Nawanatya

Abstract

The Nawanatya in the redaction of cod. 5091 Leyden is a manual of good conduct for Court officials. The meaning of the name is “Nine Physiognomies, or Instances of Polite Demeanour”, and this refers to nine situations in which a courtier may find himself, and to the faces suitable for each occasion in turn that are to be shown by him. The present text contains two groups of nine cases each (p. 1a-3b and p. 5a-7b, the Nawanatya proper) and moreover a group of five similar situations (p. 7b, the Pancawisaya), almost certainly all of them borrowed from Indian literature. Those rules of good conduct have been amplified by Javanese authors with notes on Court officials (the concluding chapters Nagarakrama and Rājyawāsanā). Though Majapahit is not mentioned the resemblance of these notes with the descriptions in the Nāg. is so great that the author or authors must have been Majapahit courtiers themselves. The notes on the Court officials and, to a certain extent, the explanations of the nine situations contain interesting information on Majapahit Court life. The chapters on 14th century Javanese culture at the end of the present book are founded for a considerable part on the contents of the Nawanatya. The interested reader is referred to them.