#Mahabharata

[h0bg0blin-meat]

Okay. So I've already talked about Krishna-Arjun and Athena-Odysseus parallels in very brief.

They both have a mentor God x mortal disciple/best friend relationship (KrishnArjun be a little more *cough* intimate *cough* perhaps) and both Krishna and Athena guide their mortal besties through the war and life in general. Beautiful.

BUT. There is this one similarity YET a difference between these two pairs that I've been dying to talk about, and that is Arjun dreading the Kurukshetra war and Odysseus thinking of whether to kill Polyphemus or not.

You know where I'm going with this.

In both the instances we can see Krishna and Athena scolding them for being a coward, for being indecisive and having second thoughts about such an grave moment of their lives as this. We can clearly see the frustration in both the Gods over the hesitance of their mortal besties.

But here's where the difference comes into play. While Krishna's reprimands on Arjun finally worked after the entire recitation of the Gita and then showing his Vishwaroop, and the archer boih finally proceeded with the war,...... Odysseus didn't listen to Athena, and didn't kill Polyphemus, despite her reprimands, which then, as we know, led to their breakup. THEN Odysseus's act of not killing the cyclops was brought up by Poseidon, about how his mercifulness will one day lead to his doom, and that sometimes, killing is way better than forgiving.

Just thought it was an interesting parallel yet a distinction between these two duos.

PS: I forgot to add this for disclaimer but I am aware that Athena-Odysseus parting ways is only in the Epic musical, and not in the actual epics.

#also note that i have in no way put any of my own opinions about these events here #i'm just going with the opinions of the respective gods #mythology talk #mythology #hindu mythology #hindu myths #the mahabharata #mahabharata #hindu gods #krishna #lord krishna #hindublr #desiblr #desi tumblr #krishna x arjun #desi tag #desiposting #the odyssey #homer's odyssey #odysseus #greek mythology #greek gods #greek goddesses #greek goddess #athena #athena goddess of wisdom #athena greek mythology #krishnablr #hinduism #polyphemus

[peoplegettingreallymadatghosts]

#4chan #paranormal #reality shifting #hinduism #mahabharata #religion #india #argentina

[rrcraft-and-lore]

In addition to my Monkey Man post from earlier, the always kind & sweet Aparna Verma (author of The Phoenix King, check it out) asked that I do a thread on Hijras, & more of the history around them, South Asia, mythology (because that's my thing), & the positive inclusion of them in Monkey Man which I brought up in my gushing review.

Hijra: They are the transgender, eunuch, or intersex people in India who are officially recognized as the third sex throughout most countries in the Indian subcontinent. The trans community and history in India goes back a long way as being documented and officially recognized - far back as 12th century under the Delhi Sultanate in government records, and further back in our stories in Hinduism. The word itself is a Hindi word that's been roughly translated into English as "eunuch" commonly but it's not exactly accurate.

Hijras have been considered the third sex back in our ancient stories, and by 2014 got official recognition to identify as the third gender (neither male or female) legally. Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and India have accepted: eunuch, trans, intersex people & granted them the proper identification options on passports and other government official documents.

But let's get into some of the history surrounding the Hijra community (which for the longest time has been nomadic, and a part of India's long, rich, and sometimes, sadly, troubled history of nomadic tribes/people who have suffered a lot over the ages. Hijras and intersex people are mentioned as far back as in the Kama Sutra, as well as in the early writings of Manu Smriti in the 1st century CE (Common Era), specifically said that a third sex can exist if possessing equal male and female seed.

This concept of balancing male/female energies, seed, and halves is seen in two places in South Asian mythos/culture and connected to the Hijra history.

First, we have Aravan/Iravan (romanized) - who is also the patron deity of the transgender community. He is most commonly seen as a minor/village deity and is depicted in the Indian epic Mahabharata. Aravan is portrayed as having a heroic in the story and his self-sacrifice to the goddess Kali earns him a boon.

He requests to be married before his death. But because he is doomed to die so shortly after marriage, no one wants to marry him.

No one except Krishna, who adopts his female form Mohini (one of the legendary temptresses in mythology I've written about before) and marries him. It is through this union of male, and male presenting as female in the female form of Mohini that the seed of the Hijras is said to begun, and why the transgender community often worships Aravan and, another name for the community is Aravani - of/from Aravan.

But that's not the only place where a gender non conforming divine representation can be seen. Ardhanarishvara is the half female form of lord Shiva, the destroyer god.

Shiva combines with his consort Parvarti and creates a form that represents the balancing/union between male/female energies and physically as a perfectly split down the middle half-male half-female being. This duality in nature has long been part of South Asian culture, spiritual and philosophical beliefs, and it must be noted the sexuality/gender has often been displayed as fluid in South Asian epics and the stories. It's nothing new.

Many celestial or cosmic level beings have expressed this, and defied modern western limiting beliefs on the ideas of these themes/possibilities/forms of existence.

Ardhanarishvara signifies "totality that lies beyond duality", "bi-unity of male and female in God" and "the bisexuality and therefore the non-duality" of the Supreme Being.

Back to the Hijra community.

They have a complex and long history. Throughout time, and as commented on in the movie, Monkey Man, the Hijra community has faced ostracization, but also been incorporated into mainstream society there. During the time of the Dehli Sultanate and then later the Mughal Empire, Hijras actually served in the military and as military commanders in some records, they were also servants for wealthy households, manual laborers, political guardians, and it was seen as wise to put women under the protection of Hijras -- they often specifically served as the bodyguards and overseers of harems. A princess might be appointed a Hijra warrior to guard her.

But by the time of British colonialism, anti-Hijra laws began to come in place folded into laws against the many nomadic tribes of India (also shown in part in Monkey Man with Kid (portrayed by Dev Patel) and his family, who are possibly

one of those nomadic tribes that participated in early theater - sadly by caste often treated horribly and relegated to only the performing arts to make money (this is a guess based on the village play they were performing as no other details were given about his family).

Hijras were criminalized in 1861 by the Indian Penal Code enforced by the British and were labeled specifically as "The Hijra Problem" -- leading to an anti-Hijra campaign across the subcontinent with following laws being enacted: punishing the practices of the Hijra community, and outlawing castration (something many Hijra did to themselves). Though, it should be noted many of the laws were rarely enforced by local Indian officials/officers. But, the British made a point to further the laws against them by later adding the Criminal Tribes Act in 1871, which targeted the Hijra community along with the other nomadic Indian tribes - it subjected them to registration, tracking/monitoring, stripping them of children, and their ability to sequester themselves in their nomadic lifestyle away from the British Colonial Rule.

Today, things have changed and Hijras are being seen once again in a more positive light (though not always and this is something Monkey Man balances by what's happened to the community in a few scenes, and the heroic return/scene with Dev and his warriors). All-hijra communities exist and sort of mirror the western concept of "found families" where they are safe haven/welcoming place trans folks and those identifying as intersex.

These communities also have their own secret language known as Hijra Farsi, which is loosely based on Hindi, but consists of a unique vocabulary of at least 1,000 words.

As noted above, in 2014, the trans community received more legal rights.

Specifically: In April 2014, Justice K. S. Radhakrishnan declared transgender to be the third gender in Indian law in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India.

Hijras, Eunuchs, apart from binary gender, be treated as "third gender" for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of our Constitution and the laws made by the Parliament and the State Legislature. Transgender persons' right to decide their self-identified gender is also upheld and the Centre and State Governments are directed to grant legal recognition of their gender identity such as male, female or as third gender.

I've included some screenshots of (some, not all, and certainly not the only/definitive reads) books people can check out about SOME of the history. Not all again. This goes back ages and even our celestial beings/creatures have/do display gender non conforming ways.

There are also films that touch on Hijra history and life. But in regards to Monkey Man, which is what started this thread particularly and being asked to comment - it is a film that positively portrayed India's third sex and normalized it in its depiction. Kid the protagonist encounters a found family of Hijras at one point in the story (no spoilers for plot) and his interactions/acceptance, living with them is just normal. There's no explaining, justifying, anything to/for the audience. It simply is. And, it's a beautiful arc of the story of Kid finding himself in their care/company.

#hijra #trans representation #monkey man #dev patel #transgender #trans rights #trans rights are human rights #third sex #indian history #indian culture #colonialism #imperialism #south Asian mythos #South Asian myths #Aravan #Iravan #Mahabharata #hindu mythology #hindu gods #kali goddess #krishna #hindu mythology art #Ardhanarishvara #Shiva #Parvarti #sexuality #gender fluid #fluid sexuality #trans community #transgender rights

[thathinduthings]

PLEASE HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR OUR RELIGIOUS TEXTS.

They’re not mere pieces of literature for you to write whatever you want about them without understanding it properly. To us, they are holy texts connected deeply to our culture and history.

PLEASE DO NOT MOCK OUR GODS.

PLEASE DO NOT DENY OUR HISTORY.

PLEASE DO NOT INTERPOLATE OUR VEDAS.

They are sacred to us.

#hindutva #hindu history #hindu genocide #hindu lives matter #hindublr #hindu #hinduism #ramayana #bharat #mahabharata #hinduphobia

[stardustkrishnaverse]

krishna: MORE PASSION MORE PASSION MORE ENERGY MORE ENERGY MORE FOOTWORK MORE FOOTWORK

arjun: 🥹🙏

#krishna #incorrect mahabharat quotes #mahabharat memes #krishna meme #krishnablr #gopiblr #help #hindu memes #mahabharata #listen ik im not funng #vedis one braincell memes

[latent-thoughts]

Shree Vasudev Krishna

[Art by Pradeep Sethi]

#Krishna #Vasudev Krishna #Kanha #kanhaiya #kanhaji #hindublr #desiblr #hinduism #sanatandharma #mahabharata #Mahabharat #desi tag

[thesarosperiod]

epic poem smackdown! tell me which epic is your favorite (and why! if you feel so inclined). apologies in advance to everyone whose favorite i left off but unfortunately tumblr is stifling my power with this ten option limit

#also if you pick homer tell me which one in the tags! #i didn't feel justified giving him two spots lmao #but i know people have strong iliad vs. odyssey feelings #have not read all of these btw but god i want to #tagamemnon #the iliad #the odyssey #the epic of gilgamesh #beowulf #tain bo cuailnge #the aeneid #mahabharata #ramayana #shahnameh #the divine comedy #classics #epic poetry

[stxrrynxghts]

Arjun: you call yourself soul mate, but where were you when my meme had only 4 likes?

Krishna: making four accounts, bro

Arjun, tearing up: bro-

#mahabharat #mahabharata #hindu mythology #arjun #krishna #incorrect mahabharat quotes #saw this on the net somewhere #thought that krishna arjun will look good in this one #i have said before am saying again #not all of these memes are originals #some i just recycled from the net #some are from a quotes generator #but some are made by me #so dont wanna be accused of plagiarizm #thanks for coming to my ted talk

[orgasming-caterpillar]

Mahabharat characaters on Social Media: pt. 1

Yudhisthir

Mostly reblogs "Am I The Asshole?" polls and somehow each with a detailed and insightfully correct answer. Most people just look for his reblog and then vote whatever answer he's deemed right. That's how he earned the nickname "Dharmaraja"

Always explains stuff to the asks he gets and does it very politely so. You could ask him about anything and as long as he knows about it, he'll tell you about it.

Women respector since before 5000BC.

Never annoyed by hate comments on himself. Calls the fuck out of them if they disrespect his brothers.

Bheem

Posts photos of foods he likes.

Always posts about what he's cooking.

Gives gym tips to beginners.

Probably has "never stop bulking 💪" in his bio

Definitely makes it his own duty to teach his mutuals how to cook.

Arjun

Crazy good archery skills. Knows it. Shows them off.

(most people just look at his arm muscles flexing though)

Arjun: Madhav! Look at how famous this post about my archery is getting. I don't understand though. All I did was hit a bull's eye.

Krishna, looking at Arjun in that video being completely shirtless and slicked with sweat, brown skin glowing under the sun: *sweats*

Doesn't understand the thirst comments. ("Madhav what does railing mean and why does this person want me to do it to them?" "Uhm, it means they want you to "train" them haha. It's a slang. Haha." "*Replies to comment* sure I'd love to rail you")

Nakul

Sexy and he knows it.

Thirst traps.

Actually works very hard and always helps people, but he's such a troll that people just think he's a unemployed gymrat pretty boy until he attends some big event and people are like "YOU HAVE A JOB??????"

Loves his fans (I just know he'll heart each and every thirst comment go argue with a wall)

Always tagging his twin in the most random posts (most of them are jumpscares)

Sahdev

Does not want to be here

Always duets the videos nakul sends him and screams at the jumpscares ("I do not like this TRICKERY!" "The ball hit the camera Sahdev it wasn't gonna jump out the phone and hit you in the face" "I am BLOCKING YOU")

The fans love his reactions. He doesn't know, he never checks the comments.

Gives in after some time and creates a no-bullshit self help account to help people manage their life and work more efficiently

Krishn

The definition of Hot Mess™

On every platform he's on, which is every platform that exists, this man is Chaos. One post will be "My wife is so beautiful" and then "I miss Arjun" and then "here's three legal ways to loophole out of a lawsuit" and then a motivation post and then a video of a cute baby cow he saw on the sidewalk.

Pranks the fuck out of everyone and everything (his favourite victim is arjun)

Professional roaster. Has online beef with Shakuni. Insults in the most insufferable way possible you canNOT find a way to insult back it's so annoying cuz then he's like 😇🦚

Cute couple reels with Rukmini

#pt 2 on the way stay tuned #mahabharat #mahabharata #star plus mahabharat #starbharat #krishna x arjun #krishna x rukmini #mahabharat memes #incorrect mahabharat quotes #mahabharat nakul #nakula #arjuna #sahdeva #yudhisthir #bheem #mahabharat bheem #hindu mythology memes #hindu memes

[hindulivesmatter]

Arjun and Krishna

#desiblr #hindublr #hinduism #hindu art #hindu mythology #indian #krishna #art #mahabharat #arjun #mahabharata

[h0bg0blin-meat]

Arjun: *clenching his fists* Fight me!

Krishna, standing behind him, sudarshan chakra in hand: *mouthes* Do not.

#ik Krisn would have prolly let the person fight Arjun #cuz Krishna knows Arjun can take him easily #but hey its just my hc #I also wanted to symbolize how Krishna as a god is always there to protect the humans (arjun #ANYWHO #mythology memes #incorrect quotes #incorrect mythology #incorrect mythology quotes #hindu mythology #desiblr #hindublr #krishnablr #krishna #krishna x arjun #lord krishna #arjuna #incorrect mahabharat quotes #mahabharat #mahabharata #the mahabharata #hinduism

[fanfictionroxs]

Bigots think denying trans people the right to be in sports is a groundbreaking new idea.

Meanwhile 5000 years ago, the peeps in Mahabharat be like: SHIKHANDI CANT PLAY WITH US BECAUSE HE IS ACTUALLY A GIRL AND GIRLS DONT GO TO WAR WAAAHHHHH!

And then Shikhandi killed his enemy with the help of literal GOD and became a hero because the real villains all along were transphobia and misogyny.

#trans rights #mahabharat #mahabharata #shikhandi #trangender #lgbtq+ #desi tumblr #desiblr #indian mythology

[incorrectmahabharatquotes]

Duryodhan: You know, sometimes it's just nice to be wanted.

Karna: Not by the LAW!

#incorrect quotes #incorrect mahabharat quotes #hindu mythology #hindu memes #Mahabharata #Mahabharat #duryodhan #duryodhana #karna #I'm tired #mod s is always tired #mod:s

[hum-suffer]

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. Red and gold and orange, he often said they looked more like sunset than fire that poets called them.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. They grew in Dwarka by bunches. Against the green and brown of trees, they looked like waterfalls of the furnace, he said.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. He had planted his first plant of palash in the palace of Dwarka, he had watered it everyday after his sword practice.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. He fought ferociously against his grandfather, Vasudev, when he wanted to tear down his palash tree for the renovation of the palace.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. He hid in the branches of his palash tree when he ran from his mother. He stepped on his uncle, Krishna, and reached those heights with loud laughs. He watched his mother run around the tree as he hid.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. He wrapped them in leaves and took them to his father every time he was allowed to visit him. Arjun wore them in his hair proudly, said the flowers matched his ascetic clothes.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. When he was married, everyone who had seen him grow threw palash flowers on his head. He laughed when his aunt Revati claimed she specially ordered the flowers from Vidharbh for him, he knew she could possibly do it just for the ostentatious idea.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. Uttara wore the same colour as them the next day of their marriage. His aunt Rukmini and Elder mother Draupadi teased him red for it.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers. His uncle Balram gave him a new bow for the upcoming war. It had palash flowers carved at all seven joints.

Abhimanyu loved palash flowers.

His pyre burnt the same colour as them.

#yes i made myself sad #desiblr #suffer ye suhana nahi #thoughts #hindublr #desi stuff #mahabharata #arjun #abhimanyu #subhadra #draupadi #krishna #balram #dwarka

[giucomix]

THE hindu epics transmasc representation

"Arjuna. Listen to me carefully. This plan will only work if you support trans rights."

#giucomix reading #mahabharata #jaya #arjuna #krishna #spam queue #to be fair neither of them is cis #3 trans people exploiting a guy's transphobia to kill him

[pikachustrut]

Made this a couple weeks back. What better day to post than today? Happy govardhan folks!

#krishna #art #hinduism #mahabharata #desi #desiblr #govardhan