[INDOLOGY] varṣadhara - eunuch
Roland Steiner
steiner at staff.uni-marburg.de
Mon Oct 27 16:03:52 UTC 2025
See also Renate Syed's selected bibliography on the topic of “India's
Third Gender”:
https://www.renate-syed.de/artikel/renate-syed-hijras-india-s-third-gender-and-2500-years-of-discrimination-and-exclusion
With best regards,
Roland Steiner
Am 27.10.2025 um 16:33 schrieb Walter Slaje via INDOLOGY:
> Just a brief comment: The translation of 'varṣadhara' as an umbrella
> term for 'eunuch' clearly originates with Indian lexicographers, who
> equate it with 'klīvo' = 'varṣadharaḥ' = 'ṣaṇḍhaḥ' (e.g. Halāyudha
> [ed. Aufrecht] 2.275a). However, in modern target languages of
> translation from Sanskrit, 'eunuch' is generally not defined in any
> detail.
>
> Kṣīrasvāmin defines varṣadhara as 'unable to procreate'
> (prajanāsāmarthya, 10.164 [ed. Liebich]). There are a number of causes
> that can lead to this. It is not necessarily always associated with
> impotence. Perhaps, however, terms such as klība, vādhri, ṣaṇḍ(h)a,
> paṇḍaka, etc., were actually indeed associated with various forms of
> male infertility. For the Buddhist characterisation of ṣaṇḍas and
> paṇḍakas, Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośabhāṣya provides insight (cf. 4.43
> and 4.55).
>
> Either way, Atharvaveda (Ś) 6.138.1–3 ≈≈ (P) 1.68.1–5 [ed. Kim] is
> remarkable because it explains how to make a man incapable of
> reproducing, by smashing his testicles with two stones (Ś 6.138.2cd/P
> 1.68.3cd). This renders him a klība or vadhri (Ś 6.138.2cd/P
> 1.68.3cd), a 'juiceless' (a-rasa) individual (Ś 6.138.3c/P1.68.4c).
> This 'juicelessness' is conceptually similar to varṣa-dhara, as it
> merely signifies an inability to ejaculate fertile semen without
> necessarily implying a restriction in erectile function.
>
> An interesting description of eunuch activity in Aurangzeb's harem
> that seems to fit precisely with this image of infertile yet potent
> 'eunuchs' is provided by F. Bernier in 'Travels in the Mogul Empire,
> A.D. 1656–1668' (ed. E. Constable). Westminster 1891, pp. 131–133).
> The fact that this was an Indo-Islamic harem is no counterargument in
> this context, as the Indian harem system dates back to pre-Christian
> times and was firmly anchored in the cultural history of the Indian
> nobility. The production of offspring that did not come from the ruler
> himself had to be prevented at all costs.
>
>
> Kind regards, WS
>
>
>
> Am Mo., 27. Okt. 2025 um 10:26 Uhr schrieb Shirley, Dr. Bruno Marshall
> via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>:
>
> 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*
> (/abhyāgārika/s), 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 /varṣadhara/s 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.
> /paṇḍaka/s, /klība/s...). 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> 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
>
> -- 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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>
>
> --
> Nagaraj Paturi
> Hyderabad, Telangana-500044
>
>
>
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