By Vittorio Roveda @
(Copyright text and pictures)
An Asian Oedipus complex?
This paper examines the
implications of Dubhi’s parricide (killing one’s own father) starting from the textual
and visual narratives pf the Reamker-Ramakien in Cambodia and Thailand
In
the Valmiki Ramayana, the story of
Dundubhi[1] -
called Dubhi or Tupi in parts of Southeastern Asia - starts in chapters 9-10 and ends in chapter
11 of Book IV (Kishkindakanda) when
Valmiki mentions Mayavi, a titanic demon (asura)
stronger than thousand elephants, who, on account of a woman, challenged Bali
(also known as Valin[2])
to a fight. From chapter 11 Valmiki changes the name of this asura from Mayavi into Dundubhi, describing
him as a giant buffalo (father of Dubhi).
According
to the Indian Ramayana, the many
names buffalo king, should be Dundubhi, who, on hearing of the existence of a
male young buffalo named Dubhi, approached him furious, being a male competitor
who could take “his wives?” [female, cow
buffaloes]and put an end to his sexual primacy.
The
story of the young buffalo Dundubhi from the Ramayana was conflated and narrated in a more colorful way in the
Cambodian Ramakerti and later in the
Thai Ramakien. In time it became so
popular to be depicted on murals around a royal temples of Phnom Penh and
Bangkok (where Dundubhi became known as Torapi).
In
the Ramakerti or Reamker the story of the buffalo Dundubhi occupies entire pages of
the text. Here the protagonist is simply called Dubhi (or Tupi). For the first
time the reader is told about his father (chapter IV, ibid.82-87) being a gigantic white buffalo king, a tyrant in the
region, who is so violent and powerful, and that he kills all male buffaloes,
even if sons, who may become competitors in the control of his herd of female buffaloes. the mother who gave secretly birth to
the young buffalo named Dubhi dared to hide him in the deep forest; he grew
fast and extremely strong, practicing blowing his horns against the largest
trees of the forest and sharpening them against the mountain rocks.
In the Cambodian Reamker more details are added to the
basic story: for instance poetic descriptions of the young Dubhi in his new
life after the elimination of his father, when as the leader the buffalo’s cow
tribe he is proud of his ‘virility’
(verse 1910). The sexual innuendos are evident.
The references to the
sexuality of Dhubi are strong. It is an instinct that pushes him to kill the
father to possess his father’s female heard that included his mother. Killing
father to acquire mother is part of the Oedipus complex.
The story of Dubhi is also reported in the LAV, short for Lpoek Aǹgkor Vat, a poem
composed by Pang in the 17th century. The LAV was meant to be chanted by a bard guiding
visitors and pilgrims through the corridors of Angkor Wat and during festivals
(Bizot 1989: 27). The poem’s composer
admitted that the subject of his story was not his invention but it existed
before as sparse material that he had gathered and put in order (Khing
1985:114).
In our case, it is interesting that
strophes 256-266 that were chanting the
fight of Dubhi with his father who he
killed “humbly (Pou,1977). The
chanting the myth of Dubhi, supports my conviction that all the narratives of
mainland Southeast Asia (Including Buddhist)
had been chanted long before being written down. The importance of
traveling storytellers, bards, has been underestimated so far.
The Dubhi’s story is very revealing when seen within a
psychoanalytical context and it provides a psychological picture of ancient
peoples of Southeast Asia.
Viewed with the eye of western psychoanalysis, the
Dubhi/Torapi situation is that of the Asian Oedipus who kills his father to
take possession of his wife/wives including his mother. The Oedipus complex
means a child’s unconscious
dynamic repression to have sexual relations with the parent of
the opposite sex (i.e. males attracted to their mothers, and females attracted
to their fathers) along with hostile jealous feelings towards the parent of the
same sex. In psychoanalysis, the young
Dubhi comparing the size of his own hoothprints with those of father, may be
seen as comparison of penises.
In Greek
mythology, Oedipus
was born to King Laius and Queen Jocastas. He was doomed to a terrible fate because he
unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. Oedipus represents two
enduring themes of Greek myth and drama: the flawed nature of humanity and an
individual's powerlessness against the course of destiny in a harsh universe
In our case, the triangle Oedipus-king Laius-Queen
Jocasta is replaced by the triangle king father (Torapa, the elder buffalo)-,
his wife (queen of female buffaloes) - and Dubhi.
Overt and deliberate violence of the son against
father is evident. In the Reamker-Ramakien
narrative, the parricidal crime is rationalized to deny such aggression by
making the murder of the father to look like an act of justice: putting an end
to the father’s tyranny and exclusive rights on the female buffaloes and
self-sacrifice (Dubhi risking his life against the mighty father), he was ready
to sacrifice himself, which would be acceptable in the Asian tradition. The
assertion of power and fulfillment of sexuality are viewed as boons to be
granted or withheld by the father, the mighty one. Power has to be obtained
only through absolute submission to him, and any attempt from the son to assert
his own rights results in death and destruction.
Visual
narratives of this event appeared on murals, in Cambodia at the Silver Pagoda, (about
1890-1904) and in Thai murals and Thai lacquer perhaps from the end of the XVII
century (Boisselier1976) and fully developed on the gallery of the Temple of
the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok. In Laos the story is known in the modern carved
doors of a monastery of Luang Prabang. (Roveda 2015: 196, Fig.140).
ESSENTIAL
BIBLIOGRAPY
Bizot François, Reamker, L’amour symbolique de
Ream and Seta, Publications de l’EFEO, Vol. CLV, Paris, 1989, 148 pages165
photos
Boisselier Jean, Thai Painting, Kodansha
International, 1976
Giteau M., Les peintures du Ramayana cambodgien au
monastère de Vat Bho (Siem Reap), Indologica Taurinensis, 25, Torino,
1999 : 179-245, 35 illustrations
Giteau M., Les peintures khmères de l’Ecole de
l’Okna Tep Nimit Nak, Udaya, Phom Penh, 2003 :39-44, 7 figs.
Goldman Robert P., Fathers, sons and gurus: oedipal
conflict in the Sanskrit epics, Journal of Indian Philosophy, 6, 1978
Goldman R.P., The Ramayana of Valmiki, Princeton Library of Asian Translations, 1984
Groslier George, Soixante-seize dessins
cambodgiens, Art et Archéologie Khmeres, Vol.I, Paris 1923 : 331-385,
many illustrations.
Jacob Judith, Reamker (Ramakerti), the Cambodian
version of the Ramayana, The Royal Asiatic society, London 1986, 320 pages
Khing Hoc Dy, Lpek Angkor Vat, Association
culturelle “Pierres d’Angkor”, Choisy le Roy, France, 1985, 120 pages.
Martini
Francois, En marge au
Ramayana Cambodgien, BEFEO, XXXVIII, Paris, 1938: 285-295
Martini F., La Gloire de Rama, Reamakerti,
Paris, Société d’Editions “Les Belles Lettres”, Paris, 1978,241 pages
Masson J.M., Fratricide among the monkeys:
psychoanalytical observations on an episode in the Valmikiramayanam, Journal
of the American Oriental Society, 95, 1975
Narayan R.K., The Ramayana (A shortened Modern
Prose version of the Indian Epic suggested by the Tamil version of Kamban),
Penguin Books, 1972
Olsson R.A., The Ramakien, A prose translation of
the Thai Ramayana, Praettaya Company Ltd. Bangkok 1968
Pech Tum Travel, Sbek Thom, Khmer Shadow Theatre, Southeast Asia
Program, Cornell University and UNESCO, 1995, 190 pages,153 figures
Pou Saveros, Reamakerti (XVI-XVII siècles),
Publications de l’ EFEO, Vol.CX, Paris, 1977, 299 pages
Roveda Vittorio, In
the shadow of Rama, River Books, Bangkok, 2014
Bangkok, September
2016
PICTURES
& CAPTIONS
Fig.1
– This panel is from the Silver Pagoda of Phnom Penh, painted by members of thee
workshop of Tep Nimit Mak from 1895-2004. The panel shown here depicts the
entire story of Dubhi. On the center left is a group of female buffaloes and
their youngsters grazing. On the right of the tree, a blue-black buffalo
(identified as Dubhi) kills a light brown and white skin buffalo (his father).
Then to the right of the picture, the proud Dudfhi goes to confront the king of
the monkeys, Bali (or Valin), painted green.
The
landscape, rather terse by the alteration of colour in time, has a western perspective;
western influence is shown also by the
way of painting trees and bushes.
Fig.2
– Continuation of the story showing Bali holding a sword, having accepted the
defiance to fight the monster buffalo. After one day of fighting, shown on
the mural by Bali on top of Dubhi (failing to disgorge him), it continues the
following day (painted of the chronological sequence) in a cave, to the disadvantage
of the massive Dubhi, who eventually is killed by Bali.
Fir.3 – WAt Bo Kraom (Siem
Reap).A painted-stuccoed relief showing the target of Dubhi sexual urge with
the queen of Buffalos, his mother. On the right background, are possibly shown
Dubhi confronting his father (lighter mantle), king of the buffaloes, who is
soon killed. It happens in a marshy landscape with clear western perspective.
This ‘pastiche’ of stucco mixed with cement glued to the wall and then finished
and painted, is the product of a few construction builders, failing to be
artists in 2006.
Fig.4. Monastery
of Wat Bo (Siem Reap). Southern Wall upper register (see Roveda 2015: 106). On
this panel the painter framed the fight Dubhi-Bali in a sort of cave (with
domed ceiling) inside a slender building. The figure of Sugriva, guarding the
exit is almost totally deface. Early 20th century.
Fig.5 – Wat Sutat (Bangkok). This
triptych hung on the main walls of Wat Sutat, all represents Ramayanic
stories. The painting on the left
shows Bali fighting the black buffalo Thorapi (Dubhi) in a cavern.
Painting on reverse glass,
probably early 20th century. Dubhi, better known in Thailand as
Thorapi, is usuallypainted with black skin (at the Emeralds Buddha’s gallery, etc.).
[1]
Valmiki gives a confused, contradictory genealogy of Dundubhi; its discussion
is beyond the scope of this paper.
[2] See
Dawson J., A classical dictionary of
Hindu mythology & religion, Rupa
paperback, Calcutta
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