[INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

[Robert P. GOLDMAN]

I did mention both of these cases in my 1993 article in the JAOS with a detailed account the story of Soreyya.

Dr. R.P. Goldman
William and Catherine Magistretti Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus
and
Professor in the Graduate School
Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
The University of California at Berkeley


> On Mar 13, 2026, at 2:13 PM, Valerie Roebuck via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> 
> What an interesting topic. If divine figures are included, there is Viṣṇu’s appearance as Mohinĩ (Mahãbhãrata etc). If she wants to look beyond Sanskrit, we have the story of Soreyya/Soreyyã in the Pali commentarial literature. 
> 
> Valerie J Roebuck
> Manchester, UK
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On 13 Mar 2026, at 20:47, Marco Franceschini via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>> 
>> Dear friends and colleagues,
>> 
>> one of my students is writing her undergraduate thesis on the theme of gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature.
>> So far, we have identified the following cases:
>> - Ila/Sudyumna-Ilā (Rāmāyaṇa, Bhāgavatapurāṇa, Viṣṇupurāṇa, Vāyupurāṇa)
>> - Bhaṅgāsvana (Mahābhārata)
>> - Śikhaṇḍin (Mahābhārata)
>> - Mūladeva (Vetālapañcaviṃśati)
>> - Rūpāvatī (Divyāvadāna)
>> - Arjuna (Mahābhārata)
>> 
>> As for studies on the subject, we have been able to identify only these three:
>> - M. Bloomfield, On the Art of Entering Another's Body: A Hindu Fiction Motif
>> - N. Brown, Change of Sex as a Hindu Story Motif
>> - R. Goldman, Transsexualism, Gender, and Anxiety in Traditional India
>> 
>> I would be grateful for any additional suggestions you might wish to provide.
>> 
>> Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
>> Best wishes,
>> 
>> Marco
>> ---
>> Marco Franceschini
>> ———————————---
>> Associate Professor
>> University of Bologna
>> Department of History and Cultures
>> Personal web page <https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/marco.franceschini3/en>
>> Academia web page <http://unibo.academia.edu/MarcoFranceschini>
>> —
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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Dr. R.P. Goldman
William and Catherine Magistretti Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus
and
Professor in the Graduate School
Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
The University of California at Berkeley





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