The Concept of Death in Kakawin Sumanasantaka

Abstract

One of the human attempts to overcome death through a cultural approach is the Kakawin Sumansantaka composed by Mpu Monaguna. This implies messages implicitly that birth and death are mysteries of life. This research aims to add to the treasure of knowledge about life and death. The type of research used is interpretative qualitative research. The primary data source is the text of Kakawin Sumanasantaka. The data analysis technique uses content analysis to analyse the content of Kakawin Sumanasantaka. From the research results, it is known that the way a person dies is different according to his karma. In Kakawin  Sumanasantaka it is mentioned that Dewi Harini's death was due to being cursed by Pandita T??a Windu, her fault for disturbing the Pandita's asceticism. Harini was born as Indumati and then she was killed by the Sumanasa flower which freed her from the human body so that she could return to Indraloka. In contrast, the death of King Aja who threw himself at the right time into the confluence of the Suranadi and Sarayu Rivers as a symbolic meeting of the nadis of Ida and Pinggala at Ajña Cakra. Ajña chakra is one of the ?iwa clans of the path of ?tma out of the body. The Kakawin Sumanasantaka thus presents the correct way o f dying of several characters such as the death of Dewi Harini's way, the death of Dewi Indumati's way and the death of Raja Aja's way.