Ahalya
Ahalya (Sanskrit: अहल्या, ahalyā) was the wife of Rishi Gautama. The word Ahalya means without any deformation. Her story is mentioned in[ the Hindu epic Ramayana. After her adultery with the god Indra, Gautama cursed her to suffer tapas (austere penance); some versions of the story say she was made invisible or was turned to stone (Refer Tulasi Das version below). She was liberated by Rama.
Rama and Lakshmana first came across the hermitage of Ahalya on their way to Mithilapuri with Sage Vishwamitra. They enquired about the hermitage to the Sage who told them about Ahalya's story. What happened after this varies in different version of Ramayana .
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Tulasi Das's version
Baba Tulasi Das's version of Ramayana is popularly known as Ramcharitamanas.
Gautama cursed Indra to become a eunuch. Then he turned towards Ahalya and cursed her to become a stone. After this Gautama left the hermitage.
Later after several years, Rama and Lakshmana while going to Mithilapuri with Sage Vishwamitra saw this hermitage. They enquired about the hermitage to the Sage who told them about Ahalya.
Rama and Lakshmana entered the hermitage and saw the stone in the mud. They touched the stone with their feet. The stone changed into the beautiful Ahalya who had become pure and understood her sins. She blessed Rama and Lakshmana and they left for their destination.
Valmiki version vs. Tulasi version
Valmiki was a contemporary of Rama and his version of the story (which is in fact the first version) is the authentic one. All other versions are "derivatives" of this version. Also, Valmiki's version is more scientific than Tulasi Das's version.
Other versions of this story
There are plenty more versions of Ramayana which present this story in various ways. Ezhuthachhan's (known as Father of Malayalam language) version (known as "Addhyatma Ramayanam Khilippattu") says Indra was cursed to have marks of female organ (vulva) on all parts of his body so that other people could understand his dirty thoughts. Kamban (renowned Tamil poet in his version says Indra was first cursed to bear marks of female organ on all parts of his body but later as he pleaded to Gautama, the rishi cursed him to have eyes on all parts of his body instead of marks of female organ. After this Indra came to be known as the "Thousand eyed God".
External links
References
- Valmiki Ramayan by Swami Jagadishwaranand Saraswati published by Vijayakumar Govindram and Sons publications.
- "Ahalya" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. John Bowker (Ed.) Oxford University Press, 2000.
- Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola
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