Transgender People in Vedic Times
Before the Vedas explicitly mention the concept of a third gender, Sanskrit literature implies the existence of transgender from the times of its inception. As a rule, the language attributes male, female, and third-gender to every noun, classifying every, name, place, animal and object with a ling: pul-ling (male), stri-ling, (female), napunsak-ling (third gender). The Vedas and the Puranas were interpreted to form offshoot religious factions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, all of whom find place to celebrate and even sometimes revere the transgender community, who are said to have powerful blessing abilities.
The Hijra community has been mentioned in ancient literature, the most known of which is the Kama Sutra, a Hindu text on human sexual behavior written sometime between 400 BCE and 200 CE. Hijra characters hold significant roles in some of the most important texts of Hinduism, including the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. In the mythology and stories on Krishna, it is said that he transformed into Mohini for the purpose of marrying the son of Arjun, Aravan, who was doomed to die in battle the following day. Many of the Tamilian transgender community classify themselves under the sect of Aravanis for the reason that he would marry a man who turned into a woman.
Similarly, the story goes in the Ramayana that Lord Ram bestowed the ability of giving blessings to the members of the Hijra community, as they followed him despite his banishment from Ayodhaya. One of the many forms of Shiva, a principal Hindu deity, involves him merging with his wife, Parvati, to become the androgynous Ardhanari, who holds special significance to many in the Hijra community.
Moreover, there are specific texts such as the Manu Smiti, the Tolkappiyam, Puranas and Vedic astrology scriptures that explain the natural occurance of people from the “third-sex”, that speak of males with feminine attributes and of a tritiya prakriti or “third gender”. This classification was mostly created to clearly demarcate an entire community of people who would not possess the ability to procreate. Jain texts go as far as to say that the third gender do not have just physiological differences, but they also conform to the psychological sex that they identify with, indicating that this identity was also largely a choice.
Transgender people have been a part of the Indian community for a long time now; its most concerning how we forget the tolerance and acceptance of such communities as seen in our heritage, and begin to persecute them due to imposition of Christian colonial invaders who claimed to be repulsed by them and their existence. Since the 18th century, Hijras have been fighting a long and hard battle to reclaim their rights and their identities, with LGBTQ rights activists at the helm of their advocacy. We would do well to remember our roots and practice some empathy within our society, especially when it comes to those communities that were respected until only a few hundred years ago.
