Homoeroticism in Hinduism

Abstract

Homoeroticism is represented in Hindu texts from the epic period (c. 500 bce–200 ce) onward. Same-sex relations are explicitly depicted in temple sculptures in the first millennium ce and discussed in legal, medical, and erotic treatises from the 1st century bce onward, in tones varying from somewhat disapproving and dispassionate to humorous and pragmatic. More frequently, close same-sex friendships that last a lifetime and that rival cross-sex relationships in intensity and intimacy are celebrated in the same type of language that appears in contexts of cross-sex romance. Same-sex relations are sometimes depicted as running parallel to cross-sex relations in the life of an individual; at other times, they are subordinated to the latter. In the Sanskrit epics, the Purāṇas and story cycles, miraculous sex-change becomes one of the ways that same-sex desire is expressed and absorbed into the institution of marriage. The story cycles of the gods and goddesses depict them as able to manifest in male as well as female forms and also as simultaneously male and female. One of Śiva’s forms is Ardhanārīswara, the god who is half woman. This can be read as emblematic of his inseparability from his wife Pārvatī, but can also be read as expressive of the inherent bisexuality of all beings. Bhakti or devotional poetry, lyric, epic, and hagiographic, deals largely in bridal mysticism. In one unique set of Bengal versions of the Rāmāyaṇa, two women are depicted having divinely planned and blessed sexual relations that result in the birth of a heroic child. In sum, Hindu written texts and art up to the colonial period depict and discuss same-sex relations without euphemism or virulence. After British rulers passed the antisodomy law, many educated Indian social reformers and nationalists began to express a new aversion to elements of their heritage, including polytheism, polygamy, and sex outside marriage, including same-sex relations. For the first time, it became unacceptable to write about same-sex relations in polite literature. This continued through the first half of the 20th century. Some Hindu gurus continued to express tolerance and several Hindu priests from the 1980s onward are recorded as performing same-sex marriages in various parts of the country. Hindu gurus today take a variety of positions on the subject, as do Hindu political leaders and organizations.