[Bambang Irian]

Most respected members of this Forum,

Is that True.... keris for fighting? Let's see from another point of view.

This discussion of the keris becomes more and more interesting, certainly when we become involved in the discussion of the keris, we will become involved in the language, the form, and the significance of the keris, all of which become one, and have a meaning in a semiotic way.

I now wish to address one aspect of the keris, that is the aspect which we refer to as "jarwa dhosok", and which may be translated as "the modern Javanese equivalent of a literary, or an archaic , expression".

The word "keris" comes from the expression "mengker kerono aris" (mengKER kerono aRIS), which has the meaning of to distance oneself from the matters of the world and move in the direction of great wisdom.
Thus, the keris when considered from the symbolic aspect of a modern interpretation of an ancient idea is a symbol that mankind always tries to move in the direction of Great Wisdom ( Mahabijaksana), that is , God.

Then, if we consider each ricikan, or feature, of the keris, we can attach a philosophical significance to each of these ricikan.
For example:-
-the gandik can be interpreted as having the meaning that the life of man is dependent upon God.
-the sharpness (landep) of the keris can be interpreted as having the significance that a man should have a keenly aware feeling towards his environment , towards the people around him, which will enable him to move towards the culmination of his life, the final goal of his life, that is, God, and God equates to the point of the keris.

If we then address the matter of dhapur, we can see that each dhapur also has a philosophical significance in accordance with the specific form of each dhapur.Thus, this philosophy which derives from semiotic observations certainly can also be addressed from the aspect of "jarwa dhosok", or the modern Javanese way in which an ancient expression is viewed (jarwa dhosok).


The above is a very concise outline of the content of the thesis "Analisis Semiotika Makna Sosial Keris Pada Orang Jawa" (An Analysis of the Social Significance of the Keris to Javanese People) recently submitted to Universitas Pembangunan Nasional (UPN) Yogyakarta, faculty of Social and Political Science, school of Communication.This thesis was awarded an "A" grading.



Let us take as an example the way in which the dhapur "Brojol" may be interpreted.


"Brojol" is a word which relates to one process of birth, whether human birth, or animal birth, thus whether it is a human or an animal which is born, the birth itself is pure.

With ricikan which consists of only an unadorned gandik, the dhapur brojol has the significance or symbol of :-

"man must always remember and always base his life upon God, must always have a keen awareness of his environment, and always be close to God, in order that he can always be "born again" and return to the natural purity and Way of God"

If man is already born again, and has returned to the natural Way of God, thus pamor is the flower given by the empu, for instance, beras wutah which carries the hope that as time passes good fortune will increase.

Respected Forum members, I have had the assistance of a friend in providing this English translation of what I originally wrote in Indonesian. For those of you who read Indonesian I provide below a copy of my original text , in order to guard against any possible loss of meaning or feeling in the translation.



Forum yang terhormat, diskusi "keris" menjadi semakin menarik, tentu saja pada saat mendiskusikan keris kita akan melibatkan bahasa, bentuk, dan makna, yang menjadi suatu kesatuan, yang memiliki arti atau secara semiotika.

Saya langsung saja ke satu sisi, dari sekian banyak sisi tinjauan mengaenai "keris" yaitu sisi "jarwo dosok".
Keris.... berasal dari kata mengKER kerono aRIS, artinya menjauhkan diri dari hal hal duniawi menuju kepada Yang Maha Bijaksana, atau "menuju kepada yang maha bijaksana".
Makna Keris dari sisi semiotika yang "jarwo dosok" adalah symbol agar manusia selalu berusaha untuk menuju kepada yang Mahabijaksana, yaitu Tuhan.

Kemudian setiap racikan juga memiliki makna phylosophi;
- Gandik misalnya memiliki makna manusia dalam hidupnya harus selalu bersandar pada Tuhan yang Maha Esa.
- Landep, (landep ing wilah) memiliki makna agar manusia mempunyai perasaan yang tajam terhadap lingkungannnya, terhadap masyarakat sekitarnya, (setajam landep bilah keris) untuk dapat menuju kepada suatu Titik puncak yaitu ujung kehidupan, akhir kehidupan yaitu Tuhan... ujung keris (pucuk).

Selanjutnya soal dapur, setiap dapur juga memiliki makna philosophy sesuai dengan masing-masing istilah dapur, makna phylosophinya juga terdiri berbagai tinjauan sisi semiotika, dalam hal ini tetntu saja saya akan melanjutkannya dari sisi yang konsepnya "jarwo dosok".
sebagai contoh "Dapur Brojol"

Brojol adalah sebuah kata yang mengungkapkan suatu proses kelahiran, apakah itu manusia ataupun hewan, maka apapun itu yang dilahirkan tentunya dalam keadaan suci.
Dengan komposisi racikan yang hanya gandik polos, dapur Brojol memiliki makna atau symbol "manusia harus selalu ingat dan selalu menyandarkan hidupnya kepada yang maha kuasa (Tuhan), memiliki perasaan yang tajam terhadap lingkungannya, dan selalu mendekatkan diri kepadaNya agar supaya selalu dapat menjadi manusia yang; "di-lahirkan kembali", kembali ke fitrah-NYA, Born Again, suci kembali.
Jika sudah dilahirkan kembali, kembali ke fitrah-Nya, Born again, maka pamor adalah kembang yang di berikan empu, sekiranya beras wutah maka semoga semakin bertambah rejeki yang diperoleh.

Demikian forum yang terhormat.