Mudra and asana in/on keris hilts.

[Mickey the Finn]

Thank you, Mr. Maisey. This is a development which I had not anticipated.
I believe that I've made a number of false assumptions.

[A. G. Maisey]

It is very easy to make false assumptions where the keris is concerned, Mickey.

I have generated a number of questions, and I'm still working on this, I have ordered a text on Balinese mudras in a priestly context.

I have contacted a friend in Bali, Ubud actually, who has connections in the cultural community and with both priests and people in the keris community.

When I am ready to ask sensible questions, he will ask those questions for me.

Your question seems like a good one to me. I could be wrong about this, and in the context of post puputan Bali, I probably would be wrong, but if we consider the nature of the mudra we need to consider both the internal and external factors. If we consider the mudra and perhaps the aksana, we need to consider in context. Thus the mudra in a totogan relates to what? At the moment I do not know, in fact I would not even guess. But I might eventually know. The same is true of the totogan aksana.

So, if we think of the mudra/aksana and we wonder, how much more true is it that we need to consider the totogan keris grip itself? We know a little bit about the totogan grip, the purpose is to act as guardian for the shrine that is the blade. Evil loves emptiness. The shrine of the blade is normally empty, held ready to accept the spiritual entity for which it has been prepared. The totogan of the hilt is there to guard against entry of an evil entity. But there is probably not a whole lot more than that about which we can be certain.

Good question Mickey, and we're working on it.

[A. G. Maisey]

I've been giving some attention to Mickey's question and I am slowly learning a very little bit about some things I had previously not paid very much attention to.

In past discussions about aksanas & mudras I have sometimes heard or read some seemingly very knowledgeable opinions expressed about the names and meanings of various hand positions and sitting positions shown illustrated in Javanese and Balinese figural hilts.

It would be of some assistance to me if those people who possess Javanese or Balinese hilts that they believe illustrate a particular mudra or aksana post a picture of that hilt to this thread.

Thank you.

[David]

Here are a few examples of figural hilts that i believe display what can be taken as mudras and at least one that seems like a yoga pose (one leg up). Though it would be extremely helpful if Mickey would upload images of his own keris as well since they would be most specific to his line of questioning.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you David.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

It would be of some assistance to me if those people who possess Javanese or Balinese hilts that they believe illustrate a particular mudra or aksana post a picture of that hilt to this thread.

Thank you.

Hello Alan,
I was faced with this issue while writing my hilt book and the main author of reference who addresses the subject is Karsten Sejr Jensen in his 2 books: Den Indonesiske kris and the Krisdisc. He does not mention many mudras but several aksanas (figure positions?) related to the antique Javanese hilts, namely:
. Pralambapada position (the standard squatting position of the demon hilts from NW Java, which he extends to the standard position of the Balinese togogan hilts although it is slightly different). See the first 3 pics attached.
. Rajalilasana position which he extends to the Nawasari hilts from Bali, see 4th pic.
. Maharajalilasana or Lalitasana position with the left leg flexed, see 5th pic.
. Dvarapala position (temple guardian).
Regards

PS: Sorry, the order of my pics have been inverted on my screen as compared to the original?

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you Jean.

I actually had Mr Jensen in mind, as well as some other keris writers when I wrote para 2 of post 9 to this thread. When we get into this and related areas people tend to throw names around like jelly beans. Never did like jelly beans much.

Mickey asked a question that aroused my interest and I am now trying to formulate the questions that I need to ask in order to get sufficient information to be able to respond with some degree of understanding to Mickey's question. This is very early days.

I do have a few things running in my mind but I cannot yet formulate the questions I will need to ask.

Firstly, we are talking about pre-Islamic Jawa and Bali through to --- well, I don't yet know when.

Most Balinese mudras that are practiced by both Buddhist and Siva pedandas in Bali are not static hand postures such as we see in figural carvings, both keris hilts and otherwise, they are flowing movements that involve a number of hand, and sometimes body positions.

But then, there are various groups of people who use mudras in Bali, we have the priests, we have dancers, mudras are also associated with yoga practitioners --- and when I use the word "yoga", I am not thinking in terms of bored housewives trying to fill in their days in order to have their nights filled in for them. Yoga is actually a school of philosophy that was founded by Patanjali that has as one of its objectives the merging of self with Siva --- or perhaps with the Universal Singularity.

Others also use mudras, and not all mudras are equal or the same. To an observer the mudra appears as one thing and is understood as that, but to the practitioner there is the physical performance and the link to mind, so there are three aspects at least to the observed mudra, and since a figural representation is intended to be observed, then this relationship between practitioner and observer must be considered.

But in which sphere of practice should the figural mudra be understood? I am assuming that in-so-far as Bali is concerned it is very probably the religious sphere, this because of the base function of the figural hilt and because a major part of the reason for being of all levels of priests in Bali is to control the nature spirits, as well as the evil entities that populate the unseen world.

The mudra is only one part of a ritual, each morning a Balinese priest engages in the maveda, which is the saying of prayers and mantras that are accompanied by mudras, the mudra is the observable visualisation of the prayer or mantra, so mudras are accompanied by mantras, and those mantras express various things. The mudra is not just a stand-alone hand posture with an unpronounceable name, it means something, and that is what should be uppermost in the observer's mind, thus uniting the practitioner and the observer, and I strongly suspect, the Universal Spirit --- or maybe just Siva.

So, to the present time I am only looking at the mudra in its religious context.

But then I need to look at the actual figures used in hilts. Is there some sort of hierarchical structure attached to these figures? Perhaps some figures are only suited to K'satriya, others to Wesia, perhaps there are limitations on which totogan a Sudra may use? Or maybe any sort of structure is not related to the castes at all, perhaps if there is a hierarchical structure it is related the clans --- the Pasek , Pande, Bandesa and so on.

What about the relationship between a specific mudra --- assuming one can be identified --- and the figure performing that mudra. What are the guidelines?

All that is just gliding across the top of the problem and looking at what everybody already knows, without digging too deeply, and this digging is very much complicated by the inescapable fact that Pedandas don't talk to outsiders, this means Balinese outsiders as well as Bules.

I haven't even started to think about the aksanas yet.

It took me over 30 years from the time I had some small understanding of the true nature of the keris until I felt reasonably confident to publish on this.

Figural hilts and mudras/aksanas I would hope might take a little less time.

[RSWORD]

An additional reference for the picture gallery.

[A. G. Maisey]

Thank you.