An embodiment of human life phase in Sȇrat Kangsa Adu-Adu Macapat

Abstract

This paper focuses on a classical Javanese manuscript entitled Sêrat Kangsa Adu-Adu Macapat. A manuscript tracking on the subject reveals that there are four copies of the manuscripts in existence. One of them, manuscript number D.19, is in the collection of the Reksa Pustaka Pura Mangkunegaran Surakarta (Library of the Mangkunegaran Palace in Surakarta). The other two manuscripts number RP 250b and RP 250c are in the collection of the Radya Pustaka Museum Surakarta, and the last one, a copy number W.53, is in the collection of the Sanabudaya Museum Yogyakarta. These four manuscripts were written in Javanese using the Javanese alphabets in the form of poem and prose. However, the D.19 manuscript is the only complete copy in tembang macapat (macapat poem) form. The composition of the verses in the poem has certain meanings. Therefore, this paper aims to illuminate the texts in the book entitled Sêrat Kangsa Adu-Adu Macapat using a philological method and literature macapat to describe the philosophical meaning behind the tembang. The result of the discussion shows that the texts of Sêrat Kangsa Adu-Adu Macapat and its metrum, or the composition of a certain passage or section of the verses, represent an embodiment of the philosophical meaning of human life phase.