Kris question to the knowledgeables

[Rick]

One could also suggest that Mr. Pusaka may benefit and further his overall knowledge from a thorough reading of Robert Elgood's fine book Hindu Arms and Ritual isbn# 90 5972 020 2 .

[nechesh]

Marto, sensible and informative words as usual. Can you make any suggestions on where i might get a hold of Mr. Bronson"s "Terrestrial and meteoritic nickel in the Indonesian Keris". After a frustrating round of googling i came up with no usable results.

[Pusaka]

Thank you Marto Suwignyo for your kind words and yes I will read that document you suggest.

If we consider for a moment that the keris is from Vedic India then perhaps we should consider written Sanskrit and its relation to the keris. One of the shortest written prayers in Sanskrit is OM. OM is considered to be a vibration which fills the universe, the very essence of the creator. It is composed of 3 Sanskrit letters, A,U,M. The first character is A which consists of two characters joined together, the first looks like a 3 and the second looks like a n. Above the n character is a curved character which represents the letter U. Finally the last character looks like an O and represents the Sanskrit letter M. AUM, pronounced Om is a very important prayer in Vedic Indian times as it is at present. Examining the markings filed into the Keris I suddenly realised that it was Sanskrit writing. Looking at this particular Keris the prayer Om is repeated 4 times. One thing that should be realised is that the Sanskrit letter M has no dimension in space and so can be represented as a dot or a circle. It represents the inner universe while the other characters represent the outer universe. Looking at the picture you can see how the markings on the keris are in fact Sanskrit characters.
All my study’s so far point to a strong Vedic Indian influence. I hope people can now understand how ridiculous it is to say the keris is a Muslim creation.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Pusaka

I hope people can now understand how ridiculous it is to say the keris is a Muslim creation.

I don't think anyone has said this here.

[Pusaka]

Originally Posted by Andrew

I don't think anyone has said this here.

No they have not but I have met several that have. It is common among Silat practitioners. I think some schools even teach their students that the keris is a Muslim creation.

[MABAGANI]

I don't think the sound of the universe can be credited to a mere mortal creation either but a reflection of its influence is plausible...hmm...oops...i mean...om...lolz.

[Pusaka]

Originally Posted by MABAGANI

I don't think the sound of the universe can be credited to a mere mortal creation either but a reflection of its influence is plausible...hmm...oops...i mean...om...lolz.

Yes you are correct. That is the meaning of Om though, very similar to the Christian idea of logos, "In the beginning was the Word (sound,vibration), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1)


http://www.shaivam.org/mantra_pranava.htm

[Kiai Carita]

Originally Posted by Pusaka

No they have not but I have met several that have. It is common among Silat practitioners. I think some schools even teach their students that the keris is a Muslim creation.

Hi Pusaka,

Muslims (I am one) who tell you the keris is a Muslim creation are mistaken as the keris was in Jawa and Nusantara long before the Islam religion reached the archipelago. I don't think any school teaches that the keris is a Muslim creation. In Malaysia, the words masuk-Melayu which mean to enter (become) Malay have for a long time been synonimous to masuk-Islam (to enter Islam) and all Malay culture is seen as an expression of Islam, including the keris. This might be the source of confusion.

However the Muslim Saints who spread Islam in Nusantara did not totaly destroy the culture that was present there when they came, rather they preserved everything that could be sanctioned by Islam. So, for examples, the satiya widow burning was out but the keris as a symbolic weapon stayed: the wilah and the ganja which were originally the lingga and the yoni became the syahadat Tauhid and the syahadat Rasul. The keris luk 17 becomes representing the 17 raka'ats performed in sholat each day by the sallafi Muslims, and so on.

In the silat world the silat originating in Jawa, Madura or Bali (al keris making centres) don't use the keris as a weapon but in Malaysia it does. However, post-modern silat is seeing the keris being used as a weapon in West Java style fighting, taught by a Californian silat man who tries to tie his school with, amongst others, the traditional Cimande of Tarik Kolot. In the real Cimande the keris is never used as a weapon. Neither is the kujang, which is a specific Sundanese 'tosan-aji' used for farmers. However you can now learn Californian kujang jurus, which is 'most devastating' .

Your post on the MAP forum about the relation to the script AUM and the janggut, the kembang kacang and greneng and ron dha nunut on the keris in the photo is interesting. Just remember that these ricikan are relatively new in kerisology and the first kerises were simple betok and brojols. The words ron dha nunut mean 'an added leaf of the letter dha'. Dha is the 12th character in the Jawa script hanacaraka. Several Muslim 'saints' who spread Islam in Jawa and Nusantara were also great keris designers, collectors and silat teachers hence the thinking that keris originated in Islam.

Warm salams to al,
KC