BUNTEL MAYAT

A. G. Maisey · 29th May 2007, 12:27 AM

I take the elements of this discussion to be:-

1. the correct name of the pamor in question

2. the correct meanings of words

3. the way in which those words are interpreted.

1. Correct name of the pamor.

In most, if not all recent publications this pamor name will be given as "buntel mayit":- "corpse wrapping".

More than twenty years ago I was told that this name is incorrect, and that the correct name is "buntel mayat":- "slanted wrapping".

I was told this by Empu Suparman Supawijaya (alm.), who at the time was a man in his 60's, whose experience with keris went back to before WWII, and who was a part of the Karaton Surakarta hierarchy.

In the matter of this correct name, I choose to believe my teacher, rather than to follow the popular trend.

I choose to do this for two reasons:-

A) I have absolute faith in my teacher's traditional knowledge.

B) The name "buntel mayat" is logically supportable, the name "buntel mayit" is poetically, or philosophically supportable. I prefer logic.

Apart from these two reasons, an argument for "buntel mayat" can also be built on a historical foundation, drawing upon the case of Lombok.

2. Correct word meanings.

In the Javanese language "mayat" means "slanted, or sloping", "mayit" means "human corpse".

There can be no dispute about this.

In Indonesian "mayat" and "mayit" both mean "human corpse".

There can be no dispute about this.

Keris terms are rendered in the Javanese language, not the Indonesian language.

If the pamor name is "corpse wrapping", it must be rendered as "buntel mayit".

If the pamor name is "slanted wrapping" it must be rendered as "buntel mayat".

The name cannot be rendered as "buntel mayat", and its English language meaning given as "corpse wrapping".

3. Interpretation of the pamor.

The words mayat and mayit are very close in sound, and in speech can probably only be differentiated by the listener when taken in context. Taken out of context it would be difficult for any but the most expert user of Javanese to differentiate one from the other.This similarity in sound is probably the root of the confusion, and taken together with the well known Javanese propensity to play with the spoken form of the language, and the poetic, symbolic, and philosophical factors inherrent in interpretation of the name as "buntel mayit", rather than "buntel mayat", it is easy to understand the foundation of the current interpretation of the name.

Interpretation in many matters, and this could be one of those matters, is always an individual prerogative.

If one wishes to interpret "slanted wrapping" as "corpse wrapping", then, that is a matter for that person, or those people.

However, if one wishes to name a pamor as "corpse wrapping", rather than "slanted wrapping", and one wishes to do this in the Javanese language, then one is obliged to use the words "buntel mayit", rather than "buntel mayat".

Newsteel · 29th May 2007, 01:22 AM

Good explaination,

Unike dapur, where it's pakem (blueprint) usually can be found within kratons. Pamor is totally a different thing.

Buntel Mayit/Mayat.... how can we be sure if one empu wants to call his pamor "corpse wrapping" and the other empu wants to name it "slanted wrapping"?

ganjawulung · 29th May 2007, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

...Interpretation in many matters, and this could be one of those matters, is always an individual prerogative.

If one wishes to interpret "slanted wrapping" as "corpse wrapping", then, that is a matter for that person, or those people.

However, if one wishes to name a pamor as "corpse wrapping", rather than "slanted wrapping", and one wishes to do this in the Javanese language, then one is obliged to use the words "buntel mayit", rather than "buntel mayat".

Bambang Harsrinuksmo: (In Ensiklopedi Keris)
Buntel Mayit or some people say it as Mbuntel Mayit is pamor motive (I am trying to translate) that forms like wrappings of clothes on the whole keris blade, spear, arrow or sword
It is said that Buntel Mayit has no good tuah (influence?) and bring unfortune to the owner. Though, it will be good for strong people. This pamor would even make him easier to get rezeki (good living?)..
Mr Bambang didn't mention the "buntel mayat"

Also Bambang Harsri's opinion:
Mayat in dhapur, means a keris which its blade position on its ganja is very slanted. (What Alan said is right)
But Mr Bambang wrote, that dhapur "mayat miring" or (slanted corpse? Maybe this is nonsense. Or slanted slanting?) is a name of straight dhapur which the position of its blade is very slanted to the ganja.. and so on.
So this dhapur bears two "adjective" (mayat means also miring or slanted) mayat and miring (slanted and slanted)..

Mr Haryono Guritno (in Keris Jawa)
He mentioned clearly in the "List of pamor names", buntel mayit as corpse wrapping. (Page 211). But he mentioned too in "List of Dhapur names" that mayat means "slanted transition but not at a sudden". He mentioned too, the dhapur "mayat miring" as a keris with a slanted blade..

This is from "Pakem Kacurigan" or "Keris Pakem" which was in Javanese language and published by Penerbit Sadubudi Solo (1938). It mentioned name of dhapur "mayat miring" as a name of slanted keris with one sogokan, one gusen. (page 11). And "dhapur mayat" as a 3 luks keris with sekar kacang, rear sogokan, sraweyan, ri pandhan, greneng.
"Pakem Kacurigan" also said: "Winastan pamor buntel mayit, .. etc" (It called as pamor buntel mayit, is a pamor that wrapping all the blade from one edge to another edge in the whole blade. (Not mention the "buntel mayat"..)

I just give this information to you, if not confusion...

A. G. Maisey · 29th May 2007, 06:07 AM

Yes, all this could easily lead to confusion, but its really quite simple if one applies analytical objectivity.

It becomes simply a matter of what one wishes to say, bearing in mind that the language that one's wish must be expressed in is Javanese.

Is the pamor name buntel mayit, or buntel mayat?

Well, all the sources that call it buntel mayit are recent, and I know of no literary sources that are sufficiently old for us to be able to say with any certainty that the original name is buntel mayat---or something different.

I guess it comes down to where one wishes to place one's trust.

However, one thing is very clear:- it cannot be called "buntel mayat", and the English meaning be given as "corpse wrapping".

Of course, the question remains as to why this same pamor should be regarded as a very positive one in Bali and Lombok, where it bears a different name. Even without my belief in Empu Suparman, were I to consider this contradiction in an objective fashion, I would be forced to the conclusion that the pamor motif entered Bali in ancient times, prior to the emergence of the Modern Javanese language taking hold in Jawa itself, and prior to the development of the present Javanese keris belief system.

Then again, perhaps we should ask ourselves why any Javanese empu would set out to produce a pamor that no sane person would have in his house.

Interesting fuel for thought.

ganjawulung · 29th May 2007, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

... Of course, the question remains as to why this same pamor should be regarded as a very positive one in Bali and Lombok, where it bears a different name. Even without my belief in Empu Suparman, were I to consider this contradiction in an objective fashion, I would be forced to the conclusion that the pamor motif entered Bali in ancient times, prior to the emergence of the Modern Javanese language taking hold in Jawa itself, and prior to the development of the present Javanese keris belief system.

Then again, perhaps we should ask ourselves why any Javanese empu would set out to produce a pamor that no sane person would have in his house.

Interesting fuel for thought.

This time, I remember Shakespeare's phrase of "What is in a name?" Buntel Mayit is "dreadful" for some Javanese people, but pamor "Tambangan" and "Tambangan Badung" (in Lombok, according to Lalu Djelenga's book for this same pamor) is very good for dignity and bravery, heroism... Maybe it was a matter of local sentiment, which based on history, or certain reality in the past that I don't know yet. Primordial matters? I don't know either..

At least, pamor Buntel Mayit (and pamorless "keleng") is the favorite pamor of my keris-friend, Gus Im or Mr Hashim Wahid, the "author" of punk rocker's keris. Of course, Gus Im is a Javanese...

Ganjawulung

A. G. Maisey · 29th May 2007, 10:53 AM

Do we know what "tambangan Badung" means?

I guess its Sasak?

Its surely not ---"the Badung ferry"---is it?

How about Badung Rope?

Anyone speak Sasak?

ganjawulung · 29th May 2007, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Do we know what "tambangan Badung" means?

I guess its Sasak?

Its surely not ---"the Badung ferry"---is it?

How about Badung Rope?

Anyone speak Sasak?

Dear Alan,

What you just said is right, that "tambangan" or the Javanese called it "buntel mayit" is a favorite pamor in Lombok. According to Lalu Djelenga's book, there are four classifications of pamor: (1) Pamor Dasar (basic pamor), (2) Pamor Wujud (combination pamor, such as Kukus Angin Pusut/Pusaran Air or in Javanese term: Lintang Kemukus) and (3) Pamor Khusus or (Special Pamor, such as wayang figure in a blade etc), and (4) Pamor Jadi or in Javanese term known as "Pamor Tiban" (Given Pamors, such as Raja Gundala in Java)

Pamor Tambangan found in the Pamor Dasar. It consists of such kinds: (1) Vertical motives pamor -- kinds of Adeg Sapu which will bring good fortune, tranquility, love and honesty to the owner, (2) Crossline motives pamor -- to be called Tambangan -- believed will bring bravery, self confidence, dignity, (3) Spotted or circle lines motives pamor, they called it Mata Kolo -- believed will bring safety and good for "tolak bala" (against bad influence?).

From these Pamor Dasar, then it was developped as many kinds of sole-pamor or combination-pamor. The three Pamor Dasar, are the favorite choiice of Lombok keris community.

So Tambangan Badung is a kind of developped pamor, not merely basic pamor. I will post later the example of Tambangan Badung. Or maybe someone will post it?

About "Keris Technology", Lalu Djelenga wrote that "cikal bakal" (the nucleus?) of Empu in Lombok, came from Java. Especially, in the Majapahit era. There were two famous Majapahit empus, Ki Supagati and Ki Supamandrangi. When one of the most important pusaka of Majapahit called Sumelang Gandring was lost, King of Majapahit ordered the two empus to search the pusaka. Ki Supagati to the west (maybe up to Sumatra?), and Ki Supamandrangi to the east until Bali and Lombok.

In each places where the empu once stayed, he made besalen (place for keris making, with purpose to spy where was the lost pusaka). Ki Supamandrangi -- according to Lalu Djelenga -- then stayed in Blambangan (East Java), opened "perapen" or "besalen" there, and changed his name as Ki Pitrang. Pitrang was married with local woman, and then had a son named Jaka Sura etc.

In Lombok philosophy on keris, according to Lalu Djelenga -- "there are no bad pamor". What happened is, someone is not suitable with such and such pamor. Or certain pamor, is suitable for such and such people with certain position or rank (Pls correct my English if I'm wrong).

Ganjawulung

A. G. Maisey · 30th May 2007, 12:08 AM

All very interesting, Ganja, but it does not answer the question.

What is the meaning of "tambangan Badung"?

We know that in Javanese "tambang" is a big, thick, heavy rope---I can see a distinct relationship between this and this pamor name.

We also know that "tambang" can mean a mine.

Add "an" and get "tambangan", and we have a ferry.

Then there's "Badung".

Is it a reference to the old South Bali Kingdom, or does "badung" have a separate meaning in Sasak?

Anybody understand Sasak?

Your suggestion of linking the Javanese name to an historical incident may have some merit, but I very much doubt that your search will be successful.

However, there could be a logical link between this pamor and keris failure in a use situation. The method of manufacture---without a core--- means that you have a series of weld joints along the length of the blade, where the bar has been twisted, and then forged flat.This will create an inherrently weaker blade than one made with a core, or even with an inserted edge.

I agree with you that Javanese people relate their opinions to reality, as does the bulk of mankind.

But they also relate their opinions, and their life philosophies to superstition and the animist foundations of the culture. Again, not unlike the rural societies of Europe until comparatively recently. If the weft of Javanese society is reality, then the warp is traditional belief.

In the Javanese case this situation is complicated further by the fact that Javanese is not a standard language. It is a vehicle of communication that is subjected by its users to individual idiosyncratic manipulation.A number of researchers have commented on the propensity of speakers of Javanese to play with the language as if it were a personal possession.Further, it is a language that in its common form (ngoko) is remarkably unsuited to written transmission.

If I look at an example of pamor buntel mayat, and I wish to name that pamor, with no preknowledge of what it may be called, and I wish to use the Javanese language to name it, what choices of names do I have?
The one name that must stand above any other possible choices is "slanted wrapping"---"buntel mayat".This is an accurate physical description of the motif.

Now, how long will it be in a society where people habitually play with words, before "mayat" becomes "mayit"?

Factor in the intensification of Kejawen philosophies and the growth of the modern Javanese keris belief system since the first half of the 19th century, and it would probably be surprising if "mayat" did not morph into "mayit".

Another good choice for a name would include a rope reference---as in dadung muntir---but a big, thick, heavy rope, like a hawser, a tambang.

The word "mayit" does not seem to occur in Old Javanese.

The word "mayat" is reported by one authority as occurring in Old Javanese, but not by Zoetmulder, and its meaning is different to its meaning in Modern Javanese.

The word "buntel" does not occur in Old Javanese.

The word "tambang" does occur in Old Javanese and it carries the same meaning as in Modern Javanese.

If keris technology was transported to Lombok prior to about 1600, this pamor motif would have been named in Old Javanese, not Modern Javanese.

The Modern Javanese language did not develop until after the House of Mataram assumed power in Central Jawa, late 16th. century.

Prior to the emergence of the Modern Javanese language the name of the pamor motif "buntel mayat" could not have been "buntel mayat".

Is it possible that in the name used for this pamor motif in Lombok, we are seeing a reflection of the original Javanese name?

Or, did this pamor motif not appear until the Modern Javanese language was already established?

If this is so, then when did the pamor motif enter Bali/Lombok? Most certainly not with the original transference of keris technology.

Anybody out there understand Sasak?

David · 29th May 2007, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Then again, perhaps we should ask ourselves why any Javanese empu would set out to produce a pamor that no sane person would have in his house.

This is the question that i have always asked myself.
Ganja quotes Harsrinuksmo as saying "It is said that Buntel Mayit has no good tuah (influence?) and bring unfortune to the owner. Though, it will be good for strong people."
Firstly this is a contradiction. If it will be good for some strong people then it must have some good tuah. Why would anyone commission a keris to be made for themselves that would destroy them over time?
It seems very likely to me that the negative reputation this pamor has received in Jawa is due to a confusion and misunderstanding of words.

ganjawulung · 29th May 2007, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

It seems very likely to me that the negative reputation this pamor has received in Jawa is due to a confusion and misunderstanding of words.

David,
I think not merely due to a confusion and misunderstanding of words. Javanese people used to relate their opinions with reality, daily and personal reality. This is a hypothesis: There was maybe a misfortune experience of certain Javanese authority in the past (usually, he was king or ruler) relating to such pamor. So, maybe it was a kind of "authoritarian truth". What the ruler's saying (based on his own experience), regarded by certain Javanese people -- to be the truth.

I will try to find example of this. Once I've found such case, while I was reading the Babad Tanah Jawi (a Historiography of Jawa). Someone said in the babad: "Don't use such and such keris, because it will bring misfortune for everybody...," I will try to find this example, in Babad Tanah Djawi (Republished in Javanese latin character, by a Groningen Dutch publisher around 1938).

Ganjawulung

29th May 2007, 12:27 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	I take the elements of this discussion to be:- 1. the correct name of the pamor in question 2. the correct meanings of words 3. the way in which those words are interpreted. 1. Correct name of the pamor. In most, if not all recent publications this pamor name will be given as "buntel mayit":- "corpse wrapping". More than twenty years ago I was told that this name is incorrect, and that the correct name is "buntel mayat":- "slanted wrapping". I was told this by Empu Suparman Supawijaya (alm.), who at the time was a man in his 60's, whose experience with keris went back to before WWII, and who was a part of the Karaton Surakarta hierarchy. In the matter of this correct name, I choose to believe my teacher, rather than to follow the popular trend. I choose to do this for two reasons:- A) I have absolute faith in my teacher's traditional knowledge. B) The name "buntel mayat" is logically supportable, the name "buntel mayit" is poetically, or philosophically supportable. I prefer logic. Apart from these two reasons, an argument for "buntel mayat" can also be built on a historical foundation, drawing upon the case of Lombok. 2. Correct word meanings. In the Javanese language "mayat" means "slanted, or sloping", "mayit" means "human corpse". There can be no dispute about this. In Indonesian "mayat" and "mayit" both mean "human corpse". There can be no dispute about this. Keris terms are rendered in the Javanese language, not the Indonesian language. If the pamor name is "corpse wrapping", it must be rendered as "buntel mayit". If the pamor name is "slanted wrapping" it must be rendered as "buntel mayat". The name cannot be rendered as "buntel mayat", and its English language meaning given as "corpse wrapping". 3. Interpretation of the pamor. The words mayat and mayit are very close in sound, and in speech can probably only be differentiated by the listener when taken in context. Taken out of context it would be difficult for any but the most expert user of Javanese to differentiate one from the other.This similarity in sound is probably the root of the confusion, and taken together with the well known Javanese propensity to play with the spoken form of the language, and the poetic, symbolic, and philosophical factors inherrent in interpretation of the name as "buntel mayit", rather than "buntel mayat", it is easy to understand the foundation of the current interpretation of the name. Interpretation in many matters, and this could be one of those matters, is always an individual prerogative. If one wishes to interpret "slanted wrapping" as "corpse wrapping", then, that is a matter for that person, or those people. However, if one wishes to name a pamor as "corpse wrapping", rather than "slanted wrapping", and one wishes to do this in the Javanese language, then one is obliged to use the words "buntel mayit", rather than "buntel mayat".

29th May 2007, 01:22 AM	#2
Newsteel Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 132	Good explaination, Unike dapur, where it's pakem (blueprint) usually can be found within kratons. Pamor is totally a different thing. Buntel Mayit/Mayat.... how can we be sure if one empu wants to call his pamor "corpse wrapping" and the other empu wants to name it "slanted wrapping"?

29th May 2007, 06:07 AM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	Yes, all this could easily lead to confusion, but its really quite simple if one applies analytical objectivity. It becomes simply a matter of what one wishes to say, bearing in mind that the language that one's wish must be expressed in is Javanese. Is the pamor name buntel mayit, or buntel mayat? Well, all the sources that call it buntel mayit are recent, and I know of no literary sources that are sufficiently old for us to be able to say with any certainty that the original name is buntel mayat---or something different. I guess it comes down to where one wishes to place one's trust. However, one thing is very clear:- it cannot be called "buntel mayat", and the English meaning be given as "corpse wrapping". Of course, the question remains as to why this same pamor should be regarded as a very positive one in Bali and Lombok, where it bears a different name. Even without my belief in Empu Suparman, were I to consider this contradiction in an objective fashion, I would be forced to the conclusion that the pamor motif entered Bali in ancient times, prior to the emergence of the Modern Javanese language taking hold in Jawa itself, and prior to the development of the present Javanese keris belief system. Then again, perhaps we should ask ourselves why any Javanese empu would set out to produce a pamor that no sane person would have in his house. Interesting fuel for thought.

29th May 2007, 10:53 AM	#6
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	Do we know what "tambangan Badung" means? I guess its Sasak? Its surely not ---"the Badung ferry"---is it? How about Badung Rope? Anyone speak Sasak?

30th May 2007, 12:08 AM	#8
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	All very interesting, Ganja, but it does not answer the question. What is the meaning of "tambangan Badung"? We know that in Javanese "tambang" is a big, thick, heavy rope---I can see a distinct relationship between this and this pamor name. We also know that "tambang" can mean a mine. Add "an" and get "tambangan", and we have a ferry. Then there's "Badung". Is it a reference to the old South Bali Kingdom, or does "badung" have a separate meaning in Sasak? Anybody understand Sasak? Your suggestion of linking the Javanese name to an historical incident may have some merit, but I very much doubt that your search will be successful. However, there could be a logical link between this pamor and keris failure in a use situation. The method of manufacture---without a core--- means that you have a series of weld joints along the length of the blade, where the bar has been twisted, and then forged flat.This will create an inherrently weaker blade than one made with a core, or even with an inserted edge. I agree with you that Javanese people relate their opinions to reality, as does the bulk of mankind. But they also relate their opinions, and their life philosophies to superstition and the animist foundations of the culture. Again, not unlike the rural societies of Europe until comparatively recently. If the weft of Javanese society is reality, then the warp is traditional belief. In the Javanese case this situation is complicated further by the fact that Javanese is not a standard language. It is a vehicle of communication that is subjected by its users to individual idiosyncratic manipulation.A number of researchers have commented on the propensity of speakers of Javanese to play with the language as if it were a personal possession.Further, it is a language that in its common form (ngoko) is remarkably unsuited to written transmission. If I look at an example of pamor buntel mayat, and I wish to name that pamor, with no preknowledge of what it may be called, and I wish to use the Javanese language to name it, what choices of names do I have? The one name that must stand above any other possible choices is "slanted wrapping"---"buntel mayat".This is an accurate physical description of the motif. Now, how long will it be in a society where people habitually play with words, before "mayat" becomes "mayit"? Factor in the intensification of Kejawen philosophies and the growth of the modern Javanese keris belief system since the first half of the 19th century, and it would probably be surprising if "mayat" did not morph into "mayit". Another good choice for a name would include a rope reference---as in dadung muntir---but a big, thick, heavy rope, like a hawser, a tambang. The word "mayit" does not seem to occur in Old Javanese. The word "mayat" is reported by one authority as occurring in Old Javanese, but not by Zoetmulder, and its meaning is different to its meaning in Modern Javanese. The word "buntel" does not occur in Old Javanese. The word "tambang" does occur in Old Javanese and it carries the same meaning as in Modern Javanese. If keris technology was transported to Lombok prior to about 1600, this pamor motif would have been named in Old Javanese, not Modern Javanese. The Modern Javanese language did not develop until after the House of Mataram assumed power in Central Jawa, late 16th. century. Prior to the emergence of the Modern Javanese language the name of the pamor motif "buntel mayat" could not have been "buntel mayat". Is it possible that in the name used for this pamor motif in Lombok, we are seeing a reflection of the original Javanese name? Or, did this pamor motif not appear until the Modern Javanese language was already established? If this is so, then when did the pamor motif enter Bali/Lombok? Most certainly not with the original transference of keris technology. Anybody out there understand Sasak?