Change of Gender

Namaste

We have a party whose preamble defines that the genders in parliament are to be distributed fairly. Now they have the following challenge:

A party member was born as a man, felt like a woman lateron and had his gender changed. She is still married to her wife, they have two sons. So far so good.

The former man is now a woman on the female quota in Parliament … the seats in Parliament are in high demand.

The women feel cheated of a seat, saying he was born as a man, he is a man, and therefore belongs to the male quota.

The men say he had his gender changed, he is a woman now. They are happy that the seat has been vacated for the male quota.

The party is caught up by its own ideology now.

The Mahabharata depicts this situation. Bhishma did not accept the change of Sikhandini’s gender. For him Sikhandin was born as a woman and remained a women.

Frequently looking at Sikhandin the prince of the Panchalas with a laugh, he aimed not a single arrow at him, recollecting his femininity.

The dispute could be solved so easily, but I am sure, no one will listen to Mahabharata’s wisdom.

Pranam

Namaste IndiaLover,

Kindly share your wisdom further on the topic. Is there a conclusion you have to the Mahabharata episode? I am asking because I am not getting the conclusion arrived by you, but I am eager to know.

Thanks and regards.

Namaste Viraja

On the worldly level, my opinion is she is a woman.

I didn't know about this party internal quarrel, just came across it through an article and immediately thought of the Bhishma episode. I am also not aware of the legal and medical regulations for gender change but it’s definitely not an easy task. And if it is done it has to be accepted without discussion. By law she is a woman.

On the spiritual level I say on the one hand that one is and remains what one was born as. On the other hand, the body is unimportant because we are not the body. A philosophical discussion would certainly be interesting.

Change of gender is interwoven in many stories in the Epics and Puranas. I have never read anything about what it wants us to tell but it must have a deep meaning.

Pranam