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@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

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Marco Franceschini

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Associate Professor
University of Bologna
Department of History and Cultures

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