3

Are there any documented stories or cases of non-sexual friendship between men and women in Hindu scripture?

For reference, the Kama Sutra says sex with female friends is prohibited: enter image description here

Then, here is how it defines friendship:

enter image description here

So, can we find any boy-girl friendships in the Puranas, Itihasas, Vedas, etc?

Ikshvaku
  • 22,130
  • 2
  • 39
  • 116
  • 2
    Krishna used to call Draupdi Sakhi. Both were perhaps friends . – river Aug 01 '22 at 15:25
  • 1
    @river Can you provide a verse where he says that? – Ikshvaku Aug 01 '22 at 16:21
  • 1
    There are multiple . One is here – river Aug 01 '22 at 16:54
  • @river Thanks. Can we find normal man-woman friend relationships that don't involve incarnation of gods? – Ikshvaku Aug 01 '22 at 17:02
  • Is the definition of friendship that you quoted from kamasutra or some other book ? – river Aug 01 '22 at 22:25
  • 1
    @river It's from the kama sutra. – Ikshvaku Aug 01 '22 at 22:33
  • @river but Draupadi and Krishna were relatives, were they not? – Aravind Suresh Thakidayil Aug 03 '22 at 13:17
  • Kāmasūtra is not the correct text to look for this information. As its name suggests, it is purely for the purpose, art and techniques of carnal pleasure. They are extremely few examples of male-female platonic friendships in itihāsa texts. Draupadī-Kr̥ṣṇa is the only example which comes in my mind as of now. – Bingming Dec 25 '22 at 09:07
  • @AravindSuresh They became relatives after Draupadī's marriage to the Pāṇḍavas, but even before her marriage they were close friends. – Bingming Dec 25 '22 at 09:08
  • 1
    The gopīs are also considered sakhis (friends) of Kr̥ṣṇa however that's a dodgy topic, because in some texts they seem to have sexual or romantic relations with Kr̥ṣṇa as well. So, I wouldn't consider that platonic friendship. It was rare to have platonic friendship among opposite genders in olden times, merely because of misogynism and patriarchy, women rarely interacted with men as equals unless in households as their mother, sisters or wives. And those that did interact, often ended up developing romantic relationships. Platonic male-female friendships are rare cases. – Bingming Dec 25 '22 at 09:16
  • ah, in case, it's not clear, platonic friendship means when the friends have no romantic or sexual relations or feelings for one another. Basically, it is a pure friendship. – Bingming Dec 25 '22 at 09:19

0 Answers0