Creation and Adolescence
The story of Ahalya is one that reminds us of the social disabilities that women faced in the Hindu epics. Many of these stories are told from the point of view of a patriarchal system and leaves much to be imagined of the lives of women in this era. Ahalya, “the one with no ugliness”, is known as the most beautiful creation of Lord Brahma, the creator. He is known to have conceived her out of his own pure creative energy and molds her out of water. Literature articulates that he creates her in efforts to break the haughty arrogance Urvashi, a celestial nymph, held for her own beauty. It is said that Ahalya was so beautiful that many men were eager to have her hand in marriage to have a relationship with the most coveted women ever created.
Until adolescence, Ahalya is raised at an ashram, under the care of the gifted sage Gautama, where she learns to live the simple ascetic life. Eventually, Brahma is amazed at Gautama’s sexual restraint and offers him Ahalya’s hand for marriage.
Blindsided and consequences
Indra, the king of gods, had always been infatuated with Ahalya’s beauty. Early one morning when Gautama leaves to bathe at the river, Indra devises a plan to disguise himself as the sage Gautama and pursue sexual relations with Ahalya. She falls prey to his guise and does not recognize him, and gives in to his request.
As he returns from the river, Gautama is enraged to see his wife in Indra’s arms. He immediately curses Indra so that his body is covered in a thousand eyes. Ahalya seems to be confused by this deception. She pleads Gautama of her innocence and says that she had been fooled as well. Overcome with anger, he curses her to turn to stone, invisible to all beings for thousands of years and tormented by guilt. He makes an exception, one that he believes will never hold true, that only Lord Rama himself can reverse the curse of her sins.
Centuries later, Lord Rama visits the abandoned ashram with his mentor, Vishwamitra. Vishwamitra tells him about Ahalya’s curse and advises him to walk by the stone. Having been touched by his feet, Ahalya is blessed and returns to her human form. She returns to the world with humility, determined to live a simple life.
Symbolism and Analysis
Delving deeper into the symbolism of the story, each character represents a common human quality that we face in our daily lives giving us examples of morals and values by way of a story. It describes the concepts of indulgence and restraint, ignorance and enlightenment. Ahalya represents the purity of the human psyche, that can be easily modified by external forces. Gautama represents structure and discipline that one must have to lead life morally but also represents ego, that takes over in the most vulnerable of times. Indra represents a wavering mind, one that lacks responsibility and values. Lord Rama represents enlightenment and forgiveness, that one must believe in for a fulfilling life filled with lessons and morals.
This holds a type of symbolism of how stories were told centuries ago prior to modern media. Oral storytelling was a way of explaining to a dysfunctional society the moral way of living through characters that were easily understandable by the masses. There is reason to think that some stories, like Ahalya, where there can be many points of view, are left open to more interpretation than others. This allowed for the common man to interpret them in a way that they could easily understand and what made sense to lead their life in the lessons that they have learned from the story.
Literature tells us many sides of Ahalya’s story: on one hand she is innocent and doesn’t know of Indra’s schemes and was truly deceived by his manipulation. On the other hand, she is aware of Indra’s actions and chooses to engage in sexual relations with him. We chose to tell the point of view that she was truly deceived. But much can be left up to interpretation.
Was this a story told by the elders to keep women aware of lustful actions and the harm that it potentially has on a marriage? Or was it a story to tell the people of the forgiveness God has on one after an honest mistake? In any case, the story of Ahalya makes us ponder the fair or unfair treatment of women and how their role in society is perceived.
*Please note: These stories and analyses are based on our interpretations of multiple texts and articles, as well as discussions from elders through oral traditions. Additionally, we have drawn inspirations from many writers and playwrights over the years. We are aware that there are many perspectives and interpretations to these characters. The following are links that we found helpful to aid in our understanding.
Links:
- Gautama Marries Ahalya
- Five Holy Virgins, Five Sacred Myths: A Quest for Meaning
- What the lives of the five virgins of the Ramayan and Mahabharat can teach us
- Wikipedia — Ahalya
- The Epic Story of Ahalya and Its Hidden Symbolism
Written by Manaswini Avvari and Meena Vemuri
Edited by Anjali Vemuri
Photography by Raama Srivatsan