[INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

[Christian Ferstl]

In the Śukasaptati story 62 of the textus simplicior (11th/12th c., 
crit. ed. by Richard Schmidt, Leipzig 1893) a young and handsome lover 
manages to disguise himself as a woman in order to live with the women 
of a Rajput. With a special trick he can even dance naked without being 
recognized. Unfortunately, this story is not transmitted in the textus 
ornatior (crit. ed. by Richard Schmidt, München 1898).

Best,
Christian Ferstl

Am 15.03.2026 14:32, schrieb Roland Steiner via INDOLOGY:
> In the story of King Śikhidhvaja (Mokṣopāya VI.81.11–114.32),
> his wife Cūḍālā helps him to attain a decisive philosophical
> insight that ultimately leads to liberation by employing a series of
> ingenious methods designed specifically for Śikhidhvaja. This
> culminates in a double gender transformation. She temporarily
> transforms herself into the young (male) Brahmin Kumbha, who, at a
> later point in the story, turns into a woman named Madanikā every
> night due to an alleged curse invented by Cūḍālā.
> 
> See: Mokṣopāya. Das Sechste Buch. Nirvāṇaprakaraṇa. 1. Teil:
> Kapitel 1–119. Kritische Edition von S. Krause-Stinner und P.
> Stephan. Wiesbaden 2018 (Anonymus Casmiriensis: Mokṣopāya.
> Historisch-kritische Gesamtausgabe. Hrsg. unter der Leitung von W.
> Slaje. Textedition 5. Veröffentlichungen der Fächergruppenkommission
> für Außereuropäische Sprachen und Kulturen. Studien zur Indologie).
> Wiesbaden 2018, pp. 319–474.
> 
>> - Rūpāvatī (_Divyāvadāna_)
> 
> The story of Rūp(y)āvatī/Rukmavatī, has been handed down in three
> different versions. See below for more information:
> 
> – D. Dimitrov: “Two Female Bodhisattvas in Flesh and Blood.” In:
> U. Roesler and J. Soni (eds.): Aspects of the Female in Indian
> Culture. Marburg 2004 (Indica et Tibetica 44), pp. 3–30.
> 
> – D. Dimitrov: “Some Remarks on the Rūpyāvatyavadāna of the
> Divyāvadāna(mālā).” In: D. Dimitrov, M. Hahn, and R. Steiner
> (eds.): Bauddhasāhityastabakāvalī. Essays and Studies on Buddhist
> Sanskrit Literature. Dedicated to Claus Vogel. Marburg 2008 (Indica et
> Tibetica 36), pp. 45–64.
> 
> – R. Steiner: “Zum ursprünglichen Titel der
> ‘Rūpyāvatī’-Geschichte.” In: D. Dimitrov, U. Roesler and R.
> Steiner (eds.): Śikhisamuccayaḥ. Indian and Tibetan Studies. Wien
> 2002 (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 53), pp.
> 203–210.
> 
> – M. Straube: Studien zur Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā. Texte und
> Quellen der Parallelen zu Haribhaṭṭas Jātakamālā. Wiesbaden
> 2009 (Veröffentlichungen der Helmuth von Glasenapp-Stiftung.
> Monographien 1), pp. 322–324 (“Das Rukmavatyavadāna”).
> 
> Best,
> 
> Roland Steiner
> 
> Am Freitag, 13. März 2026 21:46 CET, schrieb Marco Franceschini via
> INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>:
> 
>> 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 [1]
>> Academia web page [2]
>> —
> 
> 
> Links:
> ------
> [1] https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/marco.franceschini3/en
> [2] http://unibo.academia.edu/MarcoFranceschini
> 
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