaagamagosa, written in the early 20th
century
by Ida Pedanda Made Sidemen, one must first understand its Saivite foundations in the
Wrspatti Tattwa. The Purwaagamagosa merely mentions the terms Maya Tattwa and
Atma Tattwa. The Wrhspatti Tattwa actually explains them. For instance, one section of
the Wrhspatti Tattwa, the Widu and Prabu Saktis, deals with the Maya Tattwa and Atma
Tattwa in detail.
Sudarshana Devi of New Delhi has analyzed and translated this text. Devi’s
translations and analysis obviously differ from Ida Bagus Ketut’s. Devi’s study is more
coherent and clearly ‘spells things out’ in accordance with the philological tradition
espoused since William Jones poured through the texts in the late 18th
century. Ida Bagus
Ketut’s knowledge is couched in the echo chamber of the author’s social paradigm. Texts
shift, swap and are read night and day Ida Bagus Ketut’s priestly home. Ida Bagus is
accustomed to dealing with ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. He rarely writes for the latter.
Instead, he writes and translates for the improvement of our knowledge of Bali, past and
present. That said, Devi’s analysis is excellent and an wonderful example of Indian
scholarship committed to the scientific study of what some people call, “Greater India”,
of which Bali is a part. Devi avoids the academic politics of lesser, greater or local India.
Instead, for the benefit of the study of the text, Wrhspatti Tattwa, Devi writes:
“Mayatattwa signifies the void, the embodiment of unconsciousness. It is the same as
Siwatattwa. It is pervaded by Siwatattwa whose nature is consciousness. It is interwoven
(uta) and threaded (prota) by Siwatattwa. It is ‘uta’ because it pervades the body of Maya.
It is ‘prota’ because it threads (through the body of Maya). The nature of Siwattatwa is to
be threaded (prota) in Maya. It is this reason that it is tainted by Mala (staining). Mala
means unconsciousness. As the Siwatattwa is absolutely crystal clear, taintless, bright,
pure and clear, consciousness forms his nature. When it is tainted by unconsciousness, his
powers (sakti) disappear. Powers mean knowing all and doing all. If Siwatattwa ceases to
be all-knower and all-doer he is called atman which means consciousness that has been
infatuated. Atmatattwa is extensive. For this reason, the Mayatattwa is like a comb of
bees which sit closely together. Maya is to be compared to the comb of bees. Atmans are
to be compared to the young ones of bees who hang downwards, faces pointed below
8

9. (adhomukha). The atmans look downwards, they do not know the tattwas that are above
them.” (Devi, 1952, pg. 79).
As intimated in the Purwaagamagosa, the Mayatattwa and Atmatattwa create
confusion, differentiation and ignorance. Unlike the consciousness which is the
Siwatattwa, the Mayatattwa and Atmatattwa embody uncousciousness which, according
to Siwa, is infinitely less powerful than consciousness. Why, you ask? That is a good
question. Wrhspatti apparently considers unconsciousness (as it is related to lack of
experience and profane perception ) to be the goal of the Saivite Hinduism or Samkhya
orthodoxy, thus the ultimate goal of the religion. For this reason, Wrhspatti thinks that
Mayatattwa and Atmatattwa would embody the profane consciousness of clouded,
desirous perception and not the null void of unconsciousness. Therefore, he continually
asks Siwa about why Siwa would consider unconsciousness profane, thus creating a
similarlity with the Pradanatattwa (the gross form of Maya).
The Pradanatattwa (tattwa here being translated as element) is the profane earthly
“stuff” eventually mixed with the “contentless consciousness”. To equate the Atma-
Tattwa is to associate it, outside of its Samkhya context, with the universal
consciousness, Brahman. The Lord Siwa describes the relationship between the Atma
Tattwa and more specifically the Perdanatattwa, Devi translates,
“The Pradanatattwa is itself void, having a body formed of unconsciousness. The Lord
brings together the Atmatattwa and Pradanatattwa. The atman vanishes and becomes
unconsciousness. It becomes acetana (the unconscious reality) because it has no
knowledge of being pervaded by Perdanatattwa. That causes the unconsciousness of the
atman.” (Devi, 1952, pg. 79).”3
By creating associations between the profane primordial matter (pradhana tattwa) and the
sacred unconsciousness, one becomes wary of the philosophical connections being made
here. One suggestion might be that unconsciousness is really just lack of awareness. It
becomes acetana (unconscious reality) because it is not aware, mindful, of the fact that it
is being pervaded with Perdanatattwa. If one is conscious of one’s actions, mindful, then
it would logically become more like Siwatattwa (conscious reality) which is threaded
with Mayatattwa and Atmatattwa. But how can something be conscious (cetana) if it is
threaded with the unconscious (acdetana)? If this is the case, ‘it’ is neither conscious nor
unconscious. This, then, is the point Siwa is trying to make in the dialogue of Wrhspatti
Tattwa.
Siwa says to Wrhspatti, “The supreme reality (paramartha) is devoid of the state of
being (sad-bhawa) and free of the state of not-being (asad-bhawa) without being (sad-
bhawa) and not being (asad-bhawa), end of indivisibility and without a definition (is
paramartha).” (Devi, 1952, pg. 98). So, Siwa is making an important distinction here. The
ultimate reality is ungraspable with words, consciousness or unconsciousness, but rather
3
The reader should remember that in the Purwaagamagosa, the Atmatattwa and Perdana (here pradhana)
are quated as synonymous. The problem with such an association is that pradhana represents the earthly
mother figure in the duality of the universe and atma springs from the universal and decidedly akasa-like
(male), conscousness. Wrhaspatti raises this question with Siwa.
9

10. necessitates a marriage of the two. Doing so would make it possible to at once create life
and escape it.4
In modern Bali, the names for the great ineffable God follow along similar lines. Ida
Gagus Ketut Sudiasa gave one interesting example. In the grammar of Bahasa Kawi, if
the word ‘taya’ is put before a nount, it means ‘exist’. If it is written after the word, it
means ‘does not exist’. Thus, one of the Balinese words for the supreme deity is Sang
Hyang Taya Taya (Sang Hyang indicates an honorific reference to a high deity). ‘Taya
Taya’ can mean exists or does not exist and, on a deeper level, infers that due to our
linguistic necessity of positing something as existing/or not existing, the name itself
infers that, whether with or against the fur, the divine is grammatically positioned to
reveal as much as it conceals. In the Wrhspatti-Tattwa, Siwa states that supreme reality
is “Just as butter in milk, fire in wood, water in clouds…They are existent (sat) and yet
non-existent (asat) in as much as they are grasped in the outer world.” (Devi 1952, pg.
98).
So, if we look at the Purwaagamagosa at the beginning of the chapter and notice the
trends of association and the coincidence of pairs and sets, the poetic redundancy of the
kakawin steeps in its philosophical grounding. Like water in clouds or the smoke of fire,
the philosophical is as much index of literature as poetry is the honey of its cultural hive.
As conflict/resolution patterns in literature are often used to exhibit fulfillment or
progression within a text, one can also see how redundancies suggest transitions where
closure lacks precedent (all Pancas are set up in binary oppositions).5
Given the tension
created by antithetical opposites, one can resolve this tension by one ‘pole’ overcoming
the other, more of a western narrative tradition, or unification of opposites, the Balinese
paradigm. The repetitive meditation of Sang Hyang Suksma’s creation marks the levels
of profane distinctions made from the state of primordial creation. The various levels of
metaphysical sets end in the creation of life. In our subjective perception of reality, we
distort and/or stain (mala) our latently ordered world. As one can tell through a reading of
the Wrhspatti Tattwa , a great deal of the philosophical framework for ‘outsiders’ to the
Saivite fold was missing. The esoteric quality of Bali’s philosophy provided Ida Pedanda
Made ample material for elaboration in the Purwaagamagosa. The idea of ‘insider’ is
extremely important in Balinese religious literature. I could attempt to define the ‘insider’
and the purpose of philosophical secrecy but my observations would be that of an
occasionally insightful ‘outsider’. One can describe the function of these texts within the
world that informed them. Esotericisms view of its own interior does lack perspective. Its
lacking does not diminish the object of its focus. In the process of viewing the ineffable,
it lacks the ability to describe cultural machinations that fuel its gaze.
Therefore, the study of the culture of reading, sounding and interpreting Balinese text
does require the outsider to employ various lenses. The Old Javanese philosophical texts
are a perfect example of how certain texts are supported by others, without footnotes. As
Western scholars, we involve ourselves in the guesswork of speculation. This reality
4
The yogi has the ability to escape this world through the means (saddhana) of yoga and thus as the
Purwagamagosa mentioned can travel between the manifest (sekala) and unmanifest (niskala) realms. The
poet does so through the Tanta Gagana (thread connecting heaven and earth, akasa (father sky) and prtiwi
(mother earth) by creating the mystical amalgam of ‘kalangwan’ (philosophically founded beauty). They do
so by connecting the duality which gave them life.
5
For more on the significance of conflict/resolution patterns see, Scholes and Kellogg, The Nature of
Narrative, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966).
10

11. often entails either creating mythical associations ourselves, or depending solely upon
indigenous sources. I, myself, appear to be caught between the two. Through the use of
Ida Bagus Ketut Sudiasa’s advice and augmentative translations and textual selections, I
have written a distorted picture of Balinese poetry, philosophy and notions of text-
building. These are not ‘insider’ notes. I have not received formal training in the
philosophical authority and power (kesaktian) manifest within the sacred texts. I have not
‘madiksa’ or become a commoner pemangku or high priest. I am not of those lineages. I
am not Balinese. What I have as guidance is Ida Bagus’ selections of explanatory texts
which he used to explain how philosophy, tone, plot and script come to form a matrix of
meaning through which the poet and reader discover meaning.
Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan
The third text Ida Bagus used was the influential Buddhist text, The Sang Hyang
Kamahayanikan. It has been one of the most important texts of ancient Java and Bali. Ida
Bagus Ketut Sudiasa employed the text to explain the differences between Saivite and
Buddhist philosophical systems. These are important distinctions to make. Because the
Siwa Siddhanta school and Buddhist Vajrayana (Mantrayana) schools are both Tantric in
orientation, it is difficult to distinguish Saivite from Buddhist bias. In short, the syncretic
kakawins (and their respective philosophical sources) cannot be too easily tied to their
Indic antecedents, but rather are “syncretistic and belonging to the Tantric Siwa-Buddha
system of the Majapahit period. In this religious system, god, doctrines, rituals and
philosophical concepts deriving from various religions have their own rightful
place.”(Teeuw and Robson 1981, p. 9-10).
As will become apparent later (in the fifth chapter), the kakawin poems explain that
there is no basic difference between the various religions, and the various religious sects
are quite wrong in fighting over right and wrong or whose Adidewa is the highest, etc.
(Teeuw and Robson 1981, pg. 10).6
In starting out this discussion, it may be best to
explain the function of each Adidewa in their respective systems. The way that the
Purwaagamagosa prose text and the Wrhspatti Tattwa explain the Saivite position, so
does the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan elucidate the Javanese Buddhist position. With
these two positions defined, we will be better equipped to approach the Siwa-Buddha
syncretisms in Balinese literature.
The Old Javanese text, the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, (SHK) is the most important
Vajrayana text in Indonesia. It was apparently written as early as the 10th
century. The
Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan is an important text partially because of its primacy in the
geneology of philosophical texts in Java and partially because of its obvious impact on
Buddhist literature that ensued in ancient Java and contemporary Bali.(Singhal, 1985, pg.
704). “The worship of the five Dhyanibuddhas and their female counterparts, or saktis, as
taught in the SHK, must have been very popular in Java, as is attested by the numerous
images of those supernatural beings discovered in or near sacred buildings.” (Kern, 1915,
pg. 495-497). Its effects on the architecture can be seen in the representations of
6
Adidewa (great God) is referring to the high god of Saivism or Bhatara Guru and the high Tatagatha of
the east, Wirocana. These two divinities are essential to interpreting bias in a kakawin text. Bhatara Guru
and Wairocana seem to always be meta-textual figures, more often spoken of than heard, whose actions,
not dialogues, define their roles. This will become clearer in the interpretative and comparative sections of
Chapter Five.
11

12. Vairocana, Aksobhya, Amogasiddi, Ratnasambhawa and Amitabha in temples and
statues of Central Java and modern Balinese Buddhist brahmanas. An investigation into
these elements would be superfluous to our purpose here. The important point in relation
to the architecture is just that the religious character of the famed Sailendra dynasty (a
clan of the Srivijaya empire) was experienced in Java and Bali alike.
Just as Siwa or Bhatara Guru functions within its own cosmically created system of
binarily opposed sets, so does the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan have its own series of
‘modes of necessary thought’ for proper religious action.7
As in all religious texts,
metaphysical causality is an essential aspect of determining the religious perspective of
the text. In the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, the supremacy of Sang Hyang Wairocana is
immediately stated. Santosa, translator of the kakawin Sutasoma, writes:
Those almighty deities originated from the omniscience of god Wairocana, they
were Iswara, Brahma and Wisnu who were ordered by the god Wairocana to develop the
three worlds along with their contents into perfection, so that they might be beneficial to
men and serve as a place where the Lord should be worshipped at all times…They (the
deities) were almighty but not by virtue of their own selves, for they came into being only
as a result of the omniscience of God Wairocana.” (Santoso 1975, p. 45-46).
The God Wairocana is the necessary being towards which all of existence is
contingent. The manner in which the Hindu deities are treated as tools contrived by the
omniscient wisdom of the high Jina Wairocana raises certain questions concerning the
manner Buddhism views the roles of deities and devis (that are Hindu in origin and
nature). From Sang Hyang Wairocana, stems existence and the distribution of power, but
for what reason? True, in the ideal Buddhist doctrine, the asking of such questions
concerning origins and metaphysics only hinders one’s release. The reply to this problem
is that Tantrayana and Mantrayana are not Hinayana and Java is not India.
Soewito Santoso, in his book, Sutasoma: A Study in Javanese Wajrayana, makes an
important argument for a different perspective regarding the functions of Hindu gods (as
opposed to their existence). Santoso writes:
In the Old Javanese Brahmandapurana, for example, mention is made of the son of
Buddhi who is called Buddha, without any suggestion at all that he is connected with the
Buddha or Buddhists. May it be concluded then that similarity in name or form does not
imply identity? In this case, the hypothesis that the Mahayana Buddhists created their
own deities according to their own requirements gains plausibility.” (Santoso 1974, p.44).
With this in mind we can begin to make comparisons between the ‘sets’ in the Sang
Hyang Kamahayanikan . The most important section to Ida Bagus was the text’s
explanation of the rwa bhinneda (the two polar differences) as discussed in the Sang
7
A. Teeuw and S.O. Robson, Kunjakarakarna Dharmakathana, (Leyden: The Hague-Martinus Nijhoff,
1981). This analysis draws on explanatory parallels between the Saivite and Buddhist mandalas or yantras.
To show how they match up, the authors provide the following:
Buddhist mandala: Aksobhya, Ratnasambhawa, Amitabha, Amogasiddhi and Wairocana. In the same order
there is the Pancaka Siwa: Siwa (at center), Visnu (North), Iswara (East), Brahma (South), Mahadewa
(West).
12

13. Hyang Kamahayanikan. If seen in the contrasting light of Saivite binary pairs, the text’s
emphasis on perception and epistemology over metaphysical hierarchies and cosmology,
displays the text’s ties to earlier texts and distinctions from later syncretisms according
to the bias of Saivite Tantra.
Although the focus of this chapter is primarily on the philosophical ties between texts
that help to explain the Purwaagamagosa’s source material, one should not forget the
‘contingencies’ towards thematic cohesion and authority in the text. The contingencies in
the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, not unlike the Wrhspatti Tattwa, are twofold: 1)
Fulfill or outline the Tantric ideal of ‘voidness’ or ‘sunyata’, whish is causally contingent
upon; 2) the satisfaction of the reader’s soteriological expectations. These expectations
are dialogically composed within the function of Buddhist or Saivite epistemologies and
within the constraints of the Javanese literary tradition.
The first analytic device employed by the author of Tutur and Tattwa is to develop a
dialogue between a deity and a mortal. Out of this dialogue, the author can march the
reader through the various pairs, sets or philosophical principles believed to be of divine
origin. The writer elevates the reader by stimulating different philosophical sets of
differentiated qualities. All of these dialogues are assembled, at least in the Sang Hyang
Kamahayanikan, to provide a pratiloman path against the fur of one’s karmic actions. In
the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, the initial set placed before the reader is non-duality
and voidness. As we saw in Wrhspatti’s questions in the Wrhspatti Tattwa, the analytic
tensions of the teachings begin and end with dialogues and resolutions. The Sang Hyang
Kamahayanikan provides the following example:
A student asks: What aksara must I study so that I might meet with the essence of all
things, because that is the body of the Great God? What can I study to fuse myself with
the divine?
The answer: If you really want to know all, it is written in the Aji Yoga Dara (the support
of Yoga). It consists of two written characters with three meanings. There is the Adwaya
(non-duality), which has the written character (aksara), Ang. There is also the Adwaya-
Jnana (knowledge of the non-dual) which resides in the character, Ah.
The person who already knows this has the belief in Sekala (manifest world) and Niskala
(unmanifest world).
The third meaning is to be called ‘ling antaria ta’ or the voice between. Now, the
characters Ang/Ah adwaya and adwaya jnana fulfill a purpose. Adwaya becomes Ang
at the time the breath enters the body. When the body exhales, it is Ah or Adwaya-
jnana.
Adwata is the father. Adwaya-jnana is the mother. This means prajna paramita (the
goddess of perfect wisdom).
This, if adwaya and adwaya-jnana meet, the result of the meaning takes the form of the
divine.
That person, manifestation, will later give off a brilliant light.
13

14. Thus, Sang Hyang Adwaya is the father of Bhatara Buddha. Sang Hyang Adwaya-jnana
is Dewi Bharali (a Buddhist goddess). Prajna (wisdom) Paramita (virtue) is the mother of
the Buddha.
Ang is the name of the Adwaya.
Ah is the name of Adwaya-jnana.
The Adwaya (non-duality) literature is the essence of the Sastra Tarka (the science of
interpretation).
If someone knows that which Aji Tarka is, then they have knowledge of Adwaya-jnana.
Because Bharali Prajna-Paramita is a child of the searching thoughts of the interpreter of
the Aji Tarka, that is the road that will cause the seeker to meet with Sang Hyang
Buddha.
The product of Aji Karana (the great causal original) text is that they will meet with
Sang Hyang Adwaya (non-duality).
Consequently, the Wyakarana (grammarian) is the one who can obtain Sang Hyang
Adwaya-jnana (the great non-dual knowledge). It is the meeting of Wyakarana and
prakarana (treatise, discussion) that will cause the release of Aji Tantra (Tantric writings,
knowledge). Aji Tantra is like the body of Sang Hyang Tantra (the great god Tantra,
Tantra being a body of works containing magical and mystical formulas). It is more than
sacred thoughts within these texts that make up the body of Sang Hyang Buddha.
Thus, the quintessence of the sacred thoughts meets with our strengths. We are quiet,
without speech. This is what can be called Ang/Ah. (translated from Bahasa Kawi to
Bahasa Indonesia by Ida Bagus Ketut Sudiasa, November 11, 1990)
Although the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan is quite a long and complex text with many
sections relevant to the thesis, Ida Bagus felt that the above quote spoke to the topic of
the research. The question raised by the student interlocutor of the SHK is, “what writing
or Tantric symbols must I study to go into the heart of things, to become one with God?”
What will alleviate my intellect in my efforts to achieve this goal?” The answer to this
question was the Aji Yoga Dara.
The abstract goal of Yoga is to reach its origins in the void, Sunyata. But, as
written earlier, in order to reach one’s origins, be it the void or the yogic meditations of
Sang Hyang Suksma (i.e. Purwaagamagosa), one must reverse the process of creation.8
Through the repetition of the authoritative/coincidental meeting of the rwa bhinneda, the
author emphasizes its value to the text. Through the formation of this ‘heavy’ foundation,
he can draw the necessary associations between the sets, thus creating extensions from
the original pair. The temporal progression and momentum of the text built with each
new association, each harkening back to its primordial origins. Through these greater
associations (greater fulfillment of reader expectations and textual coherence) so does the
authority of the primordial pair gain authority and transparency.
First, there is Adwaya. Adwaya, or non-duality, is a Tantric and Mahayana ideal.
Adwaya, according to the SMK, is the father of all things. To associate the concept of
8
As it is written in the Wrhspatti Tattwa, the fusion of the duality is the source of both life and Maya
(illusion). The reversal of this process, a yogically or poetically catalyzed remembrance of one’s origins,
causes a break down of what the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan refers to as ‘ling antaria ta (the space
between adwaya and adwaya-jnana) and a re-marriage of the two polar forces, the fusion of which produces
illumination.
14

15. Father with the abstract concept of non-duality also serves to invite this-worldly
associations for the reader. Such associations and expectations become more complex as
the text proceeds. Santoso does appear to be right in relations to the manipulation of the
gods and ‘this worldly’ figures for their own exegetical purposes. The Buddhist texts,
unlike their Saivite contemporaries, make a break from the celestial hierophany for the
sake of the complexity of perception and the road towards release from it.
The next necessary distinction refers to adwaya-jnana (knowledge of non-duality).
Adwaya-jnana, or the seed syllable Ah, is the maternal principle. Ida Bagus Ketut
Sudiasa commented that those who believe in this duality (paternal Adwaya and material
adwaya-jnana, has belief in Sekala (the manifest) and Niskala (the unmanifest). Up to
this section of the text, the connection between the ‘rwa bhinneda’ of Adwaya and
Adwaya-jnana has been represented as being synonymous with the duality of
mother/father and manifest and un-manifest worlds. If understood by the Saivite
interpreter, such as Ida Bagus Ketut, these distinctions are the same as those made in
Hinduism. These bindary pairs, as referred to in the Wrhspatti-tattwa and the
Purwaagamamagosa represent the earth/sky polarity, the sacred and the profane.
The text says that the Ang/Ah characters serve a purpose. Ang is the inhaling breath
used in Yoga (prana-yama) and Ah is the exhalation. The meeting of these two functions
is a mystical one, because, in truth, the inhalation and exhalation are inseparable. There is
no-non-respiration. If the yogic devotee is aware, mindful, of this, then they realize one
important step in the understanding of the impermanence of life and the misleading
constructs (linguistic and cognitive) which distract the ordinary person from becoming
aware of such concepts.
Santoso’s proposal appears more likely when seen in the light of the next part of the
text: the geneology of the Buddha. The Sang Hyang Kamahayanika says that when
Adwaya (the father) and Adwaya-jnana (mother) meet:
“this meeting takes the form of God. That person, manifestation,
will later give off a luminescent light. Thus, Sang Hyang Adwaya is the
father of Bhatara Buddha. Sang Hyang Adwaya-jnana is Dewi bharali (a
Buddhist goddess) or Prajaparamita, the mother of the Buddha.
The aforementioned Buddha is not the Buddha Gautama of the Sakya clan of North
India, but rather this Buddha more closely resembles ‘son of Buddhi-enlightened
consciousness’ of the Old Javanese Brhamandapurana which Santoso mentioned (see
above). One cannot even make the argument that this Bdudha is the son of Buddhist
goddess Prajna-Paramita (perhaps misconstrued as the actual heavenly entity) because
she too appears to be only a tool for philosophical explanation. The Sang Hyang
Kamahayanikan defines Prajna-Paramita as “the child of thoughts searching for
comprehension of the Aji Tarka (the holy text of interpretation).”
The Sang Hyang Kamahayanika, more than any of the other texts I have seen, appears
to deal with literature as a vehicle towards release, or in this case, the bringing together of
Adwaya and Adwaya-jnana. In a later section of the Sang Hyang Kamahayanika there is
a passage stating “Sang Hyang Adwaya and Sang Hyang Adwaya-jnana are the Sari
(quintessence) of all literature, as well as of all Gama (religious or Agamas—a reference
to philosophical exegesis in the Tantric period). All of these are considered in the
15

16. quintessence of the tattwas (explanatory text) etc…” In the excerpt translated in this
chapter the structure of the Sari of the literature is dealt with in detail.
In the next section of the text, there are a series of important connections made
between 1) the necessary path to follow and how to follow it; 2) The releationship
between adwaya-jnana/Adwaya and with the holy texts of causality and interpretation; 3)
the relationship between the grammarian and discourse and 4) how these come to bring
about the creation of the Buddha and the release of the devotee. Adwaya is the essence of
the holy interpretative texts (Aji Tarka). The knower of the Aji Tarka is aware of
adwaya-jnana. Prajna-Paramita is the child of the thoughts searching for the Sari
(adwaya) of the holy texts of interpretation (Aji Tarka). Such seeking is “the path which
will cause the seeker to meet with Sang Hyang Buddha.” The meeting of Sang Hyang
Buddha is caused by the seeker’s knowledge of the Aji Tarka, thus bringing about
Adwaya-jnana, which allows for the meeting of the essence of knowledge with the
essence of the Aji Tarka, the very content of the body of the Buddha (son of Budhi). The
great text of causality/creation (Aji Karana) produces the meeting with its essence,
Adwaya.
Needless to say, the above assembly of concepts, its reliance on ephemerality over
deity, matriliny over lineage, suggest a different period when archaic Srivijayan
Buddhism was deeply driven by the femininity of Buddhist essence? For the practical
purposes of this research, such questions will have to remain unaddressed. Instead, the
author leaves us with the suggestion that a grammarian, and not a deity, manipulates
literature for the purpose of enlightenment. The social machinations of Saivite Hinduism
favored caste (warna) over concept, dharmic actions over reflective ascendance. In the
SHK, special reference is made to the Aji Wyakarana (the great writings of grammar).
The Aji Wyakarana is responsible for elevating the Ang/Ah binary set in meditation,
philosophical and ritual reference. Despite the grammarians and their writings, grammar
is still used to make even the ‘text of grammar’ coherent. For this reason, the grammarian
will meet and create the ‘knowledge of the non-dual’. It is, practically speaking, the
meeting of the grammarian (wiyakarana-knower of adwaya-jnana), whose knowledge
gives order, meter and refinement to the irregularities of ordinary speech with the
Prakarana (discourse, unrefined discussion which brings about Aji Tantra.
If the Buddha is born of the meeting of Adwaya and Adwaya-jnana, ‘it is the
knowledge of the Aji Tantra” that compose his body. Thus, when we read Tantric texts
such as the Sang Hyang Kamahayankan, the quintessence (adwaya)
16