The Mythological Creature
Mythology of Java (Sri)

°•.Sri lank.•°

Dewi Sri (Javanese), Nyai Pohaci Sanghyang Asri (Sunanese), Sangiang Serri (Bugis), is an agricultural goddess, goddess of rice and rice fields, as well as fertility goddess in Java and Bali. The breeding and worship of it has been going on since pre-Hindu and pre-Islamic times in Java.

•°.Attributes and legends of the game•.

She is believed to be a goddess who rules the realm of the underground world as well as the moon. Her role includes all aspects of the Mother Goddess, namely as a protector of birth and life. It can also control foodstuffs on earth especially rice: the staple food of Indonesian society; hence it governs life, wealth, and prosperity. Blessings are especially abundant rice harvest and glorified since the time of ancient kingdoms on the island of Java such as Majapahit and Pajajaran.

Dewi Sri also controls all the opposite; poverty, famine, pestilence, and to a certain extent, affects death. Because it is a symbol for rice, it is also seen as the mother of life. Often it is associated with rice plants and paddy snakes.

•°Mitos Goddess of Paddy°

Most of the stories about Dewi Sri are related to the myth of the origin of rice plants, the main foodstuffs in this region. Here are some stories about Dewi Sri as the goddess of rice.

\=In Sundanese mythology\=

Once upon a time in Kahyangan, Batara Guru who became the supreme ruler of the kingdom of the sky, ordered all the gods and goddesses to work together, donating energy to build a new palace in kahyangan. Anyone who disobeys this command is considered lazy, and will have his hands and feet cut off.

Hearing the decree of Batara Guru, Antaboga (Anta) the serpent god was very anxious. He has no hands and no feet to work with. If it must be punished, it is left that can be cut, and that means death. Anta was very frightened, then he asked Batara Narada, Batara Guru's brother, for advice on the problems he faced. But unfortunately, Batara Narada was confused and could not find a way to help the serpent god. Desperate, Lord Anta cried bitterly lamenting how bad her fate was.

But when Anta's tears fell to the ground, miraculously three tears turned into a mustika that glittered like a jewel. The granule is actually an egg that has a beautiful shell. Barata Narada suggested that the details of the mustika be presented to Batara Guru as a form of plea for him to understand and forgive the shortcomings of Anta who could not work on building the palace.

With three mustika eggs in his mouth, Anta set out for Batara Guru palace. On the way, Anta met a crow who greeted Anta and asked where she was going. Because his mouth was full of eggs Anta just silently could not answer the crow's question. The crow thought Anta was arrogant so he was very offended and angry.

The black bird also attacked Anta who was panicked, frightened, and confused. As a result, a mustika egg broke. Anta immediately hid behind the bushes waiting for the crow to leave. But the crow kept waiting until Anta came out of the grass and clawed back Anta. The second egg broke, Anta immediately jagged inching to escape fear, now only a single mustika egg that survived, intact and not broken.

At last Anta arrived at Batara Guru palace and immediately presented the mustika egg to the ruler kahyangan. Batara Guru happily accepted the mustika offering. But after knowing the mustika is a magical egg, Batara Guru ordered Anta to incubate the egg until it hatches.

After a long time, Anta incubated the egg, then the egg hatched. But miraculously coming out of the egg was a very beautiful, funny, and adorable baby girl. The baby girl was immediately picked up by Batara Guru and his empress.

Nyi Pohaci Sanghyang Sri was the name given to the princess. As time passed, Nyi Pohaci grew into an amazingly beautiful girl. A kind-hearted daughter, meek, soft-spoken, lofty-minded, alluring to all. Every eye that looked at her, both god and human, immediately fell for the goddess.

Due to the beauty that defeated all the angels and goddesses of paradise, Batara Guru himself was lured to his adopted son. Secretly Batara teacher harbored the desire to challenge Nyi Pohaci. Seeing Batara Guru's legend, the gods became worried if left unchecked then this scandal would damage the harmony in kahyangan. So the gods also deliberated to arrange a strategy to separate Batara Guru and Nyi Pohaci Sanghyang Sri.

To protect the sanctity of Nyi Pohaci, while maintaining the harmony of the household of the ruler of kahyangan, the gods agreed that there was no other way but to kill Nyi Pohaci.

The gods collected all sorts of the deadliest venomous poisons and immediately affixed them to the princess' drink. Nyi Pohaci immediately died of poisoning, the gods were panicked and frightened because they had committed a great sin to kill an innocent holy girl. Soon the corpse of the goddess was brought down to earth and buried in a distant and hidden place.

The disappearance of Dewi Sri from kahyangan made Batara Guru, Anta, and all gods mourn. But something miraculous happened, because of the sanctity and goodness of the goddess, and from her grave there appeared a variety of plants that were very useful to mankind.

From his head came a coconut tree.

From his nose, lips, and ears appeared various fragrant spice plants and vegetables.

From her hair grew grasses and various beautiful and fragrant flowers

From her breasts grew sweet and sweet fruits.

From his arms and hands grew teak trees, sandalwood, and various useful wood trees; from his genitals came the palm tree or enau facing the sweet nira.

From his thighs grew various types of bamboo plants.

From his feet came various tubers and ketella plants; finally from his navel came rice plants, the most useful food for humans.

Another version mentions white hardened rice emerging from his right eye, while red-hardened rice from his left eye. In short, all plants useful to humans come from the body of Dewi Sri Pohaci. Since then the human race on the island of Java has worshipped, glorified, and loved the benevolent goddess, who by her sublime sacrifice has bestowed the blessings of nature's goodness, fertility, and food availability to mankind.

In the belief system of the ancient Sunda Kingdom, Nyi Pohaci Sanghyang Sri is considered the highest and most important goddess of agrarian society. As a highly venerated great figure, he has various versions of the story, mostly involving Dewi Sri (Dewi Asri, Nyi Pohaci) and his brother Sedana (Sadhana or Sadono), respectively, against the background of Medang Kamulan Kingdom, or kahyangan (with the involvement of gods such as Batara Guru), or both..

\=In Javanese mythology\=

This version is based on the play "Meaning",[3] which is also found in the manuscript "Serat Manikmaya", "Serat Pustakaraja Budhawaka", Serat Sejarah Ageng Nungsa Jewi", and "Fiber History wiwit Prophet Adam lan Babu Kawa Tumurun ing Ngarcapada".[4](hlm.96)

_The birth of the angel Niken Tiksnawati_

Originally told at the meeting of the gods in Kahyangan, Batara Guru tried to hold "Retna Dumilah", the mustika sakti of Batara Narada that can make the wearer do not need to eat and sleep, and the wearer does not need to eat and sleep, not wet exposed to water, and not burned by fire. Batara Guru's hand was not strong enough to hold Retna Dumilah so that the mustika was detached from Batara Guru's hand and fell to the seventh layer of earth where a dragon named Sang Hyang Antaboga caught and swallowed it. Antaboga later learned that the gods were looking for the mustika he swallowed and a desire arose to test them. He put the mustika into a cup then he gave it to Batara Guru. Batara Guru was unable to open the cupu, as well as Batara Narada and the other gods. Finally, the cupu was slammed by Batara Guru until it was destroyed. From the crushed cup came Retna Dumilah who changed shape into a baby girl. The baby was later named Niken Tiksnawati.

×Terciptanya padi× plants

At the age of 14, Tiksnawati became a very beautiful angel. Batara Guru falls in love and tries to interrupt Tiksnawati. Tiksnawati gave three conditions that must be supported by Batara Guru to edit it. The condition is that the clothes will never be worn, the food once eaten will always be filling, and the gamelan is named "ketopyak" or "kethok kethopyok kepyak kethopyak", a puzzle derived from the sound of dimples.[5](hlm.206) Batara Guru agreed and ordered Batara Kala's son named Kala Gumarang to find and complete the requirements.

Amidst the search, Kala Gumarang saw Dewi Sri, wife of Lord Vishnu, bathing in Banjaran Sari park. Kala Gumarang captivated and chased Dewi Sri down to the earth and into the middle of the forest. Lord Vishnu released an arrow towards Kala Gumarang which then turned into a rattan root that snared Kala Gumarang's legs and made him fall. Dewi Sri was surprised to see Kala Gumarang fall on all fours and from the mouth of Dewi Sri said that Kala Gumarang looks like a pig. At once Kala Gumarang turned into a wild boar. Dewi Sri was then minis into Dewi Darmanastiti, the queen consort of King Makukuhan in Medang Kamulan. While Lord Vishnu himself dries into the King of Makukuhan.

From the head growing coconut trees

From the section******** grow palm trees

From the palm part grows banana plant

From the tooth part grow corn plant

From the hair growing part of the rice plant

From the fur part grow vines and plants with hanging fruit

From the feet grow tubers

The plants were then bred evenly throughout the kingdom. Dewi Sri then came out of the body of Dewi Damanastiti and penetrated into the rice plant.

+Terciptanya padi+

Although in the form of a wild boar, Kala Gumarang continues to find and pursue Dewi Sri who has united with rice plants. He came through the rice fields, trampled the rice and overturned the land. Lord Vishnu who continues to hunt Kala Gumarang, releasing his arrows. The arrow pierced through the body of Kala Gumarang and he was killed instantly. From the blood that came out appeared all kinds of pests that harm rice such as:

Leafhopper

Lodhoh

Tubumi

Sangit

Windblind

Pusar gawah's

Kala Gumarang itself was destroyed into a rice pest called "menthek". Kala Gumarang also penetrated into rats, pigs, monkeys, forest buffalo, bulls, and deer to help damage rice plants. But all of them can be defeated by the King of Makukuhan which is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

Origin of Pasrean

It was later mentioned that King Makukuhan had two children. Dewi Darmanastiti has a daughter named Sri (in contrast to Dewi Sri wife of Lord Vishnu). While the second wife, named Dewi Fertile, had a son named Sadana. The two children fall in love and do not want to marry except with their brother. Hence, they were expelled from the palace. The first to leave was Sadana, followed by Sri who tried to find the whereabouts of her sister. As far as Sri and Sadana, there came envoys from Prabu Pulaswa,[6](p.110) the giant king to propose to Sri. Because Sri was no longer in the palace, then King Makukuhan invited Prabu Pulaswa to look for Sri himself. The giants led by Kalandaru, a giant who has a powerful sense of smell, discover Sri's existence in the forest and chase after her. Knowing that he was being chased by giants, Sri ran away and took refuge in the village of Medangwangi, inside the house of Bawadha and his wife, Patani. Sri asked Patani to provide the middle room as her bedroom. Sri also taught Patani how to arrange the middle room to get abundant food and clothing. This central space was later named as Pasrean. Sri settled in Medangwangi until the giants came to the village.

√Sware clar as keeper✓

After learning that the giants were approaching, Sri left Medangwangi village and continued her escape. After passing through several villages, Sri finally met with Sadana. The two of them then built the village of Sri Ngawanti and survived there from the attack of the giants. Sadana defeated Prabu Pulaswa. Prabu Makukuhan persuaded his two sons to return to the palace, but was rejected by them. At the words of Prabu Makukuhan who likened them to rice field snakes and birds of paradise, then the two children changed shape. Sri turned into a rice snake, while Sadana became a sriti. They both got separated again.

After becoming a paddy snake, Sri came to a village.[6](hlm.112) There was Kyai Wrigu and his barren wife, Ken Sanggi. A hermit tells Ken Sanggi that he can have the drop of Goddess Tiksnawati as a child if he drinks the water "yoga" from four sources: From earth, sky, plants, and life. After Ken Sanggi was pregnant for a few months, the hermit gave the order for Kyai Wrigu to capture and maintain a paddy snake in the middle room and gave the same ordinance as requested by Dewi Sri in Medangwangi. Ken Sanggi gave birth. Through a dream, his pet paddy field snake gave the name "Raketan" to his newborn daughter.

At the same time, Kahyangan was in a state of chaos because Dewi Tiksnawati was drifting to earth without permission from Batara Guru. Batara Guru decides to send a god to earth to kill the baby falling Tiksnawati. The first to be sent was Batara Kala, descending as a wolf. But Sri appears in Kyai Wrigu's dream and tells of ceremonies and offerings that can protect the baby from Batara Kala. After Batara Kala failed, Batara Guru sent Batara Brahma to earth as a Gumarang buffalo. Sri again taught Kyai Wrigu how to protect himself from Batara Brahma. The third god sent was Lord Vishnu, who transformed himself into a boar. He was defeated in a manner similar to the previous two gods. Finally Batara Guru himself descended to earth along with 14 gods with various animal forms led by Batara Kala with the form of a king of fish. They attacked three times in three embodiments, each of which caused convulsions. But the attack was again broken by Sri's intervention.

- Sri became the goddess of padi

Batara Guru returned to Kahyangan and sent the angels to persuade Sri to come to Kahyangan to become an angel. The envoy also said that Sadana had become a god after death. Hearing this, Sri asked herself to be treated like that as well. The form of Sri as a rice field snake then changed to Dewi Sri as an angel, not Sri as a human again.

Sadana was born on the same day as Sri. Sadana is told that Sri has gone to Kahyangan to become an angel, allowing herself to be persuaded by a hermit to marry her daughter, Subadha. Subadha became pregnant and Sadana waited for her child to be born before she went to Kahyangan.

Dewi Sri still wants to keep Raketan for fear of being targeted by the god army again. The angels explained that Raketan was attacked because Dewi Tiksnawati minis into Raketan without Batara Guru permission. Dewi Sri later commented that Batara Guru as the ruler should not abuse his power, especially to curb Dewi Tiksnawati, or humans will continue to rebel. The angels could not answer and returned to Kahyangan.

After some time, the emissary from Khayangan returned to meet Dewi Sri and informed that the children of Batara Waliswara named Dewa Daruna and Dewi Daruni had polluted Kahyangan by making connections between the brothers. Dewa Daruna will be mined into Subadha's child, while Dewi Daruni will be drizzled into Raketan replacing Dewi Tiksnawati. As an adult, Raketan will marry Subadha's son. They would have a daughter who would later become queen consort of king Wiratha. It is they who will bring down all the kings of Java.

Dewi Sri was finally willing to be brought to Kahyangan as long as she rode a fiery red sword drawn by the Gumarang ox and given the whip of Serang dragon. If the whip is sprinkled, it will release seed liquid that will spread to the sky and fall nourish the earth. This implies that Dewi Sri wants to be appointed as the goddess of agriculture. Kahyangan agreed and Dewi Sri and Dewi Tiksnawati went to Kahyangan.[6](hlm.113-116)

In this version, Dewi Sri is associated with the serpent rice field while Sadana with the bird (wallet). Paddy snakes were associated with the goddess and tended to be revered, perhaps because of local wisdom and ancient ecological awareness that saw them prey on rats that became pests of rice crops. In many other Asian countries such as in India and Thailand, various types of snakes, especially snakes are associated with fertility myths as a protector of rice fields.

& Depiction &

Dewi Sri has always been described as a beautiful young girl, slender but syntactical and containing, with a face typical of natural beauty of native girls of Nusantara. Realizing women in the peak age of beauty, femininity, and fertility.

Javanese fairuhung culture with high aesthetic taste depicts Dewi Sri like the depiction of goddesses and noble princesses in puppetry. A white face with thin eyes gazed down with a graceful and calm look. Similar to the depiction of the beauty of the goddess Sinta from the story of Ramayana.

His partner, Sedhana is also depicted with a good look like Rama. The loro blonyo statue (meaning "two lapik or base") depicting a pair of men and women, is also likened to the couple Dewi Sri and Sedhana.