Gender transformation and Diversity

Gender transformation and diversity

Throughout Hindu and Vedic texts there are many descriptions of saints, demigods, and even the Supreme Lord transcending gender and manifesting multiple combinations of sex and gender.  These include male, female, hermaphrodite, and all other possibilities.  In the scriptures Hinduism I have read account of transsexual, homosexual relations. If you view from the summit of Hindu Dharma these relations are accepted and respected but gradually the acceptance turned into intolerance due to the bad interpretation of Dharma by low minded and less progressive inheritors of the Dharma.  Denying homosexuals or gay relations is indicative of western culture, particularly Victorian culture.

Hindu deities -sex

Hindu deities provide interesting examples of gender transformation and diversity. 
You can find the following in the Hindu scriptures.

Deities that are hermaphrodite (half man, half woman).Deities that manifest in all three genders

Male deities who become female, or female deities who become male

Male deities with female moods, or female deities with male moods

Deities born from two males, or from two females

Deities born from a single male, or from a single female

Deities who avoid the opposite sex and deities with companions of the same gender

Ardhanarisvara is perhaps the most popular and widely known hermaphrodite deity in Hinduism.  Ardhanarisvara is literally split down the middle with one female breast, one male breast.  The male side is represented in masculine features while the female side is voluptuous and slender with one large hip.  The clothing and ornaments on each side of the deity are also usually represented in male and female attire. The fantastic hermaphroditic form of  Ardhanarisvara is a rare type of mosaic intersexuality known as gynandromorphism.

Ayyappa

Ayyappa is born from two male deities—Siva and Vishnu.  The worship of Sri Ayyappa, known as Hariharaputra and Manikantha, is very popular among the third sex, particularly in South India. 

Maharaja Bhagiratha

Maharaja Bhagiratha is known as the son of King Dilipa, but it is the story behind his miraculous birth that is most interesting.  The following narrative is found in both the Padma Purana and the fourteenth-century Krittivasa Ramayana, the most popular Bengali text on the pastimes of Lord Ramacandra:  Maharaja Dilipa was the king of Ayodhya but had no sons.  He left his kingdom to perform severe austerities for the dual purpose of summoning the Ganges and obtaining a son; however, he died accomplishing neither.  The demigods became worried—they had heard that Vishnu would be born in the Sun Dynasty, but how would this be possible if the dynasty’s line came to an end?  Lord Siva therefore went to the two widowed queens of Maharaja Dilipa and blessed them to bear a son.  The queens asked, “How is this possible since we are widows?”  Siva replied, “You two make love together and by my blessings you will bear a beautiful son.” The two wives, with great affection for each other, executed Siva’s order until one of them conceived a child.  “Bhagiratha”—he who was born from two vulvas (bhaga). 

Arjuna and Srikrishna

In a lesser-known narrative from the Padma Purana (5.74.60-198), Arjuna is transformed into a female,  Arjuni is granted permission to sport with Krsna.  seeing Krsna and His beautiful male features, Arjuni becomes wonderstruck and overwhelmed with love, exhibiting all types of ecstatic symptoms and then fainting.  Seeing her overcome with desire, Krsna takes Arjuni’s hand and guides her into His pleasure forest where He sports with her secretly and at will. If you think from the summit of the Hindu dharma, gay sex is not wrong. Opposing gay sex and attacking is not our culture because we have acceptance. Hindu culture has tolerance for gay culture, western culture opposes it.

Gender diversity and sex in Nature

Just as there are many incredible displays of sex and gender variety among Hindu deities, so also nature displays an amazing array of sex and gender diversity within the animal kingdom. Trans sexuals, bisexuals, homosexuals, lesbians.

Creatures such as sow bugs, shrimp and oysters completely reverse their sex at some stage in their lives and such trans sexuality is a routine occurrence for many species.  Tropical coral fish, for instance, are especially well known for their ability to change sex—more than 50 species of parrotfish, groupers, angelfish and others are all transsexual.  Their reproductive organs can undergo a complete reversal, enabling females with fully functioning ovaries to become males with fully functioning testes and vice versa.

Among mammal species, homosexual, bisexual and transgender behavior is even more common and has been documented among small rodents  and mice, rats, bats, squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, hedgehogs, etc. marsupials  like wallabies, kangaroo, koalas, dunnarts, etc.  carnivores (lions, cheetahs, wolves, foxes, bears, hyenas, mongooses, martens, raccoons, etc.,  hoofed mammals  like deer, elk, caribou, moose, giraffes, antelopes, gazelles, pronghorns, wild sheep, goats, buffalo, bison, musk-oxen, zebra, horses, pigs, llamas, elephants, rhinoceros, etc., marine mammals  like river and salt-water dolphins, porpoises, Orcas, whales, seals, sea lions, walruses, manatees, dugongs, etc., and primates  like Bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, Orangutans, gibbons, langurs, Proboscis Monkeys, macaques, baboons, Squirrel Monkeys, capuchins, tamarins, langurs, bushbabies, etc.

Sex in spiritual plane

In all eight of the heavenly varsas [planetary islands], although men and women enjoy sex pleasure, there is no pregnancy. Pregnancy only takes place in lower-grade life. For example, animals like dogs and hogs become pregnant twice a year, and each time they beget at least half a dozen offspring. Even lower species of life such as snakes give birth to hundreds of young at one time. This verse informs us that in grades of life higher than ours, pregnancy occurs once in a lifetime. People still have sex, but there is no pregnancy. In the spiritual world, people are not very attracted to sex life, due to their exalted devotional attitude. Practically speaking, there is no sex life in the spiritual world, but even if sometimes it does occur, there is no pregnancy at all. (Srimad Bhagavatam 5.17.12, purport