All praise is due to God, the Lord of the World. The above passage, a translation of the Serat Nitisastra from the Mojopahit Dynasty, is a good introduction to the way the Javanese view their literature, most of which concerns their history or spirituality. We were inspired to collect these ancient Javanese texts, and offer them to you with the utmost appreciation and respect to our ancestors who left these teachings to us. We hope that by offering them on the World Wide Web, we will preserve the Javanese culture and add in some small way to the philosophical and spiritual discourse of the people. The meaning of these ancient texts is quite naturally the subject of much speculation and debate among scholars.
Many passages are famous for their hidden prophecies.
Regardless of our attempts to come to terms with their meaning, we have produced a translation that does not attempt to clear up their often-perplexing ambiguity. We recommend that you read and ponder them with an open mind. Words often have more than one meaning. It is difficult to translate without forcing an interpretation on the text. However, we will do our best to offer alternate meanings in the footnotes where we feel they are relevant.