[INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

[Дмитрий Комиссаров]

And Hasyacudamani by Vatsaraja is also interesting. There are an ascetic
and an old bawd, they form a couple. They don't exchange genders, but they
do exchange gender roles.

Dmitrii Komissarov

сб, 14 мар. 2026 г., 11:56 Robert Leach via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info>:

> Dear Marco,
>
> Androgyny probably doesn't count as gender change per se but there is the
> depiction of Prajāpati in a few places in Vedic literature, not as fully
> androgynous (in the manner of Ardhanārīśvara), but as a male god with
> breasts (*stána-*) that lactate. There is also the case of Indra assuming
> the form of a woman, this is probably already covered in some of the
> secondary literature you mention.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Robert
>
> On Fri, Mar 13, 2026 at 8:47 PM 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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