Dear colleagues and friends, I have been unable to locate the following two articles:
- Dragomir Dimitrov. 2008. “Some Remarks on the Rūpyāvatyavadāna of the Divyāvadāna(mālā).” In: D. Dimitrov, M. Hahn, and R. Steiner (eds.): Bauddhasāhityastabakāvalī. Essays and Studies on Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. Dedicated to Claus Vogel. Marburg (Indica et Tibetica 36), pp. 45–64. - Dragomir Dimitrov. 2004. “Two Female Bodhisattvas in Flesh and Blood.” In: U. Roesler and J. Soni (eds.): Aspects of the Female in Indian Culture. Marburg (Indica et Tibetica 44), pp. 3–30. I have asked my library to purchase the volumes in which they were published, but it will take some time to acquire them, and I would be grateful if, in the meantime, someone could share the PDF versions. Best wishes, Marco --- Marco Franceschini ———————————--- Associate Professor University of Bologna Department of History and Cultures Personal web page <https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/marco.franceschini3/en> Academia web page <http://unibo.academia.edu/MarcoFranceschini> — > Il giorno 17 mar 2026, alle ore 19:25, Marco Franceschini > <[email protected]> ha scritto: > > Dear friends, > > first of all, I would like to thank everyone who so generously responded to > my request for suggestions regarding gender change in pre-modern Sanskrit > literature (I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone!): Shubham Arora, Tarinee > Awasthi, Daniela Bevilacqua, Simon Brodbeck, Tracy Coleman, Anna Aurelia > Esposito, Christian Ferstl, Eli Franco, Elisa Ganser, Robert Goldman, Anahita > Hoose, Matthew Kapstein, Petra Kieffer-Pülz, Dmitrii Komissarov, Robert > Leach, Steven Lindquist, Valerie Roebuck, Tulika Singh, Caley Smith, Roland > Steiner, Eric Steinschneider, McComas Taylor, Christophe Vielle. > > I have tried to organise the information I received, separating the episodes > of gender change found in the primary sources (Sanskrit literary works) from > the academic studies on the subject. I have pasted the result below. > > Thanks again to all of you! > > Marco > --- > > Change of gender episodes in Sanskrit literature > - Ila/Sudyumna-Ilā (Rāmāyaṇa, Bhāgavatapurāṇa, Viṣṇupurāṇa, Vāyupurāṇa) > - Bhaṅgāsvana (Mahābhārata) > - Śikhaṇḍin (Mahābhārata) > - Mūladeva (Vetālapañcaviṃśati) > - Arjuna (Mahābhārata). (See several entries in the bibliography) > - The story of Rūp(y)āvatī/Rukmavatī (Divyāvadāna). The story has been handed > down in three different versions. (See Dimitrov 2004, 2008; Steiner 2002; > Straube 2009.) > - Bhagavadajjukīya by Bodhāyana/Baudhāyana > - Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra; a girl became a man before reaching buddhahood > - Viṣṇu’s appearance as Mohinī (Mahābhārata etc); the story is retold in a > funny way in Samudramathana by Vatsaraja > - The story of queen Cūḍālā and king Śikhidhvaja. Cūḍālā transforms herself > (through yogic power) into a young sage named Kumbha to instruct her husband; > later on, she (in the form of Kumbha) tells Sikhidhvaja that in the past she > had offended a sage and consequently was cursed to become a woman every > night. (Yogavasiṣṭha and Mokṣopāya VI.81.11–114.32) (Mokṣopāya. Das Sechste > Buch. Nirvāṇaprakaraṇa. 1. Teil: Kapitel 1–119. Kritische Edition von S. > Krause-Stinner und P. Stephan. Wiesbaden 2018, pp. 319–474.) > - The goddess swapping her female body with the śrāvaka monk Śāriputra in the > Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra > - Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva are transformed into females on entering Goddess’ > Maṇidvīpa (Devībhāgavatapurāṇa 3.4) > - Prajāpati (considered as tha creator of the universe) manifests features > associated with both male and female generative power, including lactating > breasts (Śatapathabrāhmaṇa [Mādhyaṃdina] 2.5.1-3 etc.) > - The episode of Kṛṣṇa's son Sāmba, who in Book 16 of the Mahābhārata, > thirty-six years after the war, dresses as a pregnant woman (as part of a > prank that does not end well for him.) > - Story 62 of the Śukasaptati: a young and handsome lover manages to disguise > himself as a woman in order to live with the women of a Rajput. With a > special trick he can even dance naked without being recognized. (Transmitted > in the textus simplicior [11th/12th c., crit. ed. by Richard Schmidt, Leipzig > ], not transmitted in the textus ornatior [crit. ed. by Richard Schmidt, > München 1898]). (See Artola 1975 [or 1977]). > - The story of “The pregnant Vidyādhara” in the Tantropākhyāna (an incomplete > gender change) narrates of the transfer of an embryo from a pregnant female > to a male character (and the final death of the latter, unable to give > birth). (See Artola 1965) > - Hasyacūḍāmaṇi by Vatsaraja (An ascetic and an old bawd form a couple; they > don't exchange genders, but they do exchange gender roles.) > - Atharvavedic hymns that purports to forcibly change ones gender from man to > woman/man to neuter or otherwise emasculate/render impotent. (e.g. > Śaunakasaṃhitā 6.138 ~ Paippalādasaṃhitā 1.68.) > - Kāmasūtra 2.7.22–23, plus chapter 2.8 (woman playing the man’s part). > > Studies and secondary sources > - George T. Artola. 1965. “Ten Tales from the Tantropākhyāna”, ALB 29, pp. > 30–73 (st. 2 "The pregnant Vidyādhara", pp. 36, 52-53). > - George T. Artola. 1975. “The Transvestite in Sanskrit Story and Drama”, > Annals of Oriental Research (Madras, ed. K. Kunjunni Raja) 25, pp. 57-68, > reed. in Id. The banner of Kāmadeva and other topics of Sanskrit literature > and Indian culture (Monographs of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian > Studies, University of Toronto, vol. 3), Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1977, pp. > 44-59. (On the topic of the "third nature”; on p. 65 the article deals with > story 62 in the Śukasaptati.) > - Simon Brodbeck and Brian Black (eds). 2007. Gender and Narrative in the > Mahabharata. Routledge. (Especially the chapters by Andrea Custodi on > “Transsexuality and Gender-Bending in the Characters of Arjuna/Brihannadaa > and Ambaa/Shikhandin”, and by Georg von Simson on “Krishna’s Son Saamba: > Faked Gender and Other Ambiguities on the Background of Lunar and Solar > Myth”.) > - Dragomir Dimitrov. 2008. “Some Remarks on the Rūpyāvatyavadāna of the > Divyāvadāna(mālā).” In: D. Dimitrov, M. Hahn, and R. Steiner (eds.): > Bauddhasāhityastabakāvalī. Essays and Studies on Buddhist Sanskrit > Literature. Dedicated to Claus Vogel. Marburg (Indica et Tibetica 36), pp. > 45–64. (On the story of Rūp(y)āvatī/Rukmavatī.) > - Dragomir Dimitrov. 2004. “Two Female Bodhisattvas in Flesh and Blood.” In: > U. Roesler and J. Soni (eds.): Aspects of the Female in Indian Culture. > Marburg (Indica et Tibetica 44), pp. 3–30. (On the story of > Rūp(y)āvatī/Rukmavatī.) > - Wendy Doniger. 2016. Redeeming the Kamasutra, pp. 109–113. (Section on > traditional and inverted Indian concepts of gender.) > - Wendy Doniger. 2014. On Hinduism. (Especially the section on Transsexual > Transformations of Subjectivity and Memory in Hindu Mythology.) > - Wendy Doniger. 2002. The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade. > - Wendy Doniger. 1999. Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient > Greece and India. (Especially chapter six might be useful.) > - Wendy Doniger. 1982. Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts. > - Anna Aurelia Esposito. 2013. “Wie man im alten Indien sein Geschlecht > verändert: Transformationen von Geschlecht in der klassischen indischen > Literatur”, Heike Moser und Stephan Köhn (eds), Frauenbilder/Frauenkörper, > Inszenierungen des Weiblichen in den Gesellschaften Süd- und Ostasiens. > Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 503–524. > - Sanjay Gautam. 2013. “The Event of Sexual Pleasure as De-subjectivization > in Foucault and the Kāmasūtra”, South Asian Review, Vol. 34(3), p.19-34. (On > raticakra; Gautam discusses how intense passion causes a male-female couple > to reverse their genders temporarily.) > - Robert Goldman. Notes on Arjuna’s “transvestism” at Virāṭa’s court (email). > - Anahita Hoose. 2025. “The god with a thousand vulvas: heroic feminisation > in ancient India and Greece”, JRAS, Series 3, 35, 505–521. > - Padmanabh Jaini. 1991. Gender and Salvation. Jaina Debates on the Spiritual > Liberation of Women. University of California Press. (On the male body as the > normative body, the male body as the superior body, and explicit or implicit > demonization of women and female sexuality, including (as warnings) stories > about sex change in current or future lives.) > - Susanne Mrozik. 2006. “Materialization of Virtue: Buddhist discourses on > bodies.” In E. T. Armour and S. M. St. Ville (eds), Bodily Citations Religion > and Judith Butler. Columbia University Press. > - John Powers. 2009. A Bull of a Man. Images of Masculinity Sex and the Body > in Indian Buddhism. (On the male body as the normative body, the male body as > the superior body, and explicit or implicit demonization of women and female > sexuality, including (as warnings) stories about sex change in current or > future lives.) > - Hidenori Sakuma. 1990. Die āśrayaparivṛtti-Theorie in der Yogācārabhūmi. > Stuttgart. (On the notion of āśrayaparivṛtti/parāvṛtti, one of its earliest > meanings is “gender change”). > - Roland Steiner. 2002. “Zum ursprünglichen Titel der > ‘Rūpyāvatī’-Geschichte.” In: D. Dimitrov, U. Roesler and R. Steiner (eds.): > Śikhisamuccayaḥ. Indian and Tibetan Studies. Wien (Wiener Studien zur > Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 53), pp. 203–210. (On the story of > Rūp(y)āvatī/Rukmavatī.) > - Martin Straube. 2009. Studien zur Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā. Texte und > Quellen der Parallelen zu Haribhaṭṭas Jātakamālā. Wiesbaden > (Veröffentlichungen der Helmuth von Glasenapp-Stiftung. Monographien 1), pp. > 322–324 (“Das Rukmavatyavadāna”). (On the story of Rūp(y)āvatī/Rukmavatī.) > - McComas Taylor. 2013. “Purāṇic Masculinities and Transgender Adventures in > the Garden of the Goddess”, International Journal of Hindu Studies, Vol. 17, > No. 2 (August, 2013), pp. 153-179 > - Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai (eds). 2000. Same-Sex Love in India: Readings > from Literature and History. (Some chapters on sex and gender change might be > of interest.) > - Fernando Wulff Alonso. 2020. In Search of Vyāsa: The Use of Greco-Roman > Sources in Book 4 of the Mahābhārata. (On Arjuna’s transvestism at the court > of Virata and its parallels in the legend of Heracles.) > - Serenity Young. 2004. Courtesans and Tantric Consorts. Sexualities in > Buddhist Narrative, Iconography, and Ritual. Routledge. (On the male body as > the normative body, the male body as the superior body, and explicit or > implicit demonization of women and female sexuality, including (as warnings) > stories about sex change in current or future lives.) > - Leonard Zwilling and Michael J. Sweet. 2000. “The Evolution of Third-Sex > Constructs in Ancient India: A Study in Ambiguity”, in Julia Leslie and Mary > McGee, eds., Invented Identities: The Interplay of Gender, Religion and > Politics in India, 99–132, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. (On Arjuna’s > “transvestism” at Virāṭa’s court.) > > Pāli literature > - The story of Soreyya/Soreyyā (Pali commentarial literature) > - Dhammadinnā. 2019. “Soreyya/ā’s double sex change: on gender relevance and > Buddhist values”, ARIRIAB 22, 9–34. (On the story of Soreyya/Soreyyā.) > > ------------------ > > > >> Il giorno 14 mar 2026, alle ore 23:07, Marco Franceschini >> <[email protected]> ha scritto: >> >> Dear friends and colleagues, >> >> I would like to sincerely thank everyone who responded to my question, both >> on- and off-list. I am deeply grateful to you all: in less than 24 hours, I >> received 25 suggestions – I am amazed by our group’s capacity for >> cooperation and mutual enrichment. >> Reading your replies, I realised that this topic can take on a scope I >> hadn’t considered, as it borders on and, at times, overlaps with related >> topics, such as androgyny, the male body as the normative body, the concept >> of āśrayaparivṛtti/parāvṛtti, normative literature (Kāmasūtra and >> Kāmaśāstras), Buddhist literature in Pāli, genderbending/emasculating >> rituals in Vedic texts – to mention just a few. Perhaps a dear friend is >> right who, off-list, writes to me that the topic deserves a panel at a >> conference or, perhaps, an entire conference... >> Over the next few days I will organise your suggestions and recommendations >> and send you a summary email with a bibliography. >> >> Thank you again. >> Warm regards to all, >> >> Marco >> --- >> Marco Franceschini >> ———————————--- >> Associate Professor >> University of Bologna >> Department of History and Cultures >> Personal web page <https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/marco.franceschini3/en> >> Academia web page <http://unibo.academia.edu/MarcoFranceschini> >> — >> >> >>> Il giorno 13 mar 2026, alle ore 21:46, Marco Franceschini >>> <[email protected]> ha scritto: >>> >>> 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 <https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/marco.franceschini3/en> >>> Academia web page <http://unibo.academia.edu/MarcoFranceschini> >>> — >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >
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