The sutra most clearly addresses gender through the well-known encounter between Śāriputra and the goddess in Vimalakīrti’s room. When Śāriputra questions why she does not abandon her female form, he exposes an assumption that femaleness is somehow spiritually inferior. In response, the goddess uses her miraculous power to exchange bodies with him: Śāriputra suddenly appears in a woman’s body, while she takes on a male form. When he becomes unsettled and wishes to change back, she asks why he does not simply transform himself, highlighting that what he takes as “his” gender is not under his control and has no fixed essence. This dramatic reversal reveals that the categories “male” and “female” are dependently arisen designations rather than ultimate realities.

The goddess then articulates the doctrinal point explicitly: all dharmas are empty of inherent nature, and thus “all things are neither male nor female.” Gender, like a magician’s conjured figure, is likened to an illusion—appearing vividly yet lacking any solid core. From this perspective, the distinction between male and female belongs to the realm of conventional truth, useful for ordinary dealings but not to be reified. In the sphere of ultimate truth, there is no duality of male and female, pure and impure, superior and inferior. The episode thus becomes a concrete enactment of non-duality, using the very instability of gender identity as a doorway into insight.

At the same time, the sutra undermines gender hierarchy by the simple fact that the goddess herself is an authoritative teacher. She demonstrates a command of Dharma that surpasses eminent male disciples, thereby overturning the assumption that spiritual insight is the preserve of male monastics. Her teaching shows that wisdom, Buddhahood, and bodhisattva activity are not conditioned by bodily form or social status. Vimalakīrti’s own role as a layman who surpasses monks in understanding further reinforces this theme: spiritual capacity is not bound by conventional labels, whether of gender or vocation. In this way, the text does not merely state that gender is empty; it stages that emptiness as a liberating challenge to deeply rooted prejudice.

Taken together, these elements present gender as a skillful means rather than a fixed identity. On the ordinary level, gendered forms and roles continue to appear and function, but the sutra urges that they be held lightly, without clinging or aversion. On the ultimate level, where non-duality is directly realized, the very opposition of male and female falls away, revealing a field of awakening that is equally accessible to all beings.