Note 10 — Chapter IV · The Malay Pantheon

The Malay conception of Batara Guru seems to have been that he had both a good and a bad side to his character. Though he was “Destroyer” he was also “Restorer-to-life,”10 and it would appear that these two opposite manifestations of his power tended to develop into two distinct personalities, a development which apparently was never entirely consummated. This, however, is not the only difficulty, for on investigating the limits of the respective spheres of influence of Batara Guru and Kala, we find that the only sphere, which is always admitted to be under Kala’s influence, is the intermediate zone between the respective spheres of influence of Batara Guru (as he is called if on land, “Si Raya” if at sea) and a third divinity, who goes by the name of “’Toh Panjang Kuku,” or “Grandsire Long-Claws.”