Part 10 - Dewi Sri: Indonesia

Indonesia Dewi Sri or Shridevi (Dewi literally means goddess) (Javanese), Nyai Pohaci Sanghyang Asri (Sundanese) is the pre-Hispanic and pre-Hispanic goddess of rice and fertility of Java, Sundanese and Balinese, still widely revered in the islands of Bali and Java. Although their mythology originates from the island of Java, after the adoption of Hinduism in Java and the first century, the goddess is associated with the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, since both are attributed to wealth and prosperity of the family.^[1]

Mythological Correlation

Most of the story of Dewi Sri is associated with the mythical origin of the rice plant, the staple food of the region. A cerita in Sundanese mythology tells this story of Dewi Sri and the origin of rice as it is written in "Wawacan Sulanjana"

The story goes like this in "Wawacan Sulanjana": “It happened once in the sky, Batara Guru (ancient Javanese Hindu is associated with Shiva), the supreme god ordered all the gods and goddesses who bring their power to build a new palace. Anyone who disobeys this command is considered lazy and will lose his arms and legs. Upon hearing the command of the Batara Guru, one of the gods, Antaboga (Ananta Boga), a god Naaga, he was very worried. He had no arms or legs and did not know how he could do the job. Anta was shaped like a snake and could not work. He sought the advice of Batara Naruru, the younger brother of Batara Guru. But unfortunately, Narada was also confused by Anta's bad luck. Anta got angry and cried.

Weeping, three tears fell on the ground. Incredibly, after touching the ground, these tears became three gorgeous eggs that looked like jewels or shiny pearls. Batara Narada advised him to offer these "jewels" to the Guru Batara hoping that the gift will be settled and he would issue a fair trial on the Anta Handicap.

Then, with the three eggs in her mouth, Anta went to Batara Guru's palace. On the way, he was approached by an eagle who asked him a question. Anta kept silent and could not answer the problem because he holds the eggs in his mouth.

However, the bird thought that Anta was arrogant and became enraged and began to attack Anta. As a result, an egg fell to the ground and was destroyed. Anta quickly tried to watch the bushes, but the bird was waiting for her. The second round left Anta with a single egg to offer to Batara Guru. The two broken eggs fell to the ground and became the two wild boars Kalabuat and Budug Basu. Soon Kalabuat and Budug Basu were adopted by the Sapi Gumarang cow.

In the end, he arrived at the palace and offered his tear in the form of a shiny egg to the Batara Guru. The offer was kindly accepted and the Batara guru asked him to nest the egg until he was born. Surprisingly, the egg was incubated in a very beautiful girl. He gave the daughter to Batara Guru and his wife.

Nyai Pohaci (sometimes spelled "Pwah Aci") Sanghyang Asri was her name and grew to become a beautiful princess. All the gods who saw her were fascinated by her, even her adoptive father, Batara Guru, began to feel attracted to her. Seeing the Batara Guru's desire for his adopted daughter, all the gods became so worried. Fearing that this scandal could destroy the agreement in heaven, they finally conspired to separate Nyi Pohaci and Batara Guru.

Under the pretext of maintaining peace in heaven and protecting the chastity of Nyi Pohaci, all the gods premeditated her death. She was poisoned to death and her body was buried somewhere in the earth in a distant and hidden place. However, because of the purity and holiness of Sri Pohaci, her tomb showed an astonishing sign; because at the time of her burial, some useful plants have grown that would benefit human beings forever. The coconut grew from her head; from her nose, lips and ears grew various spices and vegetables, her hair grew grass and several plants with flowers, her breasts grew several fruit plants, her arms and hands grew teak and several trees of wood, her genitals Kawung (Aren or eNAU: palm sugar), their thighs grew various types of bamboo, her legs get various tuber plants, and finally her navel grew up a very useful plant called padi (rice). In a certain version, white rice grew in her right eye, while red rice rose in her left eye. All useful plants, indispensable to human needs and well-being, are considered to be derived from the residue of Dewi Sri's body. Since that time, the inhabitants of the island of Java venerated and revered as benevolent 'goddess of rice' and productivity. In the old Sunda Kingdom, she is considered as the highest goddess and the most important deity for agricultural society.^[2]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

“Early Mythology–Dewi Sri”. Sunda.org. Retrieved 2012-08-26.

[2]:

The Legend of Dewi Sri