Somadeva Bhatta, a scholar and playwright, wrote a story in the eleventh century. He called it Kathasaritsagara, meaning an ocean of stories. Somadeva, though a Shaivite Brahmin, was influenced by Buddhism. Consequently, his book, Kathasaritasagara, is similar to Panchatantra and Jakata Tales.
The ‘sea of stories’ is embedded with morals and themes pertaining to human life, social structure and interactions with the divine. And just like the other two, Kathasaritsagara has an LGBTQ+ story.
As the story goes, Kalingadatta, the King of Takshashila, is blessed with a daughter. But the King who wanted a son is upset. Noticing the King’s agony, a Buddhist monk tells stories to comfort him. The King is only comforted until the stories last. He gets upset again when he leaves the monk’s presence and returns to the palace. A Brahmin in the palace says:
O King, why are you so sad at the birth of a jewel-like daughter? Daughters are better than sons and are auspicious in both this world and the next. How can kings trust sons who are greedy for the kingdom and eat up their fathers like spiders?
The Brahmin had a point. The King, influenced by the Brahmin, decides to name his daughter, Kalingadatta. At the same time, Somaprabha, the daughter of a demon, Mayasura, who happens to fly over the palace, sees Kalingasena playing with other girls on the palace roof.
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