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| AHYMSIN Newsletter, Issue - Mar 2013 | |||||
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Introduction to Baliby Swami Veda Bharati Paraphrased transcript of talk given by Swami Veda Bharati on 31st December 2012 to welcome the Balinese delegation at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama with amendments based on research by Joanne Sullivan Om Svasti Astu: this is the common greeting in Bali. The Thai version is shorter, simply the word svasti (pronounced there as swasdee). Indonesia is a country of 17,000-18,000 islands. [Source: Islands of Indonesia, http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Islands_of_Indonesia.html whose source is Wikipedia .] All the way from the Strait of Malacca (ancient Amalaka) and Sumatra, all the way to Jayapura, the capital of Papua. It is a land of many cultures, many languages. At one time, 700 languages used to be spoken; now only about 20 are predominant while the others are being eclipsed. The official language is Bahasa Indonesia; bahasa, for Sanskrit bhaasha for language. It is almost the same as Bahasa Malaysia. [“Languages of Indonesia: Across Indonesia, people speak the official national language of Indonesian, which was created after independence as a lingua franca from Malay roots. However, as we said, there are more than 700 other languages in active use throughout the archipelago, and few Indonesians speak the national language as their mother tongue. Javanese is the most popular first language, boasting 84 million speakers. It is followed by Sundanese and Madurese, with 34 and 14 million speakers, respectively. The written forms of Indonesia's multitude of languages may be rendered in modified Sanskrit, Arabic or Latin writing systems.” Source: About.com: Asian History.http://asianhistory.about.com/od/indonesia/p/indonesiaprof.htm .] But I’ll concentrate on Bali, what little I know. The culture was begun by the Rishis of India, whose names are no longer taught in the schools of India but which are common in the schools of Bali - Markandeya, Bharadwaaja, Agastya - the names we read in the Puranas in India. They are part of the way the history of Bali is taught in the schools of Bali. When I look at the culture of Bali or of Thailand, I am looking at the history of India and I am trying to find out what the culture of India was like 2000 years ago. The kind of names of people that I read in the ancient texts which are no longer used in India, I found in Bali, like the name Devadaana. The only place it occurs in India is in the 4th century BC text of grammar by Patañjali but I met Mr. Devadaana in Bali. Thus the parts of the ancient Indian culture continue in Bali. The Balinese language has gone through three major periods: pure Sanskrit, Kavi and then Bahasa, same as Bhasha, and so also the literature. There is so much that India needs to learn from Bali now, for example, Nyepi Day, a day of total silence once a year, when even the Ngurah Rai International Airport of Denpasar is closed from 6 am to 6 am; no cars, no traffic, no entertainment, no TV; sit in the house, do contemplation, do prayers. Can we introduce that Nyepi Day in this noisy country called India? I am so happy to receive here his Royal Highness Prince Indra Udayana. He is heir of one of the eight kingdoms of Bali, namely, Puri Agung Negara Djembrana. Udayana was one of the great kings of Bali by whose name even the university, Udayana University, is named. Even though kingships were abolished in 1945, we here honour the heritage. The national motto of Indonesia is Bhinneka tunggal eka - One is many, many is one. This phrase was taken, at the independence of Indonesia from the Dutch, from a text called Sutasoma Kakavin. The word Kakavin means kaavya or great epic [as in Sutasoma Kakavin of] the 14th century. In the 139th chapter: I do not know the language but I will quote it and also read out the translation as I have found:
  This statement came about because there was often a discussion between the followers of Shiva and Buddha, and the poet in the 14th century wrote: “It is said that the well known Buddha and Shiva are two different substances; they are indeed different yet how is it possible to recognize their difference in a glance, since the truth of Buddha and the truth of Shiva are one. They may be different but they are of the same kind, as there is no duality in truth.” I am sorry, one of the pedandas,mahapanditas, the high priest who was here, by name Ida Pandita Mpu Yoga Parama Daksa, who met me a few days back upstairs, is not here, and it would be a great grace for you to see the venerable pedanda. It’s a country where the priests of every religion are paid by the government; every religion is supported by the government. That is the Indonesian form of secularism. One of the greatest contributions of Indonesia and of Bali is in this unity of religions. In the year 1011 at a place which is now known as Pura Samuan Tiga. In Pura Samuan Tiga in the year 1011, there was perhaps the first interreligious conference of three religions: Shiva, Buddha and Bali Aga, the traditional pre-Buddhist, pre-Hindu, Balinese religion. The scholars and the leaders sat down and worked out a system by which the three religions should work together and exchange forms with each other and that is the religion of Bali today. The social, economic and political system of Bali is based on a principle called tri-hita-karana. The Prince of Gianyar, Anak Agung Gde Agung, presented to me his book on that subject during a conference in the Parliament building of Amsterdam. I would like to introduce the book to you. Tri-hita-karana means three benevolent beneficent principles, that every human being has three aspects:
These are the three principles on which the entire culture of Bali is built. This was all established by the Rishis whose names are just about forgotten in India but are taught in the schools of Bali. I forgot to mention to you that in the schools of Bali there is a compulsory daily practice of tri-sandhya—Gayatri mantra recited by every school child three times a day. It’s a secular country. People in India think they have nothing to learn from anybody. One thing that most impresses me about the culture of Bali is the respect for women, the freedom of women, the safety of women. No woman in India feels safe; that is not the case in Bali. The women can walk free and they are respected, from the very ancient tradition. The entire agriculture system of Bali, which has made it one of the most important rice growers, was established in the 9th century, called Subak System. The entire agriculture system and water irrigation was charted for the whole country in the 9th century and that system still continues, controlled by the priests of a particular water temple. And in every farm there is a temple to Shri Devi and Bhu Devi. No farmer will perform his agricultural duties without first making offerings to Sri Devi and Bhu Devi. That is called culture, that Subak System. Some World Bank or United Nations scientists (I cannot recall the exact source) did a computer model that would be ideal for organizing agriculture in Bali. When they brought the model, the Balinese people said we have been practicing this since the 9th century. What are you bringing here? I do not know how many million dollars these WTO, these World Bank people, United Nations people, spent on creating that chart which was created in the 9th century without any computers and that Subak System still continues. For further information read J. Stephen Lansing: Priests and Programmers; Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali (Princeton, 2007). I know that the Subak system was being considered for the World Heritage status by the United Nations; I do not know what transpired. There is a book by the Prof. J. Gonda under whom I did my D.Lit. in Holland, Sanskrit in Indonesia. Those who are interested in the history of India should read it. The words that have disappeared in the language of India are still used there. For example; Chaabi in Hindi for key is from Spanish and Portuguese. The Balinese word is kunchi. In Punjabi we have kunji. For honey the Balinese word is madhu - pure Sanskrit. The calendar that we opened was presented to me by the dancers who came here from Yogyakarta in 2007. It has 210 squares for 210 days of the year because the Balinese year has 210 days, and the calendar is showing which day is good for what: this day is good for planting trees; this day is good for traveling East; this day is good for traveling West. The Balinese actually follow those principles. I have heard in Bali the life story of a great yogi, Dvijendra Nirartha. I have not found it in published form; maybe it is available in Balinese. I would like to popularize the story of this great yogi, Dvijendra Nirartha of the 16th Century. When Islam took over the Majapahit Empire disintegrated and Islam took hold, Dvijendra brought the culture over to Bali and revived it. He sent his family over by a ship from Java to Bali. They asked, “What about you?” He said “I will come, I will come.” They did not understand how he would come. When the ship arrived he was already there because he had floated a leaf, sat down on the leaf and had gone across the sea. These are the stories about the great yogi Dvijendra Nirartha in Bali, and I pay him great homage among the great yogis. I wish I could popularize his history. It was Dvijendra Nirartha who established almost every temple that you visit in Bali. It’s a long history, a long story. The system of tri-hita-karana needs to be reintroduced in all nations so that everyone lives by this (a) relationship with God and devas, (b) the relationship among human beings, (c) the relationship with nature. At present, in the world culture, this principle of tri-hita-karana is almost completely lost. We have been watching the dance performance by the artists from Bali this evening. In the West, and also in modern India very fast, you view it as an art form. In traditional Asia we don’t view it as an art form. We view it as a worship form. I identify with that Asia. These are not art forms. You are seeing worship forms. As Prince Udayana just said, these are performed in the temples or in the royal palaces. A word about the literature. Many books that have been lost in India are preserved in Bali. Some of those have been translated into English but much is not. Dr. Phalgunadi has done partial translations of the Balinese version of Mahabharata. The Uttara-kanda of Ramayana as we read it in India is very different from the one that is sung in Bali. In Bali the respect and honour for sacred books is such that although there are a lot of printing presses, the sacred books are not printed. They are often hand copied on lontar, on palm leaf up to this day. I have been wanting to own at least one lontar text. These texts are still copied from the tradition. When the learned priests recite the Ramayana Kakavin, it is not done casually. Worship is performed where the book is kept. There is a special ritual of lifting the sacred book, carrying it in a procession, bringing to a special place, doing the bhumi-puja, worshipping and consecrating the ground, then placing the book there. Then the priest will sit and recite the Ramayana. Take Wayang Kulit, the ancient shadow plays, [the so-called puppet show because to the tourists it is a puppet show—but not to us]. Eight hours the master sits in one position. Before that he meditates for many hours. Eight hours he sits in one position, in one asana. In yoga we call it asana-siddhi. The people sit there as worshippers to watch the story of Ramayana or Arjuna in Mahabharata or whatever - all night, they are sitting worshipfully, and that is one of the worship forms - not an art form. It survives because it is part of the worship, because it has the sentiment of devotion. So, I am so happy that Prince Udayana and the venerable pedanda and the dancers Diya Mahayani and Yastika whom you have seen performing --that they have come. I have had discussions with Prince Udayana that they will send me 10 people from Bali every year to train in meditation. We will do that.   Sir, the tradition of Rishis has just about disappeared in India, but some of it remains. Some of us still think the way the rishis thought. And we are trying our best, that in the onslaught of modernity, some of it somehow may still continue and Bali has much to teach to us also. How you managed; how you managed the relationships among religions; how you still respect those ancient Sanskrit texts and Kakavin texts. The writing that you saw on the calendar that was just displayed is in Akshara-Bali. The Kakavin script was used up to the 15th Century and then it was modernized; the present lettering is Akshara-Bali. So this calendar is not more than 400 years old and not in the Kavi script. I don’t want to stand between you and the dance -- the worship -- not dance. Earlier I had the honour of welcoming the Pedanda as well as Lady Praptini, the lady deputy director of Institute Hindu Dharma in Denpasar. And I also wish to welcome our guests, Pujawati and Mr. Tarasana, I welcome to you also. Thank you. [At this point the dancers and the select guests including Prince Indra Udayana were honoured with hand-spun and hand-woven silk shawls.] It is my pleasure to honour you and welcome you here this way. I wish you success in your mission, and I am waiting for the time when I can actually visit the Pura, the temple you are building in Rishikesh. God bless you. Editor’s Note:To read “Bali Comes to SRSG,” please use this link: http://www.ahymsin.org/docs2/News/1301Jan/03.html To visit the UNESCO World Heritage page “Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy”: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1194 To read “Bali in the Balance,” an article about Anak Agung Gde Agung and tri-hita-karana: http://odewire.com/57688/bali-in-the-balance.html
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