The Balinese Philosophy on Eating

The Balinese are familiar with the term ngajeng awaregan, the meaning is that in this life people cannot eat too much, be too gluttonous and never waste food. If this philosophy is not followed, children are told by their elders that they will become sleepy, lazy people. This kind of person is said to have the characteristic of tamas (lazy) and are often described by imitating a pig, which can only eat and sleep. On the contrary, children are also warned about not eating enough, because it can make one skinny, and therefore unable to work, especially in the rice fields.

There is a folktale about two brothers, I Cupak and I Grantang. I Cupak is a rowdy figure who likes eating all the time, so that his body is fat and has an ugly face. He is lazy, likes to disturb people, and has a bad attitude. A lot of girls in his village run away from him when I Cupak approaches them.
On the other hand, I Grantang is a person who eats little, so he is very thin and always being made a laughing-stock by I Cupak. But I Grantang has a good attitude and behaviour so that he is liked by the people. A lot of girls like having him as a friend, even though his body is small and weak.
The differences between I Cupak and I Grantang is a popular story retold in order to keep children healthy. Mothers will recall the story when they are feeding their child, in order that the child will eat well, grow, and have a good body-shape, neither too fat nor too thin. “This folktale really helps eating patterns in children,” said Ni Nyoman Suartini, a mother of two children in Denpasar. Suartini, who is also an elementary school teacher, states that the I Cupak and I Grantang story contains high education values and morals for children, so that children can grow-up to become people who respect food, polite behavior, and are useful for society.
The Balinese will be very shy if they are teased and called Cupak or Grantang. Because of that, they eat carefully so that they are healthy, well, perfect in body, and politely behaved. This story also influences the way of life of the Balinese, where they always eat sufficiently and live harmoniously with nature, which is transformed in the form of Panca Yadnya’s Ritual.
Eating for the Balinese is not only to fulfill hunger and make the stomach sated, but also as a ritual to build peace with family members. After cooking, the Balinese do not eat immediately, but first they offer a banten siban or banten jotan on sacred places, like on the top of the fireplace, on the rice caldron, on the water source and so on.
The Balinese kitchen in the past was made with a wide yard in order to fit a plangkan (a place to sit) for the whole family. Eating while sitting on the plangkan together is also believed to build the children’s morality and develop tolerance of behavior, and togetherness. “Basang wareg, keneh liang (stomach is full, mind is happy)”, that is a sesenggakan (rhetorical idiom) of the Balinese, which contains a deep meaning for building the peacefulness of mind and body that can be accomplished by eating together in the kitchen.
The Story of I Cupak and I Grantang is not only passed on orally, but it is also illustrated in the form of dance performances, like Arja dance, Prembon, Drama Gong, Wayang Kulit (leather puppets) and even in modern drama. This story is always actual, the scenario often changed into a criticism of social imbalance in society, where the greedy entrepreneur identified as the Cupak figure who is not only greedy about food, but also land, oil, water, and all of nature’s resources. Meanwhile, the common people who are poor are identified as the Grantang figure, who is skinny, because he always lives on what he has.
The art performance that takes the story of Cupak Grantang often gets a good response from the audience. The scene of Cupak eating a suckling pig, for example, usually surprises the audience. Because the person who acts the part of I Cupak is believed to have divine power, due to the amount he can eat in front of the audience. Often the performance of Cupak Grantang is considered to be a success, if I Cupak is able to perform perfectly, including eating all of the food that is served during the show. Besides that, the polite speech of I Grantang is a pleasure for the spectators.
From that art performance, it can be concluded that the Balinese philosophy on eating, is not just to fulfill a desire, but eating is for keeping life in progress and protecting the harmony of Bhuwana Agung and Bhuwana Alit, the macro and micro cosmos. (Retold by Ketut Sumadi)

Balineselife

”Mebayuh”

The Balinese believe in the law of karma (resulting from acts) & punarbawa (reincarnation). It is from this that the Balinese believe that life is a transformation of good karma or bad karma of our past. In the Sarasamuscaya sacred book, it is declared that human life was formed by past karma (behavior). After receiving merits from beyond (eternity), the newly born human or reincarnated being was also followed by a “receptacle” of their past acts.

The social and economical differences of human life also determined their source of birth. For example, there is one called Swargacita, that is humans who were born from the heaven world, the characteristics are a good character, healthy in spirit and body, good looking and prosperous. There is also Neraka Cita, that is humans whose birth is believed to come from the realm of hell. The features, for example, are abnormalities at birth, suffering and misery.
Regardless of the source of birth, humans can place themselves above animals and aim for good behaviour and deeds to release themselves from misery. Sarasamuscaya sloka Chapters 8 and 9 explain this more fully. One of the ways the Balinese try to escape from the cycle of suffering is to make sesajen (ritual offerings), which are called bayuhan. Bayuhan comes from the word bayuh or dayuh, which means cool and also reconcile. So, the purpose of bayuhan is to make a cool, harmonic nuance also not hard, not hot or unhurt. Who should mebayuh?
The ones that are considered to suffer for the Balinese are those who cannot face life in a harmonious way. For example, someone whose features do not match with their age or those who become angry very quickly, are often ill, lazy, or behave outside normal conventions. So, doing bayuhan or mebayuh ceremony is one of the ways the Balinese try to release sufferings in everyday life.
Besides mebayuh, according to sarasamuscaya sacred book sloca 14, by increasing knowledge, and by bhakti, one can transform one’s position and reduce suffering, by following a plan of good behaviour, and virtuousness. (Suambara)