[INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

Sun Mar 15 21:46:25 UTC 2026

As I suggested in an earlier thread about “eunuchs” last October, I don’t think that the term “transvestism” accurately describes Arjuna’s situation while in Virāṭa’s court.  Let me repeat it here.

When Arjuna actually presents himself to Virāṭa and applies for the position of dancing and music master to the ladies of the king’s antaḥpuram,  he is dressed in women’s clothing and ornaments and speaks of himself only in the feminine gender. But neither Vaiśampāyana’s narrative nor Arjuna/Bṛhannaḍā himself/herself uses any specific term to describe his/her gender, referring only to his qualifications for the job. The closest thing to such a reference is when he tells the king at CE 4.10.9=GPP 4.11.9 that it is too painful to explain how he came to have this particular (evidently ambiguously gendered) form but that he was abandoned by his parents as it was unclear whether he was their son or their daughter. 

idaṃ tu rūpaṃ mama yena kiṃ nu
            tat prakīrtayitvā bhṛśaśokavardhanam |
bṛhannaḍāṃ vai naradeva vṛddhi mām
            sutaṃ sutāṃ vā pitṛmātṛvarjitām || {

How I came to have this form I must not tell as it brings me great sorrow. Lord of men, know me as Bṛhannaḍā abandoned by my father and mother as either a son or a daughter. 

The only commentator quoted in the GPP, the author of the Viṣamapadavivaraṇa, remarking on the term rūpamin the verse, glosses it as pratyakṣaṃ napuṃsakatvam, as “the obvious lack of manhood.” The suggestion here, I think, is of a physical manifestation.

In this light, under the maxim of “Trust but verify,” how is the king to know, for certain, given Arjuna’s ambiguous appearance as both a manly warrior and an effeminate or intersexed artiste that he will not be introducing a virile man into the womens’ quarters to be in intimate contact with his daughter? The text of the CE makes a brief and somewhat vague attempt to resolve this at 4.10.11c where it says:

apuṃstvam apy asya niśamya ca sthiraṃ |
            tataḥ kumārīpuram utsasarja tam ||

Then, after having ascertained definitively that he (Bṛhannaḍā) was not a man, he let him freely enter thePrincess’s quarters. 

The author of the Viṣamapadavivaraṇa glosses apuṃstvam as pauruśābhāvaṃ napuṃsakatvam, the absence of masculinity, the state of an intersexed person or eunuch. 

But the question is how exactly did the king definitively (sthiram) make this determination? The authors of a few Northern manuscripts—no doubt in an effort to clarify this touchy matter—insert a passage of two lines (CE 239*=GPP 4.11.11.cd):

saṃmantrya rājā vividhaiḥ svamantribhih |
            parīkṣya cainaṃ pramdābhir āśu vai ||

After having consulted with various of his counselors, the king immediately had him examined/tested by beautiful young women. 

Regarding this last passage, with its information that the king had women test Bṛhannaḍā’s lack of masculinity, the commentators seem to have unanimously decided “not to go there.” This would suggest that, at least for these authors there is a physical or responsive element involved. Nonetheless, and regardless of the uncertain readings of almost of the passages referred to above with much of it omitted by the southern manuscripts, the question remains as to what exactly is the gendered situation of Arjuna as he enters and lives in Virāṭa’s antaḥpuram? The situation is complicated by the widely known episode of Urvaśī’s curse of Arjuna to be unsexed or robbed of his manly virility and its partial remission, limiting it to a year (exactly the duration of the Pāṇḍavas’ and Draupadī’s concealment in Virāṭa’s court).  But that whole passage is relegated to an appendix to the CE’s Āraṇyakaparvan (App.1.6. lines 130–152=Citraśālā Press ed. (1930 ) Vanaparvan 3.46–59).

Arjuna is cursed by the infuriated apsaras to become a non-male (apumān) dancer (nartana) who will move about in the midst of women as a eunuch (strīmadhye. . . ṣaṇḍavad vicariyasi). Now, by the invariable logic of the curse in Indic literature, this transformation is real and inevitable. Curses can, however, be amended or time-limited either by their authors or some other powerful beings. In this case it is Indra, Arjuna’s father who limits the effect of Urvaśī’s curse to the thirteenth year of exile during which his son will live as a non-male (apuṃstvena) dancer (nartana). At the end of that year, he will regain his masculinity (puṃstvam avāpsyasi).

So, by the logic of all of this Arjuna, unlike his brothers and their collective wife, is not merely pretending to be something other than he is. He takes on his position as a non-male dance and music instructor in Virāṭa’santaḥpuram because that is what he actually is. And thus he is able to pass whatever examination or test he would be subject to in order to be admitted to the womens’ quarters. 

Another  helpful reference  in this whole context is Zwilling, Leonard and Michael J. Sweet (2000), ‘The Evolution of Third-Sex Constructs in Ancient India: A Study in Ambiguity’, in Julia Leslie and Mary McGee, eds., Invented Identities: The Interplay of Gender, Religion and Politics in India, 99–132, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Best to you all,

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 14, 2026, at 8:42 AM, Дмитрий Комиссаров via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> 
> 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 <mailto: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 opaśa!
>> 
>> klībáṃ kr̥dhy opaśínam átho kurīríṇaṃ kr̥dhi |                 Make (him) a geldling with an opaśa! 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 <mailto: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>
>>> —
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info <mailto:INDOLOGY at list.indology.info>
>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>> 
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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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