Untold tales: Stories which they don’t want you to know.

“ Patriarchy asserts men are superior to women

  Feminism clarifies women and men are equal

Queerness questions what constitutes men and women”

                                                                            -Devdutt Patanaik

                                                                            (Sikhandi and other tales they don’t tell you)

In an age where liberty and equality are a rage,where countries like Ireland and Malta allow self determination of gender on attaining adulthood; the Indian society still holds back in this aspect. The Supreme Court’s groundbreaking, landmark decision to allow the transgender community to identify their gender on official documents and also have the equal rights to adopt children as the other genders, was a step in the right direction. “The spirit of the (Indian) Constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender,” stated the Supreme Court. While the legal system may have adapted to the fast growing ideals of equalism, the Indian society still actively discriminates against “queers” or transgenders. Transgenders are not welcomed into our society, are generally not employed or schooled and are forced to live in abject poverty.  Changing sexes, not belonging to a sex  or dressing as the opposite sex is considered to be “ against nature and religion”, and frowned upon to a large extent.

But it was not always so. Hindu mythology speaks of various instances in which not only mortals but our highly worshipped gods, cross dress and change genders. In an era where people were encouraged to imitate gods, these give hope of a society where one and all were welcome; very much like “Ram Rajya”. The Ramayana speaks of eunuchs who waited outside Ayodhya’s gates for the return of lord Ram after his exile. He is said to have personally welcomed them into the society and apologised for forgetting them. The three major sects of Hinduism, Vaishnavism(worship of Vishnu), Shaivism(worship of Shiva) and Shaktism(worship of the goddess) speak about instances of gender changing and cross dressing done by the three gods respectively.

In the Vaishnavism sect, the story of Bhasma-asura is commonly told. When the asura is granted the boon of turning anything he touches into ashes, he first tries to kill Lord Shiva. Terrified, Shiva runs to Vishnu for help. Vishnu then transforms into a beautiful maiden who seduces the asura and kills him. Enchanted by this beauty, Shiva woos Vishnu and together they produce many great warriors. Vishnu also uses his female form during “Samudra Manthan”, to distract the asuras while he poured nectar to the gods.

The Shaivism sect of Hinduism, narrates of a story in which a mother is unable to reach her pregnant daughter’s house to act as a midwife and deliver the baby. Terrified she prays to Shiva who turns into a mid wife and reaches the daughters house. He delivers the baby and also lights lamps as the midwife is supposed to. Not only does this show the Gods’ compassion and empathy but also highlights the casual attitude with which they regard “traditional genders and their roles”.

The Shaktism sect widely believes Krishna to be the male form of Shakti. The Goddess in this form, was known to seduce milkmaids and had over a hundred wives.

Many kathas also weave tales of Gods and heroes cross dressing and not conforming to gender roles. Two famous oral tales of the Gangetic plains, speak about Lord Krishna wearing female clothes. Lord Krishna once played a prank on the milkmaids, by stealing their clothes during their baths and refusing to return them until they showed him their naked bodies. To punish the young prankster, the Gopis dressed him in their clothes. To their surprise, Krishna was not offended and insisted that they give him the best of clothes and accessories and paint his face perfectly. Unable to remain mad at the lovable lord any longer, the milkmaids forgave him and dressed him up the best they could. Krishna is also once said to exchange gender roles with Radha to try and understand her. The hero of Mahabharata, Bhima once wore women’s clothing to punish a man trying to seduce his wife Draupadi. The mighty Arjuna also spend one year as a eunuch. Popular folklore also speaks of Aruna, who became a woman when the sun paused and Ila, who became a man when the moon waned.

Gods and Heroes were considered ideals. Men and women strove to be like them. Thus when Gods, themselves do not conform to traditional genders or their roles, it can be assumed that many strove to be far more accepting and liberal than today. Not only does this showcase that Hinduism accepts the “live and let live” policy and does not banish transgenders and transvestites; it also shows that being open minded can grant you “punya”. Through myths and oral folktales, the pandits endeavoured to accept those who could not help what they were. But somewhere along the aeons, we have lost this acceptance and egalitarianism. We have conformed Hinduism to accept the majority and exile the minority. If our Gods can accept them, can be them and love them; then who are we mere mortals to oppose this? In an era where we place our discrimination against transgenders upon our religion, we have much ado to know ourselves.

Aanchal Kabra

Intern