[INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

Sat Mar 14 15:42:38 UTC 2026

Dear Caley,
Your mention of Indra, in turn, reminded me of Wulff Alonso's book, which
extensively discusses Arjuna's (Indra's son) transvestism at the court of
Virata and its parallels in the legend of Heracles (I am attaching the
book).
Best regards,
Dmitrii Komissarov

сб, 14 мар. 2026 г. в 18:31, Caley Smith via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info>:

> Dear All,
>
> Your email made me ruminate on genderbending rituals in Vedic
> texts....although they are not narratives in the traditional sense, there
> are various Atharvavedic hymns that purports to forcibly change ones gender
> from man to woman/man to neuter or otherwise emasculate/render impotent.
> Perhaps the clearest example is *Śaunakasaṃhitā *6.138 (~*Paippalādasaṃhitā
> *1.68)
>
> Here's a quick translation:
>
> ŚS 6.138
>
> *tváṃ vīrúdhāṃ śréṣṭhatamābhiśrutā́sy oṣadhe |               *You, herb,
> are famous O bestest of plants!
>
> *imáṃ me adyá púruṣaṃ klībám opaśínaṃ kr̥dhi ||            *For me,
> today, make this man a geldling with an *opa**śa*!
>
>
> *klībáṃ kr̥dhy opaśínam átho kurīríṇaṃ kr̥dhi |                 *Make
> (him) a geldling with an *opa**śa*! Next make him wear a *kurīra*!
>
> *áthāsyéndro grā́vabhyām ubhé bhinattv āṇḍyaù ||           *Next, let
> Indra separate both his/its "eggs" with two stones
>
>
> *klī́ba klībáṃ tvā karaṃ
>     *Geldling, I make you a geldling,
>
> *vádhre **vádhriṃ tvā karam
>    *Steer, I make you a steer
>
> *árasārasáṃ tvā karam |
>  *Juiceless, I make you juiceless
>
> *kurī́ram asya śīrṣáṇi kúmbaṃ cādhinídadhmasi ||           *And we deposit
>  *kurīra* and *kumba *atop his/its head
>
>
> *yé te nādyaù devákr̥te yáyos tíṣṭhati vŕ̥ṣṇyam |                 *Which
> two channels of yours, *deva-*made, in which bull-ness resides,
>
> *té te bhinadmi śámyayāmúṣyā ádhi muṣkáyoḥ ||              *Those two, do
> I seperate, through the *śámī-*stick atop two "mice" from yon (woman)
>
>
> *yáthā naḍám kaśípune stríyo bhindánty áśmanā |             *Like a reed
> for mattress (that) women split by rock
> *evā́ bhinadmi te śépo ’múṣyā ádhi muṣkáyoḥ ||              *   Thusly, I
> separate your "tail" atop the two "mice" from yon (woman).
>
> What I find personally fascinating about this text is the distinction
> between imperative *kr̥dhi *where the plant is directed to make someone
> woman like by putting on various accoutrements associated with femininity
> (I think likely plaits, headdress, veil, other decoration?), yet by
> nature of the directive this hasn't happened yet---and the
> enactive/performative value of *karam *in which the pronouncing of the
> doing of the deed is the doing itself. The target is now stripped of
> masculinity and potence. We see after this mid-hymn crescendo a resumption
> of poetic imagery, but the appearance of this* amúṣyāḥ* is a bit
> mysterious. It could be that it is the feminine distal pronoun refering to
> the plant in verse 1, but I am suspicious because the plant should be in
> the speaker's hand, so why the distal pronoun? And why the gen/abl here? If
> this is done by means of the plant we would expect the inst. Alternatively,
> as I have translated here, could it not be that the target has been so
> stripped of masculine identity that he is now a she?
> Although this just some speculation about the grammar in one AV hymn, I
> think it justifies a thorough study of ritually-enacted genderbending in
> the AV, but I am unaware of such a study existing.
>
> Best,
> Caley
>
> P.S.
> Here is the PS 1.68 version
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *yathā naḍaṃ kaśipune striyo bhindanty aśmanā |           evā bhinadmi te
> muṣkau tasmai tvām avase huve ||          tvaṃ vīrudhāṃ
> śreṣṭhatamā-abhiśrutāsy oṣadhe |sāmum adya pūruṣaṃ klībam opaśinaṃ kṛdhi
> || klībaṃ kṛdhy opaśinam atho kurīriṇaṃ kṛdhi |ubhābhyām asya grāvabhyām
> indro bhinattv āṇḍyau || klība klībaṃ tvākaraṃ vadhre vadhriṃ tvākaram |
> arasārasaṃ tvākaram arasāraso 'si |kurīram asya śīrṣaṇi kumbaṃ cādhi ni
> dadhmasi || ye te nāḍyau devakṛte yayos tiṣṭhati vṛṣṇyam |te te bhinadmi
> śamyayā-amuṣyā adhi muṣkayoḥ ||*
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 13, 2026, 4:48 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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