28th Edition - The President Post

A2
October 12, 2011
The President Post
www.thepresidentpost.com
Opinion
Great Man, Great King, Great Leader
By Mohamad Sobary
A king whom is
respected, obeyed
by his people, is also
called a great king.
Thus a popular idea
was launched: “Throne
for the People” which
suggested that a
kingdom and its king
provide protections –
in many aspects of life
– to the people
TThe people of Solo
are very proud of
their great poets because
Yogyakarta
never had one.
Ronggo Warsito is
one of the great poets it has, whose
reputation still lives on until today
and who was admired for his ability
to ‘read’ the signs of the time
that were relevant to the current
condition. His thoughts about the
“era of madness” had been passed
down as a way to look at the “value
system” and the dynamics of
social changes that are still adopted
today and very popular among
all social layers.
He didn’t actually have the skill
to see the future; he only analyzed
the socio-political condition at the
Solo Palace or locally known as
Kraton Solo during the Dutch colonial
era which he thought was
“devastating” because of an anomie
condition he described as
tense and “threatening” to the
harmony of the Javanese culture
during that period of time.
The people of Yogyakarta also
had their own pride. They are
proud that Yogyakarta had great
kings and Solo didn’t. The rich
cultural colors that both Kraton
Yogya and Solo have are passed
down to their generations with enmity,
or in sociological term called
“cultural animosity”. The fact was
that the two Kratons had actually
“emerged” from the same ancestor:
Raden Sutawijaya, who
was later known as Panembahan
Senapati.
Panembahan – who was during
his younger years called Raden
Ngabehi Loring Pasar – was recorded
in history as the founder
of Mataram Dynasty that moved
Pajang Kingdom to a new central
government he built in Kota Gede
called the old Kraton. The founder
of the Mataram dynasty (1578-
1601) was a great king. The people
called him “Wong agung ing
Ngeksigondo”, the great man, the
great king, in Ngeksigondo, in the
Kota Gede area. He was a student
who chewed everything that his
teacher, Sultan Hadiwijaya – who
was known as Jaka Tingkir at
his younger age because he came
from Tingkir village – taught him
in Pajang.
For the Javanese people, to
equip oneself with skills and
knowledge and heritage represent
their aspirations to become
an ideal human being. By mastering
both the inner and physical
knowledge, Panembahan was
able to control the world of spirits.
In Javanese myths, Panembahan
and all the kings in Mataram after
him magically married Ratu
Kidul, the ruler of the Southern
Sea along the Java Island.
Here it was crystal clear that
the greatness of a king – in his
personal capacity – is measured
based on how much and how
deeply the king masters the inner
and physical knowledge and “kawaskitan”,
or the ability to understand
things that are related to
spirits and every phenomena that
would happen. Only special people
will be able to obtain the “laduni”
knowledge – knowledge obtained
without having to go through the
learning process, which is called
“waskita”. So, Panembahan Senopati
– as reflected in his title – is
called “Rojo asariro pandito – the
king that has the spirit and the
capacity to become a priest, man
of religion.
A king whom is respected,
obeyed by his people, is also
called a great king. Thus a popular
idea was launched: “Throne
for the People” which suggested
that a kingdom and its king provide
protections – in many aspects
of life – to the people. It would be
a great shame for the king and his
kingdom if the whole village from
one of its areas moved to another
kingdom to find a better living as
they consider the other kingdom
as safer and can guarantee their
livelihood.
Once upon a time while in front
of the Kaaba in Mecca, somebody
pulled the Sultan’s robe and
he was surprised to learn that it
was his own servant that did that
robe. The Sultan asked his servant
why he was there and how
he got there. The servant proudly
replied: thanks for your majesty’s
“karton luhringo” prayers. The
Sultan was obviously in shock.
This was because he was only
joking about “karton luringo”. Kar
means burning. Ton means concrete
– the seed of a jackfruit –
Luh means ten, Ri means kari or
leave, Ngo is “songo”, or nine. So,
For the Javanese
people, to equip
oneself with skills
and knowledge and
heritage represent their
aspirations to become
an ideal human being.
the complete meaning is: “mbakar
beton sepuluh gosong siji kari
songo” or burning ten jackfruit
seeds, one is badly burnt, leaving
only nine.
Noteworthy: the joke of a great
man can become a reality. Imagine
when he is serious. And it did
not stop there. The Sultan once
tested his understanding about
poverty. Was poverty a fate or was
it a “worldly invention” that can be
overcome with other “worldly inventions”?
With this question in
mind, the Sultan summoned the
kingdom’s ‘gamel’, a person who
looks after the Sultan’s horses.
The gamel was a poor man and he
lived in a village, outside the kraton.
After depositing hays for the
horses, the ‘gamel’ received a watermelon.
He said to himself that
village people don’t need watermelon.
He then went to the market
and sold the watermelon. He
bought cendol or traditional dessert
to quench his thirst from the
money he got from selling the watermelon.
Now, we all know that
the meat of the watermelon had
been replaced with gold, jewelries,
diamonds, and other valuable
gem stones. If these jewelries were
sold, the ‘gamel’ would have been
rich. And for sure, he would stop
working as a ‘gamel’. But a ‘gamel’
remains a ‘gamel’. And the Sultan
concluded: it turned out that
poverty is a “fate” that had been
brought down from the “sky”.
This is a folklore of the Yogyakarta
people, which has been
widely passed down and at the
same time to strengthen the greatness
of the Sultan among its people
until today. The greatness of
the Sultan is also attached closely
in the people’s hearts because he
also synchronized the Javanese
new year “Suro” with the Islamic
new year “Muharam”. The first
day of Suro is also the first day
of Muharam. Suro is Muharam,
and Muharam is Suro. Java and
Islam were synchronized to support
each other and to enrich one
another. Later on, in our era, this
spirit is translated as Indonesianization
of Islam, and indigenizing
Islam: joint ideas that matches
with one another, from Gus
Dur, Cak Nur and Pak Munawir
Sadzali, without any intention
to control or dominate but merely
to regulate and to offer spirituality
to create a peaceful Indonesia
both politically and culturally.
An inclusive great mind that created
peace was already born during
the era of the Great Sultan
and it was amazing. The Sultan
was indeed a great man and he
nurtured all sides, including the
world of spirits due to his marriage
to Ratu Kidul. The Sultan
left a trace of “rendezvous”, in the
form of a ‘Cepuri”, a romantic and
sacred small “palace” in Parang
Kusumo, which remains sacred
until today.
The Sultan’s greatness was
written in history when he defeated
VOC in Batavia. The great Sultan
was very courageous and daring.
Even the most wicked VOC
trembled when they faced the
great confrontation. It was during
this era that Mataram reached its
glory, its golden era, after the era
of Majapahit.
However, Mataram experienced
a major setback after this
while in the hands of the Amangkurats
who were unable to fight
the Dutch. The Trunojyo rebellion
erupted and shocked the Dutch
and Kraton that led the Kraton to
be moved to Kartosuro. When it
was moved again to Surokarto,
Paku Buwono II was very weak,
he let the condition to deteriorate
further. The Chinese rebellion in
1740-1743 made the condition become
worse. This was followed by
an insurgency by Raden Mas Sudjono,
or Pangeran Mangkubumi,
and Raden Mas Said, or Pangeran
Sambernyowo, who later became
Pangeran Mangkunegara I.
Finally in 1755, the kraton was divided
into two: Solo and Yogya.
Kraton Yogya was founded in
1755 under the Giyanti Agreement.
And Raden Mas Sudjono,
Pangeran Mangkubumi, took
the throne with a title: “Sampeyan
Dalem Ingkang Sinuwun Kanjeng
Sultan Hamengku Buwono,
Senopati ing Ngalogo, Abdurrahman
Sayyidin Panotogomo, Khalifatullah.
Hamengku Buwono is a
symbol of a king that serves the
world and one who protects every
citizen. Hamengku means a leader
that has to give more and not
ask from its people.
For the Javanese people, the
Sultan is very ideal because he
has to understand where human
beings come from and where they
will return. Sultan also means
that he has to build lives in harmony
to create the “manunggaling
kawulo gusti” environment.
It wasn’t a surprise to see
Hamengku Buwono got this title
because when he was young; he
was Pangeran Mangkubumi and
the title basically has the same
meaning as Hamengku Buwono.
The title Mangkubumi was also
not surprising because he was the
son of Amangkurat IV, the ruler of
the universe.
Ngerso Dalem Kanjeng Sulan
Hamengku Buwono IX had other
greatness because he ruled in a
different era. The Dutch was very
irritated by him because this Sultan
always defeated them. Let’s
not forget about Yogya’s huge sacrifice
for this republic. If at the
time the Sultan wanted to remain
a Sultan, Yogya would be considered
a foreign country, and that
means the leaders of this republic
who happened to be in Yogyakarta
were in a foreign country – that
would make this republic running
without leaders. That would
have made it easy for the slick
Dutch leaders to take over and
abort this republic. But the Sultan
was “wong agung lan waskito”.
And it was he who formulated
the suggestion “The Throne for
the People”.
Until now, the Sultan’s greatness
is still maintained. And
in Sabdatama, the command
and words of Ngerso Dalem, The
throne for the People, will live eternally.
Only the people who do not
understand history and those
who do not know how to return
favors would insist on eliminating
Yogyakarta’s special privilege.
Until now, the
Sultan’s greatness is
still maintained. And
in Sabdatama, the
command and words
of Ngerso Dalem,
The throne for the
People, will live
eternally. Only the
people who do not
understand history
and those who do
not know how to
return favors would
insist on eliminating
Yogyakarta’s special
privilege.
The President Post
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