In the writings of Hinduism, a lot is said about homosexual behavior and relationships among various representatives of the third sex who are not attracted to the opposite sex due to their homosexual nature, and among heterosexual people from various castes of Hindu society.
Several Hindu texts describe people with a homosexual nature. Three of them stand out - “ Kamasutra ”, “ Narada-smriti ” and “ Sushruta-samhita ”. The Kama Sutra, discussing oral sex between men and describing such practices in detail, uses the term tritya-prakriti ( third sex or third nature), which includes homosexual people (kliba and svayrini) in its category. This scripture divides the klib ( gays ) into two types: men with a feminine appearance and behavior, and men with a masculine appearance: with beards, a mustache, a muscular physique, etc. [1] Jayyamangala [2] equates the term tritya-prakriti to napums (impotent) [3] , and “ Charaka Samhita ” gives eight types of napums, one of which is samskaravahi “excited based on impressions from a past life” [4] . Chakrapani Datta [5] equates samskaravahi with the homosexual klib described by Sushruta [6] . The Narada Smrti, in its list of fourteen different types of panda (men who have no attraction for women), mentions mukhebhaga - "having oral sex with other men", sevyaka - "the one who sexually likes other men" and irshyaka - "watching other men have sex." All three of these types are declared “incurable” and are forbidden to marry women [7] . Sushruta-samhita also leads five types of people who are not attracted to women and are known as kliba : asekya - “swallowing the seed of other men”, saugandhika - “smelling the genitals or pheromones of other men”, kumbhika - “taking a passive role in anal sex” , Irshyaka - "voyeur" and shandha - "having the qualities and behavior of a woman." Sushruta says that the first four types of klib have seed and masculine qualities, while the fifth (shandha) is completely devoid of them. In addition, the first four are excited only in the process of “sucking the genitals of other men and swallowing their seed” [8] .
The Kamasutra further describes svayrini (an independent woman) who engages in active lovemaking with other women [9] . Lesbian women who are either masculine or, for various reasons, not attracted to men, are referred to by the terms nastriya , stripsa , shandhi , etc.
Hinduism honors the two main traditional sexes - male (pumice) and female (stri), but at the same time it recognizes the less common third gender (tritia-prakriti), which is a natural combination of male and female nature ( prakriti ). Many stanzas of Hindu canons confirm that the sex of a living organism is determined during conception. They argue that if male sexual fluids ( sukra ) prevail at the time of conception, the child will be a boy, and if female ( sonitis ), then the child will be a girl. If the number of fluids of both sexes is equal, then either twins a boy and a girl, or a baby of the third sex will be born [10] . Both Sushruta- and Charaka-Samhita confirm this fact, describing that homosexual asekya is conceived when the father’s seed is inadequate, and shandha is conceived when the father and mother change roles during copulation ( purushayita or “woman from above”). A few more similar examples are given when it comes to other types of clip [11] . Both texts claim that all three natures - male, female and third sex, are determined at the time of conception and develop in the uterus before the end of the second month of pregnancy. At the end of this period, the basic sexual nature or prakriti of a living being cannot be changed. For this reason, Narada claims that homosexual mukhebhaga and others are “incurable” [12] .
The ancient Indian or Vedic culture did not punish and did not try to correct homosexuals who were in the category of the third sex, but accepted their nature as it was and included them in society in accordance with their nature. Hindu texts such as Kama Sutra, Mahabharata, Arthashastra and others mention third-floor men working as domestic servants, mediators in cases between men and women, barbers, masseurs, florists and prostitutes [13] . The Kama Sutra also mentions homosexual marriages based on “strong attachment and complete faith in each other” [14] [15] . Lesbians are mentioned as skilled vaishyas (business women), provided with military guards, domestic servants and courtesans [16] . Third-sex citizens were known for their special talents and often served in the homes of wealthy landowners, generals, and rulers.
Although there is no law in the Hindu scriptures that directly punishes homosexual behavior among men and women of the third sex ( napums, clibs , etc.), homosexuality among ordinary, double -born men ( pomps ) and young single women ( kanyas ) is defined as a small violation, to which different types of atonement are prescribed [17] . Homosexual behavior among the Klib, uninitiated men, and also among adult women is not defined as a punishable violation in traditional Hinduism, because such actions were considered quite harmless and were not encouraged only in the brahmin caste, which adhered to higher standards of behavior. Same-sex relationships between twice-born men (dvijs or initiates) are corrected by ritual bathing or paying a small fine [18] . If the violation is not redeemed, this is fraught with exclusion from the caste or loss of status of the twice-born [19] . In Dharmashastra Manu, there are two articles of the law on the molestation of young unmarried girls (from 8 to 12 years old) [20] , but these paragraphs impose punishment for molestation, and not for same-sex relationships on a voluntary basis. In Arthashastra, relatively small fines are imposed as a punishment for homosexual acts committed by double-born (representatives of higher castes) men, or with the participation of young, unmarried girls. Fines for men are about four times higher than fines for women or girls [21] . It is also interesting to note that heterosexual crimes, such as adultery and desecration of women, were punished in the Dharmashastra very severely, usually by corporal punishment or the death penalty. Other topics mentioned in the Dharmashastras regarding people of the third sex include the following: removal from worship of ancestors and offerings ( sraddha ), deprivation of family inheritance (except when these people had offspring), as well as recommendations that such people also like women, the offering of food to the ritual fire must be avoided, and that ritual clerics ( smarta-brahmanas ) should not accept such offerings [22] . Most of these prohibitions are based on the fact that people of the third sex cannot please their ancestors and tribal gods by the birth of offspring and therefore were perceived as hermits. The victims of the fire and other ritual ceremonies are mostly aimed at the household, and not at hermits or people of neutral gender.
Some articles in ancient Hindu legal literature protect homosexuals and other people of the third gender from community violence. For example, the Narada Smriti says that people of the third sex should never be fined, and Arthashastra orders the parents of such people to fully provide them with basic necessities (food, clothing, etc.). In cases where such people do not have relatives, the ruler is responsible for this. Arthashastra also says that denigrating or publicly ridiculing any man or woman of a third gender is a crime and this is punishable by various small fines [23] [24] .
In the Bhagavata Purana it is said that at the beginning of creation, God Brahma created a class of demons from his buttocks, which by force began to covet him [25] . To calm them, Brahma created twilight in the form of a beautiful woman who completely captivated their lustful desires.
In Vedic society for different castes, people were prescribed different standards of behavior, including sexual [26] . For example, a class of priests had to follow high standards of conduct. Merchants and farmers were looked more condescendingly, and ordinary workers and artisans, who made up more than half of the total population, were even more condescending.
Hinduism, the Puritan traditions of British society of the era of colonialism, and Islam, which has been the dominant force in northern India for more than 600 years, from the 11th to the 17th centuries of our era, have influenced the modern attitude of Indians towards homosexuality. In medieval Islam, homosexual behavior was publicly denied, although this did not coincide with the tendency to practice homosexuality in those days. On the contrary, in the days of Islam, homosexuality flourished, although not in the open. In addition, in the era of Islamic rule, the practice of castration of domestic servants and slaves was introduced. During this period, castration of men was very common [27] . And even today, the most famous word for eunuch is hijra, an Arabic term referring to immigrants from South Asia. In traditional Hinduism, feminine men of the third sex ( shandha ) dressed like women and tied their genitals to the groin using kaupin (underwear), but did not apply castration. This traditional system still prevails in southern India. When the British arrived in India, the Muslim practice of castration of men was still very widespread and therefore British scholars mistranslated terms such as klib, shandha, napums, etc., using the simple word “eunuch”. Even now, the terminology related to the third floor in translations from Sanskrit into English usually comes down to the archaic word “eunuch”, although this is erroneous [28] .
There is no written evidence that there was a male castration system in ancient Vedic India [29] . Castration among servants and slaves appeared in northern India in the Middle Ages, along with the arrival of foreign Islamic rulers, somewhere around the 11th and 12th centuries AD [30] . But even then, only homosexual men were subjected to this practice. The English word “eunuch” or “castrated man” is Greek in origin [31] and in the Middle Ages it was widely used in relation to both homosexuals and castrated men. When the term “homosexual” was first introduced when modern psychiatry appeared at the end of the 19th century, British writers continued to refer to the word “eunuch”, which was considered more decent according to Victorian standards. So, this word was used conditionally to describe both homosexuals and castrated men all over the world, starting from Greece, Persia, India, China, Polynesia, etc. In the 19th century, when Great Britain was a large world power subjugating India , homosexuality was considered such a great sin that it was not even mentioned, not to mention any discussions on this topic. The result was the use of vague and inappropriate terms when describing homosexuals such as eunuch, asexual, impotent, asexual, hermaphrodite, etc. While all these different types of people exist to some extent and are included in the category of the third sex, they hardly make up its entire mass [32] . The words used in Sanskrit to refer to gays and lesbians were translated incorrectly in order to circumvent homosexual themes and extend Puritan ethical standards to Vedic literature in which they did not initially exist. There are many examples of this, one of the most common is the Sanskrit word napumsaka (literally “not a man”), which usually refers to a man who is not attracted to women, and therefore does not continue the race. And although technically this could include sick, elderly, or neutered men, in most cases this word refers to gays or homosexual men, which follows from the context and from the behavior of the described characters. Other Sanskrit words for people of the third sex include shandha (a man who acts like a woman), kliba or panda (lack of attraction to women). These terms are used interchangeably because most Sanskrit terms have slightly different meanings. Despite this, they are clearly used in describing homosexuals and other types of third-person people in Vedic texts. It is not true that Sanskrit words such as napumsaka, shandha and klib refer exclusively to castrated men or asexuals, especially since castration was not a systematic practice in ancient India.
Another good example of an inaccurate translation is the Sanskrit word for lesbians or svayrini . Although the literal meaning of the term is “independent woman,” early British scholars everywhere mistranslated it as “spoiled woman” [33] . When Maithunam Pumsey was mentioned, or simply “sexual union between men”, the so-called scholars chose the interpretation “unnatural crime with a man” [34] . Such misinterpretations only created confusion and helped to obscure the confirmation that gays and lesbians were in Vedic literature, and that these people were unambiguously recognized and identified in Kamashastra.
Until recently, homosexuality in India was illegal and was punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years. The British in India punished homosexuality: first by hanging, and then by death, by including it in section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in 1860. They also built educational institutions and colleges throughout the subcontinent that inspired their progressively minded local people with their views on known or suspected "sodomites." The attitude to homosexual behavior in the nineteenth century was, as something “unnatural”, “perverted”, “demonic”, as “mental illness”, “chosen vice”, something “shocking”, as “growing” modern threat, ”and so on. All of these Christian ideas were not backed up by any traditional Hindu dogma or scripture. [35]
The British also criminalized dressing the opposite sex, castration, and collecting alms, as indicated in the Criminal Tributes Act of 1871. This was an attempt to destroy the third- level hijras and sects that were prevalent throughout India. Unfortunately, many of these pernicious misunderstandings and points of view are firmly rooted in the minds of modern Indians.
In the 1990s, LGBTI Indians and Hindus started a public dialogue in Indian society, openly questioning their poor attitude and demanding equal rights and inclusion. Pioneers such as Ashok Row Kawi , founder of India's first gay magazine, Bombay Dost, openly declare their homosexuality and their commitment to Hinduism. Thus began the long process of enlightening the Indians on the topic of their tolerant and noble past in relation to homosexuality and the third sex.
In 1999, the first small gay pride march took place in Calcutta. Soon followed by others, increasing in strength and quantity. In 2001, the Gay and Lesbian Vaishnava Association was founded to provide positive information and support to faithful LGBTI Hindus around the world.
On July 4, 2011, at the AIDS conference in New Delhi, Indian Minister of Health Gulyam Nabi Azad called homosexuality a disease in which “there is absolutely nothing natural” and which is “spreading rapidly” in India. “Despite the fact that homosexuality is unnatural, it exists in our country and spreads rapidly, making it difficult to identify it,” the minister said.
The Delhi Supreme Court repealed Indian laws against homosexuality (Article 377) in 2009, but they were reinstated by the Supreme Court in 2013 at the petition of various anti-homosexual organizations of Christians, Muslims, and even Hindus.
This controversial decision is currently pending upon appeal (curative plea). In 2014, the Supreme Court granted legal recognition and equal constitutional rights to all individuals identified as the “third gender” [36] .
Judges noted the historical traditions of India regarding the respect of such people, and they even questioned the compatibility of their verdict regarding Article 377 and the rights of other sexes and gender minorities such as homosexuals. So, the legal status of LGBTI people in India is under consideration.
On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court of India canceled the scandalous article 377 of the national Criminal Code, punishing for same-sex relationships. Such a decision was unanimously supported by all five jurors [37] .
Notes
- ↑ Kama Sutra 2.9.2: “Those with a feminine appearance show it by their dress, speech, laughter, behavior, gentleness, lack of courage, silliness, patience, and modesty.” Kama Sutra 2.9.6: “Those who like men but dissimulate the fact maintain a manly appearance and earn their living as barbers and masseurs.»
- ↑ Комментарии к Кама Сутре, 12 век нашей эры.
- ↑ «The third sex is also termed napumsaka .» ( The Complete Kama Sutra by Alain Danielou; Jayamangala commentary by Yashodhara, p. 183)
- ↑ Чарака-самхита ( Caraka Samhita) 4.2.17-21 главу под названием «Эмбриологическое развитие» («Embryological Development.»).
- ↑ Известный комментатор Чарака-самхиты одиннадцатого века нашей эры, автор трактата «Аюрведа-дипика»
- ↑ Чарака-самхита , 3 том, Критические заметки, стр. 358. ( Caraka Samhita by PV Sharma, Volume III, Critical Notes, p. 358.)
- ↑ Нарада-смрити 12.15: «Эти четверо — иршьяка, севьяка, ватарета и мукхебхага - должны быть полностью отвергнуты, как непригодные к браку, даже к браку с женой, которая уже не девственница.» («These four— irshyaka , sevyaka , vataretas , and mukhebhaga —are to be completely rejected as unqualified for marriage, even by a wife who is no longer a virgin.»). Слово ватарета относится к мужчинам, у которых не происходит эякуляции
- ↑ Сушрута-самхита 3.2.38-45 главу под названием «Очищение мужских и женских репродуктивных жидкостей.» («The Purification of the Male and Female Reproductive Fluids.»).
- ↑ Камасутра 2.8, главу под названием «Мужеподобное поведение женщин» ( Kama Sutra 2.8, in the chapter entitled «Virile Behavior in Women.»).
- ↑ В качестве одного примера: Ману-смрити ( Manu Samhita ) 3.49 указывает: «A male child is produced by a greater quantity of male seed, a female child by the prevalence of the female; if both are equal, a third-sex child ( napumsa ) or boy and girl twins are produced; if either are weak or deficient in quantity, a failure of conception results.» См. также Сушрута-самхита 3.3.4. (Sushruta Samhita ).
- ↑ Sushruta Samhita 3.2.38: «If the parents have exceedingly little generative fluids, their male offspring will be an asekya who will undoubtedly become aroused only by swallowing a man's semen.» Sushruta Samhita 3.2.42-43: «If, due to illusion, a man engages with his wife during her fertile period as if he were a woman, then a shandha will be born who behaves like a woman. Conversely, if the woman engages in sex like a man during her fertile period, then, should a girl be born, that girl will behave like a man.»
- ↑ Caraka Samhita 4.4.10 и 4.8.19
- ↑ Kama Sutra 2.9; Mahabharata (Virata Parva), и Artha-sastra 1.21.1, 1.20.21 и 1.12.21
- ↑ Great attachment and complete faith in one another
- ↑ Kama Sutra 2.9.36: «There are also third-sex citizens, sometimes greatly attached to each other and with complete faith in one another, who get married together.»
- ↑ Разные профессии лесбиянок особенно отмечаются в Кама Сутре .
- ↑ Дваждырожденному мужчине, вступающему в сношение с мужчиной, или женщиной в телеге запряженной волами, в воде или в дневное время, должно омыться одетым в свои одежды. ( Ману-смрити 11.175) A twice-born man who engages in intercourse with a male, or with a female in a cart drawn by oxen, in water, or in the daytime, shall bathe, dressed in his clothes.( Manusmriti 11.175)
- ↑ Ману-смрити 8.370 и Артхашастра 4.12.20-21
- ↑ Ману-смрити 11.68 и 11.175; Артхашастра 4.13.40
- ↑ Дхармашастра Ману VIII 369. Для девушки, которая растлит другую девушку, полагается штраф в двести [пан], пусть она уплатит двойное брачное вознаграждение, а также пусть получит десять розог. Дхармашастра Ману VIII 370. А женщина, которая растлит девушку, заслуживает немедленного обрития головы, отрезания двух пальцев, а также того, чтобы её провезли на осле.
- ↑ Arvind Sharma, Homosexuality and Hinduism , p. 58
- ↑ G. Buhler, trans., The Laws of Manu ( Manusmriti 3.150, 9.201 and 203, 4.205 and 206) respectively
- ↑ Нарада-смрити 15.15
- ↑ Артхашастра 3.5.32 и 3.18.4-5
- ↑ His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 3.20.18-37
- ↑ Это можно найти в Дхармашастрах — Ману-смрити, и т. д.
- ↑ Рабство и кастрация мужчин во времена исламского правления в Индии достигла своего пика примерно в XIV веке нашей эры. Известно, что в это время делийский султан Фируз-шах Туглак имел более 180,000 рабов, многие из которых были кастрированными евнухами. Смотреть Same-Sex Love in India by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, p. 109.
- ↑ В своей статье Homosexuality and Hinduism, Arvind Sharma выражает свои сомнения по поводу определения этого слова: «Ограниченное применение кастрации в Индии поднимает другой вопрос, важный для последующей дискуссии, а именно: является ли всегда правильным переводить слово клиба как „евнух“.» В своем английском переводе Нарада-смрити Richard W. Lariviere пишет: "В переводе термина пандака я использую слово «импотент», а не противоречивое «евнух». Евнуха можно было бы легко определить при простом физическом осмотре. Данный термин должен истолковываться, как «мужчина, который не может оплодотворить женщину.»
- ↑ Arvind Sharma, Homosexuality and Hinduism , p. 48. «The limited practice of castration in India raises another point significant for the rest of the discussion, namely, whether rendering a word such as kliba as eunuch regularly is correct…»
- ↑ Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai, Same-Sex Love in India , p. 109.
- ↑ Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language , p. 211. [<Gr. “ eune ,” bed + “ echein ,” have]
- ↑ See Part 2, Chapter 9 of The Complete Kama Sutra by Alain Danielou.
- ↑ Alain Danielou, The Complete Kama Sutra , p. 6.
- ↑ Arvind Sharma, Homosexuality and Hinduism , p. 51.
- ↑ Несколько прекрасных примеров негативного, связанного с колониальной эрой отношения к гомосексуальности в Индии можно найти в книге Same-Sex Love in India by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai. Особенно в главах «The Kamasutra in the Twentieth Century» и «Hakim Muhammad Yusuf Hasan: Do Shiza (Urdu).»
- ↑ До сегодняшнего дня в индийских законах нет другого юридического определения для «третьего пола» кроме как — личность человека как таковая. В двадцатом веке основная масса индийцев воспринимала людей третьего пола, как кастрированных евнухов или гермафродитов (интерсексуалов), а сейчас их, как правило, определяют, как трансгендеров. Гомосексуалистов в большинстве случаев воспринимают, как психически больных мужчин и женщин, а не как часть третьего гендера. Однако, согласно индусскому писанию, все половые и гендерные меньшинства (ЛГБТИ) включены и защищены под знаменем третьего гендера.
- ↑ Верховный суд Индии узаконил однополые связи . BBC News .