"Definition: florid; ornate; elaborately styled."
This post is dedicated to my best friend. And cherry.
So I was at a discussion on Friday about "bridging the gap" between the Asian American community & the LBGT community. It was an open forum; therefore, people were able to bring up anything and ask anything. The discussion was going really well, since some students had a lot to say. An hour into the discussion, a boy raised his hand and said, "I'm bringing up the R world...religion". Further into the conversation, the facilitator asked Hindus, Muslims, etc. to speak up because no one had said anything.
After one girl spoke her mind, another boy gave his input. First, he talked about the "drag queens" in India. After that, he discussed the Bhavagad Gita. Although this is not strictly a Hindu scripture, many Hindus read it on a daily basis and implement the qualities that are described in it. He then went on to say that one of the characters in the Gita was "overly flamboyant", implying that he was homosexual or something similar.
I was so shocked. I have read through the Gita so many times. I have heard so many stories from the Mahabharat. I thought I knew it all...and now he was stating that there was a homosexual character in it? Please don't think I was upset or anything, I was just shocked that I overlooked such a character! But then he went on to discuss how Indians today rarely mention his characteristics because they don't necessarily approve of such things, especially not in such sacred scriptures. It just proves that they aren't as open to everything as we'd like them to be. But back to Shikhandy...
Let me tell you about his character. In his previous life, Shikhandy was Amba, and she fell in love with Bhishma. He refused to marry her because he had vowed only to follow his duties; therefore, she ended up getting married to someone else in his family. She cursed Bhishma, saying that she would be the cause of his death. Because she was married to someone in his family, she wasn't able to kill Bhishma. She was then re-born as Shikhandy, who fought on the battlefield of Kurukshetra with Arjun and the Pandavas. It is never very clear whether Shikhandy was a male or a female, because his Father raised him as a male even though he was apparently a girl (like I said, unclear). Bhishma (who was still alive because he had a boon that allowed him to choose when he would die) was so intellectual; therefore, he knew that Shikhandy was really Amba when he saw him/her on the field of Kurukshetra. When Shikhandy was standing in front of Bhishma, Bhishma knew that he couldn't raise his weapons against him/her; therefore, he let himself get shot with arrows.
So what is Shikhandy? A male? A female? What characteristics does he have that makes him/her potentially a homosexual? Or even a topic of interest in the LGBT community?
More importantly, what does this say about Indians? It is stated that Shikhandy was carefully placed in the Mahabharat, exactly in the middle of the 18 chapters of the Gita because the author wanted it to be clear that he was "neither here, nor there", meaning that he was neither female nor male. So what was he?
I'm not sure, I'm still looking into it. I'm still shocked that this has always been an issue and I just found out! I know that my best friend will be researching this...she's so pissed about it, hah. Maybe after her exams. :)
So long <3
This post is dedicated to my best friend. And cherry.
So I was at a discussion on Friday about "bridging the gap" between the Asian American community & the LBGT community. It was an open forum; therefore, people were able to bring up anything and ask anything. The discussion was going really well, since some students had a lot to say. An hour into the discussion, a boy raised his hand and said, "I'm bringing up the R world...religion". Further into the conversation, the facilitator asked Hindus, Muslims, etc. to speak up because no one had said anything.
After one girl spoke her mind, another boy gave his input. First, he talked about the "drag queens" in India. After that, he discussed the Bhavagad Gita. Although this is not strictly a Hindu scripture, many Hindus read it on a daily basis and implement the qualities that are described in it. He then went on to say that one of the characters in the Gita was "overly flamboyant", implying that he was homosexual or something similar.
I was so shocked. I have read through the Gita so many times. I have heard so many stories from the Mahabharat. I thought I knew it all...and now he was stating that there was a homosexual character in it? Please don't think I was upset or anything, I was just shocked that I overlooked such a character! But then he went on to discuss how Indians today rarely mention his characteristics because they don't necessarily approve of such things, especially not in such sacred scriptures. It just proves that they aren't as open to everything as we'd like them to be. But back to Shikhandy...
Let me tell you about his character. In his previous life, Shikhandy was Amba, and she fell in love with Bhishma. He refused to marry her because he had vowed only to follow his duties; therefore, she ended up getting married to someone else in his family. She cursed Bhishma, saying that she would be the cause of his death. Because she was married to someone in his family, she wasn't able to kill Bhishma. She was then re-born as Shikhandy, who fought on the battlefield of Kurukshetra with Arjun and the Pandavas. It is never very clear whether Shikhandy was a male or a female, because his Father raised him as a male even though he was apparently a girl (like I said, unclear). Bhishma (who was still alive because he had a boon that allowed him to choose when he would die) was so intellectual; therefore, he knew that Shikhandy was really Amba when he saw him/her on the field of Kurukshetra. When Shikhandy was standing in front of Bhishma, Bhishma knew that he couldn't raise his weapons against him/her; therefore, he let himself get shot with arrows.
So what is Shikhandy? A male? A female? What characteristics does he have that makes him/her potentially a homosexual? Or even a topic of interest in the LGBT community?
More importantly, what does this say about Indians? It is stated that Shikhandy was carefully placed in the Mahabharat, exactly in the middle of the 18 chapters of the Gita because the author wanted it to be clear that he was "neither here, nor there", meaning that he was neither female nor male. So what was he?
I'm not sure, I'm still looking into it. I'm still shocked that this has always been an issue and I just found out! I know that my best friend will be researching this...she's so pissed about it, hah. Maybe after her exams. :)
So long <3
So..where does Hinduism stand on the LGBT issues? I know I have never heard the completely detailed story of Shikhandy. So, I was shocked to read this. I really wonder if Hinduism is accepting of all. Being a hindu, I know such issues are very sensitive and I can rarely speak to my parents about them. But, it is also said that Hinduism is a way of life and that it applicable to not only hindus but all of humanity..what do you think?
ReplyDeleteYou know, I guess you're right. I also have never heard the complete story of Shikhandy. He's always quickly mentioned, but then that's it. I'm still in the middle of researching, but here's an easy-to-read link I found that you might find interesting. If you are skimming it, be sure to read the 14th paragraph! http://www.gaybombay.org/index.php/2009/07/on-krishna’s-chariot-stands-shikhandi/
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to specifically say where Hinduism stands on the issue, because like you said, it's considered a way of life. No one is willing to say something on behalf of Hinduism and the God that they believe in.
cherry <3
ReplyDelete