Sin, Sex, and Democracy: Antigay Rhetoric and the Christian Right

The Literary Herald, 2018

The paper focuses on the treatment of female sexuality in the respective societies of the Mahabharata and the period of partition in India. Using the Mahabharata’s Sabha Parva as the primary text, it traces the concepts of regulation and ownership of women’s sexuality, established during the times of the Mahabharata, which then became conventional in both the societies. The paper argues that the Mahabharata, as a primary text of philosophy, history and polity, has contributed to the normalcy of the treatment of women’s sexuality as property, and the most prominently remembered women in the Mahabharata lack individualized sexual agency. It examines the texts of Manto, primarily focusing on women- Mozel, Hatak, and Thanda Gosht- along with the text of the Mahabharata to prove the difference in the approach of the representation of female sexuality through their women characters. It looks at the lack of individualization of sexuality and the concept of its control as a way to systematize patriarchy by using the evidences from the Mahabharata, and then compares these with the tone of Manto’s texts that portrayed full- fledged human beings, not metaphors for an external ideal. The mimesis/poesis dynamic of the mentioned texts has been explored through a feminist reading. At the end, the paper concludes that the treatment of women in the text of the Mahabharata has manifested itself into the attitudes of the society, such that its projection of controlled, owned women is revered and accepted, while Manto’s representation of women as full-fledged human beings with sexual desires, expressions and individual ownership of their sexuality has been criticized among the masses, and even in the circle of writers, as a lesser, obscene form of literature.

Bulletin of The School of Oriental and African Studies-university of London, 2008

2021

From the Paleolithic era till the modern times of current Pandemic, human race has witnessed not only biological evolution but also sociocultural one. Gender has always been an important consideration in development of civilizations. Without much change, the world has been perceived only in binary oppositions which consign the social structure only in heteronormative ideal of having an adamant notion of a man or woman, their social practice, behavior and fixed identities. Contemporary Post-modernist Indian writers through their writings shamble the power hierarchy and reconsider these social practices, softening the gender distinctions. Based on these literary texts of gender dichotomy in terms of non-normative sexual identities from the epic Mahabharata presented in the book The Pregnant King, this paper is an attempt to reinterpret the gender transgression and psychological issues which testifies unawareness of a double marginality, a perspective on latent conflict between society...

International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research (IJFMR), 2025

The Mahabharata is a profound philosophical work that examines the roles and significance of women in addition to being a story of bravery and conflict. The main female characters-Draupadi, Kunti, Gandhari, Subhadra, and Uttara-are examined in this article along with their impact on the moral and ethical climate of the epic. It talks about how these women defy social expectations and live out the values of dharma, karma, and renunciation. Their agency and wisdom are reflected in their positions as decision-makers, mentors, and change agents. This study illuminates the intellectual depth of the Mahabharata and the crucial role that women played in forming its story by examining their hardships and contributions.

Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities

The Mahabharata is a treasure-trove of the cultural memories of the Hindus. The grand Epic has entertained and edified our society through its numerous identity-relevant narratives since time immemorial. The longevity of The Mahabharata lies in its capacity to adapt, adopt and re-fashion the account, which grants endless opportunities of initiating open-ended debate. The grand Epic has shaped our values and shared a template by which a life guided by Dharma is to be lived. The dialogic text continues to contribute to the resolution of our emotional angst and existential dilemmas. Much ahead of its times, the Epic revels in the liminality that is apparent in the narratives of the gender-queer people who are an integral part of its culture-scape. This paper seeks to study two liminal figures in the Epic narrative – Shikhandi, the trans-gender Prince of Panchala, and Yuvanashwa, the pregnant King, who swayed between gendered identities and challenged the hegemonic heteronormative sexua...

2021

International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 2020

Within infinite myths lies an eternal truth Who knows it all? Varuna has but a thousand eyes Indra, a hundred You and I, only two."(Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish.) From time immemorial, queer sexuality has formed an integral part of the Hindu mythological folklore. However, its interpretation have always been smudgy and vague as these stories, symbols, and rituals have suffered from explanations devoid of adequate enquiry, profound interrogation and wide vision. Therefore, there has remained a chiasmic difference between the queer ideas celebrated in these stories and their shallow interpretations in our Indian society due to the ignorance and rigidity prevalent in it. Devdutt Pattanaik, a mythologist, and an illustrator has made a compilation of such stories and has compared them to the Greek lore, and The Bible to show how "different cultures express and repress sexuality in different ways in different times." He states that while in the Hindu lore, the god, himself, would "become women" to tempt hermits or to trick demons, there is no such taleof change of sex or same sex love in The Bible (for it amounted to blasphemy).Pattanaik had explained that in the Hindu worldview nothing can be taken as permanent in the entire cosmos-"As one oscillates between the land of the dead and the land of the living, genders change, orientations change, identities change-the future being determined by the past. Masculinity and femininity are reduced to ephemeral robes of body and mind that ensheath the sexless, genderless soul. The ultimate aim in the journey of life then becomes an exercise in appreciating the beauty of existence, understanding its limitations, before finally transcending it." In this paper, my attempt will be to trace one such queer journey that is rooted in the Indian tradition, right from The Mahabharata to the 21st century film of Rituparno Ghosh. While tracing this journey, I will refer to the tale of Mahabharata, the dualism or the androgyny rooted in Vaishnavism and explore Tagore's interpretation of Chitrangada before proceeding to Rituparno Ghosh's film Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish. Myriads of instances can be found in the celebrated epic, The Mahabharata, through the 'queer' characters like Brihanalla, the eunuch form of Arjuna to Shikandi, the form after queer rebirth of Amba and so on. It can be observed in case of Chitrangada, the princes of Manipur, who was raised like a man; in case of Mohini, whom Vishnu had cross-dressed to trick the demons. Again, in the VaishnavaSakhi-sect, the monks take up female apparel to be the Sakhis of Radha to be close to Krishna. Chaitanya has been regarded as the epitome of cultural androgyny of this country (Bakshi). In Rituparno Ghosh's words, "Radha and Krishna are almost symbiotic in him." But, although, the Hindu Philosophy provides room for cross dressing and queer personalities, these instances were 'tolerated' within safe parameters of the 'divine'. Socially, people were expected to "follow a parampara or belong to a sampradaya with rules and codes of conduct fixed either by caste or by the guru." Pattanayak has argued that, according to the Dharmashastras, the ancient Hindu law book, heterosexual marriages and bearing of children are the most important duties of a person. Manusmriti(500 B.C.), another law book, condemned same sex activities and also prescribed punishments for the same. The idea of 'queer' in India represented a colonial category, an instrument to stigmatize subjects, who were sexual deviants and gender outlaws, and to demark as cultural aberrations, which 'can' not or even, 'should' not be assimilated into the sphere and machinery of normative colonial thought. Here is an excerpt to show how The Bhagvad Gita talks of "Prakriti" and "Purusha". "It talks of 'Purusha' as the soul, the Self, pure consciousness, and the only source of consciousness. The word literally means "man". 'Prakriti' is something that is created. It is nature in all her aspects. 'Prakriti' means "creatrix," the female

Vidyottama Sanatana: International Journal of Hindu Science and Religious Studies

Women increasingly develop themselves into the same human as their husbands (men). However, in view of this phenomenon, it can be seen that among the progress of women there are still gender gaps in women's daily lives. In addition to seeking self-nature, women are also required to be able to manage the situation of the household, the needs of children, and to participate in activities in the community. One solution that can be done so that the gap can be minimized, namely between men and women can complement each other by reflecting on religious teachings. One of them is the teachings contained in literature, the epic Mahābhārata. This research is examined based on the perspective of Hindu religious education with the aim of analyzing the implications of theo-feminism in the epic of Mahābhārata (perspective of Hindu religious education). This research was analyzed by qualitative descriptive method with interview and documentation data collection techniques. The findings in this...

Barak Education Society, Silchar, Assam, 2019

Scriptures are often used to make patriarchal control sacrosanct over women's body. Principal women characters of the Mahābhārata like Draupadī, Kuntī and Satyavatī having more than one man in their life, suggest that the values that governed gender relations were not as rigid as it became later. Along with the expansion of the epic, the lives of the women characters in the epic underwent transformations to suit the patriarchal perception. Women characters that had more than one man in their lives had their virginity restored before she is given to another man. The boon of restoration avoided the situation of moral discomfort. Restorations of virginity of these women restore the honor of men who are supposed to be protector and owner of woman's sexuality and procreative power. These women characters are portrayed as passive who allow their bodies to be manipulated according to men's convenience and sense of honor.