USADA BHUDA KACAPI: BALINESE TRADITIONAL THERAPY (USADA) LITERARY TEXT I Ketut Jirnaya Old Javanese Department, Faculty of Letters, Udayana University Email: ketutjirnaya@yahoo.co.id Postgraduate Program of Udayana University I Made Suastika Study Program of Linguistics, Faculty of Letters, Udayana University I Wayan Cika Study Program of Linguistics, Faculty of Letters, Udayana University I Nyoman Weda Kusuma Study Program of Linguistics, Faculty of Letters, Udayana University ABSTRACT Usada Budha Kacapi (abbreviated to UBK) text, which contains the basic Balinese traditional therapy, is a text which is in the form of narration. The Balinese traditional therapy (usada) texts generally contain collections of names of diseases, medicinal substances, and how to cure such diseases; however, the UBK is in the form of narration, containing characters, setting, themes, and literary language. The UBK text, after being edited, is recorded in a number of palm-leaf manuscripts. The title is the same but the content varies. Budha Kecapi is the main character, which has inspired many other writers; therefore, the works produced still use the same language units as used by Budha Kacapi. Such works are Budha Kacapi Cemeng, Budha Kacapi Putih, and Budha Kacapi Sastrasanga . It is this which has inspired the researcher to explore the UBK in order to know who and what Budha Kacapi is. In order to be able to identify the message transmitted to the reader or the community, and its totality, it is necessary to know, understand, and analyze the signs it contains. Therefore, two theories are used in this study; they are the theory of intertextuality and the theory of semiotics. The results of analysis show that the writers wish to teach and guide those who desire to be professional indigenous medical practitioners ‘dukun’, namely, the ones who are highly knowledgeable of traditional therapy, ethical and not easily defeated by diseases. That, according to Budha Kacapi, can be achieved through ‘yogasastra’. The indigenous medical practitioners should improve their quality through yoga (meditation) and aksara suci (holy scripts) as the means. A set of learning materials related to the basic knowledge needed by the indigenous medical practitioners are systematically organized, starting from how to recruit the prospective learners, the learning method, how to diagnose (nenger), the philosophy of life and death, the philosophy of diseases, the concept of being healthy and sick, the compensation, types of diseases, and how to cure diseases. As a whole, the UBK text contains the basic and advanced levels of learning materials for indigenous medical practitioners. The advanced level means that if they study the UBK text and are able to apply it properly, they will not by all means be defeated by diseases. Keywords: diagnosis (nenger), philosophy of diseases, yogasastra, and professional indigenous medical practitioner. 1. Introduction Human life cannot be separated from being healthy and sick. Everybody wants to be healthy, as being healthy means that they can do what they want to do. When they are sick, the first thing they do is having either traditional or modern therapy. Economically retarded people always choose traditional therapy as it is cheap and can be done by themselves without being assisted by an indigenous medical practitioner referred to as balian. In Bali, traditional therapy is still applied up to now, as it is cheap, the nature prepares the substances needed, there are many indigenous medical practitioners, and there are many palm- leaf manuscripts containing traditional therapy called usada such as Usada Rare, Usada Manak, Usada Kurantabolong, Usada Ila, and Usada Kacacar. Usada Budha Kacapi (UBK) is one of hundreds of palm-leaf manuscripts containing traditional therapy in Bali. It and its versions are welcome by the Balinese people especially those who work as indigenous medical practitioners. In addition, it is stated that it is the basis of the Balinese of traditional therapy. The indigenous medical practitioners are recommended to use the UBK as the basis of the Balinese traditional therapy. The reality is that most of the indigenous medical practitioners in Bali only know the story of Sang Budha Kacapi, who was a highly powerful indigenous medical practitioner and was the teacher of Sang Klimasadha and Sang Klimasadhi. They also stated that it was difficult to understand the UBK text. What it contains is important as it has never been investigated as the object of research. There are three topics which are used as the main problems in this study; they are (1) what the existence of the UBK, as a medical therapy text, is like? (2) What to do to determine which text is used as the basis for editing? (3) What is the meaning of the UBK? Ideally, it is hoped that the study will give a general picture of the UBK. In addition, it is also hoped that the study will enrich the treasury of knowledge in general and the traditional therapy texts as the object of research in particular. What has been described is the general aim of the study. What has been described above is the general aim of this study. In particular, this study aims at (1) indentifying the existence of the UBK as a traditional treatment literary text in the Balinese community; (2) presenting the UBK text in its edited form and Indonesian translation; (3) identifying the meaning of the UBK as a Balinese traditional therapy literary text . It is hoped that the deep answers given to the problems formulated above will give information on literature in general and the literary genre containing therapy in particular as an attempt to develop literature in the archipelago. This study is useful to map the traditional therapy as part of the Indonesian culture. In practice, this study is useful to the community as the UBK text is prepared in the form which is already edited and translated into Indonesian. Therefore, it will be easier for the community to understand its content. In addition, being deeply analyzed, it will also be easier for the community to understand and apply it. 2. Research Method Qualitative analysis was applied in this study. The main focus of this study is to analyze the UBK text. The data needed in this study were collected by observation, in-depth interview and library research. Some informants which were considered to be knowledgeable of the usada (traditional therapy) in general, and the UBK in particular as well as of its edited form were interviewed. The data were analyzed using analytic descriptive method. First of all the data were described before being discussed with other researchers or using the theories available, interpreted and concluded. The results of analysis were descriptively presented. 3. Discussion The results of the study are discussed, in accordance with the problems formulated above and steps of analysis, as follows. 3.1 The Existence of the UBK in the Balinese Traditional Therapy Tradition UBK text was found in two groups; the group of its versions and the group of its variants. The version text means the text which is far from the UBK texts; however, the Budha Kacapi is still used as the topic and the title of the text. The text includes Budha Kacapi Cemeng, Budha Kacapi Putih, Budha Kacapi Sastrasanga, Sanghyang Budha Kacapi, and the Budha Kacapi speech. The UBK is a variant text, meaning a text which still contains the UBK itself; however, the content is summarized and the plots are modified. Four collections were taken from Gedong Kirtya Singaraja and one was taken from the Faculty of Letters of Udayana University, and the other one was taken from the Ministry of Health of Bali Province. Many versions and variants of the UBK text do not indicate that the UBK has been well used both by the Balinese community and the indigenous medical practitioners. The fact shows that they have not been interested in using the UBK as a reference in the therapy they have applied as it has been difficult for them to understand the content. Only the parts which are specifically related to therapy have been designed, collected and used in therapy. This means that many indigenous medical practitioners have done their best to collect parts of several traditional therapy texts, depending on their specializations. They have read several tradition therapy texts including the UBK; however, the parts which are only related to their specializations are quoted. 3.2 The Edited UBK Text Before determining which text was analyzed, it was edited to make it complete and free from any errors, in accordance with the objectives of the study. The way in which it was edited referred to philology. This was necessarily done as traditional texts cannot be separated from the process of being copied for various objectives. There are by all means errors in every copy using handwriting. As a consequence, the physical factors of those who copy the texts influence their concentration; they may wrongly read the texts; they may miss and add some information; they may repeat the same information. If the texts are not edited, the intactness of the meaning they contain cannot be accounted for. In other words, there may be ambiguity in meaning or there may be discontinued meaning resulting from such a miswriting. The way in which it was edited referred to philology. The six texts were compared; the best quality one was used as the editing basis. Text A taken from Gedong Kirtya was determined to be the best and to contain the most complete story. As a result, text A was used as the basis for editing and the errors it contained were revised based on text F (the collection taken from the Faculty of Letters of Udayana University. The reason is that Text A was mostly close to Text A. After it was edited, it was then translated into Indonesian language so that it was easier to read and understand it. 3.3 The Narrative Structure of the UBK Text As the other traditional therapy texts, the UBK has a formal structure which is made up of the following elements: names of diseases, medicinal substances taken from plants, animals and water; the ways in which such diseases are cured, for example, by consuming loloh (tonic made of medicinal herbs), boreh (medicinal powder), uap (ointment), simbuh (spittle), tutuh (moisture sucked by the nose) and impugn (massage); and language. Such elements are packaged into one story (fabula). This means that there is literary element which includes: incident, characterization, setting, theme and language. The stylistic and esthetic elements form the literary language used. The UBK is a traditional literary work, namely, a traditional therapy literary work which is made up of narrative units. Praise to God (manggala) is reflected by the fact that it starts with an opening expression Om Awighnamastu nama swaha, meaning that God would give protection and safety during the compilation of the UBK. Negotiation; God Siva and his wife, Hyang Nini, were discussing what was proposed by Sang Budha Kacapi in his meditation. Delegate (duta); Hyang Nini was requested to go down to the Pangesengan Cemetery to bestow Sang Budha Kacapi what he had proposed for. War (aji); Sang Klimasadha and Sang Klimasadi, symbolizing adharma (evil), failed to fight against diseases. Benevolence (dharmasastra); Sang Budha Kacapi taught Sang Klimasadha and Sang Klimasadhi the basic knowledge needed to be professional indigenous medical practitioners which were hoped to help them defeat all diseases. Happy ending (rdhimat); Sang Klimasadha and Sang Klimasadhi were asked to go back to their villages as they had finished all the learning process. They felt that they were happy. 3.4 The UBK as a Discourse of Balinese Traditional Therapy The UBK writer transmits essential information in the form of a discourse inserted within the elements supporting the UBK as a literary work (usada), initiated by the selection of learners which was done by interviewing the prospective learners who were serious and had the ability. Then the teacher could prepare the materials in such a way that they would match what was needed. The method which was approved was aguru waktra method ‘learning through direct guidance and discussion’. Then it was continued with materials. The materials given included: philosophy of diseases, how to diagnose diseases, the statuses of diseases and how to handle them, mantra (magic formula), wijaksana (wise), rerajahan (design with mystical properties, the ethics to refer to when applying traditional therapy to cure someone, the compensation in the form of money for the services provided (sesantun). Giving such compensation was permitted by Sang Budha Kacapi; however, it was not permitted to ask the patient for it; furthermore, no tariff was determined and referred to. 3.5 The UBK Semiotic Analysis The UBK is a text which contains the basic knowledge of the Balinese traditional therapy. The writer comprehensively prepares a set of knowledge of therapy for those who want to be professional indigenous medical practitioners ‘dukun’ who can cure all types of diseases. However, it cannot be instantly reached; it will be reached through the steps formulated in yogasastra, meaning meditating with holy scripts. A traditional medical practitioner should understand the philosophy of the holy scripts (part of the Balinese scripts) symbolizing God and His manifestations in the macro cosmos (bhuawana agung) and in human body ‘micro cosmos’ (bhuawan alait). The fact that thought and feeling (buddhi) should be sharpened in order to see (kaca) the identity (pitara) is the concretization of the meaning the expression Budha Kacapi contains. It is this teaching which is suggested by the writer through the character of Sang Budha Kacapi, which is then transferred to Sang Klimasadha and Klimasadhi, his students. In this way, ‘siddhi sakti wak bajra’ (highly skilled and powerful) indigenous traditional medical practitioners who can cure every type of diseases will be created. 4. Findings The findings of the study are as follows: (1) The UBK text has the tradition that it has been horizontally rewritten (in an open way) as it has been in the form narration; (2) it turns out that the materials of usada have been in the form of stories (fabula); therefore, it is classified as a traditional therapy literary work referred to as usada; (3) the teaching of Siwantantris dualis (Siwa Sakti), the basis of the Balinese traditional therapy, is inserted in the BUK; (4) the UBK can be understood through the mediation of yogasastra, meditating with holy scripts; and (5) the UBK suggests that the balian sujati, the balian siddhi sakti and wakbajra , namely, the traditional medical practitioner who can cure every type of diseases, can be created. 5. Conclusions and Suggestions 5.1. Conclusions After the UBK was analyzed, there are several conclusions which can be withdrawn. 1) The existence of the UBK, as a Balinese traditional therapy, has not been well made use of. In addition, it has not been known that it can be understood through ‘yogasastra’ (meditating with holy scripts). 2) The UBK text has been rewritten repeatedly; however, it has been horizontally rewritten (in an open way). To have it in the form of the text which is clean and free from misspellings without reducing the content, it should be edited philologically. Such a result is in the form of collection text A which can be found at Gedong Kirtya Singaraja. It is this which has been used as the basis for editing. 3) The UBK text contains the basic knowledge of the Balinese traditional therapy, starting from how to understand the philosophy of diseases, how to diagnose diseases (nenger), ethics, and the regulation regulating compensation (sesantun). 4) The UBK is a traditional medical literary work referred to as usada. The writer wants to inform that someone can be a professional indigenous medical practitioner through siddhi sakti wakbajra. 5.2. Suggestions In Bali there are hundreds of usada texts with their various forms and types. They have not been deeply explored yet; therefore, it has been difficult to understand them. To make them, as what has been inherited from generation to generation, they should be investigated so that they will not be left neglected. The cost needed to conduct research is the biggest problem. It is, therefore, that the government should allocate more funds for research in traditional objects such as traditional texts in general and those containing traditional therapy in particular. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is the blessing provided by God, the Almighty, which has enabled the researcher to complete the dissertation entitled “Usada Budha Kacapi: Balinese Traditional Therapy Literary Text” on time. Then this study is offered to the Examination Board of The Doctorate Program in Linguistics of the Postgraduate Program of Udayana University in order to obtain a degree of philosophical doctor in linguistics. The assistance, motivations and input provided by the main supervisor, co-supervisors, the examiners, the lecturers and colleagues have contributed to the completion of this dissertation. Therefore, in this opportunity, the writer would like to thank them all. Thanks are expressed to Prof. Dr. I Made Suastika, S.U., the main supervisor; Prof. Dr. I Wayan Cika, M.S., as co-supervisor I; and Prof. Dr. I Nyoman Weda Kusuma, M.S., co- supervisor II as well as Coordinator of the Concentration of Discourse Studies for their guidance, supervision and motivations; otherwise, this dissertation would never have been completed. A word of appreciation should also go to Prof. Drs. Ketut Artawa, M.A., Ph.D., Head of the Doctorate Program in Linguistics, the Postgraduate Program of Udayana University; Prof. Dr. Nyoman Kutha Ratna, S.U., Prof. Dr. I Wayan Pastika, M.S., Prof. Dr. I Nengah Duija, M.Si., and Prof. Dr. I Nyoman Suarka, M.Hum. for their critical input; otherwise, this dissertation would have been much less perfect . A word of appreciation should also be extended to Prof. Dr. I Made Bakta, Sp.PD (KHOM), the Rector of Udayana University, for the facilities provided when attending the Doctorate Program in Linguistics of the Postgraduate Program of Udayana University. Owing a great debt of gratitude should also go to Prof. Dr. A.A. Raka Sudewi, Sp.S (K), the Director of the Postgraduate Program of Udayana University; ,Prof. Dr. I Made Budiarsa, M.A., Vice Director I of the Postgraduate Program of Udayana University; and Prof. Dr. I Ketut Budi Susrusa, M.S., Vice Director II of the Postgraduate Program of Udayana University for the encouragement and facilities provided. Thanks are also extended to Prof. Dr. I Wayan Ardika, M.A., Dean of the Faculty of Letters of Udayana University for the permit and academic facilities provided to attend the Doctorate Program. Being indebted should also go to the Government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of National Education and the Doctorate Program Management Team for the BPPS scholarship which has highly contributed to the completion of this study. The writer would also like to thank the administrative staff of the Postgraduate Program and the Doctorate Program in Linguistics of Udayana University for the services provided during the completion of the study, and to all the teaching staff of the Faculty of Letters of Udayana University in general, and all the teaching staff of the Old Javanese and Balinese Department for their prayers, encouragement and motivation. Thanks should also go to Prof. Dr. Aron Meko Mbete who has never been exhausted in motivating the writer during the completion of the doctorate program, to Prof. Dr. I Nengah Dasi Astawa, M.Si. and Dr. I Wayan Sukayasa, M.Hum. for their time spent on discussions and for lending the related books, and to the informants who were indigenous medical practitioners and highly knowledgeable of palm-leaf manuscripts for their information, guidance and patience. A word of appreciation should be extended to the 2007/2008 fellow-students such as Sugiarti, Made Netra, Ni Wayan Sartini, Petrus Pita, Mulyadi, and Dewa Ramendra for their cooperation and motivation. In this opportunity the writer would also like to thank his wife, Ni Made Suryati for her prayers and understanding; Ni Putu Irma Sastrayanti, Ni Made Irma Krisnayanti, Ni Komang Rina Indrayanti, the writers’daughters, and I Ketut Prawira Adhiastra, the writer’s son, for their prayers and love; and to the writer’s older and younger siblings for their prayers and motivation. Finally, the writer would also like to thank his friends and the other parties that cannot be mentioned one by one for their assistance, facilities, motivation and prayers so that this dissertation could be completed on time. Denpasar, July 2011