Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 15,240

Date uploaded in London –  4 December 2025

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.

this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com

xxxx  

item 229

 Akanānūru verse 20, composed by Ulōchanār conveys us some interesting things about ancient life of the fisherwomen. 

1.They ate fat fish.

2.They wore leaf and fibre gowns.

3.They played on swing made up of plant fibres

4.They did Kuravai dance but did not like it.

5.They preferred swimming in the sea.

6.They played with the crabs.

7.They criticised the gossiping village women as possessed by evil spirits (But commentators take it as a contemptuous ridicule.)

Playing on swings is practised all over India. This type of game can be played all through the year only in a tropical country like India. Western countries have parks with swings only for children.

Swinging God or a Goddess is called Dolotsava.

Swings are in the reception/Halls in big  houses.

The poet described the beautiful coastal area with moon like white sands and red crabs dotted with Punnai and tiger claw trees.

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More interesting is the name of the poet. His name is Lochana, a Sanskrit word meaning Eye. We have scores of Tamil poets with Eye in their names .Tamil word Kan.

Since Tamil grammar don’t allow L or R or Sa as initial letter of any word, they add a vowel A or E or U before Sanskrit words. Here we see U+Lochana.

Sulochana is a common name for girls, meaning girl with a good eye.

Ulochanar is an expert in portraying coastal/littoral area and fishing. But we must remember he has sung about Choza King Rajasuyam performer Perunar Killi. He has used Sanskrit words Upama, Havis Jaamam etc.

He was a contemporary of Avvaiyar and has composed 35 verses in Sangam books.

*** 

Lord Shiva’s Name 

Locana (लोचन) refers to the “(third) eye (of Śiva)”, according to the Śivapurāṇa 2.3.39

We have already seen another Shiva name among poets – Am+Moovan (beautiful Three Eyed/God. Also Poet Rudraksha (U+Rudran Kannanaar)

***

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Other possibilities

Feminine name

 During my school days we rented a house in Madurai. The house was owned by Bhairava Pillai. His daughter’s name is Su Lochana.

 In Sanskrit numerical system it denotes Number Two as well.

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Sanskrit dictionary

Locana (लोचन).—a. (-nī f.)

1) Illuminating, brightening.

2) Visible.

-nam [locyate’nena loc-karaṇe lyuṭ]

1) Seeing, sight, viewing.

2) The eye; शेषान् मासान् गमय चतुरो लोचने मीलयित्वा (śeṣān māsān gamaya caturo locane mīlayitvā) Meghadūta 112.

Locanā (लोचना).—name of a goddess (= Buddhalocanā, Rocanī): Sādhanamālā 18.13 etc.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Edgerton Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary

Locana (लोचन).—n.

(-naṃ) 1. The eye. 2. Seeing, looking. f.

(-nā) A goddess of the Jainas. E. loc to see, lyuṭ or yuc aff.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Shabda-Sagara Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Locana (लोचन).—[loc + ana], n. The eye, [Vikramorvaśī, (ed. Bollensen.)] [distich] 56.

Source: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Benfey Sanskrit-English Dictionary

Locana (लोचन).—[adjective] enlightening, [neuter] eye.

(From wisdomlib.org)

***

 அகநானூறு 20, உலோச்சனார், நெய்தற் திணை – தோழி தலைவியிடம் சொன்னது, சிறைப்புறத்தானாக இருந்த தலைவன் கேட்கும்படி

பெருநீர் அழுவத்து எந்தை தந்த
கொழு மீன் உணங்கல் படுபுள் ஓப்பி,
எக்கர்ப் புன்னை இன் நிழல் அசைஇ
செக்கர் ஞெண்டின் குண்டு அளை கெண்டி,
ஞாழல் ஓங்கு சினைத் தொடுத்த கொடுங்கழித்  5
தாழை வீழ் கயிற்று ஊசல் தூங்கிக்,
கொண்டல் இடு மணல் குரவை முனையின்
வெண்தலைப் புணரி ஆயமொடு ஆடி,
மணிப்பூம் பைந்தழை தைஇ, அணித்தகப்
பல் பூங்கானல் அல்கினம் வருதல்  10
கவ்வை நல் அணங்கு உற்ற இவ்வூர்
கொடிது அறி பெண்டிர் சொல் கொண்டு, அன்னை
கடி கொண்டனளே தோழி, பெருந்துறை
எல்லையும் இரவும் என்னாது, கல்லென
வலவன் ஆய்ந்த வண் பரி  15
நிலவு மணல் கொட்கும் ஓர் தேர் உண்டு எனவே. 

***

 232 

Akanānūru verse 21, composed by poet Kāvanmullai Poothanār, has one interesting information about animal intelligence. 

Animal intelligence is a recent topic in science magazines like Nature, New Scientist and Scientific American.

For over 2000 years,Hindus have been talking about animal intelligence, animals using instruments, animals dreaming, animals speaking, animals acting like messengers etc in all their religious and secular literature like Panchatantra and Hitopadesa.

 Gajendra Moksha story has been sculptured from Gupta age. All other elephants tried to rescue it, but failed. Ultimately it called God and he came and killed the crocodile which caught it.

 Here in this poem the poet says that the elephants knew the dangerous pits which the elephant catcher dig and hide it under the leaves and branches. The poet says even the dried and abandoned wells  were seen by elephants as the evil work of such people and fill it with muds and stones. It shows that the elephants are intelligent enough to think and find out the impending dangers and acting against them. Unless the Tamils observed wild animals closely, they cant write such things. In fact, they even sing about monkeys committing suicides because they failed in a task.

Gajendra Moksha in Africa !!

Picture credit: Metro,London;taken at Kruger National Park, South Africa

By London swaminathan

posted by me on 2 August 2012

Gajendra moksha is one of the most popular stories in India. This story of the crocodile and the elephant appears in Bhagavatha, the story of Vishnu. It has not only influenced literature but also arts. We have pictures and sculptures, idols and paintings from Gupta days to modern day. Calendars carry this picture. Children listen to this story with rapt attention. This is the story that tells us the moral that faith will bring God to your doorstep. Complete surrender to God will cure one of all the troubles.

We see it from Gupta period sculptures to paper drawings of Brooklyn Museum, USA. The story is very simple. Gajendra was the king of the elephants. One day he went to the forest lake to drink water. He was caught by a crocodile. He tried very hard to release himself from the grip of the crocodile. When he failed to get out of the water all his friends and relatives tried but in vain. At last, the king of the elephant cried for help by calling the name of Narayana (Vishnu). The all powerful God flew from heaven on his vehicle Garuda (eagle) and fired his Sudarchana Chakra.

Sudarsana chakra was the first Boomerang known to the world. Like the Australian aborigines Boomerang, it would hit the target and comeback to the person who fired it. So sudarsana wheel went and cut off the head of the crocodile and Gajendra thanked God by giving him lotus flowers.

Believe it or not it happened in Africa very recently. But the God was not involved in it. A baby elephant went for water in a marshy area. Suddenly a crocodile appeared from nowhere and caught  its trunk. Baby elephant struggled hard to release itself. While it was still struggling, all the elephants in the herd came for its help and drove the crocodile by trumpeting and stamping. After it was saved, all the elephants of the herd stayed around the baby elephant for a while  to make sure it was OK.

Picture credit: folknet

This elephant and crocodile story happened in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The news papers in western countries published this story with pictures. They compared this incident to a story in Rudyard Kipling’s book which tells the tale of how the elephants got its trunk—a crocodile pulled it.

Crocodiles rarely attack elephants. But it is a familiar scene in Indian forests. Greatest of the Tamil poets Tiruvalluvar, who lived 1500 years ego sings about it. When he wrote a couplet about the strength of a crocodile and the elephants he must have thought Gajendra Moksha story. The meaning of the word Gajendra Moksha is Gaja=elephant, Indra= the leader or the king of, moksha=release/ liberation. Now read the couplet of Valluvar:

In deep waters the crocodile overpowers all; out of water, others overpower it (Kural 495).

A fierce elephant that has faced lancers, can be foiled by a fox, if it is stuck in a marshy ground (Kural 500)

The comparison between the strength of an elephant and a crocodile is in Panchatantra Stories as well.

அகநானூறு 21, காவன்முல்லைப் பூதனார், பாலைத் திணை – தலைவன் தன் நெஞ்சிடம் சொன்னது

“மனை இளநொச்சி மௌவல் வால் முகைத்
துணை நிரைத்தன்ன மா வீழ் வெண்பல்,
அவ் வயிற்று, அகன்ற அல்குல், தைஇத்
தாழ் மென் கூந்தல், தட மென் பணைத்தோள்,
மடந்தை மாண் நலம் புலம்பச், சேய் நாட்டுச்  5
செல்லல்” என்று யான் சொல்லவும், ஒல்லாய்
வினை நயந்து அமைந்தனை ஆயினை, மனை நகப்
பல் வேறு வெறுக்கை தருகம் வல்லே,
எழு இனி, வாழி என் நெஞ்சே, புரி இணர்
மெல் அவிழ் அம் சினை புலம்ப வல்லோன்  10
கோடு அறை கொம்பின் வீ உகத் தீண்டி,
மராஅம் அலைத்த மணவாய்த் தென்றல்
சுரம் செல் மள்ளர் சுரியல் தூற்றும்,
என்றூழ் நின்ற புன்தலை வைப்பில்
பருந்து இளைப்படூஉம் பாறுதலை ஓமை  15
இருங்கல் விடரகத்து ஈன்று இளைப்பட்ட
மென் புனிற்று அம் பிணவு பசித்தெனப் பைங்கண்
செந்நாய் ஏற்றை கேழல் தாக்க,
இரியற் பிணவல் தீண்டலின், பரீஇச்
செங்காய் உதிர்ந்த பைங்குலை ஈந்தின்  20
பரல் மண் சுவல முரண் நிலம் உடைத்த
வல்வாய்க் கணிச்சி, கூழார் கோவலர்
ஊறாது இட்ட உவலைக் கூவல்,
வெண்கோடு நயந்த அன்பில் கானவர்
இகழ்ந்து இயங்கு இயவின் அகழ்ந்த குழி செத்து,  25
இருங்களிற்று இன நிரை தூர்க்கும்
பெருங்கல் அத்தம் விலங்கிய காடே.  27

 —subham—

Tags-Ancient Tamil Encyclopaedia -Part 38; One Thousand Interesting Facts -Part 38, Swinging, Dolotsavam, Animal Intelligence, U Lochana