Ahalya, from mythology to modernology

She was a girl with captivating looks and great virtues whom every God and demon desired. But destiny landed her somewhere else, whether for her sinful acts or the undesirable acts of the men associated with her life. Her character, who bridges mythology and modernity, has a wide range of interpretations that are indeed considerable.

Ahalya’s enchanting beauty, Image source- Fine Art America

Ahalya was the owner of engrossing beauty, as her name suggests (Ahalya, in Sanskrit, means impeccable beauty). The true story of her birth varies greatly, however, Brahma is widely regarded as her creator. It is said that he created him with such delicacy and creativity to break the pride of Urvashi, the most beautiful apsara.

Coming to the story of Ahalya, when she reached marriageable age, Brahma continued to look for the most suitable groom for her. As he was pleased by the profound intellect, vast knowledge, best virtues, and sensible sanity of Sage Gautam, he was the only name in his mind. Thus, Gautam married Ahalya, but this incident almost left many devas dissatisfied and broken. However, the one who was affected the most was Indra Deva. He refused to let up so easily, and his obsession with Ahalya drove him to stalk her at all times.

Seeing Gautam and Ahalya together tore Indra with jealousy. On the other hand, young Ahalya was full of confusion but was trying hard to cope with the ongoing changes around her following her marriage. She was on a mission to be a good wife and took care of all her responsibilities with a full heart. But little did she know what awaited her shortly.

Because of Indra's constant stalking, he was well-versed in Guatam and Ahalya's daily rituals. He was well aware of Rishi Gautam’s routine of leaving towards the river at dawn for a bath and his prayers. Unable to tolerate the pangs of love, Indra decided to make a sinful attempt to get Ahalya and gratify his lust.

One day, Indra, disguised as Gautam, arrived in front of Ahalya's hut one day after Gautam left for his prayers. He approached Ahalya and began to please her. But, because she had never seen her husband return from the river so early before, she was filled with uncertainty and confusion. Ahalya continued to look at the disguised Indra with scepticism in her eyes. She did not take any time to guess who he was.

She was on the verge of exploding when a thought made her numb. She was flattered by her own beauty, which had dragged Devaraj towards her. The pride in her heart forced her to remain silent even though she knew everything and cheated on her husband. But Ahalya's pride and Indra's pleasure didn't last long as Gautama arrived on the scene and learned everything.

He was so disturbed and enraged that he lost his senses and cursed Indra and Ahalya mercilessly. He condemned Ahalya, telling her she would lose her most prized possession, her beauty, and she instantly turned to stone. He intensely cursed Indra too to get the thing he sought beyond all else. Indra's body immediately bore thousands of vaginas, and he became known as the God of the "sahasra yoni."

When Gautam regained his senses, he felt pity towards his beautiful wife, who had been converted into stone with repentance in her eyes, which would last forever. He chose to change it to mitigate the impact. As a result, he commanded that she be redeemed by the grace of Rama's feet. On the other hand, Indra’s curse became a predicament of a joke in front of all, but soon it became a matter of concern.

After about 60,000 years, Lord Rama came to save Ahalya from the curse, and she was rescued by his mercy. Indra went into deep penance as well, which pleased Shiva, who changed his curse of a thousand vaginas to a thousand eyes, and he became known as the Thousand-eyed God.

When Ahalya is viewed from a contemporary viewpoint, her character takes on a completely new meaning, as she represents a modern woman who listens to her desires and respects her choices. She is an independent woman who takes her own discussions and wishes to convey her inner drive without regard to the opinions of others. However, there are different viewpoints on this as well.

In her book, Ahalya: Scarlet Letter, Author V.R. Devika questions Ahalya's decision: is it correct to label adultery and physical encounters as modern afflictions that are incompatible with Indian or Hindu culture? Or should we learn from Ahalya, who made a conscious decision to meet her needs and was praised for it? And yet again, another author, Meena Kelkar, writes in "Subordination of Woman" that Ahalya was made vulnerable by her acceptance of gender conventions. According to A New Perspective, Ahalya ungrudgingly accepted the curse while accepting her need for punishment.

All the arguments, however, seem justified in their fields, and Ahalya’s character has various aspects other than this too. It's as though her character is open to different interpretations and anyone can shape it to fit their own viewpoints and understanding.

Ahalya rescueed from the curse by Lord Rama, Image source- YouTube