Yoga, Samkhya, Śhiva and Third Gender
Man in his existence is exposed to various vicissitudes that alongside passing joys involve so much pain, which can be alleviated if not completely overcome only thanks to certain religious, ascetic, or meditative practices that bring their followers to greater awareness and union with the Absolute.
Knowledge of this has characterized Indian thought practically since the dawn of time, being already present in the civilization of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, that is, of the Indus Valley dated to around 2500 BC and considered one of the largest and oldest civilizations in the world. It was there that the seal representing a man in mulabandhāsana position, practiced in hatha yoga to control sexual desire, was found. It is therefore certain that the first inhabitants of Sindh, the pre-Aryans already knew yoga and practiced it.
The figure on the seal defined by some scientists simply as a yogi by others interpreted as proto-Śiva in its ascetic aspect, in this case exactly as Adiyogi and that is the first yogi from which everything began. He is the founder and foundation of what yoga is over the millennia until today. In Vedic literature, Śiva is the "lord who rules everything", "the one from whom all beings are born and return" and also "the inner self of all living beings" while the epic poem Mahābhārata describes Śiva as "Great God" (Mahādeva), which is due to be venerated by all, humans and gods.
Śiva, whose most important aspect is that of Destroyer, together with Brahma (Creator) and Viśnù (Preserver), is part of the trinity of male divinities that form a triple Supreme Being of Hinduism. However, Śiva has many other aspects including that of Yogīśvara (Lord of Yoga) or Mahāyogi (Great Yogi), Natarāja (Lord of Dance who can be destructive or creative) and Ardhanārīśvara (Lord who is half female).
Knowledge of this has characterized Indian thought practically since the dawn of time, being already present in the civilization of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, that is, of the Indus Valley dated to around 2500 BC and considered one of the largest and oldest civilizations in the world. It was there that the seal representing a man in mulabandhāsana position, practiced in hatha yoga to control sexual desire, was found. It is therefore certain that the first inhabitants of Sindh, the pre-Aryans already knew yoga and practiced it.
The figure on the seal defined by some scientists simply as a yogi by others interpreted as proto-Śiva in its ascetic aspect, in this case exactly as Adiyogi and that is the first yogi from which everything began. He is the founder and foundation of what yoga is over the millennia until today. In Vedic literature, Śiva is the "lord who rules everything", "the one from whom all beings are born and return" and also "the inner self of all living beings" while the epic poem Mahābhārata describes Śiva as "Great God" (Mahādeva), which is due to be venerated by all, humans and gods.
Śiva, whose most important aspect is that of Destroyer, together with Brahma (Creator) and Viśnù (Preserver), is part of the trinity of male divinities that form a triple Supreme Being of Hinduism. However, Śiva has many other aspects including that of Yogīśvara (Lord of Yoga) or Mahāyogi (Great Yogi), Natarāja (Lord of Dance who can be destructive or creative) and Ardhanārīśvara (Lord who is half female).
This double androgynous character of God derives directly from sāṃkhyā, one of the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy that precedes yoga and which deals with philosophical reflection and metaphysical speculation with reference to the classification of cosmic and individual principles, the fundamental elements of all what is manifested.
The concept of androgyny, which in the Vedic period occupies the most evident and significant space in the myths about creation, in Indian psychology and anthropology has its origins in sāṃkhyā, sees the male and the female as two sides of the same coin, a very foreign perception if not entirely alien to western thought which foresees a natural belonging to a single biologically determined gender.
And that's why the West bases its classification on a binary system of oppositions such as black-white, heart-reason, body-mind, male-female emphasizing the dualistic division of reality while India proclaims co-presence and union of elements considered by other cultures dichotomous.
And so the non-heteronormative people in India, identifying themselves with Śiva, the androgynous god par excellence, sanction their place in society as a third neuter gender that is neither male nor female, but which has the characteristics of both of them and which does not want to identify itself with none of them, emphasizing its distinction and uniqueness.
Furthermore, being a neuter gender that has no reproductive capacity, it can be associated with the divinity represented precisely by the god Śiva in his androgynous aspect and at the same time by him in his aspect of Mahāyogi and that is the Lord of yoga practicing sexual asceticism, the theme that I will go into in the future.
The concept of androgyny, which in the Vedic period occupies the most evident and significant space in the myths about creation, in Indian psychology and anthropology has its origins in sāṃkhyā, sees the male and the female as two sides of the same coin, a very foreign perception if not entirely alien to western thought which foresees a natural belonging to a single biologically determined gender.
And that's why the West bases its classification on a binary system of oppositions such as black-white, heart-reason, body-mind, male-female emphasizing the dualistic division of reality while India proclaims co-presence and union of elements considered by other cultures dichotomous.
And so the non-heteronormative people in India, identifying themselves with Śiva, the androgynous god par excellence, sanction their place in society as a third neuter gender that is neither male nor female, but which has the characteristics of both of them and which does not want to identify itself with none of them, emphasizing its distinction and uniqueness.
Thus similarly like sāṃkhyā perceives each being as a mixture of female and male elements that form an unrepeatable unity, consequently, yoga emphasizes the unity of spirit with the mind which is a supreme state of knowledge and identity of a yogi (yogini). Union and non-division therefore, the balance between all the constituents of being means that an ardent follower of yoga can reach the supreme condition that leads him to freedom, to non-suffering and, why not, to immortality (Mircea Eliade).
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