The Hindu canon is inclusive of the sexuality spectrum: Kavita Kane

 Ardhanarishwara on the wall of an ancient Kali temple in Puri, Odisha. Photo: iStock

On October 17, 2023 the Supreme Court of India refused to legalise same-sex marriage. A five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and justices S K Kaul, S R Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha ruled that the decision to recognise same-sex marriage lay in the domain of Parliament and the Legislature.

Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community have vowed to continue and fight for legalisation of same-sex marriage.

India decriminalised homosexual activity between consenting adults in 2018. But much of the country is still conservative as far as LGBTQ rights and marriage are concerned. But it was not always like this.

According to author and mythologist, Kavita Kane, the texts and scriptures that make up the Hindu canon have always been acceptive and inclusive of the sexuality spectrum. Hindu mythology is replete with stories and tales of characters who may be classified as LGBTQ today.

Down To Earth spoke to Kane, the author of books such as Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen (2013) and Sarswati’s Gift (2021) among others, about LGBTQ themes in Hindu mythology. Edited excerpts:

Rajat Ghai (RG): What does the corpus that is the Hindu canon tell us about queerness?

 

Kavita Kane (KK): That ‘queerness’ is not queer. It was usual and people who displayed such behaviour were definitely not treated as freaks. The ancient texts were certainly inclusive of the sexuality spectrum and can have answers to issues which we are not ready to confront even today.

The Hindu canon accepts queer behaviour — be it cross-dressing, sexual fluidity or homosexual intercourse — as perfectly natural. Nowhere is it mentioned as a crime or sin or with any negative overtones.

Ancient Hindu texts like the Vedas, the epics or Itihasa such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, as well as the Puranas and regional folklore, are populated with deities, heroes, heroines and characters who have elements of gender variance and non-heterosexual sexuality, each told through the story of a specific character. Changes of sex, homoerotic encounters, and intersex or third gender characters are often found in these traditional narratives.

RG: Was queerness more acceptable in ancient India?

KK: Certainly, with a more tolerant eye. The ancient texts were a reflection of society and they, in turn, influenced current society. So you have a prominent deity like Vishnu owning a queer identity as presented in his avatar or incarnation as Mohini, the enchantress, who made the asuras or demons give up amrita, the elixir of immortality.

Or further in the Puranas, there is a definite mention of the union of Shiva and Mohini resulting in the birth of Ayyappa or Harihara Putra, who becomes the example of the sexual union between two male deities.

Beyond the role of the saviour, the implications in dual-genderism and fluid sexuality is more analogical, wherein in each person lies and rests in the male and the female.

Mohini is the only female avatar of Vishnu who exhibits gender variability, in one case even becoming pregnant. Vishnu as Mohini and the Preserver even procreates with Shiva, the designated Destroyer, to give birth to Ayyappa.

Likewise, Ardhanarishvara is a form of Shiva which has both male and female elements divided equally, thereby producing a genderless deity. This shows how maleness and femaleness can coexist in one form, exhibiting sexual fluidity.

Shiva has often been held as the ultimate embodiment of masculinity. But his Ardhanarishvara form is an androgynous composite of Shiva and Parvati, his consort. Parvati wished to share Shiva’s experiences, and thus wanted their physical forms to be literally joined in order to show that the inner masculine and feminine can coexist and coalesce.

A similar union occurs between Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and Vishnu, her consort. It results in the formation of the hermaphroditic or androgynous Lakshmi-Narayana.

While the reproductive connection between man and woman has always been honoured, homosexuality and LGBT themes have been documented through ancient literature and folktales, art and performing arts alike. Essentially, gender is often seen as an idea, a belief or a conviction, the sweep and scale of which can be seen through diverse characters, each extraordinary and unusual.

Vishnu, in his incarnation as Krishna in the Mahabharata, becomes Mohini to marry Aravan / Iravan, son of Arjun and the Naga princess Uloopi. Selected to be sacrificed for the Pandavas’ victory in the Kurukshetra war, Iravan has one last request — that he did not wish to die unmarried.

As no woman came forward to marry him, Krishna took the form of Mohini and wedded him. After Iravan’s death, Mohini is seen as a hero’s widow. Iravan is today considered the patron deity of some transgender communities in India.

Shikhandi, the Panchala warrior in the Kurukshetra war, was born Shikhandini, the daughter of King Drupada. Said to be Kashi princess Amba reborn to exact her revenge on Bhishma, she is raised as a son by Drupada. Taking the name Shikhandi, she remains a man until his death at Kurukshetra. But whatever the gender, Shikhandi is seen as a brave warrior responsible for the death of Bhishma.

There are several instances of homosexual or bisexual activity, not always for deriving sexual pleasure. Agni, the god of fire, is married both to the goddess Svaha and the male Moon god Soma, with Agni having a receptive role in this relationship. Interestingly, another aspect of this story as advocated by ancient sages was that there were two elements, fire (agni for sun) and water (soma for moon), determining the gender of a child.

Similarly, Mitra and Varuna are gods of intimacy often mentioned together, both presiding over the universal waters. While Mitra controls the ocean depths, Varuna rules over the rivers and shores.

Metaphorically, they are associated with the two lunar phases. Varuna is the waxing one and the waning one is Mitra, symbolising same-sex relations. They are said to have children (sages Agastya and Vashistha) through ayoni with the apsara Urvashi, something akin to having children through surrogacy.

Besides holding a prominent position in Hindu astrology as the planet Mercury, Budh also represents a prototype of gender roles. When Brihaspati, the preceptor of the devas, discovers his wife Tara pregnant with the child of her lover Chandra, he curses the child Budh to be neither male or female.

Budh later marries Ila, also cursed to switch genders every month because she trespassed into the forbidden Sharavana grove of Parvati and Shiva. Their children later established the lunar Chandra-vamsa dynasty of kings in the Mahabharata.

The story of King Dilip has strong shades of lesbianism. His son, Bhagirath is said to be responsible in bringing the Ganga from heaven as a river on Earth. Born to two mothers, the widowed queens of Dilip, his birth is considered a blessing and was socially approved.

The homoertoic subtext and other above mentioned instances and characters operate within a distinct worldview, yet accommodate gender and sexual variance. They are generally accepted and woven into the narrative of the epics and ancient texts as typically occurring or done.

RG: Why has the queerness not been accepted in India despite Hindu mythology acknowledging it?

KK: Hindu mythology, through evolved heroes and instances, has displayed elements of gender variance and non-heterosexual sexuality. But it became a victim of later laws of the country and changed social mores through patriarchy, traditionalism and foreign invasions.

When we see it in the context of the current laws against homosexuality and LGBTQ, based on past colonial laws, it shows that it resisted sexual norms and the commonly perceived gender binaries.

It leaves social acceptance or rejection to culture, which is considered an artificial dynamic and construct. But the various stories in these ancient texts highlight the voices of LGBTQ personalities through the grand narratives of Hindu mythology and the analyses of these stories by us today are still resisting the hegemonic notion of gender and sexuality.

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