Devi Ahalya

Devraj Indra's court was adorned by the most beautiful apsaras. They were all flawless in their physical appearance, and their prowess in singing and dancing was unparallel across the entire universe. 

Urvashi was the most captivating among all the apsaras, and every living being, including devas, asuras, and humans, used to aspire to have her. Urvashi was aware of this and used to relish the attention and accolades.

One day she bragged in the court of Devraj that even the Tridevas were enchanted by her immeasurable beauty. Brahma somehow came to know about Urvashi's boasting. He realized that Urvashi had become overly obsessed with her external beauty. In order to teach her a lesson, Brahma fashioned a gorgeous girl with a drop of holy water from his kamandalu. The girl was as beautiful as Urvashi and as innocent as a white lotus flower. 

Image by dae jeung kim from Pixabay

However, Brahma was at a loss for what to do with the girl once he created her. She wasn't an apsara. She was just a naive virgin with immeasurable beauty.  

Though Brahma created her to break the vanity of Urvashi, the large innocent eyes of the girl stopped Brahma from doing so. Brahma thought it would be inappropriate to show the girl to Devraj Indra. He would definitely destroy the innocence of that divine beauty. He thought to give her to someone worthy of having such a gift. 

After years of chastity and severe penance, Maharshi Gautam accumulated great spiritual energy. He was well known both for his character and his wisdom. Thus, Lord Brahma thought that he would be the best person to take care of this flawless beauty. 

Brahma appeared in front of him while Gautam was chanting some hymns of the Vedas. Gautam was not even aware that the creator god himself had manifested in his ashram since he was so consumed with his recitation. Brahma was moved by the sage's devotion and kept listening to the chanting as if enthralled. 

When Gautam's chanting ceased, he opened his eyes and saw Lord Brahma standing before him. Gautam began praising the god right away and begged for his pardon. With great satisfaction, Brahma gave Gautam instructions to take care of the lovely girl he had called Ahalya.

Accordingly, Ahalya remained in the ashram of Gautam. She used to serve the sage with the utmost dedication. Maharshi Gautam treated her with the proper dignity, but he never looked at her face, not once, despite her incredible beauty. 

In this way, a few years went by. Ahalya matured even more. Now she was at the height of her youth. Suddenly thinking of Ahalya one day, Lord Brahma wondered how she was doing in Gautam's ashram. As he inquired, he discovered that, in spite of living together for so many years, Gautam had never seen her face, even though she was breathtakingly beautiful. Brahma was astounded by the Rishi's composure. 

So he came before Gautam and told him that there should be a balance in life. Gautam had spent many days in celibacy, and now it was time to get the physical pleasures of life. Moreover, having a wife was essential for having children to propagate the bloodline. So it was the right moment for him to wed Ahalya. As told by Brahma, Gautam Maharishi married Ahalya, keeping Agni as the witness. Lord Brahma himself gave the hands of Ahalya to Gautam as her father. 

Time passed by. But nothing changed between Gautam and Ahalya. In spite of their marriage, Gautam remained deeply undermined in his meditation and sadhana, whereas Ahalya continued to take care of her husband with care and devotion. Her boundless beauty remained unseen and unappreciated. 

One day, Devraj Indra came to visit Gautam. With appropriate deference, Rishi Gautam greeted him. As Devraj was leaving the ashram after a little talk, he suddenly noticed Ahalya. Devraj found himself mesmerized. Ahalya's innocence added to her beauty. Even after returning to heaven, Indra was unable to forget her. He started to covet her so much that he decided to go and meet her in Gautam's ashram once again.

When Gautam was bathing at the river one day, Indra showed up there, pretending to be Maharshi Gautam. Devi Ahalya was surprised to see that Gautam had returned too early. Indra approached Ahalya in disguise as Gautam and embraced her tenderly in his arms. She was shocked to find her husband acting in an unexpected way. Looking into Indra's sultry eyes, Devi Ahalya realized in an instant that he was not her husband. She did not, however, oppose Indra. 

Devi Ahalya had never in her life experienced such affectionate touch. She was curious to see how a man should treat a woman and was thrilled to experience love for the first time. So she gave Indra permission to continue. Ahalya and Indra made love to each other. Devi Ahalya never gave morality a second thought because she was so pure and innocent. Though deep inside her mind she knew that was not her husband, she embraced Indra as if he were no other than Gautam himself.

She cherished her time with Lord Indra. However, when they ended in ecstasy, she asked Indra to leave quickly before the arrival of the Lord of the House. Indra realized that Ahalya was aware of his identity from the beginning. Thus, Indra decided to depart right away. But, just as he was about to go, Rishi Gautam returned. Lord Indra transformed into a cat and escaped. However, Maharshi Gautam recognized him at a glance. He was quite familiar with Indra's character. Thus, he correctly guessed what had just happened. He entered inside calmly. 

Devi Ahalya was then adjusting her attire. Gautam asked, "Has anyone been in this room before?" after glancing at her. With her eyes fixed on the ground, Devi Ahalya spoke the word "marjara," which means "cat" in sanskrit. "Then may the jara take over you," Gautam replied slowly (jara is Sanskrit for old age) and walked away from the ashram.

Devi Ahalya remained silent and made no attempt to defend herself. She even didn't try to stop Gautam. Disgusted, Gautam walked for some distance before sitting on a rock next to a tiny pond. But all of a sudden, he realized that spring had arrived. There were flowers everywhere. Birds were singing the praises of youth. Then he looked at his own reflection in the water. He realized his own faults. He had ignored his duty as a husband. He never gave his wife her due priority. It was he himself to blame more than his wife. But a curse, once said, cannot be taken back. And so he went back home.

Ahalya, sitting on the ground, was engrossed in some deep thought. As Gautam entered, she remained silent and did not beg for pardon. She merely gave Gautam a look with her stunningly large eyes. Gautam, for the first time, silently appreciated the beauty of his wife. He told her that he needed to move on and go to the Himalayas for austerity. He assured her that they would get back together again in due course. But before that, Ahalya needed to purify herself first. She would return to her youth and appearance only after getting blessings from Lord Vishnu. 

"As I have seen your beautiful eyes, staying away from you is no less than a punishment for me. Thus, I am also going to repent for not embracing you when you were with me. I shall wait for ages to be united with you". As Gautam talked to Ahalya, two drops of tears fell from her eyes. Her lips quivered, but she could not utter anything. With that, Gautam set out on his journey to the Himalayas, and Ahalya began her tapasya. She realized that aging had started to seep into her body. She slowly immersed herself in meditation while perched beneath a tree. She stopped moving and slowly transformed into a stone as a result of her extreme penance. 

Ages passed. In Treta Yuga, Lord Vishnu incarnated as Lord Rama. After killing demoness Taraka, Rishi Viswamitra asked Rama and Lakshman to come with him to attend the swayamvar of Devi Sita at Mithila. On the way, Viswamitra reached the deserted ashram of Rishi Gautam. There, he narrated to Rama the tale of Ahalya. There was a rock by an ancient tree that looked a lot like a person seated there. Pointing to the rock, Viswamitra informed Rama that the mortal self of Devi Ahalya was still inside that rock.

Lord Rama went to the rock and touched the stone with his hand. With his divine touch, a miracle happened. The stone turned into a beautiful woman, Devi Ahalya. She came to life after ages, and she was as pure as fire. She worshipped Rama with flowers and fruits, and Rama also very respectfully praised her for her penance. 

Miles away Maharshi Gautam also sensed that the curse had ended at last. Thus, he returned from exile to Devi Ahalya and began their journey through life anew. After a prolonged separation, they ultimately reunited again. You are probably thinking that Indra escaped after creating so much trouble. But no. He also suffered terribly for his adultery. I will tell you that story some other day.