[INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

[Eli Franco]

See also the notion of āśrayaparivṛtti/parāvṛtti; one of its earliest  
meanings is gender change. The best and most extensive study remains  
H. Sakuma, Die āśrayaparivṛtti-Theorie in der Yogācārabhūmi.  
Stuttgart, 1990.
All the best,
Eli



Zitat von Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>:

> 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
>
> Sent from [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) for iOS.
>
> -------- 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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>>>>
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-- 
Prof. Dr. Eli Franco
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