Batara Guru

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Batara Guru , ( Tagalog : Bathala , Malaysian : Berhala ) is the highest of all divine beings in Southeast Asian mythology, the so-called Dewa and Dewata or Diwa and Diwata ( Sanskrit : देव), and mostly the creator of humans. Its name changes depending on the region. He is also known as Sang Hyang Jagadnata (ruler of the universe), Bathalang Maykapal (almighty god) or as Sang Hyang Girinata (ruler of the mountains). The last name arose from the idea that in primeval times all kingdoms should have been on mountains.

Depending on the island and region of Southeast Asia, there are z. T. Differences in mythological narratives, which is why inconsistencies between different stories are quite common. In many stories about Batara Guru and other gods or legendary heroes of Southeast Asia, one finds clear influences of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana , which are particularly pronounced in Indonesia's Wayang. In addition, the narratives in Indonesia have Islamic references, while in the Philippines they have Christian references. What all stories have in common is the greatest antagonist of the human father: the primal being Naga Padoha ( Bakunawa ). It's a giant snake and the ruler of the underworld. It is so big that it can devour the moon . Most of the time, the Southeast Asian myths are passed on orally to the next generation.

Batara Guru's children

On Luzon it is said that Bathala has three children, a son and two daughters, with a human wife. They are called Apolaki ( Adlaw / Arao ), god of war and guardian of the sun, Mayari ( Bulan ), goddess of the moon, and Tala , the morning star. Depending on the region, the goddess Hanan , the dawn, can also belong to this family, either as a daughter or sister of the moon goddess.

On Java the god father Batara Guru has eight sons with his wife Dewi Uma . There they are called:

Seat of god

The kingdom of the gods and thus the seat of Batara Guru is Kahyangan (kingdom of the "Hyang" [indon .: gods]), also known as Kadewatan (indon./tag./Mal .: kingdom of Dewa) or Kaindran (kingdom of Indra, a being who oversees the gods) or Kaluwalhatian (Tag .: Kingdom of Heaven).

Batara Guru in the Wayang

While in the Philippine archipelago the creator of man is described as one of the primordial beings and fights for the right to rule, according to the Wayang Kulit he is the son of Sang Hyang Tunggal , the father of gods. He threw an egg on the ground and created three gods. The oldest was Togog (Tedjomantri), the king of giants, created from the eggshell. The second son was Semar (in other legends: Sang Hyang Ismoyo), who arose from the yolk. And the youngest was Sang Hyang Manikmoyo ( Sang Hyang Manikmaya based on Indian stories), created by the protein. As a divine ruler he was named Guru / Batara Guru / Bathala .

Batara Guru is usually represented with four arms and hands. Legend has it that this is related to a figure of light who first appeared as a baby and then turned into a beautiful girl. Batara Guru wanted to catch her, but whatever he tried, she got away from him. He asked his father for help and he gave him two more arms and hands. With this, Batara Guru managed to catch the girl. He called her Uma and she later became his first wife.

Depending on the story, Batara Guru received the authority to rule over the gods either from Sang Hyang Wenang , the overseer of the gods, or from his father. He was chosen because of the three sons he had the best abilities to be a leader, whereas the other two fought for the throne and were transformed. Since his reign, Batara Guru has ensured that all divine beings and primordial spirits fulfill their duties. His two brothers are at his side as advisors.

Batara Guru, Wayang Klitik from East Java, mid-19th century

As a young god, Batara Guru was of such outstanding beauty and flawlessness. However, he was so enamored with himself that his father was forced to add some mistakes to him.

When in contact with people, he is usually accompanied by Batara Narada . He is the only one whom Batara Guru consults on all possible occasions. Often they argue violently. At one of these debates Batara Guru got very angry and called Batara Narada, who until then had a beautiful, youthful body, a "really ugly gnome" and immediately the divine word became a reality. Since such words can no longer be taken back, this form remained for him. Batara Guru was sorry for this and he vowed never to let himself get carried away again. From then on, the language between the two was carefully chosen and polite.

The story of creation

In the following, different variants of the Southeast Asian creation story from different regions of the archipelagos are presented in order to highlight similarities and differences in the narratives. In these, Batara Guru, or Bathala, creates people.

The creation story in Sumatra

Batara Guru formed the earth and is the ancestor of all people. A swallow told Batara Guru one day that his daughter, Boru Deak Parudjar, jumped out of the sky into the endless sea below. Batara Guru did not hesitate and gave the bird soil and ordered it to scatter it over the water so that his daughter could walk on it.

Land formed from the earth and seeds scattered over the Batara Guru, from which plants and animals grew.

Last but not least, Batara Guru sent a manifestation of himself to earth and fought and defeated the primal being Naga Padoha (known in the Philippines as Bakunawa ), a giant serpent who ruled the underworld. After defeating the snake, Batara Guru was allowed to ask for the hand of Boru Deak Parudjar and both became the parents of the first humans.

The creation story on Luzon

In the beginning, when the earth was young, there were only three beings, Bathala , Aman Sinaya and Amihan . Bathala was the god of the heavens (Tag .: Langit ), Aman Sinaya the goddess of the seas (Tag .: Linaw / Dagat ). Both argued and fought each other every day. Bathala used its lightning and thunder, and Aman Sinaya used its waves and typhoons.

One day Aman Sinaya decided to send her storm to the heavens to cause trouble. Bathala threw rocks from the sky to fight his rival, and thus created the land. Amihan , the north wind that existed between the realm of heaven and water, decided to end the battle of the two gods. He turned into a bird and kept flying back and forth between the two worlds until they were moved together by his wind - so far that both worlds touched. Thereupon the two quarrelsome gods decided on a truce, from then on worked together and became friends.

As a token of this friendship, Bathala planted a seed on the other side of the sea floor. This became a mighty bamboo shoot that protruded far out of the sea. Amihan, the north wind, who had taken the form of a bird, noticed that voices were coming from the rung: “North wind, dear north wind! Please let us out! ”Amihan pecked at the rung, which then split lengthways into two halves of equal size, from each half a human being rose, a man and a woman. Amihan called them Malakas (German: strong) and Maganda (German: pretty). He brought them ashore, where they would henceforth live their lives.

Malakas and Maganda saw that all beings they met had offspring with their partners, and wanted to do the same. But since they were siblings, they were forbidden. And so they asked Bathala how they could reproduce. Bathala replied that this was only possible if each being would give the two their blessings for a marriage. And so the two people traveled through the still young world and asked the turtle (tag .: Pagong), the crocodile (tag .: Buhaya), the north wind and every creature for permission. When they received this, they both fathered millions of children.

The story of creation on the Visayas

At the beginning of the period there were only three powerful deities, Bathala , Ulilang Kaluluwa and Galang Kaluluwa . They were the only beings in space and didn't know each other. Bathala always took care of the earth, while Ulilang Kaluluwa, a giant serpent, dwelt in the heavens. Galang Kaluluwa was a winged being, wandering the void of the universe.

Bathala wanted to create life on the barren earth because of his great loneliness, but he could not form anything out of the dead earth. Ulilang Kaluluwa, on the other hand, visited many places and found the earth lovely. There the two gods met. Ulilang Kaluluwa was dissatisfied with the existence of another god and challenged Bathala; the winner should rule the universe. After three days and three nights of fighting, Bathala killed the snake. But instead of burying her honorably, he burned the body on the ground.

After a number of years it happened that Galang Kaluluwa landed on Bathala's homeland. He welcomed the winged deity and invited her to live in his kingdom. The friendship of both grew very deep and strong. But Galang Kaluluwa fell ill. The deity commissioned her friend Bathala to bury her remains where he previously burned Ulilang Kaluluwa. Bathala did as he was told, and from the resting place of the two gods a large single-stemmed tree grew, on which again nuts grew. This was the first palm.

Bathala took the nut, shelled it, and noticed that the inside of the nut was hard. He looked at the nut and saw that it resembled Galang Kaluluwa's head, for the nut had two eyes, a flat nose and a round mouth. The leaves of the palm reminded him of the god's wings, but the trunk had the harshness and ugliness of the serpent Ulilang Kaluluwa. Bathala realized that Galang Kaluluwa's gift to him was that through the plant and the nut he could create all life on earth. So he created other plants, animals and finally people from the palm. He discovered that you could eat the meat of the nut, drink the juice, make mats, hats and brooms from the leaves and make ropes and clothing from the fibers of the plant.

See also

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  1. ↑ http://www.joglosemar.co.id/bataraguru.html
  2. ↑ Batara Guru ( Memento from April 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Pool/1644/precolonial.html ( Memento from November 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ a b MALÁKAS at MAGANDÁ: (Strong and Beautiful) THE FIRST PEOPLE ON EARTH ( Memento from February 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Turoturo.com
  5. ↑ The RANAO and MINDAYEN Blog ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )