The Keris Pusaka

Uncle Frans is a nice Indonesian guy and usually well dressed. His behavior is very quiet like with most people from his generation, he's very kind and helpful. This was not always the case. In his youth he was a bit wild. He earned a lot of money in the restaurant were he started as a young helper and became a famous chef. It didn't take long before Uncle Frans got an offer to start a restaurant in Amersfoort, Holland together with his nephew, as equal shareholders. Before he went to Holland an Uncle gave him an old Pusaka Keris. He was told exactly how to take care of it. Grateful Uncle Frans took the Pusaka. The restaurant was a big success. Uncle Frans married a Dutch wife and got a daughter and a son.

Many years later he went back to Indonesia to visit his family. In the house of his Uncle Boetje he saw "his" old Pusaka Keris. "Did you have two identical ones?" Uncle Frans asked surprised. "No, but since you never bothered to treat this Keris well, it came back to me," his Uncle said. At that moment Uncle Frans remembered that years ago in Holland there were months of strange nightly sounds, as if someone was in the corridor. But there was never someone to be seen. The lamplight's swung from the ceiling, without a breeze. It gave Uncle Frans sleepless nights.

The unexplainable sounds gave him goose pimples and he lost pounds from sheer fear. Never did he find out what caused them. After a year the noises stopped. Uncle Frans got his rest and gained weight again. After he told all this to his Uncle Boetje, he could explain what had happened. Uncle Frans was very hard spoken to: "A Keris Pusaka is not an ordinary dagger. Generations of family honor and respect for the ancestors and the keeping of our century old traditions are personified in this Keris. A Keris Pusaka lives! An unrespectable treatment of such a Keris is absolutely intolerable. Because you treated our Pusaka so badly, the Keris came back to me. Because here he gets treated well, the way it should be." Uncle Frans dared to ask, "How can this Keris get to Indonesia by himself?" A bit angry his Uncle said, "My God, Frans, I just gave you the explanation, what do you want more? Two follows one! You're not stupid are you?"

Back in Holland Uncle Frans went to the box, which held the Keris when he got it from his Uncle Boetje. It was at precisely the same place were he left it. And the red ribbon still was wound around it the way he had left it. Uncle Frans had never taken time for the Keris. He opened the box. The red velvet cloth was still in it, but the Keris was gone. Nowadays Uncle Frans lives from his pension. That he didn't take care of the Keris then, he still regrets it. Years ago he bought a Keris at a market, which he takes care for and treats according to tradition. "I will try to bring ‘the spirit' of the Pusaka in this Keris, for my son. And maybe, if my son takes over the tradition, maybe then Uncle Boetje will give "our" family heirloom to my son."

Keris pusaka di Jawa (in Indonesian)

Ada pepatah yang menyatakan : "Penghargaan pada seseorang tergantung karena busananya." Mungkin pepatah itu lahir dari pandangan psikolog yang mendasarkan pada kerapian, kebersihan busana yang dipakai seseorang itu menunjukkan watak atau karakter yang ada dalam diri orang itu.Di kalangan masyarakat Jawa Tengah pada umumnya untuk suatu perhelatan tertentu, misalnya pada upacara perkawinan, para kaum prianya harus mengenakan busana Jawi jangkep (busana Jawa lengkap).

Dan kewajiban itu harus ditaati terutama oleh mempelai pria, yaitu harus menggunakan/memakai busana pengantin gaya Jawa yaitu berkain batik, baju pengantin, tutup kepala (kuluk) dan juga sebilah keris diselipkan di pinggang. Mengapa harus keris? Karena keris itu oleh kalangan masyarakat di Jawa dilambangkan sebagai simbol "kejantanan." Dan terkadang apabila karena suatu sebab pengantin prianya berhalangan hadir dalam upacara temu pengantin, maka ia diwakili sebilah keris. Keris merupakan lambang pusaka.

Pandangan ini sebenarnya berawal dari kepercayaan masyarakat Jawa dulu, bahwa awal mula eksistensi mahkluk di bumi atau di dunia bersumber dari filsafat agraris, yaitu dari menyatunya unsur lelaki dengan unsur perempuan. Di dunia ini Allah Swt, menciptakan makhluk dalam dua jenis seks yaitu lelaki dan perempuan, baik manusia, hewan, maupun tumbuh-tumbuhan. Kepercayaan pada filsafat agraris ini sangat mendasar di lingkungan keluarga besar Karaton di Jawa, seperti Karaton Kasunanan Surakarta, Kasultanan Yogyakarta, dan lain-lain. Kepercayaan itu mulanya dari Hinduisme yang pernah dianut oleh masyarakat di Jawa. Lalu muncul pula kepercayaan tentang bapa angkasa dan ibu bumi/pertiwi. Yang juga dekat dengan kepercayaan filsafat agraris di masyarakat Jawa terwujud dalam bentuk upacara kirab pusaka pada menjelang satu Sura dalam kalender Jawa dengan mengkirabkan pusaka unggulan Karaton yang terdiri dari senjata tajam: tombak pusaka, pisau besar (bendho). Arak-arakan pengirab senjata pusaka unggulan Karaton berjalan mengelilingi komplek Karaton sambil memusatkan pikiran, perasaan, memuji dan memohon kepada Sang Maha Pencipta alam semesta, untuk beroleh perlindungan, kebahagiaan, kesejahteraan lahir dan batin.