The Old-Javanese Ramayana Kakawin

Summary

This review examines C. C. Hooykaas’s study of the Old‑Javanese Ramayana, an Old Javanese poem rendering of the Sanskrit epic composed in the kakawin metrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakawin_Ramayana#:~:text=Kakawin%20Ramayana%20is%20an%20Old,55%20in%20kakawin%20meter. Anonymous and likely written in Central Java during the late ninth or early tenth centuryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakawin_Ramayana#:~:text=Central%20Java%20%20,930.%22%5B%202%20%5D%3A%2031, the poem adapts the Ramayana for a Javanese audience by blending Indic and indigenous motifs. Hooykaas summarises debates about interpolations and compares the poem with the Bhatti‑kavya, a Sanskrit work that retells the Ramayana while illustrating grammatical rules. By analysing metre, narrative structure and linguistic features, he demonstrates that many passages previously deemed interpolations are genuine and that the poem maintains a consistent Old Javanese style. He also emphasises that the Kakawin Ramayana is a creative reworking that condenses or omits episodes and stresses moral themes. The reviewer notes that Hooykaas situates the poem within the broader kawi literary tradition and examines its relationship with the Bhatti‑kavya. The book discusses how certain erotic passages absent from the Bhatti‑kavya appear in the Old‑Javanese version and argues that these may reflect Javanese creativity rather than later additions. It also explores the poem’s cultural context, including its likely performance in courts and temples. The reviewer commends the critical apparatus and translation but suggests that some conclusions about interpolation remain speculative and that further manuscript studies are needed. Overall, the review praises the study for clarifying questions of interpolation and providing a reliable translation that makes the Old‑Javanese Ramayana accessible to scholars and general readers.