Ida Cokorde Made, the brave king<\/p>\n
I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
I Gusti Ngurah Made Agung, fondly known as Cokorde Made, was only
\n26 years old when he was crowned as the king of Badung, and only
\n30 years old when he led his royal relatives and soldiers of the
\nhouse of Denpasar in a charge against a rain of bullets from
\nDutch soldiers' rifles in the historic assault that put an end to
\nhis brief mortal life. This, on the other hand, bestowed upon him
\nan immortal status in the Balinese people's collective memory and
\nhistory.<\/p>\n
\"The fact that he was so young made his decision to stage the
\nPuputan (battle), instead of capitulating to an evil yet powerful
\nforeign power, more exceptional. He could have surrendered and
\nled a comfortable life as a puppet of the Dutch, but he
\ndeliberately chose death, a noble one I might add, and we are
\nvery proud of that,\" said a descendant of the royal house of
\nDenpasar Anak Agung Sagung Mas Ruscitadewi.<\/p>\n
Ruscitadewi is not the only person, who has been awed by the
\npersonality of the last king of Badung. For years, Ida Cokorde
\nMantuk Ring Rana's -- the name bestowed upon him by the Badung
\npeople -- character has evoked a deep sense of respect,
\nadmiration, and melancholy among the people of Denpasar,
\nparticularly among scholars, religious leaders, and historians.<\/p>\n
\"The reason for the admiration is due to his courage. Cokorde
\nMade was, and still is, the ideal manifestation of Balinese
\nnobility, a warrior and a man; the kind of a person who willingly
\nsacrificed everything he had -- power, prestige, wealth, and even
\nhis life -- for the greater and nobler principles of freedom,
\nduty, love for the motherland, and spiritual enlightenment. Every
\nBalinese yearns to have that kind of courage, and aspire to be
\nlike Cokorde Made,\" cultural observer I Ketut Sumarta said.<\/p>\n
Born in Denpasar Palace on April 5, 1876, Cokorde Made was the
\nson of then king of Badung I Gusti Ngurah Pemecutan. In 1902,
\nafter the death of his older brother I Gusti Gede Ngurah
\nDenpasar, Cokorde Made was installed as the ruler of Badung, a
\nkingdom, the territory of which was roughly equivalent to the
\npresent day Denpasar city and Badung regency.<\/p>\n
From his early years as a royal prince, Cokorde Made was an
\navid reader of traditional literary works, religious manuscripts
\nand philosophical treatises. He spent a lot of time in the palace
\nlibrary of Bale Saraswati in the company of a noted young poet
\nIda Bagus Made Sidemen, who later became Ida Pedanda Made
\nSidemen, arguably Bali's most enlightened Brahmin high priest in
\nthe 20th century.<\/p>\n
Cokorde Made was also an accomplished poet in traditional
\nBalinese lyrical verses of Geguritan and Kidung. His literary
\nworks include Geguritan Niti Raja Sesana, Geguritan Dharma
\nSasana, Geguritan Hredayasastra, Geguritan I Nengah Jimbaran,
\nGeguritan Samba, Kidung Lodha, Kakawin Atlas, and Geguritan Purwa
\nSanghara.<\/p>\n
\"That this young king was an avid reader, who was very
\nfamiliar with numerous classical literary texts, could be seen
\nfrom his own works. Geguritan Dharma Sasana, for instance, which
\ndepicted the ethics a truth-seeker must possess, was composed
\nbased on Prasadaniti, Bhismaparwa, Wretasancaya, Wrastisasana,
\nKrirtipandawa, Bangbungalan, Slokantara, Sarasamuccaya,
\nBargawasiksa, Nitisastra, and several other classical texts,\" an
\nauthority on Balinese classical literary texts Ida Bagus Gede
\nAgastya said.<\/p>\n
Those works, he added, also provided a glimpse into Cokorde
\nMade's way of thinking, particularly on how a king must rule and,
\nmost importantly, on death.<\/p>\n
In Geguritan Niti Raja Sasana Cokorde Made outlines the ethics
\na king must observe in leading his kingdom to prosperity and
\npeace. On ethics on the battlefield, Cokorde Made described nine
\nnoble virtues a king should try to emulate. Those virtues involve
\nthe principle of no surrender and end with the death of the king
\nin battle. One of those virtuous action was called Bamamaharata,
\nin which a king bravely fights the battle and dies along with his
\npeople.<\/p>\n
\"Cokorde Made also clearly pointed out that a king, who runs
\nfrom the battlefield for fear of his own life, or surrenders, had
\ncommitted an atrocious and unethical deed,\" Agastya said.<\/p>\n
In Geguritan Dharma Sasana, Cokorde Made states that sarining
\nkapatian (the essence of death) was what seekers of truth and
\nwise men actually searched for in their life. Sarining kapatian
\nis both the beginning and the substance of everything in the
\nworld, he said.<\/p>\n
\"According to Cokorde Made those who completely comprehend
\nspiritual teachings will possess a clear perspective, serene
\nmind, utmost confidence, and most importantly, they will grasp
\nthe meaning of mati tan tumut pejah (deathless death),\" said
\nAgastya.<\/p>\n
\"Cokorde Made wrote tingkah manone ring awak (the Supreme
\nBeing resides within ourselves), ada matukul ring ati (constantly
\nenlightening the heart) and mati tan tumut pejah (death is
\nactually not death). This mati tan tumut pejah (deathless death),
\nI believe is the cornerstone of Cokorde Made's belief system. It
\nis impossible to comprehend his decision to stage a Puputan
\nwithout taking this mati tan tumut pejah concept into
\nconsideration,\" said Ketut Sumarta.<\/p>\n
For years, many foreign scholars, and, sadly, a small number
\nof Balinese people, have misunderstood Puputan Badung either as a
\nsuicidal battle conducted in hysteria by desperate people or a
\npointless and useless battle strategy employed by a king, who had
\nno respect for the sacredness of human life.<\/p>\n
\"It was not a suicide in the sense of frustrated people
\nfrantically embracing death as a way to end their misery.
\nInstead, taking the mati tan tumut pejah concept into
\nconsideration, Puputan was about people conducting a spiritual
\njourney; looking for life, true immortality. And this immortal
\nlife can only be attained by casting away all attachments,
\nincluding the attachment to this transient mortal life,\"
\nRuscitadewi said.<\/p>\n
Puputan Badung was proof that Cokorde Made stayed true to his
\nliterary works' ideals of a true king, of a ruler who
\ncourageously died in defending his land, of a leader deeply loved
\nby his people, such that the people, of their own accord,
\nwillingly joined him in the battle.<\/p>\n
It was also the fulfillment of his life-long spiritual quest
\nfor the noble death of mati tan tumut pejah.<\/p>\n
\"He knew beforehand the days of his kingdom were numbered. He
\nwas no ordinary king, he was also a poet, and a spiritual
\npractitioner,\" said aged religious figure Ngurah Oka Supartha,
\nreferring to the last literary work of Cokorde Made, Geguritan
\nPurwa Sanghara.<\/p>\n
Known as the greatest among Cokorde Made's works, the
\nprophetic Purwa Sanghara (literally meaning the Dawning of the
\nDevastation) depicted the tragic and violent end of the ancient
\nYadawa kingdom and the people of Yadu. It also contained a
\nsection describing Sutasoma, a great prince who earnestly
\nsacrificed his life so others might survive. Cokorde Made
\ncompleted Purwa Sanghara in March, 1905.<\/p>\n
\"At that time various omens had taken place, giving the people
\nof Badung some sort of premonition of the impending disaster.
\nSeveral sections of the kingdom's main spiritual center, the
\nUluwatu temple, collapsed. Mount Batur, the throne of the goddess
\nDewi Danuh, the spiritual protector of Badung kingdom, erupted on
\nMarch 1905. Many people witnessed the passing of a comet in the
\nskies of Badung, an omen of an imminent bloodbath or the changing
\nof the ruling power. Cokorde Made completely understood all these
\nsipta (spiritual signs), and he composed Purwa Sanghara, at the
\nend of a kingdom,\" Ngurah Oka Supartha stressed.<\/p>\n
The end of the kingdom came about some 18 months after the
\ncompletion of Purwa Sanghara. On that fateful day of Sept. 20,
\n1906, right at high noon, Cokorde Made, dressed in white, led the
\ncharge into hundreds of Dutch soldiers, with firearms cocked and
\nready to fire.<\/p>\n
Dozens of meters from the soldiers, he threw away his two kris
\ndaggers, Jalak Kedingding and I Singapraga, performed the sacred
\nmudra hand gestures before entering a state of samadhi right
\nbefore a hail of bullets.<\/p>\n
When the young king fell, his mortal life ended, but his
\nimmortality had just begun. He was mati tan tumut pejah.<\/p>",
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