The Cambodian Version of the Ramayana

348 Pages·2013·4.687 MB·English

by  Judith M. Jacob, Haksrea Kuoch

ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND
NEW SERIES
VOL. XLV
-
REAMKER (RAMAKERTI)
the Cambodian version of the
Ramayal)a
translated by
Judith M. Jacob
Lecturer in Cambodian at
the School of Oriental & African Studies
with the assistance of Kuoch Haksrea
~~ ~~o~~!~n~~~up
LONDON AND NEW YORK
PublishedbyRoutledge
2Park Square, MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
270MadisonAve,NewYorkNY 10016
TransferredtoDigitalPrinting2007
ISBN 0947593020
PhotosetbyTrafalgarStudiosLtd,London
Publisher'sNote
Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengths toensure
thequalityofthisreprintbutpoints outthat some
imperfectionsintheoriginalmaybeapparent
Contents
Preface p.vii
Introduction p.ix
Abbreviations p.xiv
List ofproper names p.xv
List ofSanskrit and Pali loanwords left untranslated p.xx
Resumes ofthe narratives.
The Main Rama Story. (The earlier composition.
Parts 1-10 ofthe Institut Bouddhique text.) pp.xxi
Laterevents ofthe Rama story. (The latercomposition.
Parts 75-80 ofthe Institut Bouddhique text.) pp.XXIX
Translation
The Main Rama Story. (The earliercomposition.
Parts 1-10 ofthe Institut Bouddhique text.) pp. 1-194
Later events ofthe Rama story. (The latercomposition.
Parts 75-80 of the Institut Bouddhique text.) pp.195-291
Notes pp.293-297
List ofPreferred Readings and Emendations pp.298-305
Glossary pp.306-316
References pp.317-320
Preface
The preparation of this translation was begun over a decade ago, before
any work on the text of any kind had appeared, apart from a few small
passages of translation into French. I was therefore extremely lucky to
have, from 1975 to 1981, the help of Mr. Kuoch Haksrea, then just
finishing his M.Phil. thesis in Khmer archaeology at the School ofOriental
and African Studies. At the end ofthe task I could see even more clearly
than at the beginning how essential it was to have a Khmer assistant. If
Modern Khmer prose can be bafflingly inexplicit, Middle Khmer poetry
can be more so. The help ofsomeone to whom Ram and Hanuman have
been familiar from the cradle was help indeed. But in addition to that,
Mr. Haksrea broughtto the work manyvaluable qualities: a real interest in
his own literature, a genuine concern about searching for true meanings
and a sensitivity about the general import of the poem. His patient,
cheerful and constructive co-operation have been very gratefully
appreciated.
Towards the end of the preparation of the translation the fine, scholarly
volumes ofDr. S. Pou on the Reamkerwere published, providing a revised
text, a translation into French and notes. The translation offered here has
been correctedand revised by me in the light of the new material contained
in Dr. Pou's work and has benefited in numerous ways from her edition.
Many of her better readings have been used and I have been grateful for
her enlightened solutions to many knotty problems of the text. The
responsibility for the choices and decisions made in connection with the
revision are mine alone.
I should like to express my thanks to the School ofOriental and African
Studies and to the Royal Asiatic Society who have jointly met the cost of
publishingthis book.
J.M.J.1986
vii
Introduction
The influence of the Ramayana on Cambodian culture, which began to be
felt during the Angkor period (9th to 13th centuries A.D.), if not before,
and has continueduntil modern times, has been more profoundthan that of
any other story. The narrative, depicted on the bas-reliefs of Angkor, later
became a favourite theme for frescoes on temple walls. The subject of the
traditional shadow play, the spaek dham "large leather (puppets)", was
exclusively the Rarna story. The popular masked dance, lkhon khol, which
had by this century become associated with the cult of local deities, was
based on certain episodes of the Ramayana, There was a close link with
religion in all these art forms. Offerings were made to gods before
performances and the fabrication of objects used in performances, such as
the leather puppets and musical instruments, wasattended bycertain ritual
acts. In modern times some episodes of the Rarna storyformed part of the
repertoire of the Royal Ballet and this was certainly the case in the ancient
kingdom. The reverence with which Cambodians regard the character of
Ram is not merely for the original Indian reason, that he isa god, living on
earth in order to quell evil. In the Reamker Rama is presented as being
more than that: he isthe Buddha himself.
Very few versions of the Rama story have survived to modern times.
Apart from the version which is translated here and which is usually
referred to as the "classical" or "literary" text, we know only of the texts
which were relevant to the popular performances or to the Royal Ballet,
which were kept carefullyby the masters of the companies butwhich would
now be very difficult or impossible to trace. The literary text is in fact two
separate compositions, written in verse, both of which are incomplete. The
first one tells the story of the contest of the bow, the banishment, the
bridge to Lanka, Hanuman's visit to Slta and the battles up to the death of
Ravana's tenth son. The second composition relates the later story: the
drawing of the portrait of Ravana, Slta's sojourn in the forest and the
events leading to her sons' discovery of theirfather and Slta's refusal to be
reconciled with him. It islikely that more than one poetwasinvolved in the
first compositionbutthat the secondwasthe work of one poet.
The literarytext has the form of a dramatic recitative intendedto accom
pany a performance of the mimed ballet. While the moods, situations and
actionsweremimed,withtheprescribedmovementsoffingers,eyebrows,etc.,
to an accompaniment ofset music, the recited stanzas would describe the
thoughts ofthe characters and narrate events. The text istherefore divided
intoscenes,oftenwithachangeofmetre tosuitthemoodofthenewsceneand
with brief instructions concerning music and dance. Nevertheless, some
"scenes" are very long indeed and it seemspossible that poets have at some
time extended existing passages or included extra material to improve the
work. This has resulted in some slight inconsistencies in the narration.
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INTRODUCTION
There are many passages where characters re-tell events when reporting
to someone else. Such passages would surely not fit into the mimed
presentation of the Reamker? The literary text has perhaps gradually
acquired the length and, to some extent, the style of an epicpoem; it always
had the required heroic subject matter. Once the rather tersely written first
pages are left behind, the narrative proceeds at a leisurely pace, though
events are often put to one sidefor a descriptive passage or a rather lengthy
lament. All the appurtenances of the grand heroic style of warfare and life
are present. Heroes going out to single combat are magnificently attired
and may have unusual weapons or mounts. Before battle they show off,
make threatening gestures, and shout insults at the enemy. The arrows of
the two adversaries turn now into snakes, now into garudas to destroy
them; now into fire, now into water to quench it. When they fight at close
quarters the ogre champion almost defeats the hero with what seems like a
final blow but isthen himselfslain. But offthe field of battle, inthis society
of divine and royal beings, polite deference is required: people creep on
their knees into the royal presence and offer things by placing them on
their heads. The characters express grief with writhing, fainting and tears
pouring on to the ground. The impressiveness of events is helped by the
exaggeration of quantities in phrases such as "amillion million soldiers".
The supernatural and the divine elements in the story are constantly
brought to the fore. Some of the magic, such as Hanuman's tying together
the hair ofRabtn) (Ravana) and his wife and casting a spell over them, is
fun; but the supernatural power which hermits acquire, through the
wisdom gained by contemplation and ascetic practices, must command our
great respect. There isno doubt at all of the serious religious importance of
Ram himself. Ram's father and father-in-law "knew what Ram had in
mind". The Khmer audience needed no more explanation than this vague
sentence but Ram spells it out on various occasions, to the demon
Ramaparamasiir, for example and to King Khar. He is Narayana and has
come down to earth to quell evil. Just hearing this said is enough to
convince many of his enemies of his might and to bring them to their
knees. On other occasions, to Slta as they journey through the forest, for
example, he explains that he is the Omniscient One, leading the way to
Nirvana. In the second composition, relating the later events, Ram,
powerfully affected by the ogress, Atul, seems to be a very different
character, hastyinjudgment, quick to anger and not so god-like.
The long association of the Rama story in Cambodia with popular
performances helps to account for many sudden changes from grand to
comic style or from one mood to another, which take place usually with the
changes of scene indicated in the text. The miraculously strong soldiers of
the monkeyarmy are on one page literally heaving mountains aboutas they
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INTRODUCTION
build the "bridge" and on anotherare jumpingplayfully on the beach. The
ogres are at one moment really terrifying, evil creatures and at the next
resemble villains in a pantomime or, more appropriately, acrobats in the
Khmer ballet, as they shout insults at the enemy and leap about, boiling
with rage and brandishing their weapons. The source of evil whom Ram
will eventually defeat, king ofthe demons, can feel faint, be bowed down
with sorrow or become angry and stamp his feet. Abrupt changes in the
style of language occur as one scene gives way to another. Adversaries
"thump" and "bash" each other and shout at each other using colloquial
terms but bereaved heroines speak in Brahmagitistanzas, exclaiming "Ah!"
and "Alas!" The vividness with which the text makes the characters express
their feelings is in marked contrast to the static postures ofthe ballet and
the unchanging expressions in the popular masked dance. In the character
ofthese performances a very close link may be seen with the stylised figures
of the Angkor sculptures and with the two-dimensional, stencilled leather
"puppets" of the shadow-play. An echo of this stereotyping of the
characters isto be found in the regularepithets which abound in the text in
proper epic fashion. Kings are always "serene" and therefore wecan find a
"serene king" in "mental agony". Brothers are loved by brothers and so
Bali(Valin) is"hostile... towards his dearbrother".
It has been possible to give only a little indication here and there in the
translation of the alliteration which is constantly present as an
embellishment in the Khmer. The following is an example in transcription
of the sound of the language of one stanza (Part 4, p.36, 11.7-8) in a
description of the jungle. It consists chiefly of names of plants, chosen
because they alliterate. From both the point ofview ofsubject-matter and
ofpoetic style the passage istypical ofKhmer and otherSouth East Asian
poetry:
/kro:c kra:y bJl]k~u phpiav
sr~kum kuy kr~sall krah
pe:ka:do:chlo:k chlah
rumzu.al dao ponl:~li:/
Other features characteristic of South East Asian poetry are to be
observed. There are many instances in the text of passages which almost
repeat each other in subject matter. Poets revelled, for example, in
descriptions of assembling armies and preparation of the king's carriage
and escort. And, where minor points ofdetail are concerned, the precision
expected in the West issometimes lacking, for example, with regard to how
many persons are addressed or exactlywhat was said. Thus the sage issaid
to address Ram and Laksmtn) but the import ofwhat he says isdirected at
Ram (Part 1, p.4). And Diibhi (Dundubhi) says to Bali (Valin), after an
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INTRODUCTION
exchange ofthreats, "You say you will shake me and crumble my lungs".
In fact, however, Bali's threats of a few stanzas before were not precisely
those, though they might wellhave been. (Part4, p.54).
Both compositions contain many passages of fine writing, for the
appreciation of which it is not necessary to be a South East Asian: for
example, the dramatic account of Hanuman setting fire to Lanka, the
tender description of the birth and care of Slta's son, the many vigorous
arguments, particularly those between husband and wife (Tara with Balior
Mandogirl with Rab(Q)) and the numerous excitingbattlescenes.
The whole of the Reamker was written during the Middle period of
Khmer literature (16th to mid-19th centuries) but the first composition is
much older than the second, as may be seen from even a cursory look at
the language of the two. The first is written in a variety of traditional
metres (the Bamnol, the Brahmagiti, the Kakagati and others) while the
second is written in one less ancient metre (the Pad baky pram-rnuoy) and
in a much more verbose style. Both works are anonymous. The first fifth,
approximately, of the first composition is written in language of a very
much earlier date than the rest of it and there are many changes, such as
changes of vocabulary and phraseology, as the work progresses, which
suggest, as was said above, that it isthe work ofseveral poets. Pou suggests
the 16th to 17th centuries as the date for the first composition and the 18th
centuryfor the second.
Texts and Translations
When the Institut Bouddhique (I. B.) of Phnom Penh published the literary
text, Rioen Riimakertii) (Reamker), in 1937 from two very similar
manuscripts, each of which consisted of sixteen fascicules of palm-leaf
pages, numbered 1-10 and 75-80, the published Parts followed this bizarre
numeration precisely. Although many episodes of the story are lacking
from the text, their narration would not have filled sixty-four fascicules!
Parts 1-10 form the first and Parts 75-80 the second composition.
With its early pages full of archaisms, obsolete vocabulary and
unfamiliar words spelt in a variety of ways, the printed text looked
formidable even to Cambodians and was not much read or studied until
the 1960's. No translation appeared, apart from the short excerpts
translated into French (Martini 1938 and 1950), until 1977 with the
publication ofthe first two volumes of Dr. S.Pou's excellent works on the
Reamker (1977a and b, 1979 and 1982). These include a translation into
French ofboth compositions (called by her Ramakerti I and II) and a text
for both compositions. For the texts, Pou consulted other MSS, chiefly
those ofthe Bibliotheque Nationale and ofthe Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-
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INTRODUCTION(TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
Orient and was thus able to make many corrections to the printed text and
to add about 100 stanzas to it. Another French version appeared at
approximately the same time. F. Martini's translation of bothcompositions
(1978), which he was known to have been working on for many decades,
was publishedposthumously.
The translation offered here is based on the LB. printed text with many
corrections and emendations, set out in the List of Preferred Readings and
Emendations, of which a great number are due to Pou's texts and
researches and are gratefully acknowledged as such. The translation has
been kept as close to the original as possible, being carried out stanza by
stanza. The main devices used in orderto help the flow of the English have
been the frequent omission of repeated epithets or kinship in terms and the
addition of conjunctions. The translation is presented with asterisks to
indicate the beginning of each stanza. The Part and page numbers of the
LB. printed text are given in the left margin throughout. In order to help
students of Khmer, a Glossary of words not, for the most part, in Khmer,
Sanskrit or Pali dictionaries isappended. The list of preferred readings and
emendations isgiven to clarify the connection between this translation and
the printed text for anyone using both together.
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