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The story of Devi Ahalya from the times of Ramayana is often cited as an example of how women were discriminated against even in those times (Sat Yuga). They would comfortably forget that it was the time when a Prince and his family would suffer and a King would die just to keep a promise to a woman and one of the four wives. It was the time when princess Sita could arrange a swayamvar (groom choosing) where Princes and Kings competed with each other to win the right to marry her. A lot depends on the way we look at the things, but we can’t allow anyone to tell half-baked stories to make a point.
Ahalya was the wife of sage Gautama. Both lived happily in his ashram spending their days in peace and holy meditation. Indra, the king of natural forces, had lecherous dreams about her. Once sun and moon assisted Indra in confusing Gautama that it was morning while it was actually night. While Gautama was away for morning ablutions, Indra, disguised as Gautama, approached Ahalya and proposed his desires in front of her. Perhaps she was deceived by the impersonation and yielded to his desire.
Indra was fleeing in guilty panic, when he bumped into the rishi who was just returning from his ablutions. The sage immediately guessed as to what had happened. The sage was very angry and he cursed Indra that he would lose his manhood immediately, as a punishment for the sin he had committed. As soon as the rishi spoke these words, Indra became a eunuch.
Then the sage turned to his wife and he cursed Ahalya to become a stone for an indefinite period of time. He then added that she would be turned to a woman when the son of Dashrath would touch her statue with his foot. The sage then left his ashram for Himalayas.
Ahalya Uddhar
Rama and Lakshman were staying in the forest under the tutelage of Vishwamitra, who taught them the Vedas and other scriptures. One day Vishwamitra received an invitation from King Janak, ruler of Janakpur (Mithila), to attend the Swayamvar ceremony of his daughter Sita. Kings, princes and sages from all over were invited to attend the ceremony to win the hand of the beautiful princess. Vishwamitra asked Rama and Lakshman to accompany him, and so the three set out for Janakpur.
On the way to Janakpur they passed by a deserted cottage besides which lay the stone statue of Ahalya. Rama then touched the stone statue with his foot and released Ahalya from her curse, turning her into a woman again. Devi Ahalya thanked him and offered her prayers. She got patient with her emotions, understood the presence of Lord, and attained devotion by the grace of the Lord of Raghu. She said, “That sage cursed me and turned me into a stone, I consider that as my fortune and beneficial for I got to see Hari, the destroyer of the cycle of rebirth, in front of my eyes.” She fell on His feet and became liberated from this world.
Who is Indra?
Many of us don’t even know that Indra is a position and it doesn’t refer to a permanent god. Indra is the god of war and weather, and also the King of the gods or Devas. Indra’s position is temporary, based on his conduct, karma and punya. One Indra leaves and another replaces him, and there have been many Indra’s. It is a perfect system: if another devta does greater tapas than the reigning Indra, he would occupy his position. And if Indra corrupts himself by doing wrong things, he would certainly come down from his position.
Where else would you find such a beautiful system: even devtas not being spared of wrongdoings? If we humans do well, we can become a devta, and if a devta does maintain himself, he can become the Indra. No one is “100% perfect” and whenever Indra proves him unworthy of his position, he is brought down and takes over. And not to forget that Indra is also subject to the curses of Rishis.
The doubts
The main accusation made in Devi Ahalya’s case is that she was mistreated by her husband and the society only because she was a woman.
- It is only natural for a husband to get angry when he finds that his wife has cheated him. What he does in the fit of rage is only up to him, though he should be responsible for the actions. The same is true about women too. Hence when Gautama became furious of having found another person with his wife, his anger is understandable. That he had the spiritual powers to curse others, resulted in the destruction. In the fit of rage he forgot to see that his wife was fooled by Indra, but in such cases there is always a sense of mistrust and suspicion.
- That was Sat Yuga, the time when women also had great spiritual powers. Even then, if Ahalya was fooled into believing that the man having returned so early after leaving for a bath in the river was her husband and no one else, her mistake was human. She didn’t necessarily deserve the curse. (In some versions of the story, it is mentioned that Ahalya had recognized the disguised Indra, but she gave in because of her pride in her beauty and her lust.)
- Gautama can’t be called a hypocrite. He himself had led a righteous life. He was loyal to his wife too and in turn he expected the same. Nothing is wrong with this expectation.
- After cursing Indra and turning his wife into a stone, Rishi Gautama left the ashram forever and went to the Himalayas for tapasya. In case he had remarried, it would have been a very different case. He himself sacrificed too and never left the righteous path.
- Even though Gautama cursed Ahalya and turned her into stone, he did leave a way out for her that when son of Dashrath would come and touch her, she would become human again. There was a possibility for her liberation.
- Most importantly Gautama didn’t spare Indra of his crime. He cursed him to lose his manhood and that was a real curse. Afterwards, Indra did a lot of tapa to get his manhood back by seeking blessings of Lord Brahma. To say he was spared and he was not punished is wrong. Many a time people tell only half of the story to make their point, and this is horribly wrong. This episode about Gautama punishing Indra is there in all the versions of the story, but some of us conveniently forget it.
What happened in this case is understandable. There is no attempt to blindly justify what sage Gautama did, but we certainly understand the circumstances in which he did that. And he didn’t pick up only his wife for punishment, but he equally or harshly punished Indra. Therefore, to use this case to make a point only to prove that women were discriminated against is not correct.
More thoughts
Many a time, the way things are designed by our God, is not known to us. There is a catch, and many of us often miss it only to get baffled by the way things happen.
Think how difficult it is for us to see God Himself. How many rebirths we have to take, how much tapasya and devotion we have to offer in order to please Him to bless us? While on the way to our spiritual path, anyone can say that we are stupid. Only our efforts matter and God does bless us when we deserve what we ask for.
Ahalya got Lord Ram himself to touch her and make us leave this world of suffering. She attained liberation at the feet of Lord Ram himself, something for which at least I am willing to remain a stone for a billion ages. If we see from this angle, we understand the divine leela that Ram plays with us.
Many a time, God tests us. Why do bad things happen with good people? Why do some great souls have to suffer so much of harsh life? Why, even after leading a righteous life, one has to suffer a misfortune? There is always a catch. One, who remains good even in adverse conditions, is the real good. Bad times and seemingly wrong doings are occurred to us to test the real us and our faith.
It is so clear that Ahalya was selected by God and was made to pass a test. And eventually she was rewarded with the ultimate one. When she saw Lord Ram in front of her, she didn’t ask him to punish her husband. She was overwhelmed with joy and thanked her fortune of going through the tough times, so that she could be saved by Lord Ram Himself.
