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Hansa and Dimbhaka
Hansa and Dimbhaka were two warriors mentioned in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. They both served the king Jarasandha and assisted him during his during his attempts to retake Mathura.[1] During the Sabha Parva, a king also named Hansa was slain by Balarama after an eighteen-day battle. Upon hearing the news of Hansa's death, Dimbhaka thought that his Hansa had been killed. He threw himself into the river Yamuna and committed suicide. Then the real Hansa heard of Dimbhaka's suicide and killed himself in the same manner.[1][2]
On 9 January 2023, in an interview published by The Organiser RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat claimed that Hansa and Dimbhaka were in a homosexual relationship, "Come to think of it: what does the story suggest? This is the same thing. The two generals were in that sort of relationship."[3][4] Mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik in an editorial published in The Times of India pointed out the story also mentions Hansa's widow and said that, "If a gay mythologist had interpreted this story so, he could easily have been trolled for ‘manipulating Sanskrit texts based on Westernised ideas and creating a false Hindu history’."[5][6]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Mahabharata. Vol. Sabha Prava. Translated by Protap Chandra Roy. Bharata Press. 1884. p. 47.
- ↑ John Dowson (1888). A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion. Trubner and Co. p. 116.
- ↑ "LGBT kind of orientation has always been there; Hindu tradition recognise their right to live without much hullabaloo...". The Organiser. 9 January 2023.
- ↑ "RSS chief bats for rights of transgender, LGBTQ citizens". The Hindu. 10 January 2023.
- ↑ "Discovering Gay Generals in Jarasandha's Army". Devdutt. 12 January 2023.
- ↑ "Mohan Bhagwat bats for LGBTQ rights: Were Hans and Dimbhaka, King Jarasandha's two generals mentioned by RSS chief, gay?". Firstpost. 13 January 2023.
Were they (Hansa and Dimbhaka), friends or father-son? It is not clear. The story mentions 'widow of Hansa' weeping before Jansardhan but nothing else is known about either of them.