[INDOLOGY] varṣadhara - eunuch

Mon Oct 27 09:25:31 UTC 2025

Dear Heiner,

I am skeptical about all translations of "eunuch." The term itself comes from the Byzantine court, in which men were intentionally castrated to serve as guards for the women's quarters; because of the clear parallel to Chinese 宦官, the term has been applied to them, fairly accurately. But Shaun Tougher, who has very literally written the book on Byzantine eunuchs, cautions us about over-application to other contexts, which can very often conflate different kinds of (or understandings of) sexual and gender difference. As Shane Gannon shows, in his excellent "Exclusion as Language and the Language of Exclusion," colonial-period translators in India applied the label "eunuch" to a rather wide range of terms both contemporary and historical, very few of which ever indicated "men intentionally castrated to guard the women's quarters." Gannon's examples do not specifically include varṣadhara, but I think he does convincingly show that these terms did not indicate a single social/gendered/sexual identity, and that to conflate them risks distortion.

We could read varṣadhara as "one who holds or retains semen," implying impotence (congenital or manufactured). Apte's dictionary, which Dr. Paturi has helpfully copied below for context, gives us only the Arthaśāstra as a witness for varṣadhara as "eunuch." Working very quickly off of the GRETIL version, we have:

1.20.21: "Octogenarian men or quinquagenarian women, who look like mothers and fathers, and senior varṣadhara retainers (abhyāgārikas), should find out [who] in the inner chamber is pure/upright or impure/dishonest (śauca/aśauca), and should make them firm in loyalty to the master" (aśītikāḥ puruṣāḥ pañcāśatkāḥ striyo vā mātā.pitṛ.vyañjanāḥ sthavira.varṣadhara.abhyāgārikāś ca^avarodhānāṃ śauca.āśaucaṃ vidyuḥ, sthāpayeyuś ca svāmi.hite).

1.21.1: "Rising after sleeping, [the king] should be surrounded by groups of female archers; in the second courtyard, by armoured and beturbaned varṣadhara retainers..." (śayanād utthitaḥ strī.gaṇair dhanvibhiḥ parigṛhyate, dvitīyasyāṃ kakṣyāyāṃ kañcuka.uṣṇīṣibhir varṣa.dhara.abhyāgārikaiḥ, tṛtīyasyāṃ kubja.vāmana.kirātaiḥ, caturthyāṃ mantribhiḥ sambandhibhir dauvārikaiś ca prāsa.pāṇibhiḥ).

So the varṣadhara is very clearly involved someone involved in the women's quarters, and even with the king's personal protection. But I can't see an explicit suggestion here that they were intentionally castrated for this task. That they were trusted with the king's protection alongside female archers suggests a commonality there; neither women nor varṣadharas could claim the throne, and so would be less likely to assassinate for personal gain? That they were trusted alongside very old men suggests that neither group were considered a sexual threat, and so perhaps the varṣadhara was "made" to be as impotent. Against this, Sweet and Zwilling assert that castration "was regarded with disapproval and at times legally forbidden in Indian tradition prior to Muslim rule," but offer us no citations or further references.

There are likely other references elsewhere, with more helpful explanations of both the term and the identity. But in their absence I am not confident that we could identify a clear visual representation of a varṣadhara specifically, without conflating them with the other terms often translated "eunuch" (i.e. paṇḍakas, klības...). There are some descriptions of these latter terms in e.g. medical texts, I believe, but I am not familiar with references to them as guardians of royal women's quarters (I would be delighted to be corrected, out of my own interests!), and they are more often presented as congenital (and unfortunate) conditions.

On a personal note, I would be very interested in learning more about the early relief you are studying.

With best wishes,

Bruno

________________________________
From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Nagaraj Paturi via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Sent: 26 October 2025 12:54:05
To: Rolf Heinrich Koch
Cc: indology
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] varṣadhara - eunuch

https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/apte_query.py?page=1398

वर्षः varṣam, वर्षम् varṣam [वृष् भावे घञ् कर्तरि अच् वा] 1 Raining, rain, a shower of rain; तपाम्यहमहं वर्षं निगृह्णाभ्युत्सृजामि च Bg.9.19; विद्युत्स्तनितवर्षेषु Ms.4.103; Me.37. -2 Sprinkling, effusion, throwing down, a shower of anything; सुरभि सुरविमुक्तं पुष्पवर्षं पपात R.12.102; so शरवर्षः, शिलावर्षः, लाजवर्षः &c. -3 Seminal effusion. -4 A year (usually only n.); इयन्ति वर्षाणि तया सहोग्रमभ्यस्यतीव व्रतमासिधारम् R.13.67; न ववर्ष वर्षाणि द्वादश दशशताक्षः Dk.; वर्षभोग्येण शापेन Me.1. -5 A division of the world, a continent; (nine such divisions are usually enumerated:-- 1 कुरु; 2 हिरण्मय; 3 रम्यक; 4 इलावृत; 5 हरि; 6 केतुमाला; 7 भद्राश्व; 8 किंनर; and 9 भारत); यस्मिन् नव वर्षाणि Bhāg.5.16.6. एतदूढगुरुभारभारतं वर्षमद्य मम वर्तते वशे Śi.14.5. -6 India (= भारतवर्ष). -7 A cloud (only m. according to Hemachandra). -8 A day; अप्राप्तयौवनं बालं पञ्चवर्षसहस्रकम् Rām.7.73.5. (com. वर्षशब्दोऽत्र दिनपरः). -9 A place of residence; वर्षमस्य गिरेर्मध्ये रामेण श्रीमता कृतम् Mb.3. 130.12. -Comp. -अंशः, -अंशकः, -अङ्गः a month. -अम्बु n. rain-water. -अयुतम् ten thousand years. -अर्चिस् m. the planet Mars. -अवसानम् the autumn or Śarat season. -आघोषः a frog. -आमदः a peacock. -उपलः 1 hail stone -2 a kind of sweetmeat ball; घनैरमीषां परिवेषकैर्जनैरवर्षि वर्षोपलगोलकावली N.16.100. -करः a cloud. (-री) a cricket. -कालः the rainy season. -केतुः a red-flowering Punar-navā. -कोशः, -षः 1 a month. -2 an astrologer. -गणः (pl.) a long series of years; बहून् वर्षगणान् घोरान् Ms.12.54. -गिरिः, -पर्वतः 'a Varṣa mountain', i. e. one of the mountain-ranges supposed to separate the different divisions of the world from one another; (they are seven:-- हिमवान् हेमकूटश्च निषधो मेरुरेव च । चैत्रः कर्णी च शृङ्गी च सप्तैते वर्षपर्वताः). -घ्न a. protecting from rain. -ज a. (वर्षेज also) 1 produced in the rainy season. -2 one year old. -त्रम् an umbrella; छायां ते दिनकरभाः प्रबाधमानं वर्षत्रं भरत करोतु मूर्ध्नि शीताम् Rām.2.107.18. -धरः 1 a cloud. -2 a eunuch, an attendant on the women's apartments; (वर्षधर्ष in the same sense). See वर्षवर. -3 the ruler of a Varṣa; वर्षधराभिवादिताभिवन्दितचरणः Bhāg.5.3.16; also वर्षप-पति. -4 a mountain bounding a Varṣa. -पदम् a calender. -पाकिन् m. the hog-plum. -पूगः a series or collection of years. -प्रतिबन्धः a drought. -प्रवेगः a heavy shower of rain; वर्षप्रवेगा विपुलाः पतन्ति Rām.4.28.45. -प्रियः the Chātaka bird. -रात्रः the rainy season; वर्षरात्रे स्थितो रामः Rām.4.30.1. -वरः a eunuch, an attendant on the women's apartments; वर्षवराभ्यागारिकैः Kau. A.1.21; ये स्वल्पसत्त्वाः प्रथममात्मीयाः स्त्रीस्वभाविनः । जात्या न दुष्टाः कार्येषु ते वै वर्षवराः स्मृताः ॥ Ak.; M.4.4/5; Rām.2.65.7; Mb.9.62.5. -वृद्धिः f. birth-day. -शतम् a century, one hundred years. -सहस्रम् a thousand years.

On Sun, Oct 26, 2025 at 4:14 PM Rolf Heinrich Koch via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:

Dear listmembers,

in the context of the female apartments antaḥpura we come across the word varṣadhara.

1. Where the meaning "eunuch" is evident?

2. For the interpretation of an early relief I look for any details of the eunuch's appearance.

Anyone can help?

Heiner

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Dr. R. H. Koch - Germany/Sri Lanka
www.rolfheinrichkoch.wordpress.com/<http://www.rolfheinrichkoch.wordpress.com/>
www.ummaggajataka.wordpress.com<http://www.ummaggajataka.wordpress.com>

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