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@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
—





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