CHAPTER II

MAN AND HIS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE (a) Creation of Man A common feature in Malay romances and legends is a description of the supernatural development of a young child in the interior of some vegetable production, usually a bamboo. Sir W. E. Maxwell has pointed out the fact of the existence, both in Malay and Japanese legends, of the main features of this story, to which he assigns a Buddhistic origin. He tells the story as follows:-- "The Raja of the Bamboo.--Some years ago I collected a number of legends current among Malayan tribes having as their principal incident the supernatural development of a prince, princess, or demi-god in the stem of a bamboo, or tree, or the interior of some closed receptacle. [32] I omitted, however, to mention that this very characteristic Malay myth occurs in the "Sri Rama," a Malay prose hikayat, [33] which, as its name betokens, professes to describe the adventures of the hero of the Râmâyana. "Roorda van Eysinga's edition of the Sri Rama opens with an account of how Maharaja Dasaratha sent his Chief Mantri, [34] Puspa Jaya Karma, to search for a suitable place at which to found a settlement. The site having been found and cleared, the narrative proceeds as follows:-- "'Now there was a clump of the betong [35] bamboo (sa'rumpun buluh betong), the colour of which was like gold of ten touch (amas sapuloh mutu), and its leaves like silver. All the trees which grew near bent in its direction, and it looked like a state umbrella (payong manuwangi [36]). The Mantri and people chopped at it, but as fast as they cut down a branch on one side, a fresh one shot forth on the other, to the great astonishment of all the Rajas, Mantris, and warriors. Puspa Vikrama Jaya hastened back to King Dasaratha and laid the matter before him. The latter was greatly surprised, and declared that he would go himself the next day and see the bamboo cut down. Next day he set out on a white elephant, attended by a splendid train of chiefs and followers, and on reaching the spot ordered the bamboo clump to be cut down. Vikrama Puspa Jaya pointed it out, shaded by the other forest trees. The king perceived that it was of very elegant appearance, and that an odour like spices and musk proceeded from it. He told Puspa Jaya Vikrama to cut it down, and the latter drew his sword, which was as big as the stem of a cocoa-nut tree, and with one stroke cut down one of the bamboos. But immediately a fresh stem shot forth on the other side, and this happened as often as a stroke was given. Then the king grew wroth, and getting down from his elephant he drew his own sword and made a cut with it at the bamboo, which severed a stem. Then, by the divine decree of the Dewatas, the king became aware of a female form in the bamboo clump seated on a highly ornamented platform (geta), her face shining like the full moon when it is fourteen days old, and the colour of her body being like gold of ten touch. On this, King Dasaratha quickly unloosed his girdle and saluted the princess. Then he lifted her on to his elephant and took her to his palace escorted by music and singing.'" [37] I myself have heard among the Selangor Malays similar legends to the above, which, as already pointed out, are common in Malay romances. A parallel myth is described in the following words:-- "Now, the Perak river overflows its banks once a year, and sometimes there are very great floods. Soon after the marriage of Nakhodah Kasim with the white Semang, [38] an unprecedented flood occurred and quantities of foam came down the river. Round the piles of the bathing-house, which, in accordance with Malay custom, stood in the bed of the river close to the bank in front of the house, the floating volumes of foam collected in a mass the size of an elephant. Nakhodah Kasim's wife went to bathe, and finding this island of froth in her way she attempted to move it away with a stick; she removed the upper portion of it and disclosed a female infant sitting in the midst of it enveloped all round with cloud-like foam. The child showed no fear, and the white Semang, carefully lifting her, carried her up to the house, heralding her discovery by loud shouts to her husband. The couple adopted the child willingly, for they had no children, and they treated her thenceforward as their own. They assembled the villagers and gave them a feast, solemnly announcing their adoption of the daughter of the river and their intention of leaving to her everything that they possessed. "The child was called Tan Puteh, but her father gave her the name of Teh Purba. [39] As she grew up the wealth of her foster-parents increased; the village grew in extent and population, and gradually became an important place." [40] The usual story of the first creation of man, however, appears to be a Malay modification of Arabic beliefs. Thus we are told that man was created from the four elements--earth, air, water, and fire--in a way which the following extract, taken from a Selangor charm-book, will explain:-- "God Almighty spake unto Gabriel, saying, 'Be not disobedient, O Gabriel, But go and get me the Heart of the Earth.' But he could not get the Heart of the Earth. 'I will not give it,' said the Earth. Then went the Prophet Israfel to get it, But he could not get the Heart of the Earth. Then went Michael to get it, But he could not get the Heart of the Earth. Then went Azrael to get it, And at last he got the Heart of the Earth. When he got the Heart of the Earth The empyrean and crystalline spheres shook, And the whole Universe (shook). When he got the Heart of the Earth he [41] made from it the Image of Adam. But the Heart of the Earth was then too hard; He mixed Water with it, and it became too soft, (So) he mixed Fire with it, and at last struck out the image of Adam. Then he raised up the image of Adam, And craved Life for it from Almighty God, And God Almighty gave it Life. Then sneezed God Almighty, and the image of Adam brake in pieces, And he (Azrael) returned to remake the image of Adam. Then God Almighty commanded to take steel of Khorassan, And drive it down his back, so that it became the thirty-three bones, The harder steel at the top, the softer below it. The harder steel shot up skywards, And the softer steel penetrated earthwards. Thus the image of Adam had life, and dwelt in Paradise. (There) Adam beheld (two ?) peacocks of no ordinary beauty, And the Angel Gabriel appeared. 'Verily, O Angel Gabriel, I am solitary, Easier is it to live in pairs, I crave a wife.' God Almighty spake, saying, 'Command Adam To pray at dawn a prayer of two genuflexions.' Then Adam prayed, and our Lady Eve descended, And was captured by the Prophet Adam; But before he had finished his prayer she was taken back, Therefore Adam prayed the prayer of two genuflexions as desired, And at the last obtained our Lady Eve. When they were married (Eve) bore twins every time, Until she had borne forty-four children, And the children, too, were wedded, handsome with handsome, and plain with plain." The magician who dictated the above account stated that when Azrael stretched forth his hand to take the Heart of the Earth, the Earth-spirit caught hold of his middle finger, which yielded to the strain, and thus became longer than the rest, and received its Malay name of the "Devil's Finger" (jari hantu). A parallel account adds that the Heart of the Earth was white, and gives a fuller description of the interview between Azrael and his formidable antagonist, the Earth. After saluting the latter in the orthodox Muhammadan fashion, Azrael explains his mission, and is met by a point-blank refusal. "I will not give it," said the Earth (referring to its Heart), "forasmuch as I was so created by God Almighty, and if you take away my Heart I shall assuredly die." At this brusque, though perhaps natural retort, the archangel loses his temper, and rudely exclaims that he "will take the Earth's Heart whether it will or no." Here Azrael "gave the Earth a push with his right hand and his left, and grasping at the Heart of the Earth, got hold of it and carried it back to the presence of God." God now summons Gabriel and orders him to mould (lit. forge) the image of Adam. Then Gabriel took the lump of earth which was the Earth's Heart and mixed it first with water to soften it, then, as it was too soft, with fire to harden it, and when the image was made, obtained life from God to put into it. [42] [The breaking of the first image which was made, and the making of the second, are here omitted]. Finally, the creation of "our Lady" Eve and the birth of her first-born are described, the latter occasion being accompanied by a thick darkness, which compelled Adam to take off his turban and beat the child therewith in order to dispel the evil influences (badi) which had attended its birth. [43] The following extract (from a Malay treatise quoted by Newbold) fairly describes the general state of Malay ideas respecting the constitution of the human body:-- "Plato, Socrates, Galen, Aristotle, and other philosophers affirm that God created man of a fixed number of bones, blood-vessels, etc. For instance, the skull is composed of 5 1/2 bones, the place of smell and sense of 7 bones, between this and the neck are 32 bones. The neck is composed of 7 bones, and the back of 24 bones; 208 bones are contained in the other members of the body. In all there are 360 bones and 360 blood-vessels in a man's body. The brains weigh 306 miscals, the blood 573. The total of all the bones, blood-vessels, large and small, and gristles, amounts to 1093; and the hairs of the head to six lacs and 4000. The frame of man is divided into 40 great parts, which are again subdivided. Four elements enter into his composition, viz. air, fire, earth, and water. With these elements are connected four essences--the soul or spirit with air, love with fire, concupiscence with earth, and wisdom with water." [44] (b) Sanctity of the Body In dealing with this branch of the subject I will first take the case of the kings and priestly magicians who present the most clearly-marked examples of personal sanctity which are now to be found among Malays, and will then describe the chief features of the sanctity ascribed to all ranks alike in respect of certain special parts of the ordinary human anatomy. The theory of the king as the Divine Man is held perhaps as strongly in the Malay region as in any other part of the world, a fact which is strikingly emphasised by the alleged right of Malay monarchs "to slay at pleasure, without being guilty of a crime." Not only is the king's person considered sacred, but the sanctity of his body is believed to communicate itself to his regalia, and to slay those who break the royal taboos. Thus it is firmly believed that any one who seriously offends the royal person, who touches (even for a moment) or who imitates (even with the king's permission) the chief objects of the regalia, [45] or who wrongfully makes use of any of the insignia or privileges of royalty, will be kena daulat, i.e. struck dead, by a quasi-electric discharge of that Divine Power which the Malays suppose to reside in the king's person, [46] and which is called "Daulat" or "Royal Sanctity." Before I proceed, however, to discuss this power, it will be best to give some description of the regalia in which it resides:-- Of Malacca Newbold says: "The articles of Malay regalia usually consist of a silasila, or book of genealogical descent, a code of laws, a vest or baju, and a few weapons, generally a kris, kleywang, or spear." [47] "The limbing is a sort of lance; the tombak bandrang a spear of state, four or seven of which are usually carried before the chiefs in the interior of the Peninsula. The handle is covered with a substance flowing from it like a horse-tail, dyed crimson, sometimes crimson and white; this is generally of hair." [48] So in Leyden's translation of the Malay Annals (1821) we read-- "My name is Bichitram Shah, who am raja.... This is the sword, Chora sa mendang kian (i.e. mandakini), and that is the lance, Limbuar (i.e. limbuara); this is the signet, Cayu Gampit, which is employed in correspondence with rajas." [49] "The Chora sa medang kian (i.e. mandakini) is the celebrated sword with which Peramas Cumunbang killed the enormous serpent Sicatimuna, which ravaged the country of Menangkabowe about the beginning of the twelfth century." [50] Of the Perak regalia we read: "Tan Saban was commanded by his mistress to open negotiations with Johor, and this having been done, a prince of the royal house of that kingdom, who traced his descent from the old line of Menangkabau, sailed for Perak to assume the sovereignty. He brought with him the insignia of royalty, namely, the royal drums (gandang nobat), the pipes (nafiri), the flutes (sarunei and bangsi), the betel-box (puan naga taru), the sword (chora mandakini), the sword (perbujang), the sceptre (kayu gamit), the jewel (kamala), the surat chiri, the seal of state (chap halilintar), and the umbrella (ubar-ubar). All these were enclosed in a box called Baninan." [51] In Selangor the regalia consisted of the royal instruments of music--(the big State Drum or naubat, beaten at the king's coronation; the two small State Drums (gendang); the two State Kettle-drums (langkara); the lempiri or State Trumpet, and the serunei or State Flute--to which perhaps a bangsi should be added, as in the Perak list)--which were seldom, if ever, moved, and the following articles which were carried in procession on state occasions: [52]--