Re: [INDOLOGY] Gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit literature

[Valerie Roebuck via INDOLOGY]

What an interesting topic. If divine figures are included, there is Viṣṇu’s appearance as Mohinĩ (Mahãbhãrata etc). If she wants to look beyond Sanskrit, we have the story of Soreyya/Soreyyã in the Pali commentarial literature.  Valerie J Roebuck Manchester, UK Sent from my iPhone On 13 Mar 2026, at 20:47, 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 --- Marco Franceschini ———————————--- Associate Professor University of Bologna Department of History and Cultures Personal web page Academia web page — _______________________________________________ INDOLOGY mailing list INDOLOGY@list.indology.info https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology

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