"Yeh LGBT ki samasya hai": RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat reveals how LGBTQ is connected to Mahabharata

Digital Desk: For several years, the rights and acceptance of the LGBTQ community in India have been one of the most controversial issues facing the country. Now, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has recounted an incidence of the LGBTQ issue from the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat stated while speaking about the LGBTQ+ community, that the LGBTQ+ community has a right to privacy and that Indian traditions and history acknowledge the community's existence and rights, as per a magazine interview.

Bhagwat made these remarks in an interview with RSS-affiliated magazines Organiser and Panchjanya, in support of the LGBTQ+ community's rights. The RSS chief stated that people have the right to privacy and even quoted an instance from the Mahabharata.

The RSS chairman discussed about the existence of same-sex relationships even in mythology, citing two generals in the Mahabharata who was seemingly in a relationship and had waged a war against Lord Krishna.  

Mohan Bhagwat told the magazine, "Yeh LGBT ki samasya hai. Jarasandha ke do senapati they Hamsa aur Dimbhaka. Woh itne mitra they ki Krishna ne afwaah failayi ki Dimbhaka mar gaya hai, tou Hamsa ne atmahatya kar li. Do senapatiyon ko aisehi maar dala. Ab yeh kya cheez…yeh woh hi cheez hai. In dono ke waise sambandha they (When Krishna fanned the rumour that Dimbhaka has died, Hans committed suicide. That is how Krishna got rid of those two generals. Come to think of it: what does the story suggest? This is the same thing. The two generals were in that sort of a relationship."

According to the Mahabharata, Hamsa and Dimbhaka were two generals of King Jarasandha who vowed to avenge Kans' death at the hands of Lord Krishna. Both generals were deceived to death when Lord Krishna circulated the rumour that Hamsa died in battle, prompting Dimbhaka to jump into a river because he couldn't live without Hamsa.

After realising what had happened to Dimbhaka, Hamsa decided to commit suicide, refusing to live without his partner.