[INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

[Matthew Kapstein]

Please don’t forget the goddess chapter of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra, a real gender-bender (intentionally so).

Matthew T. Kapstein
Professor emeritus
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris

Associate
The University of Chicago Divinity School

Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences

https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein

https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1

https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949

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-------- Original Message --------
On Friday, 03/13/26 at 22:27 Дмитрий Комиссаров via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> By the way, in Samudramathana by Vatsaraja this story about Mohini is retold in a funny way.
>
> Best regards,
> Dmitrii Komissarov
>
> сб, 14 мар. 2026 г., 00:19 Дмитрий Комиссаров <ska4ki at gmail.com>:
>
>> By the way, in Samudramathana by Vatsaraja this story about Mohini is retold in a funny way.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Dmitrii Komissarov
>>
>> сб, 14 мар. 2026 г., 00:15 Valerie Roebuck via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>:
>>
>>> 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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