First, let all pray to and seek the favour of the deity in this and the next world, and each require an interpreter who will obtain his pardon: but he must reject fickleness to arrive at a discriminating heart. Speak with reverence to your parents, their existence is replaced by those who are named after them. In the place of worship, when the ornament of good works is shewn, it is mentioned in the same manner as delight, as established gratification. It is difficult to cause advantage to the workings of the heart; your faith, which you received from Sang yang Sudriya and Sang yang Táya is acknowledged by the extent of your ability, and is different from other feelings.
Different are the rewards of those who come to heaven; happiness is bestowed on them; delightful their state; verily they have arrived in the land of silver. Whatever your reward at your death may be fixed at, when obtained it cannot be lost: all is settled, the whole is distributed, as well as the certainty of death. Truly you are directed to a place which is exalted, pointed out by Déwas, who preside at death and become your guide; because the dead are mixed in a land which is wide and level, are given occupations and quickly go, each flying to the first place until they arrive at the seventh. Verily they at length come to the extremity with those who accompany: there are none among them who have been terrified: the existence of the body is dissolved and lost. There are none acquainted with books who are terrified.
Translation of another Inscription in the ancient Javan, or Kawi, Character, on a Stone found in the interior of the District of Surabaya.
On the Face of the Stone.
The year of this inscription being made on a solid stone was 467, in the season Katíga. It was made by a Pandíta skilful, and who performed wonders; to relate, explain, and make known the greatness and excellence of the Rátu (prince), in order that your actions too may speedily become clear and manifest; yes, that will be your kadáton. That Sri Rája, ever surrounded by majesty and his family, observes a correctness of conduct grateful to the pure Déwas, and by Mántris exalted by the Rátu Bráma Wijáya, celebrated in the universe for his eminence, whose empire is firm and not to be shaken. Such is the Rátu; yes, he who caused to be inscribed on a stone all these his actions, observant to the utmost of the forms of worship, moderate in his complaints of distress, whose appeals are correct and most true and without guile, and have enabled the slave to associate with the divinity, without there being a difference between them. He is my father, who is implored and who caused my existence: do not trifle; there is no one greater than he. What remains to you to solicit, mention it with humility; yes, that too is what mankind must observe. Do you watch and observe the duties of mankind, and you will certainly profit; reject entirely sayings which are improper and untrue, and avoid theft, robbery, anger, boasting of prowess and false promises, for they are despicable, and their effect, like the atmosphere, giving heavy rain which overflows, to the accomplishment of wishes, improving the cultivation, making all fresh and equally bright and sparkling; but the wind of which is presently strong and cuts off the buds. If you ever wish to fortify your soul, go to the summit of a mountain, which is the place for earnest supplication in silence, awaken your firm and sincere heart, let there not be any dregs of your nature; but let the soul assume non-existence and pray. Be aware of the disorders of the demon of bad actions, who inimically annoys and misleads; undoubtedly, if you conduct yourself with firmness, you will approach to perfection, and seclusion will truly be there. Let there not be a mixture of discontent of mind. Cast away the veil however delicate it may be; truly it is better conversing with letters which have been written; what they convey to you will be most painful to the body, but your hopes will be accomplished. Do not give place to the evil thoughts which have occupied the minds of men and are most vexatious; fortify yourself so that you recede not; remember well the three established powers of mankind. Commune with the wise in words which are seen proceeding from the mouth; truly faith is different from what is heard of your corrupt body, which is the ornament of human life. Let the actions of superior men who seek stability be examples to you like the krangrang ant; the indication which you make cannot be disapproved, those persons certainly may be accounted near to the wishes of the country. Sometimes clear, sometimes obscure, yes, such indeed let your situation be, so that the train of your actions may become most direct and manifest, as by day the sun lights all places, so their benefit be not thrown away, and you may cast off care and sorrow. Truly the departure of life is most uncertain. Human nature, when it will not receive advice, is like a stony plain without grass, animals will not approach, all remain at a distance from it. I will teach you: pay attention and fail not to receive instruction, so that you approach most nearly; but first purify your heart which pays reverence, not reverence which is heard by the ear. Yes, that is indeed true devotion which I have taught you, and without which there is no purity, for a perfect heart is derived from the Deity. Words proceeding from the mouth are vain to the utmost, their effect not to be depended on. The devotion of a pure heart is like moonshine, not hot but cool and delightful; the beauties you see in which the stars are scattered over as though in attendance on the moon, adding to the grandeur of the scene. And also a person becoming a Rátu commands his subjects and distinguishes good people from bad, for the limits of this country are all under his orders. The Rátu selects from his subjects such as are eligible to be his associates, and they are four, who become the pillars of the state, and cause its happiness and welfare; he thereby shews a pattern for future Rátus. Further, too, as you have been given life, do not reject the precepts of the Sástra, which have been diffused through the world by the virtuous, but weigh them in your mind, for that is the duty of a slave; bad and good are from your Lord. So the wisdom of man is extended like the firmament, immeasurable even by the bird garúda, which knows how to fly in the heavens, though he should arrive at the extremity of space; such is human wisdom. Do not be surprised at people's conversation, though it correspond not with the dictates of the Sastra; yes, that is most injurious to morals. Even should one become a Rátu, if he knows not this he certainly will not succeed, he will not arrive at the height of his wishes; because the action of a vicious heart is different from the inclination of a pure one, which is in attendance on its Lord. And a living man should know the advantages of these places, which are, the earth, the sky, and the space between; for to-morrow, when dead, your body and soul will be there; before it knows the road it will change its habitation into a living being; there, if you find enjoyment, you may search for a place, because you have discernment from the heart. But a man who is so while he lives, effects it by abstinence and moderation in eating and drinking. Yes, in the time of Rátu Dérma Wangsa, when he began to benefit the country, that Rátu, it is related in history of former times, would not depart from his word, and all his subjects were devoted to him. And when the Rátu sat in his kadáton, his conversation with his wives was very sweet, as well as his playfulness with them. His wives were therefore much attached to him, and by the Rátu's wisdom being so great, he was sought after by women, and was very watchful in his attentions to them: of that there is no doubt, and thus too the wisdom of the Pandíta is like that of the bird garúda, in obtaining food without trouble from the very great power and sagacity which it possesses; the same arises from the Pandíta. Yes, the reason of letters having been formed by the point of a knife is that you should recollect the way which is correct, and that is no other than reverence to the Batára; yea, devoting yourself to the Batára is the height of human excellence. While a man lives, he should day and night ask pardon from the Batára. For what was first written in letters, and they are a cause of eminence to him, was by the Pandíta Pangéran Aji Saka; yes, he who has left his mark to the Rátus of Java, for those Rátus made places of worship, named Sangga Pamalungan, and placed in them drawings of their forefathers: but when they prayed they petitioned the Batára only for their existence, that when they died they should inhabit their places, quickly changing their bodies, because their former bodies had returned to the pristine state, that is to say, earth, water, fire, air. So says the Sástra.
On the Left Side.
And the powers of letters, which are forty-seven, keep those in your mind, so that they be within you all of them. I will establish them in such a manner that they can be brought forth by your three fingers; those who are skilful may make good letters. Do not neglect the application of letters, give each its proper place, for those letters are most useful in the transactions of the people of this world during their continuance in it. Thus the use of letters to the nations of the world is to open the hearts of ignorant men, and to put in mind persons who forget; for I give directions to men who can write, in order that the whole of the knowledge I have in my breast may be known: and this I have taught you, because that knowledge is the essence of the body and illuminates it. And you who have wives and children to look after, do not make light of it, for a woman, if she truly do her duty to her husband, is invaluable; she is a printer of clothes, a spinner, weaver, sempstress, and embroiderer; a woman such as this do you cherish, for it will be creditable to you. If a married couple love each other, whatever they wish they can effect, that is the way by which you can attain your wishes. So too a woman towards her husband, even to death; yes, she follows to the pasétran (place of depositing the corpse) or the place of self-sacrifice; this is taught in letters which have been written on tablets; truly those writings are like histories, which explain every kind of science. But the fate of man cannot be learned or known by letters; such as a person's being able to acquire profit, knowledge, poverty or distress: of these there is no certainty. However, do not you reject the sayings of letters. It is your evil inclinations that destroy your bodies; for he who first made war, his magic was very great, because he could throw off the passions of mankind, like Arjuna, whose power in war and in mounting his chariot was celebrated, for he was guarded by all the Dewas; yes, he could become a tapa (a devotee, released from the wants, &c. incident to mankind) and pray fervently. Arjuna, when he became a tapa, annulled his body, his heart did not stray from his duty to the Dewas; his wishes were therefore complied with until his death; yes, Arjuna was indeed favoured by his Dewas. And on any one of your forefathers dying and ascending to heaven, do you immediately make a picture to personify that forefather; and do you adorn and provide it with all sorts of eatables, and respect it as your forefather who has descended to you, and will administer to all your wants: such will be the case with a person who pays respect to his forefathers. At night burn incense and many lamps: truly Sang yang Jagat (the omnipotent) and Sang yang Suria (the sun) will be favourable to you; for Sang yang Suria is the enlightener of the world, and every day gives light to darkness. A man who has arrived at the half of his term of life conceives well the separation of his soul from its covering; your existence is like that of the moon, that is to say, from the new to the full, and from that to its extreme wane on the twenty-ninth day of its age. When the moon is thus lost from the east, it will then certainly appear in the west, and recommence the first day of its age. While you live ask from those who know the setting of the soul; a person who knows that is certainly discovered by his actions. But it is best losing that covering by four causes, water, fire, air, earth; if it is lost by means of those four, the body will certainly quickly be removed, in the same manner as gold which is purified, verily, its colour will become like that which is old. Thus the Pandíta makes preparations for prayer. The best mode of praying is by familiarizing ourselves with seclusion, which is by excessively torturing the body; but if you should have been much reduced, your soul will not arrive at those three places. Should a man become a Rátu, his soul is one selected by the Dewas which has been introduced into a covering, and that covering is not a covering which has not been favoured by the Dewas, truly a covering which has been elevated by the Dewas, for its good fortune has been very great. The descending of that good fortune from heaven is not like clouds dropping rain, which, if it fall, does so equally on all vegetations. Look at mankind; if you contemplate its state when living, its existence is no more than that of a herb which shoots up on the face of the earth. Concerning your soul, it is like dew, which hangs on the points of grass: such is its state.