For gatekeepers of Indian culture who trace all things queer to the West, our mythological texts prove otherwise
queer, and referred to it as third nature Those who wrote on mainstream social issues ignored them, but their stories did slip in occasionally, especially in folk traditions.
Gender bender
Kama Sutra. only man in the world who knew how to make both men and women happy. He knew the body of a man and a woman from the inside; so he became the teacher of courtesans.
Then there is a story of same-sex love from Krishna lore. The king of Magadha, Jarasandha, sent his generals, Hansa and Dimbhaka, to attack and destroy the city of Mathura. The two generals were invincible when they fought together. Krishna and his brother Balaram, defenders of Mathura, separated the two warriors and told each that the other had died. This caused them to die of heartbreak, for the two were lovers, a secret known only to Krishna.
Being
Mahabharata tells us about many trans queer people. Arjuna is cursed by a nymph, that he will lose his manhood for a year, and so he lives as the eunuch Brihanalla and teaches dance to the princess Uttara, daughter of Virata. Shikhandi, a princess, is raised as a man but discovers he is a woman on his wedding night. He is given a penis by a yaksha to satisfy his wife. Does that make him a man? Krishna says yes and lets him ride on his chariot into the battleeld of Kurukshetra. Bhishma says no and refuses to ght him, a fatal mistake.
There is a story of inclusion narrated by many hijras of North India. On his return from exile, Rama noticed a number of non-binary people outside the city gates. Why are you not inside, he asked. They said that while leaving for this 14-year exile, Rama had told the men and women to return home. He gave no instructions to those of the third nature, and so they waited outside. Touched by their love, Rama welcomed them into his Rama Rajya.
There is a queer positive line in the famous 16th century Awadhi masterpiece Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas. In the nal chapter (7.87A), Rama tells the crow, Bhusundi, ‘Purush napunsaka nari va jiva charachara koi, sarva bhaav bhaja kapat taji mohi param priya soi’ (men, queers, women, animals or plants, whosoever abandons malice and approaches me, is dear to me). Here, god is making himself accessible to all, even the queer
No one is excluded. Scholars rarely mention this line, let alone discuss it in their dissertations. This is how gatekeepers impose their own version of tradition on the next generation. is author of 50 books on mythology, art and culture