10. Arjunawijaya (from Chapter 4)

Arjunawijaya is one of the two poems written by Mpu Tantular in the form of Kakawin during the reign of Hayam Wuruk in the Majapahit. Below is the abstruct of the story from the book of Dr. Zoetmulder^[1].

    “The essence of the story was as follows. “The demon king Dasamukha was ransacking everywhere to conquer the world. When he was worshiping jewel linga on the upstream of Narmada River, the water rose and flooded over the river banks, forcing him to flee to a hilltop for safety. In the mouth area of the same river, Arjuna who was visiting there for pleasure, accompanying his queen and army, had built a dam for the convenience of bathing and fish-catching. Although Arjuna had no other intention, Dasamukha became enraged and went for war. In the battle, Arjuna had captured the demon king Dasamukha. Although his wife Citrawati had committed suicide after receiving a false tiding of her husband’s death, she was revived with healing water of the goddess of Narmada. Dasamukha was freed by the supplication of his grandfather, Pulaistya, and returned to his country. Arjuna Sahasrabahu reigned in Mahispati to the well‑being of the whole world, bestowing gifts and promoting the dharma (religious tradition).”

    This story is said to have been taken from an episode of the Ramayana^[2].

[1] P. J. Zoetmulder, Kalangwan, A Survey of Old Javanese Literature, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague 1974.

[2] Malini Saran, Vinod C. Khanna, The Ramayana In Indonesia, Ravi Dayal, Delhi 2004.