In Hindu religious thought, what is considered male? What is female? What is its creation story?
From the formless nameless divine of eternal bliss, a thought came. Bliss desired to experience bliss. How is that possible?
This desire became Kama. Bliss was covered by non-bliss, which now thought it was not bliss. It always wanted to experience something new, something different, constantly kept moving around. Now, the non-bliss experiences happiness & sadness. And finally, has to shed itself of its own covering, and become bliss, which is its true self. This is the path it has to take; there is simply no other way.
In Kapila Kardama's Samkya & Patanjali's AshtAnga Yoga (two early philosophies), there is the non-material Purusha and the material Prakriti. Purusha is male while Prakriti is female.
In Shaiva Sampradaya (tradition), the eternal unmoving bliss itself is Shiva. This is male.
The primordial constantly moving power that caused the covering over Shiva is Shakti. It is feminine. It itself has a male & female component. The female is Narayani; the male is Narayana.
Shiva is also called AmmaiAppan (mother & father) and Ardha-Narishwara (half female lord). There is no Shakti without Shiva & no Shiva without Shakti. In the Thiru-thondar Puranam (Periya Puranam), Karaikkal Ammaiyaar, the naked saint who performed her Tapasya (penance) to go to Shiva is addressed as Ammaiye (mother). The supreme Bhakta (devotee) who can show the path to the divine is considered the mother of the unborn divine.
Hari (Narayana) is the feminine word for Hara (Shiva). In the Puranas, Hari takes the form of Mohini from time to time. Mohini (seductress) is derived from Moha, which means delusion. The constantly changing material world which keeps us constantly engrossed & interested is Mohini. In the Ayyappa/Dharma Shastha Puranam, Shastha is born from Hara & Hari (as Mohini), and is called HariHaraSutan. He then proceeds to destroy Mahishi, a symbol of Tamas with qualities such as laziness & ignorance, represented by the symbol of the Indian water buffalo.
In Srimath Bhagavatham, Krishna (Hari) multiplies himself & dances with 108 Gopikas. This is the Rasa-Kreeda or Rasa-Lila. Rasa is what we experience in the material world. Lila is play & Kreeda means crown. 108 is a sacred & special number with multiple esoteric meanings.
Rasas are defined in Bharatha Muni's Natya Shastra, the treatise on dance. They are created by a Bhaava or state of mind. The Bhaavas are Rati (love), Hasya (laughter), Shoka (sorrow), Krodha (anger), Utsaha (energy-similar to the Tamil Urchaham), Bhaya (fear), Jugupsa (disgust) & Vismaya (astonishment). The Rasas are Shrungaaram (beautification), Haasyam (comedy), Raudram (anger), Kaarunyam (compassion), Bibhatsam (disgust), Bhaayanakam (fear), Veeram (valor) & Adbhutham (wonder). There is one final Rasa not caused by a Bhaava, rather one that exists outside of Bhaavas. This is called Shaantham (peace). All these Rasas are called the Nava-Rasas (nine emotions).
The Rasa-Lila represents the dance of life that all of us undergo experiencing all our Rasa & Bhavas. We life forms experience the 9 Rasas for 12 months of the year. 9*12=108. This is one of the meanings of the number 108.
Krishna is the male Narayana Paramatma. Each Gopika thinks that she alone has Krishna. The Gopikas are the female Jivatmas, dancing their own individual dance of life. This is also celebrated as the Raas Garba during Navaratri.
In another story, Narada visits Krishna with his 16,108 wives. Per Yogis, the body has 16,108 Nadis which transmit the force of Shakti. Of these, the most important are three, which are part of the Kundalini, called Ida, Pingala & Sushumna. Usually, male deities in their various forms represent Sushumna & they have two consorts, Ida & Pingala.
Each wife thinks that Krishna is living with her alone. Narada visits one after the other, and sees him leading a separate life with each. Each of us are living our own lives with the divine within. Narada finally finds out it was all a Maya (illusion).
In the beginning of Srimath Bhagavatham, Parikshit is born burnt owing to the power of the Brahmashiranamakastra (celestial weapon) unleashed by Ashwatthama on the Pandavas' progeny. Krishna says that if he has practiced Brahmacharya, then let the child become normal. Parikshit turns normal. Brahmacharya means celibacy. In the stories, Krishna has children. How then could he be practicing Brahmacharya? Here, the implication is that the divine bliss itself has nothing else to unite to; it is a Brahmachari. It itself has a covering of ego, mind & senses. Once removed, it will revert to its original state of pure divine bliss.
In Vaishnava Sampradaya (tradition), all life forms are female, while Narayana is the only Purusha (male). Ramanuja, Ramananda, Vallaba, Kabir, Ravidas, Mirabai, Surdas & other devotees in the Vaishnava Sampradaya have all sung of themselves as the female pining to join with the male Narayana. Akka Mahadevi sings in a similar manner, in the Shaiva Sampradaya.
In Hindu marriages, mantras are chanted with the implication that the bride marries Narayana in the form of the groom. All the respects performed to the groom is to Narayana within the groom. Even the day to day greeting of Namaskaram or Namaste is to the divine within.
