How Vedic Texts Have Represented the LGBTQ+ Community

A number of ancient texts originating in India such as the Kama Sutra, Ramayana, and Mahabharata have portrayed homosexualism as a natural & ecstatic experience. There are stories of numerous deities that are shown to be gender-fluid and falling into the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Same-sex relations and gender variances have been represented within ancient rituals, texts, religious or narrative mythologies, paintings, and sculptures.

“Tritiya Prakriti”

Throughout Vedic literature, the sex or gender of the human being is clearly divided into three seperae caegories according to prakriti or nature. These are: pums-prakriti or male, stri-prakriti or female, and tririya-prakriti or the third sex.

The term tritiya prakriti indicates that gendered distinctions should not be based on biology or genitalia, but rather on psychology.

Kama Sutra

“Codes of Sexual Pleasure”

The Kama Sutra, a Vedic text detailing the pleasures of sexuality, states that same-sex experience is “to be engaged in and enjoyed for its own sake as one of the arts.”

The Ardhanarishvara “The Half-female Lord”

The Half-female Lord” is a for m of deity Shiva combined with his consort Parvati. Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half-male and half-female, equally split down the middle.

Deities that Defied the Gender Binary:

Ardhanarishvara

Vishnu/Mohini

Shikhandi

Bahuchara Mata

Agni

Mitra and Varuna

Ila

Bhagavati-devi

Radha Krishna

Khajuraho Temple

The sculptures in the Khajuraho temple of Madhya Pradesh are well-known for showcasing the existence of intimacy between members of the same sex. The temple is believed to have been built sometime around the 12th century.

🌈There are a multiplicity of binary and cis-heterosexual references in yoga that are popularized. For example , every male god like Shiva, has his female consort, Parvati. However, not commonly shared is that these same yogic philosophies have also historically represented a larger spectrum of gender variants, in addition to binary examples.

We offer this post as an invitation to observe and celebrate other reflections within our human family, whom are depicted in the same texts that informed the beginnings of our beloved yoga practice. 🌈