LGBT themes in Hindu mythology

Aravanis (right), the intersex brides of god Aravan (left), mourn his death.

In

homoerotic encounters, and intersex or third gender characters are often found both in traditional religious narratives such as the Vedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas

as well as in regional folklore.

hermaphroditic beings. Gods change sex or manifest as an avatar of the opposite sex in order to facilitate sexual congress.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Non-divine beings also undergo sex-changes through the actions of the gods, as the result of curses or blessings, or as the natural outcome of reincarnation

.

Hindu mythology contains numerous incidents where sexual interactions can serve a sacred religious purpose; in some cases, these are same-sex interactions. Sometimes the gods condemn these interactions but at other times they occur with their blessing.^[6]^[7]

In addition to stories of gender and sexual variance that are generally accepted by mainstream

activists have highlighted LGBT themes in lesser-known texts, or inferred them from stories that traditionally are considered to have no homoerotic subtext. Such analyses have caused disagreements about the true meaning of the ancient stories.^[8]^[9]

Deities and homosexuality

Agni

Agni is depicted as having both a wife and a husband, and as having engaged in homosexual oral sex with Shiva and Soma.^[10]

mithuna", ritual sexual encounters, and Agni and his mouth represent the receiving role.^[11]^[12]

Agni also accepts semen from different deities, in the myth of the conception and birth of

Krittikas (the Pleiades), who in turn throws the semen into a lake, from whence Kārttikeya is born. In some myths, Agni ejaculates onto a mountain that was itself made from Shiva's divine semen, making Kārttikeya the child of the two gods, according to an interpretation by Markandeya in the Vana Parva.^[13]

Mitra and Varuna

Mitra and Varuna are gods of great intimacy and often mentioned together in Vedic literature. These Adityas preside over the universal waters wherein Mitra controls the ocean depths and lower portals while Varuna rules over the ocean's upper regions, rivers and shorelines.^[15]

In Vedic literature, Mitra and Varuna are portrayed as icons of affection and intimate friendship between males (the Sanskrit word Mitra means "friend" or "companion"). They are depicted riding a shark or crocodile together while bearing tridents, ropes, conch shells and water pots. Sometimes they are portrayed seated side-by-side on a golden chariot drawn by seven swans. Ancient Brahmana texts furthermore associate Mitra and Varuna with the two lunar phases and same-sex relations: "Mitra and Varuna, on the other hand, are the two half-moons: the waxing one is Varuna and the waning one is Mitra. During the new-moon night these two meet and when they are thus together they are pleased with a cake offering. Verily, all are pleased and all is obtained by any person knowing this. On that same night, Mitra implants his seed in Varuna and when the moon later wanes, that waning is produced from his seed." (Shatapatha Brahmana 2.4.4.19) Varuna is similarly said to implant his seed in Mitra on the full-moon night for the purpose of securing its future waxing. In Hinduism, the new- and full-moon nights are discouraged times for procreation and consequently often associated with citrarata or unusual types of intercourse.^[15]

The

Urvasi. This account is arguably similar to gay couples having children through surrogate mothers in modern days.^[15]

Deities and transsexuality

Ardhanarishvara

Ardhanarisvara

Ardhanarishvara is created by the merging of the god Shiva and his consort Parvati whose half right body is male while the left half is female.^{[n 2]}^[2] The name Ardhanarishvara means "The Lord whose half is a woman". This form of Shiva represents the "totality that lies beyond duality", and is associated with communication between mortals and gods and between men and women.^[3] Alain Danielou says that "The hermaphrodite, the homosexual and the transvestite have a symbolic value and are considered privileged beings, images of the Ardhararishvara."^[3]

Aravan

According to Tamil versions of the Mahabharata, the god Krishna – an avatar of Vishnu – also took the form of Mohini and married Aravan. This was in order to give Aravan the chance to experience love before his death, as he had volunteered to be sacrificed. Krishna remained in mourning in the Mohini form for some time after Aravan's death. This marriage and death of Aravan are commemorated annually in a rite known as Thali, during which Hijras take on the role of Krishna-Mohini and "marry" Aravan in a mass-wedding, followed by an 18-day festival. The festival ends with a ritual burial of Aravan, while the Hijras mourn in Tamil style: by beating their chests in ritual dances, breaking their bangles and changing into white mourning clothes. In other versions, this story does not appear.^[16]

Others

A similar merger occurs between the beauty and prosperity goddess Lakshmi and her husband Vishnu, forming the hermaphroditic or androgynous Lakshmi-Narayana.^[17]

In the Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu takes the form of the enchantress, Mohini, in order to trick the demons into giving up Amrita, the elixir of life. Shiva later becomes attracted to Mohini and their relationship results in the birth of a son. In the Brahmanda Purana, Shiva's wife Parvati "hangs her head in shame" when she sees her husband's pursuit of Mohini. In some stories, Shiva asks Vishnu to take on the Mohini form again so he can see the actual transformation for himself.^[4] Stories in which Shiva knows of Mohini's true nature have been interpreted to "suggest the fluidity of gender in sexual attraction".^[18]

Pattanik writes that those focusing only on homoeroticism miss the narrative's deeper metaphysical significance: Mohini's femininity represents the material aspect of reality, and Mohini's seduction is another attempt to induce Shiva into taking an interest in worldly matters. He cites another story to show that only Vishnu has the power to "enchant" Shiva: a demon tries to kill Shiva by taking the form of a woman (placing sharp teeth in "his" vagina). Shiva recognizes the impostor and kills the demon by the placing a "thunderbolt" on his "manhood" during their act of "lovemaking".^[19]

In the later, non-Puranic story of the origin of God

Pandyan king Rajasekhara of Pandalam adopts the baby. In this version, Ayyappa is referred to as ayoni jata, "born of a non-vagina", and later Hariharaputra, "the son of Vishnu and Shiva", and grows up to be a great hero.^[5]^[20]

Changes of sex and cross-dressing also occur in

mythology

about non-divine figures.

Shikhandi

Kurukshetra war, Bhishma recognised him as Amba reborn and refused to fight 'a woman'. Accordingly, Arjuna hid behind Shikhandi in order to defeat the almost invincible Bhishma. In the Javanese telling, Srikandi (as she is known) never becomes a man, but is a woman equal to men, and is the wife of Arjuna.^[21]

After his death, Shikhandi's masculinity was transferred back to the yaksha.

Arjuna

Arjuna himself is an example of gender variance. When Arjuna refused her amorous advances, the nymph

Brihannala and dressed in women's clothes, causing the curse to take effect. Thus Arjuna gained entry into the city ruled by king Virata, where he taught the arts of music, singing and dancing to the princess Uttarā and her female attendees.^[21]^[22] In the Padma Purana, Arjuna is also physically transformed into a woman when he requests permission to take part in Krishna's mystical dance, which only women may attend.^[22]

Ila

The story of Ila, a king cursed by Shiva and Parvati to alternate between being a man and woman each month, appears in several traditional Hindu texts. After changing sex, Ila loses the memory of being the other gender. During one such period, Ila marries Budha (the god of the planet Mercury). Although Budha knows of Ila's alternating gender, he does not enlighten the 'male' Ila, who remains unaware of his life as a woman. The two live together as man and wife only when Ila is female. In the Ramayana version, Ila bears Budha a son, although in the Mahabharata Ila is called both mother and father of the child. After this birth the curse is lifted and Ila is totally changed into a man who goes on to father several children with his wife.^[23]^[24]^[25] In another version, Budha is described as transgender as well.^[26]

Lopamudra

Another story in

Bahuchar Mata is a patron goddess of the Hijras

.

Numerous deities have been considered patrons of third-sex or homoerotically-inclined people. This patronage can originate in epical stories about the deity, or from religious practices and rituals. For example, Conner and Sparks argue that the goddess of fire, love and sexuality, Arani, has been linked to lesbian eroticism via rituals in her honor: for example two pieces of wood perceived as feminine, called the adhararani and utararani, are rubbed together, simulating a spiritual lesbian interaction.^[29]

These sticks are also perceived as male and female parents of the god

Vedic verses. The two mothers are also referred to as sisters in the verses. The two sticks or aranis used in the ritual are referred to as feminine. In the Bhagavata Purana the two sticks are however interpreted as belonging to opposite genders.^[30]

rooster and carrying a sword, trident and a book. Various stories link Bahuchara to castration or other changes in physical sexual characteristics, sometimes as the result of her aiming curses against men. Bahuchara is believed to have originated as a mortal woman who became martyred. In one story, Bahuchara is attacked by a bandit who attempts to rape her, but she takes his sword, cuts off her breasts and dies.^[31]^[32] In another story, Bahuchara curses her husband when she catches him sneaking to the woods to engage in homoerotic behavior, causing his genitals to fall off and forcing him to dress as a woman.^[6]

Stories also link Bahuchara to gender variance after she becomes divine. One epic concerns a king who prayed to Bahuchara for a son. Bahuchara complied, but the prince grew up to be impotent. One night Bahuchara appeared to the prince in a dream and ordered him to cut off his genitals, wear women's clothes and become her servant. Bahuchara is believed to continue to identify impotent men and command them to do the same. If they refuse, she punishes them: for their next seven incarnations they will be impotent. This epic is the origin of the cult of Bahuchara Mata, whose devotees are required to self-castrate and remain celibate.[33]

Samba, the son of Krishna, is also a patron of eunuchs, transgender people and homoeroticism. Samba dresses in women's clothes to mock and trick people, and so that he can more easily enter the company of women and seduce them.^[34] In the Mausala Purana, Samba, dressed as woman, is cursed after being questioned about "her" supposed pregnancy. As a result of the curse, Samba, although remaining male, gives birth to an iron pestle and mortar.^[35]

Some versions of the

Dilipa, died, the demigods become concerned that he did not have an heir. Shiva appeared before the king's two widowed queens and commanded, "You two make love together and by my blessings you will bear a beautiful son." The two queens execute Shiva's order and one of them conceived a child. In other versions of the story, Kamadeva, the god of love, blesses them with a child after they fall in love. The child was born boneless, but by the blessings of the sage Ashtavakra, the child was restored to full health. Ashtavakra named the child "Bhagiratha" – he who was born from two vulvas (bhaga). Bhagiratha would later become one of the most famous mythic kings of India and is credited with bringing the Ganges River down to earth through his austerities.^[7]

The elephant-headed, wisdom god

Hindu rituals.^[38]^[40]^[41]

Sangam literature

Sangam literature uses the word 'pēṭi' (Tamil: பேடி^[42]) to refer to people born with intersex condition; it also refers to Antharlinga hijras and various types of Hijra. Likewise, the famous Sangam period characters of King Kopperuncholan and Pisuranthaiyar are another example of same-sex love. They are said to have not seen each other at all and yet shared love and regard for each other, so much so that they die at the same time in different places. The friendship between King Pari and poet Kabilar is shown as something more than just friendship. There are lyrical undertones suggestive of the intimate relationship between them. But since there is no explicit representation, one can only postulate a possibility.^[43]

The Manimekalai a literary work, written by Sangam era poet Satthanar, describes the story of how Buddha showed compassion to the people of a city including a cross-dressing man.^[44]

Critical analysis

Queer manifestations of sexuality, though repressed socially, squeeze their way into the myths, legends and lore of the land.

—Devdutt Pattanaik,
The Man Who Was a Woman and Other Queer Tales from Hindu Lore^[45]

According to " Ethical issues in six religious traditions", Hindu traditional literary sources say little about homosexuality directly, although there are many references and accounts to suggest LGBTQ characteristics in ancient Hindu literary texts and artworks. Homoeroticism in traditional texts is often masked by adherence to strict gender rules.^[1] Critical study is further hampered by the lack of Sanskrit words for modern conceptions (such as homosexuality), although words for specific same-sex sexual acts exist. Timothy Murphy writes that LGBT themes are often ignored by "heterosexist scholars", and even early investigations into sexual minorities in Hindu culture failed to analyse stories or artwork depicting same-sex sexual acts between mythological beings. Murphy describes the study of LGBT topics in Hindu culture as "still in their infancy".^[46]

Hindu society had a clear cut idea of all these people in the past. Now that we have put them under one label 'LGBT', there is lot more confusion and other identities have got hidden.

—Gopi Shankar Madurai, National Queer Conference 2013^[43]

Goldman writes of transgenderism in Hindu literature: "Few cultures have accorded this phenomenon so prominent a place in the realms of mythology and religion as has that of traditional India." Goldman considers the numerous myths concerning gender change to be a manifestation of patriarchal cultures' desire to control the sexuality of women, but writes that many myths "project a positive valuation of women and femininity".^[47] Changes in gender may be caused by a god or through the use of magic, in order to deceive others or to facilitate a romantic encounter. A change in gender may also occur spontaneously due to changes in a person's spiritual or moral character, either in a single life, or through reincarnation.^[48]

According to the Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions, queer theorists and activists have reinterpreted ancient texts "searching for alternative voices" that demonstrate the diversity of gender models and sexualities in Hinduism. These scholars include Giti Thadani, who attempted to uncover lesbian subtext in ancient Vedic and Sanskrit texts in Sakhiyani: lesbian desire in ancient and modern India, and Ruth Vanita, who attempts "to locate spaces of same-sex intimacy in vernacular texts" in Same-sex love in India: readings from literature and history.^[8]^[9]

Some LGBT interpretations of popular stories and characters have been controversial. Ganeśa: Lord of obstacles, Lord of beginnings, applied

S.N.Balagangadhara, and Saraha Claerhout, who have stated that the book is based on mistranslations and psychoanalytic misinterpretations.^[49]^[50] The book became infamous in India, triggering protests and resulting in a public apology from the publishers and withdrawal of the book in India.^[51]

The scholarship of Wendy Doniger, which focuses on interpretation of Hindu texts through psychoanalysis, is similarly controversial and has been criticised. Doniger has been described as "being rude, crude and very lewd in the hallowed portals of Sanskrit Academics."^[52]^[53] Doniger's works that feature LGBT interpretations of Hindu myths include the books Siva: The Erotic Ascetic, Tales of Sex and Violence,^[54] and Splitting the difference: gender and myth in ancient Greece and India.^[55] Michael Witzel, a Professor of Sanskrit, said that Wendy Doniger's knowledge of Vedic Sanskrit is severely flawed.^[56] Nicholas Kazanas, a European Indologist, has also criticised Doniger's works and wrote that Doniger seems to be obsessed with only one meaning of myths: the most sexual imaginable.^[57]