Yavana in Bharhut Sculpture

Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 16,173

Date uploaded in London – 7 September 2026

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Mlechas=Barbarians

Purananuru wonders-63; Tamil Encyclopaedia 103, One Thousand Interesting Facts -Part 103

Mullaippattu (mullaippaattu) is one of the Ten Idylls called Paththuppaattu; these ten books are part of 2000 year old Sangam Tamil literature. It has 103 lines and the author is Napputhan.

Mullaipattu means jungle idyll; Mullai means the landscape of forest area. Mullai is also the kind of jasmine flower found there. According to Tamil convention, separation (temporary) of husband and wife is discussed. This element is contained in lines 1-28 and 104-127. Some scholars think it is about Pandya king Neduncheziyan and others think it is about one of the Chief commanders who went out to take part in a battle.

First let me list the wonders in the book.

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Item 882- List of Wonders

Milechca and Yavana are mentioned. Sanskrit word Milechcha is used for the first time. Yavana is found in other books as well.

Asareeri , word from sky or voice from some unknown source is in the book.

Use of Hour Glass by ancient Tamils found in the book.

Seven storey mansion shows ancient aechitecture.

Lakshmi, Vishnu and his Vamana/Trivikrama Avatar is in the very beginning of the work.

Elephant training and Sanskrit instructions to it are mentioned.

Tri Dhandi saint is also mentioned , which is in Kalittokai as well.

Other similes and matters referred to are in other Sangam books as well. Nothing special

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Item 883 -Lakshmi and Vishnu

Tolkappiam (kaappiyam) mentioned Vishnu (maayon) as the god of Mullai area. So the poet begins the poem mentioning Vishnu with wheel and disc in his hands along with Lakshmi. He is in the form of one who measured the expanse of earth. This is about Vamana cum Tri Vikrama Avatar of Vishnu. Among the ten Avatars (incarnations of Vishnu) this is the one mentioned by all the Vaishnavite poets. Even Tiru Valluvar (Kural 610) could not miss it. It is mentioned from Rig Veda to Alvar hymns.

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Item 884- Strong belief in Omens- Lines 12-23

When the woman who was temporarily separated from her husband was distressed; old women who are soothsayers go out with rice and flowers for praying. At the time a cowherd woman was telling the distressed calves that your mother (cows) will return soon. Having heard this the old women report it to separated woman her husband would return soon. The worry of any woman whose husband is a soldier, or a commander or king is the safe return from the battlefield. So the cowherd’s words to the calves are taken as good omen. This type of good or bad words coming from unknown or unexpected source is called Asareeri- without body/human being)- voice. Hindu scriptures down to Tamil Periya Puranam and Tiru Vilayadam Puranam have anecdotes saying “a voice from the heaven said X Y Z”. we have no such report from other cultures. This is typically Hindu.

Tamil word used by the poet is Vaay Pul= Mouth Bird/Sakunam; sakunam is omen coming from Sanskrit word for bird.

Flight of birds is used as good or bad omen by the Hindus until this day. Though Romans used it 2000 years ago they don’t use it anymore. Tamil Panchangams (almanacs) have it in the first few pages.

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Item 885- Sanskrit language to train Elephants- lines 29-36

We have Asva Shastra (Horse Manuals) and Gaja Shastra (Elephant Manuals) only in Sanskrit. Ancient Tamils mastered it or Sanskrit knowing people are invited from North India to train the elephants. Here the poet mentioned it and added what was given to elephants. We know it is usually fed with sugarcane, certain types of grass, rice, ghee etc. but here the poet added liquorice with it. Regarding elephants trained by Aryans (Sanskrit knowing people from North India) is mentioned in Akam. Verse 276 and Malaipadukadam poem.

In the other parts of the world, we get a stronger proof. Kikkuli’s horse manual dated 1350 BCE in the cuneiform clay tablets from Turkey has Sanskrit instructions in the horse training. Moreover the very name of Turkey is derived from Sanskrit word Turaga for horse.

***

Item 886 -Tri Dhandi- Brahmins/sages

Vaishnavite sages or saints carry triple staff unlike other Saivite Sankaracharyas. Here the poet, while describing the army camp, compared it to the Triple Staff covered with saffron coloured cloth.

Triple staff= Tri Dhanda= Muk Kol in Tamil= three wooden sticks are tied together and carried by the Vaishnavite ascetics. They are supposed to have purity in Thought, Word and Deed; in Sanskrit it is called Mano, Vak, Kaya purity. That is repeated 1000 times in Hindu scriptures. Kalittokai also has two mentions of Tri Dhandi.

***

Mlechas= barbarians.

Item 887- lines – girls in Army Camps- lines 45-49

Ancient heroines are introduced here by the poet. They protected the army camps with swords in their hands. They filled oil in oil lamps which converted the night to daytime. Their belts, their hair style etc are also described. We get more details of the Yavana Lamps, that is statues of women holding lamps in their hands, from another idyll called Nedu Nal Vaadai (lines 101-103). They are called Yavana lamps. The girls doing army camp duty were Hindu girls, because their bangles are also mentioned. Girls accompanying kings to the battlefield are mentioned in Kalidasa’s Sakuntalam play as well.

***

 Item 888-use of Water clock- lines 55-58

Water clock is coined as Kuru Neerk Kannal in Tamil. Unlike other parts of the world where sand was used, ancient Hindus used water in a bowl. They announced time for the public by ringing the bell; they also wished kings great victory ; we see all positive messages. Water clock is portrayed in Akam verse 43.

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Item 889- Yavana constructions in the Army Camps- lines 59-63

While describing the Yavanas who set up camps and decorate them with tiger pendants poet portrayed their appearance:

These men are armed with whips  and there were harsh, they wore bulging dress, their limbs were strong and they had fierce appearance.

Tamils did not have contacts with Greeks, but Roman contacts are confirmed by enormous coin hoards found throughout India and cross references by Roman writers. Yavanas are referred to in Ramayana and Mahabharata too. It is a confusing term because the term was used for Greeks, Romans and Arabs in course of time. Probably people coming via North West India or by sea were referred to. Elsewhere their gold, their wine and special type of lamps are praised, but their disgusting habits are criticised. Pathiruppathu says how Chera king treated them as criminals and punished.

***

Item 890 -Mlechas-line 66

We have only one reference in the whole Tamil literature for Milechchar.

Poet says they were working as guards. They could not speak and they used only gestures.

The same description is in Sanskrit books as well.

Very important point is no community of India is dubbed as Mlechas. It is about foreign barbarians. Bharatiyar made it very clear in his poems

Mleccha (म्लेच्छ) refers to “persons whose language is not intelligible”. The word is used throughout Dharmaśāstra literature such as the Manusmṛti. ( see the Manubhāṣya verse 7.149)

It makes it clear they spoke a foreign language. All other books show him as barbarians who did not follow Hindu customs.

Mleccha (म्लेच्छ).—A tribe of people of ancient India. This tribe was born from the tail of the celestial cow Nandinī, kept by Vasiṣṭha for sacrificial purposes when there was a fight between Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha. Mahābhārata gives the following information regarding them.

The mlecchas who sprang up from the tail of the celestial cow Nandinī sent the army of Viśvāmitra flying in terror. (Śloka 38, Chapter 174, Ādi Parva). (See full article at Story of Mleccha from the Puranic encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani)

Mleccha is used for one who is impure, dirty or uncultured. It is derived from the root mlich~mlech, meaning to speak indistinctly .

Mleccha (म्लेच्छ) were wild ferocious tribes whose acts of violence caused vast devastations and destructions, struck terror in the social life of the country. They are said to have been repulsed and destroyed by lord Śiva.

Mleccha.—(EI 22), name applied to the Muhammadans and other foreigners; cf. Mleccheśvara (EI 32). Note: mleccha is defined in the “Indian epigraphical glossary” as it can be found on ancient inscriptions

Mleccha (म्लेच्छ).—m.

(-cchaḥ) 1. The generic term for a barbarian or foreigner; that is, for one speaking any language but Sanskrit, and not subject to the usual Hindu institutions. 2. A sinner, a criminal. 3. Indistinct or barbarous speech. E. mlecch to speak inarticulately, aff. ghañ .

In later Tamil poems Muslims were called Mlechas.

Greatest of the modern age Tamil poets, Subramanya Bharatiyar use it for Anti Hindu Muslims.

மகாகவி சுப்பிரமணிய பாரதியார் தனது பாடல்களில் “மிலேச்சர்” என்ற சொல்லைப் பயன்படுத்தியுள்ளார். பண்டைய தமிழ் மற்றும் சமஸ்கிருத இலக்கியங்களில், வேற்று நாட்டவர்கள் அல்லது அந்நியர்களைக் குறிக்க ‘மிலேச்சர்’ என்ற சொல் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டது.

பாரதியின் பாடல்களில் இச்சொல் இடம்பெறும் முக்கிய இடங்கள்:

• பாரத மாதா நவரத்தின மாலை:
  பாரதியார் தனது “பாரத மாதா நவரத்தின மாலை” என்ற பாடலில், பாரத தேவியின் பெருமைகளைப் பாடும்போது பின்வருமாறு குறிப்பிடுகிறார்:

“வேத நூல் பழிக்கும் வெளித்திசை மிலேச்சர்
பாதமும் பொறுப்பளோ பாரத தேவி?”
(இதன் பொருள்: நமது நாட்டின் வேதங்களையும் பண்பாட்டையும் பழிக்கும் அந்நியர்களின் ஆதிக்கத்தை அல்லது அவர்களின் பாதங்களை பாரத மாதா பொறுத்துக் கொள்ள மாட்டாள் என்பதாகும்).

***

• சத்ரபதி சிவாஜி தனது சைனியத்திற்கு உரைத்தது:
  சிவாஜியின் வீர வரலாற்றைப் பாடும் “சத்ரபதி சிவாஜி” என்ற பாடலில், மிலேச்சர்களின் (அந்நிய ஆட்சியாளர்களின்) கொடுங்கோன்மையை வீழ்த்தியதை பாரதி விவரிக்கிறார்:

“வீரர் வாழ்த்த மிலேச்சர் தம் தீயகோல்
வீழ்த்தி வென்ற சிவாஜியின் வெற்றியும்…”

***

Item 891- Very Tall Buildings- line 86- Copied Kalidasa?

Here the woman or the queen is shown as living in a seven storied mansion.

Though the poem is about forest landscape we have to Imagin a town with tall buildings .

In Tamil the word seven and eight can be interpreted differently.

Eight is EN in Tamil which means number as well; in the same way EZU means constructed, erected as well.

But it means a tall building in this poem.

When we look at other descriptions such as windows, gates that allow free flow of wind etc we can conclude tall buildings existed in ancient Tamil Nadu.

Copied from Kalidasa?

In the Meghaduta, Kalidasa beautifully compares passing monsoon clouds to the magnificent seven-storied palaces (Saptabhumi) of the ancient, wealthy city of Ujjain (his presumed home). According to traditional Indian architectural treaties like the Manasara, a saptabhumi is a majestic seven-tiered structure featuring elaborate pavilions, balconies, and intricate pillars.

Naulakha Palace (Bihar): A historic seven-storeyed old palace structure located in Rajnagar, Madhubani. It holds significant local history linked to a shrine where the goddess Durga is traditionally said to have blessed Kalidasa with his legendary poetic genius.

To be continued……………………………..

Tags- Mlechcha and Yavana, Purananuru wonders-63, Tamil Encyclopaedia 103, One Thousand Interesting Facts -Part 103 , Elephant language, Seven Storied building, Asareeri, voice from sky, barbarian, Tridhandi, Three staff, Mukkol