On the “third-nature” – III
Continuing this series on non-normative sexuality and gender presentation in early Indian sources. This time, I will examine a couple of examples from medical (Āyurvedic) literature. Early Āyurvedic texts have much to say about how persons exhibiting non-normative sexual behaviors and presentations come about.
There’s a section of the Caraka Saṃhitā Śārīrasthāna (CSS) (1-2nd century CE) v2.17-2.21 that has received a lot of attention from scholars.
v2:17 poses the question:
“By what means are one who has the mark of male and female (dviretas), one who has wind afflicted seed (pavanendriya), a trait carrier (saṃskāravāhī), male and female hermaphrodite (naranāriṣaṇḍau) a bent one (vakrī), one who derives excitement from watching others (irṣyābhirati) and a wind-afflicted hermaphrodite (vātikaṣaṇḍaka) produced?”
Lets take a closer look at these ‘types’:
- The dviretas has “two sexual fluids” – they are understood to be strīpuṃsaliṅgī – having both male and female genitalia. This is caused by equality between the male and female seed of the parents – rather than one being dominant (I’ll come back to this later).
- The pavanendriya has “wind afflicted seed” – that is to say, they are incapable of producing semen, just “wind”.
- The saṃskāravāhī – “trait carrier”. This is a tricky one. I’ve seen various explanations, suggesting that (a) the term refers to one whose semen is stagnant, (b) someone who can only be aroused via the use of aphrodisiacs or (c) that the person is someone whose condition is a result of karma transferred from a father lacking virility.
- The naranāriṣaṇḍau (“male and female hermaphrodite”) encompasses male (naraṣaṇḍha) and female (narīṣaṇḍha).
- The explanation I’ve read here is that these are persons suffering from either sterility, impotence, or a lack of desire.
- Vakri – “bent one”. Again, this is unclear. The most common explanation is that this “type” of male suffers from a bent or crooked penis – a physical deformity.
- It could equally indicate a person who is weak or dishonest. The CSS says that such a one is the result of the weakness of the father’s seed, or lack of desire on the part of the mother at the time of conception.
- irṣyābhirati – a voyeur who can only be aroused by watching others have sexual intercourse. The CSS says that this affliction is brought about when parents have a lack of passion and enjoy watching others.
- The wind-afflicted hermaphrodite – vātikaṣaṇḍaka. A sterile man resulting from the destruction of the testes in the womb by wind or fire.
V2.21 of the CSS says that all of these afflictions are produced by karma.
It’s usual to think of karma as an effect predicated on actions in the past – in a previous life; but it can also be transferred. At least some of these sexual afflictions are judged to have come about due to the activities of a person’s parents.
Karma can also be transferred between living individuals, at least in Brahmanical and Buddhist thought. The Jains disagreed.
There’s another list that can be found in the Suśruta Saṃhitā (SS) (compiled around the 3-4th century c.e.) falling in the range of verses 2.37-2.52.
- The āsekya. A male who is aroused (i.e. gets an erection) by eating semen. Caused by parents whose seed is scant.
- The saugandhika is only aroused by smelling the genitals of others. Caused by being carried in a foul-smelling womb.
- The kumbhīka. A male who can only have intercourse with women after being penetrated and receiving the seed of another man.
- The īrṣyaka – who is only stimulated after watching others copulate.
- The ṣaṇḍaka. A man who is effeminate (strīceṣṭita) or a woman who is “mannish” (naracceṣṭitā). Either one behaves and looks like a person of the opposite sex.
- A male ṣaṇḍa is born due to a father having sex with his wife whilst she is menstruating, and lying underneath her. A female ṣaṇḍa is born if the woman lies atop the man during her menses.
A commentary on the Suśruta Saṃhitā by Dalhanā (12th century) elaborates on the sexual activities of the ṣaṇḍas:
“the male ṣaṇḍa “assumes a bottom position as would a woman, and he gets his male partner to ejaculate onto his pubic region” whilst the female ṣaṇḍa “mounts a woman as would a man”.
They are impelled to do this due to the improper acts of their parents at the time of conception, but they are considered to be sterile.”
The Suśruta Saṃhitā also states (2.47) that “when two amorous women mutually move fluid in some way” a child with no bones is born.
There is a tale about this kind of event in the Bengali Kṛttivāsī Rāmāyaṇ composed by Mahakavi Krittibas Ojha (14th-15th century). In one version, King Dilip dies without an heir, through whom the gods had planned to incarnate an avatar of Viṣṇu into the royal lineage. Siva visits Dilip’s two queens (Chandra and Mala) and tells them to make love so that a boneless child – Bhagirath – will be born. There is another version in which Mala is ashamed when she discovers her pregnancy, at which point Brahma appears and explains the divine plan that has made the union of Chandra and Mela necessary. Brahma says that he will take on any demerit that Mala would otherwise have incurred through her act of lovemaking with Chandra.
The Suśruta Saṃhitā also states that those who are born with deformities are caused by the sins of the mother, and that non-belief in the Vedas may cause disfigurement. The birth of twins is also caused by adharma – behavior contrary to dharma. Again, there’s the idea that karma resulting from unmeritorious behaviors from parents can be passed to children. There is a general sense in these texts that disease manifests in an individual due to the karma of past lives. The human body, seen in these terms, is produced by the moral behavior of the parents, but in some cases, right conduct in one’s present life can obviate these conditions. Karma is not merely a belief system, but, as Gerald Larson argues, a ‘sociology of knowledge’ that bridges medical and religious discourse with the social reality of the varṇāśramadharma – the life duties of the life stages and castes.
The concept that the degree of ‘seed’ between parents produces beings of different sexes can be found in later texts. In the Mātṛkābheda Tantra, an alchemical text, from the twelfth century or later, Śiva says:
“Devī, should the proportion of the Śaktī’s blood be greater than the man then a girl is born. Reversed, men are born. When both are equal a eunuch is born, there is no doubt.” (2: 13-14).
This concept also crops up from time to time in Yoga texts.
In the next post I will look at some examples of persons changing sex.
Sources
Cabezón , José Ignacio. 2017. Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism. Wisdom Publications.
Larson, Gerald. 1980. ‘Karma as a “Sociology of Knowledge” or “Social Psychology” of Process/Praxis’ in Doniger, Wendy (ed). Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions. University of California Press.
Sweet, Michael J., Zwilling, Leonard. 1993. ‘The First Medicalization: The Taxonomy and Etiology of Queerness in Classical Indian Medicine’. Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol 3, No.4 (Apr. 1993), pp590-607.
Vanita, Ruth. 2005. “Born of Two Vaginas: Love and Reproduction between Co-Wives in Some Medieval Indian Texts” in GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies (Vol.11, No.4, pp547-577).
