The notion that the soul is beyond gender would be consistent in philosophi-
cal discourses within the Hindu traditions. The Bhagavad Gı ̄ta ̄, one of the
important texts of the philosophical traditions, has many detailed discussions on
the soul (translated as “self ” in many editions).
It cannot be cut, it cannot be burnt, cannot be made wet, cannot be dried. It is
eternal, present everywhere, fixed, free from movement, and perennial. (Bhagavad
Gı ̄ta ̄ 2–24)In these and many other verses in the second chapter, the status of the soul is
discussed. It is interesting that while in this translation and some others trans-
lated by Indians (Radhakrishnan is a major exception) the soul is translated as
“it,” most western translators automatically refer to the soul in the masculine
pronoun. The point made in the Bhagavad Gı ̄ta ̄ is that the body is transient and
the soul is definitely beyond the reach of material change and modification.
Just as there are for the embodied soul childhood, youth and senility in the body,
similarly there is also the attainment of another body (after death). (Bhagavad Gı ̄ta ̄
2:13)Here, the various changes one associates with the body are projected onto the
many bodies the soul takes in the course of its reincarnations. The soul itself is
not affected by these changes. This notion is picked up by many theologians,
including Ra ̄ma ̄nuja in the eleventh century. Commenting on the verse quoted
above, he says, “The eternal souls, on account of their being subject to begin-
ningless karma, become endowed with bodies suitable to their respective
karmas” (Sampatkumaran 1969: 26). Passing over the notion of “beginning-
less” karma, what is of interest to us here is the concept that the souls simply
take on bodies which are most suitable to them at that point. Gender certainly
seems to figure in this list that is here today, gone tomorrow, in the next life.
Ra ̄ma ̄nuja elucidates on the fact that the soul is different from all material influ-
ences, like that of the body. Commenting on Bhagavad Gı ̄ta ̄ 2:20 and 25,
Ra ̄ma ̄nuja says of the soul:
It is (now) pointed out that, as the self is eternal for the reasons mentioned, and
hence free from evolutionary changes, all the attributes of the insentient (body)
like birth, death, etc., do not exist (for it)... [B]irth and death which are being
experienced by all in all bodies do not ever touch the soul.
As it is different in kind from all material objects, it cannot be thought of as
possessing the essential quality of any of them. Hence it is immodifiable, absolutely
incapable of modifications. (Ra ̄ma ̄nuja’s comment on Bhagavad Gı ̄ta ̄ 2:20 and 24;
Sampatkumaran 1969, 34 and 37)The philosophical traditions preserve the soul’s existence in a place beyond the
issues of all physical constructs including gender. So, while the devotional
milieux of Brindavan or S ́rı ̄ran.gam may demand that the human devotee is a
582 vasudha narayanan