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lived in the reign (an probably at the Court) of Erlai}ga, a King who ruled in East Java, probably in the district of Kahuripan, in the delta of the river Brantas, in the beginning of the eleventh century. The central plot of the Arjuna Wiwaha is Arjuna’s struggle with Niwata Kawaca, a King whose name is borrowed from the Niwata Kawaca group of demons, well- known in Indian mythology and mentioned in the Mahabharata, Wana Parwa. The Javanese poem has a lengthy prelude men tioning a boar hunt and a trial of strength between Arjuna and siwa, and an aftermath, the description of Arjuna’s sojourn in the gods’ abode sporting with the heavenly maidens, the hero’s reward for his troubles in vanquishing the demon. The name of the kakawin, Arjuna’s Nuptials, refers to the last part. The Arjuna Wiwaha was studied assidu ously by Javanese authors of the eighteenth and the nineteenth century as well as by modern European scholars. Javanese authors saw in the poem an allegory referring to- a superior man’s struggle in life, his victory over demoniacal powers and his final apo theosis, The Minta Raga (the Arjuna Wiwaha’s name in modern Javanese litera ture, see 31.000) was considered as a coun terpart of the Bima Suci poem, which has for subject Bima’s quest for the water of life and esoteric wisdom (see 31.040). In a well-known eighteenth century Central Javanese treatise on mysticism, the Cabolèk (see 15.200) there is a discussion of the merits of the Minta Raga and the Bima Suci. Considering the Arjuna Wiwaha kakawin from a modern European point of view, professor Berg described it as an

epithalamium, a poem especially composed for the marriage of Erlapga, the East Ja vanese King who was the poet’s patron (see Berg, “Arjuna Wiwaha, Erlangga’s Brui loftslied”, BKI vol. 97, 1938, and Zoetmul der, “Kawi and Këkawin”, BKI vol. 113, 1957). The first edition of the Arjuna Wiwaha, by Friederich (Verh. KBG vol. 23, 1850), was unsatisfactory. Poerbatjaraka published a new edition with a Dutch translation in 1926 (BKI vol. 82). Under the present head the Balinese ma nuscripts of the Arjuna Wiwaha, often pro vided with interlinear Balinese glosses, have been registered first, because they contain the best perserved text. Codexes of Java nese origin come only in the second place, their texts are mostly corrupt. Manuscripts containing relevant texts are registered in the General Index under the catchword Arjuna Wiwaha. 30.021 Arjuna Wiwaha, Balinese tradition, complete or nearly complete text: cod. 1875, 1876, 2205, 2206, 3588, 5107, 5122. 30.022 Arjuna Wiwaha kakawin, Balinese tradition, fragments and selections: cod. 4071, 4980, 10.530 (= BCB prtf 27), 10.531 (= BCB prtf 27), CB 9, CB 10, CB 136-1, REM 3085-31, RtMLV 28856. 30.023 Arjuna Wiwaha kakawin, Balinese tradition, with interlinear glosses, partly fragments and selections: cod. 3755 (= 7218 = BCB prtf 154, nearly complete), 3772 (= 7220 = BCB prtf 154), 4072 (complete), 4073 (com plete), 5381, AdKIT 519/1, AdKIT 836/3.